Review & Swatches: Jordana Fall 2014 Limited Edition Playful Pastels Collection

Press Sample 

Do you need a little break from the vampy and jewel-toned shades that always seem to flood the market this time of year? If so, I've got just the thing for you! The Jordana (sister company to Milani) Fall 2014 Limited Edition Playful Pastels Collection is a serious departure from the collections we've grown accustomed to seeing for fall/winter. I think it's kind of refreshing to see pastels right now--it's sort of like a palate cleanser for the eyes.

Jordana Fall 2014 Playful Pastels Collection

(retail: $1.99 each, 0.5 oz)

I received the Playful Pastels collection for review last month and I've been playing around with these polishes ever since. Keep reading for swatches and a fun (and ridiculously easy) nail art design I did using all six shades...

For those new to Jordana nail polishes, they are:

• Made in USA
• DBP, Toluene & Formaldehyde Free
• $1.99 each (0.5 oz)
• Available at Kmart and independent beauty supply stores across the country, as well as on the Jordana website (free shipping on orders over $25)

Merry Mint 
(two coats, no top coat)

Merry Mint is actually more of a soft, sage greenish mint creme to me. It's not one of those super vibrant mints, and I think it's quite lovely for this time of year. I required two coats for what you see above. The first coat was pretty sheer, but the second coat provided great opacity. Dry-time was good for both coats.

Whimsical White
(two coats, no top coat)

Whimsical White is a true, winter white creme--it does not lean toward cream in real life. The first coat was quite streaky but the second provided very good opacity. Dry-time was good for both coats. 

Baby Blue
(three coats, no top coat)

I own a lot of pastel blues, but I don't have many crelly pastel blues in my collection (for non-nail fanatics, a "crelly" is a hybrid creme-jelly finish). Baby Blue required three coats for good opacity, but in my photo above you can see some streaks after three coats. In person, I couldn't see these streaks (streaks tend to be more visible in close-up photos). I think that most of you could get away with three, thick-ish coats and be fine. Dry-time was good for all three coats.

Pink Petunia
(two coats, no top coat)

Pink Petunia is a warm, bubblegum pink creme and I had no issues with it at all. The first coat was a tiny bit sheer, but two coats provided perfect opacity. Dry-time was good for both coats.

Sunsational
(three coats, no top coat)

Sunsational is a bright yellow creme. In person it's more of a primary yellow, but it does lean a bit warm. It doesn't have as much orange to it as a No. 2 pencil though, if you know what I mean. I could have gotten away with two coats here, but I applied another coat after I learned my lesson from Baby Blue (I didn't see streaks in real life but photos can bring them out so I applied three coats just to be safe). Other than a streaky first coat, I had no issued with this one. Dry-time was average for all three coats.

Lively Lilac
(two coats, no top coat)

Lively Lilac is a warm lavender creme that reminds me of OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender. No issues at all with this one--two coats yielded perfect opacity. Dry-time was good for both coats.

Jordana Fall 2014 Limited Edition Playful Pastels Collection

Here's a fun mani I did using all of the shades in this collection:

Negative Space Dotticure 

(all polishes from the Jordana Playful Pastels Collection)

I'm a huge fan of negative space nail art, so I thought I'd do a negative space dotticure on just one nail, keeping the other nails crisp white. To create the dots, I used the LA Girl Dotting Tool (Fingr's and Sally Hansen also make a dotting tool that you can get at Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc. and you can also get dotting tools at Sally Beauty) but you could easily use the tip of a bobby pin instead.

I just applied dots of each color in the Playful Pastels Collection randomly to my nail, waited for them to fully dry and then applied two coats of clear top coat. For the rest of my nails, I applied two coats of Jordana Whimsical White plus one coat of clear top coat. Any bubbling that you see in the photo above was due to my top coat (which is getting old and prone to bubbling).

The Playful Pastels Collection is now available for purchase on the Jordana website here (free shipping on orders over $25). I don't know if these will also be available at Kmart--I'll have to check on that and get back to you.

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