NOTD: Avon Perplexed Purple

Avon Perplexed Purple

2 coats

from the 2012 Enchanted Spring collection

Perplexed Purple is just gorgeous! It's a take on 2011's Chanel Paradoxal. Others with a similar shade and effect are Covergirl Outlast Amethyst, Revlon Perplex, and today's NOTD- Avon Perplexed Purple.

Avon Gel Finish Roses Are Red: 7 Day Wear Test

Avon Gel Finish Roses Are Red

(2 coats)
picture taken after 1 week of wear

 

left: fresh mani                           right: after 1 week of wear

 

I'm pretty impressed with Avon Gel Finish! It's been a full week, and although there is some tipwear, the finish is still nice and shiny and I actually haven't felt the need to take it off until now.  Avon doesn't promise a specific wear time, but The Daily Varnish had great luck with it and she wore one shade for 7 days with great results too.

 

To review, although it promises to act as a basecoat as well as a topcoat, I went ahead and used my normal combo of NailTek Intensive Therapy II as my basecoat and NYC Grand Central Station as my topcoat. Two coats gave me great coverage, a bit jelly-like, but still opaque in my opinion.

Since this has a super-reasonable price (right now it's $5) and paired well my with normal base and topcoats, I definitely recommend this line. To have the finish look so great after a full week is pretty amazing!
 



Avon Gel Finish Roses Are Red

Avon Gel Finish Roses Are Red

(2 coats)

 

With all the recent popularity of the drugstore "gel" polishes, I figured now was a good time to give this Avon Gel Finish shade a try. Avon doesn't promise a specific wear time, but The Daily Varnish had great luck with it and wore one shade for 7 days with great results. 

 

Although it promises to act as a basecoat as well as a topcoat, I went ahead and used my normal combo of NailTek Intensive Therapy II as my basecoat and NYC Grand Central Station as my topcoat. Two coats gave me great coverage, a bit jelly-like, but still opaque in my opinion.

 

I am pretty impressed with this.... enough that I might order some more shades. Right now they are on sale for $3.99, down from the regular price of $7.00.

 



My Avon Collection

You will probably be able to tell from the number of Avon polishes I have.... but I love Avon! The price and quality is always great. A few of the cremes are not my favorites, but they are still good quality.

Splendid Blue

Empower

Blue Shock

Vintage Blue

Blue Water Lilies

Forget-Me-Not Blue

Serene

Jade

Electric Green

Garden Green

Olive Green

Golden Twilight

Gunmetal

Urban Grey

Pale Gold

Illusion

Pink Power

Rose Gold

Golden Sand

Deluxe Chocolate

Wicked

Midnight Plum

Night Violet

Perplexed Purple

Vivid Violet

Luxe Lavender

Powerful Pink

Tangtastic

Pink Radiance

Cherry Jubilee

Ruby Slipper

Golden Wine

Mambo Melon

Brown Pearl

Fusion

Crystal Calm

Hot Pants

Do you have a favorite Avon shade?

NOTD: Avon Mega Watt in Hot Pants

Avon Mega Watt in Hot Pants

4 coats

Earlier this summer I placed an Avon order and was surprised to see they had a neon nail polish line! There were 5 shades in the collection and I ordered the one that grabbed my interest the fastest- Hot Pants. (Bailey at I Know All the Words has swatches of all 5 shades, which do not seem to be available any longer.)

Although some people like to start their neon manis with an undercoat of white, I chose not to. I was able to get the above look, *almost* covering my nail line, with 4 coats. Note that Hot Pants does dry matte, but a coat of NYC Grand Central Station brought the shiny back.

I am so happy with this color- it's bright and pretty and eye-catching. Although it's Fall, it's still getting up in the high 80s here during the day, so I'll just pretend it's still neon season!

NOTD: Avon Serene

Avon Serene

2 coats

I purchased this shade this spring from Avon's Spring collection called Zenergy.

I had some serious trouble with this shade. I did a mani with it a few weeks ago and got terrible bubbles. I tried again today and had to re-do several fingers due to bubbles again. It's also a color that gives me Lobster Hands. I just don't think it's very flattering with my skintone.

NOTD: Avon Forget-Me-Not Blue

Avon Forget-Me-Not Blue

1 coat

Forget-Me-Not Blue is part of Avon's Spring 2013 collection, called Petal Impressions.

This swatch is just 1 (!!!) coat. How awesome is that? Perfect even coverage. Although I didn't really think this went with a Spring collection at first, once I got it on and saw the shimmer in the sun, I was sold.

NOTD: Avon Blue Water Lilies

 Avon Blue Water Lilies

2 coats

Blue Water Lilies is part of Avon's Spring 2013 collection, called Petal Impressions.

Avon hit another one out of the park- this is gorgeous! Since blue is my favorite color, I am LOVING this. The shimmer in this is so pretty and application was great- it covered well and evenly in 2 coats. It seemed a bit thick at first but it wasn't an issue at all.

NOTD: Avon Garden Green

 Avon Garden Green

2 coats

 

 

Garden Green is part of Avon's Spring 2013 collection, called Petal Impressions.

 

 

The shimmer in this is so pretty and application was great- it covered well and evenly in 2 coats. I bought a few more from this collection and am looking forward to trying them. We have had a patch of cloudy rainy weather, so I'm hoping for the sun to come out soon!

Paradoxal vs. Amethyst vs. Perplex vs. Perplexed Purple

Monday was a gorgeous day and I was home with my daughter, who wasn't feeling well. During a third viewing (in as many days) of Beethoven's 5th, I decided I'd do some swatching of four shades I had set aside to compare.

Left to right:

Chanel Paradoxal

Covergirl Outlast Amethyst

Revlon Perplex

Avon Perplexed Purple



Left to right: (2 coats of each)

Chanel Paradoxal

Covergirl Outlast Amethyst

Revlon Perplex

Avon Perplexed Purple


The first three are so very close! If you missed out on 2010's Chanel Paradoxal and 2011's Revlon Perplex, Covergirl Amethyst, currently in stores, is a must-get. Avon's Perplexed Purple is actually quite different, but still so pretty.

Comparison: Avon vs. Chanel vs. Revlon- I'm Perplexed!

When I saw Avon's new Enchanted Spring collection, I ordered two shades, Illusion and Perplexed Purple. It didn't quite hit me that Perplexed Purple was a take on Chanel Paradoxal until I tried it.

Avon Perplexed Purple - Chanel Paradoxal - Revlon Perplex

It really depends on the light- I found that in some light they look more similar, although it's obvious that Avon's version has more purple. Definitely not a dupe, but pretty nonetheless.

Colors like this are hard to photograph- there are hidden shimmers and colors that only show up in certain angles and light.

Avon Perplexed Purple - Chanel Paradoxal - Revlon Perplex

Avon Perplexed Purple - Chanel Paradoxal - Revlon Perplex

Although they definitely aren't dupes, if you missed out on Paradoxal or Perplex, Perplexed Purple might just quench your thirst.

NOTD: Avon Perplexed Purple

Avon Perplexed Purple

from the 2012 Enchanted Spring collection

We've got rain rain rain here this morning, so no outside pic. Although this is a flash pic inside, it's pretty color-accurate.

With "Perplexed" in the name, I wondered if it was a version of Chanel Paradoxal or Revlon Perplexed. Tonight I'll try to pull mine out and see. From first glance at pictures I've taken of both for the blog, I'd say Avon's version is more purple at first glance, and similar, but not a full-on dupe.

And Avon has a great deal right now- 3 polishes for just $7.99 and they are also offering free shipping on just $10 with the code FSAPRIL. Also, going through ebates will get you 3% back.

So even if Avon's version is not quite a dupe, I'd imagine it's similar enough at just $2.66 to satisfy a craving for Chanel's $23 Paradoxal.

Disclosure: This post contains an ebates referral link.

NOTD: Avon Illusion

 Avon Illusion

from the 2012 Enchanted Spring collection

This one was a bit hard to photograph- there is a gorgeous purple shimmer that shows up in sunlight.... and I think I caught it a bit. But it's just gorgeous in person. The above swatch is three coats.

NOTD: Avon Powerful Pink

Avon Powerful Pink

This certainly leans more red than pink if you ask me.

It doesn't look like this shade is available any longer, but no big loss. It's nice, but nothing spectacular.

NOTD: Avon Speed Dry in Fusion

Avon Speed Dry in Fusion

I recently ordered this shade from Avon, most likely during a sale of some sort. It looks like it's retailing for $5 currently.

It has quite a pretty almost-hidden red shimmer, although this makes the finish a bit uneven. Even topped with Seche Vite, you can still see some bumpiness.

I have to be honest and say I never notice much of a difference in dry time between Avon's regular and Speed Dry lines, and this was no different. In fact, my thumbnail dented the next day. That's the first time that's happened to me with an Avon polish. Typically the quality is quite high.

So not a fave, but the red shimmer made it nice to wear for a day or two.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze

You know the best thing about the new crackle/shatter polish trend?

It can save a bad mani!

On Monday, I painted my nails with Lancome's Violet Groove, and I hated it! The polish was thick and goopy, which no new polish should be, and the purple cream polish did nothing for my skin.

So I grabbed my bottle of China Glaze Fault Line (sent to me for review purposes) and volia! Much better!

Lancome Violet Groove topped with China Glaze Fault Line

And the same thing happened last night... I painted my nails with Avon's new Breast Cancer Awareness color, Pink Power, and yuck. It looked terrible on me!

But with a coat of China Glaze Cracked Concrete (sent to me for review purposes), it was instantly cooler!

Avon Pink Power topped with China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Have you gotten on board with the crackle/shatter trend?

NOTD: Avon Gunmetal

Avon Gunmetal

This is another new Avon shade and again, LOVE. It was almost perfect coverage in 1 coat. As i said before, I am always amazed at the quality of Avon polishes- their prices are so good (2 for $6 right now), you wouldn't expect such a top-notch product- but it is always so good!

NOTD: Avon Night Violet

Avon Night Violet

So so so pretty! Sorry you are seeing a bit of tip wear. Crazy weather and a sick kiddo cut into my photo-taking time..... but I absolutely love this and am always amazed at the quality of Avon polishes- their prices are so good ($2.99 right now), you wouldn't expect such a top-notch product- but it is always so good!

NOTD: Avon Splendid Blue

Avon Splendid Blue

This polish is amazing- I got almost perfect coverage in one coat, but went ahead and did two to get longer-lasting wear.

This is one of the two new holiday shades from Avon.

Right now these are just $5 each. I order from my friend Valeri (email her at bucfanri {at} gmail {dot} com and she may have free shipping codes for you!)

And don't forget to go through Ebates for a percentage back- plus, if you have never used ebates before, you get $5, and I get $5.

NOTD: Avon Pink Radiance

Avon Pink Radiance

This is a shade pic since there was no sun. This is so pretty and the formula was fabulous- perfect coverage in just two coats.

This is one of the two new holiday shades from Avon. I'll have the other shade for you to see in the next few days.

Right now these are just $3.49 each. I order from my friend Valeri (email her at bucfanri {at} gmail {dot} com and she may have free shipping codes for you!)

And don't forget to go through Ebates for a percentage back- plus, if you have never used ebates before, you get $5, and I get $5.