Collection 2000 is a great drugstore brand, available at Boots and Superdrug, and produce affordable makeup and nail polish - I often associate them with bright colours, glitter and sweat-proof foundation!
The new pastel shades are in store now, and retail for £1.79 for 8ml - an absolute bargain if you ask me, you cant go wrong for a couple of squid!
Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised by these, as I wasn't expecting to get along with them AT ALL after THIS fiasco. My first experience of the Collection 2000 formula was abysmal, but I'm happy to say that this new collection has changed my mind, and convinced me that I had a duff bottle before.
All these swatches are 3 coats - no one-coaters here, I'm afraid. The first coat is streaky, with opacity achieved on the third coat. These dry VERY quickly, all three coats were touch dry in a couple of minutes - great! All photos are with no top-coat.
First up is Lemon Sorbet, a pastel yellow cream, very summery -
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| Natural light, no flash |
For yellow, this was very opaque, but this is to be expected with a cream formula. I think you may have to be careful with an unflattering skin-tone here, with it suiting more Olive skins, and skins with richer, deeper tones. I love this shade, though, and will be wearing it a lot this summer, I'm sure.
Next, is Milkshake, a reddish brown nude - exactly like chocolate milkshake! It's a lot more sophisticated than the other shades
I found Milkshake to be slightly thinner than the others - this is 3 coats, but it is not as opaque as the others :( I still like it, but not sure why it's included as a "summer" shade - for me it's more a sophisticated shade for autumn - would be lovely for evenings out, though!
Next, Angel Wings. This is a grey-blue cream, and very cool-toned
I really like this shade. Although very cool, it's a great shade to have in your nail polish arsenal, especially for nail art - it really reminds me of a light denim jean colour.
Next, is Candy Floss - the perfect shade of bubblegum pink, in my opinion! I love how shiny this appeared, Barbie nails all round!
This one is an essential for your collection - a lovely, creamy, pastel pink.
Finally, is my favourite of the collection, Fruit Loop. It's a pinky-peachy cream, and I'm loving how it looks. This shade is on the shelves a lot at the moment, with Barry M's new Peach Melba, and Bloom's Flamingo Sands, to name a couple I've come across - a very popular colour for the summer. This Collection 2000 version, however, is by far the cheapest and holds its own quality wise.
So, the Pros?
- £1.79 for 8ml - bargain. The Hot Looks polishes have some great colours, and these new pastels are no exception.
- Candy Floss and Fruit loop especially, are what I would call an essential, every girl needs the perfect shade of pastel pink - I dare you to disagree!
- Easy to get hold of - no bloody Evilbay here, no tricky Internet buying, Paypal or waiting to collar the postman, you can just pop into the local beauty store (for us Brits!). Boots even offer a service where you can reserve polishes for pick up, online - easy peasy.
- They are amazingly fast drying, even with thick coats they didn't bubble, and you're less likely to smudge with this formula if you're a clumsy bugger, like me.
- They have restored my faith in Collection 2000 after the dreadful time I had with Spangle. Urgh. I hate thinking about it.
- The formula is, over-all, a winner.
- THE LOW PRICE, AGAIN. (Without compromising quality!)
The Cons?
- None of the shades are particularly unique, thought they do offer cheaper alternatives to colours that I have seen by other brands (as stated above, for Fruit Loop)
- Milkshake doesn't really strike me as a "summer" shade.
- Milkshake was rather thin, and I've had an unbearably thick bottle of Spangle. Inconsistant formulas, maybe?
- ALL the polishes are at least 3-coaters. You get a lot of bang for your buck with these, but with three coats every time, it may not last you as long as you think.
Right! Deep Breath! You can rest your little eyes now, it's been a long post, and crammed with info!
What do you think everyone? Do you have a favourite? Which are you dying to try, and which would you rather die than try? They're a hit with me, but I would love to know what you think, especially if you've tried them yourself!
*Polishes were provided for review by Collection 2000. I am in no way affiliated with the company, and all opinions are my own and uninfluenced by the providers. For more information please visit my Disclosure page.