Surprise, it is me! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and still hanging around after a week's silence. I am so sorry for that. I might be on and off until the end of June, that is two more months but I promise to become extra active after that to make up for the things and hoping to see you all and read your comment especially during this very busy period when I try extra hard to get the reviews up. I worked hard yesterday for the blog, swatched tens of nail polishes and took lots of photos so hoping to be able to post more often this week and the week after that. Fingers crossed.
Dior's Summer 2016 Collection makes me sing "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". I love the theme of the collection, Polka Dots but honestly I had a very hard time finding something to purchase. I ended up with three of the nail polish sets including a doting tool and two small sized (7 ml instead of 10ml) nail polishes. Other than that? Unfortunately eye shadow formula is not calling me and lip products are not very exciting either. I was thinking about getting one of the bronzers, one with pinks in it but those are permanent so can wait a little. Have you picked up anything? Any suggestions? My thoughts and swatches of Manicure kits are right after the jump.
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| Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kits 001 Pastilles, 002 Confettis, 003 Plumetis for Summer 2016 |
A few words about the packaging and the contents before I start with the review. Dior has released quite a few manicure sets in the past such as the one with the magnet or some stickers. Last year there was some tie & die idea which was too time consuming (3-4 coats, who would wait for these to dry?). I am happy to tell you that this is the first manicure kit which actually worked! It is such fun and the packaging is not as bulky as the ones before that. I am positively surprised. Doting is really easy with the applicator provided, even for a nail art noob like myself. All thumbs up for this aspect.
Each set costs only around 32 € for 14 ml of nail polish and the dotting applicator. Doing the maths 14 ml of Dior nail polish costs more than 35€ so it is a good deal. You are also getting two shades at ones, which is attractive even if you don't use it by dotting.
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 001 Pastilles |
Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 001 Pastilles has a cream nude (#212) and a blue color (#795). These both perform well. Although the nail polish is smaller, the brush is the same size as in the regular bottle. Cream shade applied beautifully and with two coats it is perfectly opaque without streakiness. Blue is a little thin in consistency but it is also opaque in two coats.
In theory this can be dotted in two ways, either dark on light, as I did here or light on dark. In this particular nail polish, the blue is staining so I recommend you to apply a good base coat before going for blue as the base. I personally like blue dots on cream more.
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kits001 Pastilles |
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 002 Confettis |
I used a piece of paper to dab some nail polish and picked up small amounts by using the tool provided. It is really easy to do even if you are not familiar with nail art *shows herself*. The peach shade (#432) and the coral (#652) are both perfectly opaque in two coats if you decide to use them as a base or on its own.
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 002 Confettis |
Here comes my personal favorite, Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 003 Plummets. The reason being is strictly personal, I simply love the mauve pink combination. I opted for the deeper shade as a base though since the lighter shade is a little streaky and took a few attempts to get it the way it is shown below on my ring finger nail. In fact I ended up three coats of this for that. Mauve is applied two coats and has a perfect consistency and opaqueness.
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 003 Plumetis |
I wished #582 would be available as a separate shade. I would be all over it. I think Chanel has a few shades which are close, such as Infidele of Fashion Night Out a few years back but this one is the perfect balance of pink and plum and I find the lightness to be perfect. I am considering to wear it all over with only dotted manicure on the ring finger (so that the students don't get terrified on Monday).
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 003 Plumetis |
Here is a one last shot of my favorite shade and one of my favorite color combination in a tulip. Maybe I have to do a make-up inspired by this flower, what do you think? Reminds me a bit of Suqqu #18 Sakuraori palette (reviewed here)
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| Swatch: Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kit 003 Plumetis |
Final thoughts: Although I struggled to find something else to buy from Dior's Summer Collection, I think the nail polish manicure kit is the best nail art attempt of Dior up to date in terms of the value offered for the product, the quality and ease of application. If you are in for a little fun on your tips, I recommend you to check out your favorite color combo.
Are you eyeing anything from Dior Summer Polka Dots Collection?
Disclaimer: The products in this post were purchased by me.
I am not paid for this review. All opinions are honest and my own.
