A Very Strange Polish: Borghese Almondine

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Happy Sunday Night, Readers!
Today I want to show you my first Borghese polish, called Almondine. My pal Mae sent this to me, and it's a bit of a oddity. I really don't think I've ever seen a polish quite like this one, but the effect is quite subtle and will probably be appreciated by the wearer alone.

Almondine is a buff creme, with a bit of hidden pink shimmer and very fine black speckle. The first time I put on this polish, I thought I had gotten lint on my wet nails but no- it was just the strange grainy specks of black. It makes the polish very visually satisfying- instead of being a plain nude creme, its got texture. The pink shimmer is really fine and easy to miss, it's only visible in certain lighting but it gives my nails a faint luster.

Look cloooooser! Isn't that hidden shimmer interesting?

The formula on this polish... ugh, this is one heck of a fussy polish! It took four coats to get that nice opaque look you see on my nails. Anything short of four coats looked quite streaky. It was a difficult formula to work with, I had to wait a really long time before applying top coat because it smudged super easily when touched with my top coat's brush.
Speaking of brushes, this one leaves a lot to be desired. Since it's my first Borghese, I'm not sure if it's typical of all their polishes but it was the first time where I thought, "Hmmm. This brush really hampers my ability to paint my nails neatly. Cheese and crackers, it looks like a gibbon tried to give me a mani." The brush comprised of stubby hairs that were all of uneven length that really made even strokes across my nail awkward.
So while I loved this clean, deceivingly complex color... applications and brush are terrible enough where I'm not sure I'd recommend it. I have a bottle of Stellare Notte in my untried polish bin, but now I'm apprehensive- I'd hate to use another brush like this one!

What do you think of Borghese polishes? They just came out with a new collection and I really want Euro Green... but not if all the brushes and formula are like this one.

Thanks Mae for this fascinating polish!

Product featured was given to me as a gift.