When I saw this new collection from Face Of Australia the first words that came to my mind were ‘bravo’. Now I know you are all thinking “why?”, “what is that supposed to mean”? but if you hush for a second I will tell you. You see I love Australia. I love my country (despite the fact I would jump at the opportunity to move to the USA) and we do a lot of things exceptionally well. Our cheese and wine is superb, our land is beautiful and we cook a pretty mean barbecue, but as far as nail lacquers that actually make my jaw drop …. I feel we are a little behind.

Now don’t get me wrong. We have AMAZING brands like Bloom, Australis and even previous collections from Face of Australia which have released beautiful colours, BUT none have quite bowled me over just from the first glance. Let’s face it, even the most addicted polish lovers only feel that heart flutter from the look of an entire collection about once or twice a year. I know I am rambling, but the point is that as soon as I saw this collection all lined up I was in awe. So, to you Face of Australia …. I say bravo!

Besides all that, I am loving that it the formula is really long lasting and there is a great colour range, plus they are LIMITED EDITION. The only thing that disappoints me slightly is the lack of a pink lacquer. Where’s the pink??

Now that I have got the obligatory daily babbling out of the way. Lets get down to the important stuff…..

I found all of these lacquers to be highly pigmented and mostly opaque in just one coat. Most of them had the same, consistent formula that resulted in a smooth application and no streaking, but there were a few cases that were different (they are noted below in the individual colour reviews).  In almost every colour I had one finger that decided it would bubble a little bit or settle into my ridges. Now I feel this isn’t actually a fault of the polish but rather my very ridgey nails that generally cause me havoc when I have no base coat on. As we all know, you really should be using a good base and top coat with every polish, but in the case of swatching I do not do this because it would take for ever.

NOTE: All swatches are taken in natural light with 2 coats of colour, no base coat and no top coat. Click to enlarge.

White Gold

This polish is just absolutely stunning. It is so elegant and looks wonderful on neat oval shaped nails, my shape of choice. The colour is opaque in one neat coat, but I did two because I made a few lumpy bumps. The formula is relatively fast drying, which is great but I did see some streakiness on the nails I went over with the brush a couple too many times.

This one is the best metallic option for subtly.

Tip: Apply this one slowly and neatly the first time around for a perfect result

Bronze

I think the name says it all. The colour is ….. *drumroll* …. BROZE! I mean like a real, true, red based rusty bronze. This metallic could verge on being classified as a holographic thanks to the ultra-fine gold glitter specs. Again, this one was practically opaque in one application. No streaking or pulling.

Titanium

A very silver metallic that has a rather frosted finish. I expected it to be quite glossy but this one looks a little matte when put against the previous two. It has lots of ultra-fine silver specs which really adds dimension to the colour. Possibly one of, if not the best, silver lacquer I have seen to day. Again, this one was practically opaque in one application. No streaking or pulling.

Gold

I couldn’t help but sing the 007 ‘Goldfinger’ theme song when I was painting this one on my nails. It is true yellow gold with ultra-fine gold glitter. It would make for a perfect partner with the Bronze and Silver. If they gave these out at the olympics I might actually consider doing sport.

Flaming Lava

Oh boy oh boy oh boy … this one makes me giddy with excitement. I can only describe this red as the juiciest, most beautiful red ever. If apples were this colour I would never stop eating them. I actually cannot stop looking at this colour when it is on my nails. I have to admit, when it is in the bottle it does nothing for me. Like, it is pretty in the bottle ….. but it isn’t KA-BOOM like it is on the nails.

While it also is nearly opaque in one coat, I seemed to have needed far less product for it to spread evenly across my nail. It could be my imagination but I feel like even after I wiped the brush off quite a bit, I could still get full coverage. Strange. Big downside though, because this colour is so heavily pigmented, any mishaps on my ghostly white skin is very noticable. Even after clean-up attempts you can still see smudging on the cuticle.

Tip: When doing the area near your cuticles, apply very slowly with minimal product on the brush.

Verdigris

The green colour in this lacquer is quite unique, and one I have never seen before. It reminds me of green olive tapenade with how it has that slightly yellow, oily sheen from the olive oil. Of all the lacquers in the Molten Metallics collection I would say this formula was the most sheer, but it was still perfectly opaque in just two coats.

I experienced some streaking and pulling with this colour.

Amethyst

I am always fighting with myself over whether pink or purple is my favourite colour, but when there is no pink to choose, purple becomes the winner. In this case, purple is actually not my favourite colour in this collection. Shocked? I thought so. While this purple is lovely, I really did expect it to be a bit more in my face. It isn’t too dark and it definitely isn’t too bright, but there is just something about it that isn’t wowing me. The formula is fantastic, no streaking or pulling, so it is just the actual colour that isn’t doing it for me.

I think I am going to stare at it some more because the past 3 hours just didn’t resolve anything.

Iron Ore

I have probably worn a full black nail maybe twice in my life. It wasn’t a great look. As you can see from the below swatch, black nail polish against my skin makes me look even more white. Despite that, I really like this lacquer. The starkness of the black is softened with a fun amount of silver shimmer. In my opinion I don’t think this lacquer looks completely metallic, but how on earth you can make black metallic is a thought my brain cannot comprehend. Unfortunately my futile attempts to show the shimmer of this lacquer failed miserably but Swatch Girl has done a marvellous job of swatching.

The most important thing with this nail polish is to keep the strokes neat. As you can see (maybe … darn the crappy photography), the cuticle edge becomes very noticeable if you don’t keep it in a really neat curve. I tried so hard to do this but my crappy painting skills got in the way.

My Favourite

There is no doubt in my mind that this lacquer is by far the most stand out of the collection. I expect this one to sell out in the first week (if not day!) so run to your local stockist for ….. *drum roll* …….. FLAMING LAVA!

What Face Of Australia Say ….

Adorn your nails with breathtaking silver, gold and bronzing shades in stunning
metallic finish. A total of 8 rich, dazzling hues to make your nails the ultimate fashion
statement this winter.

FEATURES & BENEFITS

• Advanced formula dries in 60 seconds
• Stunning metallic finish
• Long wearing, chip resistant
• Toluene free, Formaldehyde free, Dibutyl Phthalate free

Details

AU $4.99 rrp from May-August only, while stock lasts!

Get yours from Priceline, Kmart, Big W and selected pharmacies. More info on the Face Of Australia website

All images are the property of The Plastic Diaries, excluding press release images. If you wish to use them please contact me to request permission.

Some of these items were provided for consideration, in accordance with our Disclosure Policy

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