Tuesday 1 April 2014

Avon's Gel Finish Nailwear + Winner of Sephora giveaway

I know it's not Monday today but I just couldn't wait until next Manic.Monday to tell you about these Gel Finish Nailwear from Avon (£7) so let's just focus on the Manic.ure bit, rather than what day of the week it is. I've never had a salon gel manicure done, but I've been a mahoosive fan of gel finishes ever since Barry M launched their amazing Gelly Hi-Shine effect range last year and by now we've seen other brands catching up with their own versions at different price points. The Gel Finish Nailwear is the latest nail polish release from Avon available as of April and it promises to give a high gloss gel like shine which is also supposed to strengthen the nails by up to 42% without any need for using a UV lamp, it has built in base and top coat and intense pigmentation in one coat. Since Avon is famous for their value for money products I was very excited to take this formula for a test drive. For being a new launch, the range of colors is very impressive - there are 24 different shades available ranging from bright, vibrant, sunny colors that just POP, darker and more sophisticated chic shades to everybody's favorite this season - pretty creamy candy colors, in short there's something for everyone! Since I'm all about pastels this year I decided to try the formula in the shades Sheer Love which is a very pale white petal pink, and Lavender Sky which is a beautiful pale mauve shade.
The formula has a good consistency, not too runny and not too thick, and with the averagely sized brush it's easy to get a good amount of product to try and minimise the amounts of brush strokes used. I have previously been quite skeptical towards formulas that claim to have a built in base and top coat, but after having used the amazing Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Formula, I was much less reluctant to try these polishes without any base coat, and I'm very pleased to say that neither of these shades stained my nails and they also lasted and wore really well after I'd applied them with a natural glossy finish. Personally I quite like my Gel effects to be super shiny, so even though there was no impact on wear I think I'll still apply a high shine top coat for that brilliant shine. So far so good, however there were some differences between the shades in terms of pigmentation. You may remember that Avon claims that one coat should be enough with this formula - well, that's definitely not the case with the shade Sheer Love. Admittedly it is a delicate pink, in fact it's almost a nude color however for a good streak free and opaque coverage I had to apply 3 coats of it, which is not at all what I would expect from a gel effect (especially not one priced at £7), even if the color is sheer and it's probably because of the amount of coats needed that this only lasted about 3 days before starting to chip. With Lavender Sky on the other hand it's a completely different story and you'll get a gorgeous, creamy and opaque look using only one coat with minimum brush strokes and it lasted flawlessly for almost 5 days. Sheer Love is without a doubt  a very pretty shade, but for me it just doesn't live up to my expectations of a gel polish. If I'm underwhelmed about Sheer Love, I'm exactly the opposite regarding Lavender Sky - the color is pure and simple beauty, the coverage phenomenal and it lasted quite a long time.
 
Since I have only tried two different shades of the Avon Gel Polishes, I don't want to go as far as to say that the overall quality is inconsistent, however if you do go for a sheer shade you should be prepared that you might need to use more than one coat for a lovely opaque finish. The Avon Gel Polishes will be priced at £7, but if you order now you can get them at 50% discount.

Before we finish today's post I am very happy to announce the winner of the giveaway of Sephora makeup products to celebrate that I had reached more than 100 000 pageviews. Thank you so SO much for all the entries, but unfortunately there could be only one winner this time around, and the lucky girl is Hayley Todd - congratulations Hayley and I really hope you'll enjoy the products! Have a great day everyone!

50 comments:

  1. I've got Limencello it's a lovely yellow colour with a shimmer running through it, great for summer.

    http://beautyskooldropout2013.blogspot.co.uk/

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  2. I think Avon nail polishes are so good for the price x

    pearlsandsparkle.blogspot.com

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    1. Absolutely, although personally I think £7 is at the upper range of what I would pay for an Avon nail polish, but the introduction price is VERY reasonable :o). Xx

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  3. I like both shades but Sheer Love is my favorite. Looks so feminine~

    Eva
    http://whatever-eva-wants.blogspot.ro/

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    1. It's a lovely and delicate color, I just wasn't impressed with the pigmentation... :o). Xx

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  4. ohh those colors look so great!!

    www.magdalennes.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. There are quite a few gorgeous shades in this range - so it's well worth investigating :o). Xx

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  5. These two shades are gorgeous, wish Avon had not left Ireland!

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    1. It's a shame and it doesn't seem like Avon UK delivers to Ireland either... :o/. Xx

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  6. These shades looks gorgeous! I love the lavender / purple colour!

    Hollie x
    Holliefurniss.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. That's my favorite too - it's so pretty and dreamy :o). Xx

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  7. That pink shade is gorgeous! Congratulations to Hayley as well :)

    Ellie xx | http://theleobeauty.blogspot.co.uk/

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  8. These shades looks lovely!

    www.mybeautysleuth.com

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    1. They are really lovely, although I definitely prefer Lavender Sky :o). Xx

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  9. I love both colors!!!! in fact I have got 2 rather similars!

    xx

    isa

    www.un-likely.com

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    1. LOL - I always end up buying something very similar to what I already have :o). Xx

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  10. I HATE doing my nails because the polish always comes off. I need to try this out!

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    1. Lavender Sky lasted really well, so I'd definitely recommend that then :o). Xx

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  11. So pretty those colors!!

    http://www.cindyslittleblackbook.com

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    1. The pastel range is really lovely :o). Xx

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  12. beautiful colors!
    www.agoprime.it

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  13. Loving that purple shade! So pretty!
    www.amemoryofus.blogspot.com

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  14. These look so pretty and glossy :)

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  15. These look so preeeeetty. :) I miss Avon in Ireland, I loved them! x
    http://lipstickandlightening.blogspot.ie/

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    Replies
    1. Yes it's a shame they packed it in there... :o). Xx

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  16. I love these colours! I want to try out some gel finish nail polishes, so will definitely check these out x

    daisy-drops

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    1. Great! let me know what you think of them :o). Xx

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  17. I really love these pastel colours. Especially the pink one, such a subtle tint.

    Sofie x
    Little green Sofie

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    1. It's a beautiful color, just shame that it needs more than 1 coat :o). Xx

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  18. Gorgeous colours! I never even think to buy from Avon so it's really refreshing!

    Now following you on Bloglovin'!
    Tsui.
    Fashion Ganache.

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and for leaving such a lovely comment :o). Xx

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  19. Sheer Love is beautiful. I'm always impressed with Avon polishes! xxx

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    1. They're great value for money, although for me the full price of these gel formulas is pushing is for Avon :o). Xx

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  20. these colours look lovely !
    i love the look of avons gel finish nail polish :)
    The Inked Blonde-vintageMel

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    1. I was so impressed with Lavender Sky but I think I have to try a few more shades before I makeup my mind completely since the Sheer Love was a bit of a disappointment from a formula point of view :o). Xx

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  21. These look like they give such a good finish!!

    Stevie
    VintageAndVans

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    1. It's a beautiful, look and Lavender Sky really worked in terms of just needing one coat :o). Xx

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  22. I sell AVON in US and ALL of my customers who have tried the gel polish have LOVED it!

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    1. I'm not surprised and £3.50 is a great introduction price :o). Xx

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  23. Replies
    1. The range is really great and I think I'll pick up another pale one and a bright one to check the formula of them too :o). Xx

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  24. I love the purple! x

    www.underbluelights.blogspot.co.uk

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    Replies
    1. Me too - it's such a gorgeous creamy lilac :o). Xx

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