Sunday, August 26, 2012

Retro Sunday Squared - Vintage Revlons!

Good morning my lovely readers!! Welcome to another edition of Retro Sunday Squared with Polished Claws Up! Today we decided to show you all some vintage Revlon polishes =) Revlon has done some pretty fantastic polishes in the past and are probably one of my favorite vintage polish brands.

I decided to show you gals two of my Revlon Color Illusion polishes for Retro Sunday this week. Color Illusion is a line that consists of duochrome, multichrome and shimmer polishes. I believe this line came out in 2002 and are pretty hard to come across these days. I had a hard time picking out which ones to swatch for you guys because the 7 or so that I own are all pretty awesome.

The one thing about these polishes is the formula absolutely SUCKS. Old Revlons are notorious for bubbling and long drying time, and both of these polishes had those issues. While I was swatching, I forgot to put a topcoat on my thumb and there was an insane amount of bubbles on that nail. Using Seche Vite helps with the bubbling, but it didn't eliminate it. Even with Seche Vite, they took a very, very long time to try. Overall, these polishes are essential for the vintage polish collector but I probably wouldn't recommend them to the casual polisher who just wants a fuss-free polish. But lets look at the pretties anyways, shall we?

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First up is Revlon Silver Switch. Silver switch is a multichrome polish that flashes purple, green and aqua. It is pretty sheer so I layered it over black for the swatches here. The colors in this polish are phenomenal! The color shifting in Silver Switch is quite strong and can be seen in any light. It reminds me a lot of Nubar Indigo Illusion, but more purple and less blue. I guess you could say it's kind of a cross between Indigo Illusion and the SH Emerald Amethyst that I had on here yesterday.

Here's 2 coats of Revlon Silver Switch over black. Enjoy - and please ignore the bubbles =)









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Next up is Revlon Plum Flip. Plum Flip is a magenta-y multichrome in the bottle, though the color shifting doesn't translate very well to the nail. I layered this one over black to try to bring the shift out but that didn't help much either. It was kind of a bummer, because it looked so pretty in the bottle. I was able to capture the shift a teensy but, but only at the most extreme angles. I swatched it without the black as well and even though the multichrome effect wasn't present, it was a really gorgeous color!

My pictures of this one just did not turn out too well since I was focused on trying to capture the shift rather than focusing on, well focusing my nails lol. Also, the bubbles were rampant in this one so try to ignore them again here in these pics =)

Here's 2 coats of Revlon Plum Flip over black, and then the last picture is 3 coats of Plum Flip on its own.





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What do you guys think? Would you hunt these down despite the less-than-stellar formula? Do you own any vintage Revlons?

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to check out Dana's Retro Sunday Squared post over at Polished Claws Up to see what vintage Revlons she has today!

32 comments:

  1. They are both beautiful - but Silver Switch is amazing!

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    1. That's my favorite of the bunch too! The color shift is even more amazing in real life!

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  2. I want to grab again! They look gorgeous!

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  3. Holy moly, this are so awesome! The color shifting is so cool!

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    1. I'm glad you like them!! I'm a huge fan of the color shifting myself =)

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  4. I like that rainbow in the bottle of Plum Flip! I'd love to see more vintage Revlons-- I've seen a couple polishes from this collection, but I'm not familiar at all with all the goodness they used to put out!

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    1. Mee too! I just wish the rainbow would show up better on the nail =) I will be posting a lot more vintage Revlons in the future, I have a bunch of them =)

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  5. Shamwow....these are drooltastic!

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  6. Love Plum Flip, it looks great both alone and with black. I personally would not hunt these down because of the formulas, (I'm not a vintage polish collector) but it is interesting to see how polish has evolved and so has the packaging.

    BTW, have you tried finding old polishes at nail supply stores, the type of store for salon owners? There's one by my house that has a ton of old polishes covered in a ton of dust. I never bothered to look because the dust bothers me. But since I've been reading your blog you peaked my interest. Just need some hand sanitizer when I go shopping there. :D

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    1. I love Plum Flip too! Just wish the rainbows showed up a bit better on the nail. Even if some vintage polishes have less than ideal formulas, the history nerd in me loves seeing how things have changed over the years =)

      I have tried looking for beauty supply stores in my area and sadly, I have not found any. I do go to nail salons and hunt for old polish there and have been quite successful in that aspect! You should definitely check out the dusty polishes, let me know if you find some good stuff!!

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  7. These duochromes ALWAYS blow my mind <3

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  8. I'm pretty sure my nana had these doors when I was younger :) they are such pretty coots perfect for fall!!

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    1. How cool!! And by coots, I'm guessing you mean colors ;-D. And I agree =)

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  9. I love these vintage posts!!! :D
    Gorgeous polishes! :D

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  10. I love the colors, and your honesty about the formula saved me from a lemming! ;)

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    1. Glad you like them, and I'm glad I've saved you a lemming as well =)

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  11. OMG OMG OMG OMG@ I NEEEEEEEEEEED these! These swatches are mind-blowing! I wish Revlon made these still!

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    1. Me too girl, me too!! I wish any of the drugstore brands would do duochromes like this again!

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  12. You're crazy, I didn't even notice any bubbles and I was looking for them! These are both lovely and look great on you - and you know my aversion for duo/multichromes so that's saying a lot ;)

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    1. Haha they were super noticeable IRL, glad they didn't show up too well on camera! I'm glad I shined a new light on the duochromes for you!

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  13. Gorgeous duochromes! They are both absolutely stunning! :-)

    ~ Yun

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  14. Ugh these are absolutely gorgeous!!!! :D

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