Dollicious Polish by Frederick's of Hollywood -- swatches and review

Hello everyone! Today I have a different kind of post, something new for Glittericity--my very first swatch-and-review post! I'm pretty excited about it, because 1) the polishes were a Christmas gift from my mother, and 2) I've never seen them on any other nail blog so far!

I'm posting this now because these colours are perfect for Valentine's Day--I want to do some cute nail art with them at the start of February--and while supplies last, it looks like they are on clearance for a mere $3. Whaaaaaat? (Only available in the US though...) :(

The polishes are sold in a trio and the collection is called Dollicious. They come in a cute box like this:

This is longer and more pic-heavy than usual, so the rest of the review will be after the jump! Keep reading to see the rest!

 

The packaging was quite nice--sturdy and really cute, and even goes with the polish colours! Speaking of the bottles themselves, they are .53oz or 15ml (so just a tiny bit bigger than OPI, which is .5oz or 14ml). This set comes with three amazing silvery-metallic shades: Violet Vixen, a cool yet grapey-violet; Scene Stealer, a cool-toned gold that manages to look rose-gold in certain lights; and Cherry Tease, a really beautiful hot-pink/fuschia. The photo on the Frederick's website is colour-accurate except for Cherry Tease--it's a bit less reddish-toned than that in real life.

The brush and formula are just great. I wasn't sure what to expect from this set, given that the company mainly focuses on clothes and I didn't even know they sold nail polish until I opened this present. But, just like their lingerie, it is chic, elegant, smooth, and beautiful. Here is a comparison of the bottle and brush size/shape, compared to OPI since the bottles are similar:

I seriously need a better lighting/photography situation.

The brush is smaller, but still fans out nicely at the end when you are painting. I actually prefer this one, as while everyone loves OPI's Pro-Wide brush, I have tiny nail beds and always manage to make a mess on my two smallest fingers with it. The Dollicious brush was nice to work with.

As far as the formula goes--I'll say it again, I was surprised that it was so smooth and easy to work with. Cherry Tease could almost be a one-coater; the others required two for full opacity. (In these swatches I did two coats of each just to make sure no visible nail line peeked through. I also did not apply any topcoat.) These are nicely opaque, though, and application wasn't an issue.

Now, on to the swatches! I took photos in three different lighting situations: shade/indoors (which was about the same, so I didn't bother doing separate sets), direct sunlight, and blurred-sunlight, because there's some hidden holo shimmer that comes out in the sun!

Index and middle fingers: Violet Vixen. Ring and small fingers: Cherry Tease
Click to enlarge.

Close-up of Scene Stealer in shade. Please excuse the dent on the index finger--I didn't even notice that until I was looking at the huge, blown-up versions of these pics.

Close-up of Violet Vixen in shade.

Close-up of Cherry Tease in shade.

What I like about these metallic shades is that almost all of the shimmer and reflectiveness comes from a silvery glassflecky sort of magic that's in this formula. Despite having so much of that, the "main" colour still dominates, especially in indirect lighting. And yes, even in the shade, they are that bright and reflective! Click these photos to enlarge and see that detail. I just love the textured look.

Violet Vixen and Cherry Tease, basking in the sun!

Scene Stealer in the sun. As you can see, it gets more warm and rich-looking in the sun.

As you step into the sun, these really come alive. I couldn't stop looking at them; they were so bright and shiny it was like I had little balls of light on my nails! The word that keeps coming to mind to describe these is "rich". Rich and luxurious.

I got yet another surprise in the sun too--hidden holo shimmer! It's subtle, but I had no idea it was going to be there. Here are some blurry pics so you can see it:

Warm, sparkly, lovely :D

It seems the brighter the light, the more Scene Stealer really... well... steals the scene.

I intended to do a "pros and cons" section, but really, there aren't a lot of cons. If I wanted to be nitpicky I would mention that they do dry a bit slowly--you'll definitely want to add a fast-drying topcoat. And well, I wish they shipped internationally. But honestly? Everything else is just perfect.

So... yeah. Even for the original price, that's a total steal for these babies--and at the discount price, holy crap, go get them! xoxo

**I mentioned at the start of this review that these polishes were a gift. I am not affiliated with the company and they have not asked me to review them, nor paid me any money or goods in exchange. They don't even know I am posting this, LOL. This is an honest review of my experience.**