Milani Retro Glam Collection- Swatches & Review

* I received the following product in exchange for my honest review by Milani.

This post is pretty wordy, but I felt a need to explain many factors when writing up this review.

I have the Milani Retro Glam collection to show you today. This is a collection of soft shades that includes Sprinkles black and white glitter topper.

Almond Bliss

Almond Bliss is a pale yellow off white creme.

Mint Chip

Mint Chip is a medium muted green creme.

Strawberry Shake

Strawberry Shake is light pink with a subtle shimmer.

Creamy Pistachio

Creamy Pistachio is a soft pale green creme.* I want to apologize for not having a swatch of this with Sprinkles on top. It truly slipped my mind as I was swatching tons of Milanis and didn't realize until editing that I had left that one out. 

Raspberry Delight

Raspberry Delight is a medium pink with a subtle shimmer.

Sprinkles is a mixture of black and white hex glitters and black bar glitters in a clear base.

Colors: This is a nice collection of colors. I think for a drugstore brand these are definitely on trend and fun colors. I especially like Almond Bliss and Creamy Pistachio.

Formula: These were a challenge to apply. I am sure you notice that from my photos. These were uneven, streaky, and did not self level. I really struggled with these, so much so I couldn't wait to get through this collection. I'm sure that's why I inadvertently forgot to swatch Creamy Pistachio with Sprinkles. Sprinkles top coat was nice though, but was a bit tricky to apply with the bar glitters.

Let me go into this further. You will see bloggers who have reviewed this collection with pristine swatches of these. I have also seen bloggers who have had similar problems that I had. Who is right? Who is wrong?

Neither one of us. Did some of us get "bad bottles".  No, I highly doubt it. Even though I have been blogging for a long time now I still consider myself an everyday polish user. One of the reasons I love nail polish is because of how easy it is to apply in comparison to other cosmetics. I don't want to fuss with a polish to make it work. I don't want to have to adjust  how I regularly apply nail polish to make it look nice. My nails are also not perfect. They aren't perfectly smooth and I do have nail ridges. Part of what I consider a good polish is a polish that covers up my imperfections, not one that highlights them.

These are the problems I had with these Milani polishes. They did not perform in the way I would  personally expect from a nail polish. I even used a ridge filling base coat and still noticed issues. That's not to say like some other bloggers you cannot get nice results with these. You may have a smoother nail surface, you may be more willing to work with these to even them out, you may have a better base coat than me. Personally, these were more of a struggle for me than I care for.

Price: These are $4.50, and will be available in select CVS and Meijier stores in August. They will also be available on the Milani website.

Overall: These are probably some of the most challenging nail polishes I've worked with in a long time on a personal level. If you identify with me on what I explained above, I think you will struggle similarly. If you have a different approach and don't mind working with a polish you may like these. This really boils down to personal preference and experience. These colors are beautiful, but that is as far as my recommendation can go on my part.

My Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

* I received these products in exchange for my honest review. 

Happy Tuesday!