Borghese Fashionista Collection

The newest additions to the Borghese polish family are like a cold wintery blast on the cusp of spring. The shades aren't what you would come to expect from a spring collection, but that doesn't make them any less relevant or beautiful. With shades that range from "mannequin hands" nude to shimmering black, you get both sides of the spectrum in a duochromatic, fun kind of way.

 

A collection of six shades, Fashionista caters mostly to the vampy nail look lover in all of us. Four of the six shades are deep, dark, sparkling, blackened shades, while two are very 'quiet' nudes.

L-R Plumaggio Purple, Biscotto Beige, Stellare Notte

  

Plumaggio Purple is easily my favorite shade in the collection. A deep violet, Plumaggio can run either purple or blue, depending on the lighting. As you can tell in the close-up below, there is a lot of red/pink shimmer in the color which gives it a very unique effect.

  

With a name that curiously makes me want to eat a cookie, Biscotto beige is a yummy shade of nude that kind of reminds me of my beloved animal crackers. The shade on me nearly blends into my skintone, which works for an effect that I am kind of digging at the moment.

   

Stellare Notte is a beautiful shade of sparkling black with strong touches of silver. A true chameleon color, Stellare can appear different shades depending on the lighting (I saw purple, green, and even some pink), and truly does resemble a night sky.

  

Mezzanotte Blue, Bella Berry, Almondine

  

Mezzanotte Blue is a deep shade of inky navy in a high shine cream finish.With two coats, the shade looks almost black.

  

To continue on with the food analogies, Bella Berry is a sparkling shade of deep raspberry with strong pink sparkle to it. The lighting the swatch below is strong on the cool side, but it was the picture that captures the sparkle the best.

 

Almondine is a pale shade of putty that also works very well as a barely there (mannequin hand) shade. On first glance, you can see that it is a fairly light shade that is devoid of sparkle or complexity. On closer inspection, you get the impressions of dark 'sprinkles' that almost remind me of flecks of vanilla bean (black, brown) in an otherwise winter white cup of vanilla ice cream. It is a unique shade for a nude.

  

I found the formula on these polishes to be good, applying full and opaque with just two coats. Dry down time was fairly average as well. What I didn't like was the short, wide brush on the bottle, which made application a little bit difficult for a non-nail expert like me. I am not quite ambidextrous, so polishing my own digits did feel a bit clumsy at times. 

Another problem I could foresee is the color story's lack of variety across the spectrum as a whole. Nude and dark lacquer fans are well taken care of with the shades offered, but midway color lovers might feel left in the lurch. Not a problem for me, but I can see others being disappointed in not finding a shade they love.

All in all, I am quite pleased with Borghese's offerings for Spring. The colors are fun and fresh, and gain points for not being your typical spring pastels. You can find Borghese Beauty polishes at Ulta, and your local drugstore. 

*Product provided by PR for consideration