Review: Barielle's Carnival Fiesta Collection

(Press Sample)

Hello hello hello!

Today I'm bringing you Barielle's Carnival Fiesta Collection, one of my favorite collections in a long time. this is the last time you'll be seeing my nails long for a bit, because I've just had my bi-yearly disaster: I broke three nails in the same day, which I assume is the universes way of telling me it's time to go short for a while. Ah well, at least I have some pretties showing here. :)

This collection is inspired by Carnival, Brazil's pre-Lenten festival, which is a version of what we celebrate here as Mardi Gras. The colors perfectly capture the festive spirit of celebration, and I couldn't be happier with it!

Holiday Madness is my favorite of the collection. It's a gleaming golden green (say that three times fast), sort of a gilded olive shade:

Barielle Holiday Madness

Barielle Holiday Madness

Barielle Holiday Madness

This is two easy-peasy, problem free coats. Wonderful formula, wonderful coverage, dries quickly. Excellent from start to finish.


Next we have Jillian's Jammin', a bright cerulean duochrome that goes into green and purple:

Barielle Jillian's Jammin'

Barielle Jillian's Jammin'

This is two coats, and that worked fine for me, but you might want to go three coats with this one. The color in the second picture is truer; the light of my lightbox diffused through the polish and lightened it a bit in the top picture. Application was wonderful. :)

Of course we need a hot red for a collection like this, and Lindsay's Dancin' is a sizzling-hot shimmer to help you get through your partay:

Barielle Lindsay's Dancin'

Barielle Lindsay's Dancin'

Barielle Lindsay's Dancin'

Barielle Lindsay's Dancin'

Barielle Lindsay's Dancin'

I love the blue shimmer that gives this polish a glow, and makes it just that much more special. This is also a very wearable red, not too dark, not too vampy. I have on two coats here, and the formula and application were wonderful.

You can't have Carnival/Mardi Gras without purple. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of law...I'll have to look into it. But luckily, we've got it covered no matter what with Rio's Rockin' Bands:

Barielle Rio's Rockin' Bands

Barielle Rio's Rockin' Bands

Barielle Rio's Rockin' Bands

This is a silvery, regal purple with saturated color; I have two coats here, but it was just shy of being a one coater. In these pictures, you can see a little bit of brushstroke her and there but keep in mind this is close up; I didn't find it troublesome in real life. :)

Last but not least, is the gray-purple shimmer duochrome wonder of Wanna Samba?:

Barielle Wanna Samba?

Barielle Wanna Samba?

This is a close dupe for Wet 'n' Wild's Gray's Anatomy, with an important difference--this is two coats, full coverage and full duochrome flash, where you'll need 4 coats of Gray's Anatomy to get even close to this coverage. You know I really don't like putting on even 3 coats, let alone 4, so my preference is clearly for this polish over other similar polishes that require more coats. Formula on this was excellent, smooth, and fast drying.

I think this is an extremely well-conceived and put together set of polishes for those of us who love the jewel tones and the duochromes. It's festive and fun, and it's great quality. :)

Also, Barielle currently has 30% off, along with free shipping, now until March 16th. You can find their website by clicking here; also, keep an eye on their Facebook page, because they have lots of cool giveaways and contests.  I'll be back soon with their two new spring collections. :)

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend,

Hugs and loves,
M.