Review: Color Club's Winter Affair Holiday 2012 Collection

Hello!

I love the holidays; to me it's a magical time of year that starts with Halloween and ends with New Year's Day. This is the first Holiday season since I discovered nail art, and I've been very excited to see the holiday polishes that are coming out. Now, I'm one of those people who think that the Christmas part of the season doesn't start until after Thanksgiving--but I decided it makes sense to start showing the Holiday polishes now, in case people see something they like and want to grab it in time.

So, today I'm going to review Color Club's Winter Affair Holiday 2012 Collection, which I'll admit up-front I really love. It's the first holiday collection so far that I actually wanted to by more than just one or two of the colors. When I first saw it, I thought 'So many purples? With only six colors? In a *holiday* collection?' But when I looked closer I saw that each of the purples are very different, and two of them really are more in the red family. So, by my eye, this collection has two reds, three purples (one of them a really pretty glitter), one green, and a flakie (Snow-Flake)--if there was a blue, that might just be my perfect holiday collection. What makes this collection really special though, is the finishes, I think. Each one is different.

Anyway, on to the swatches! Each one is two coats, with a Seche Vite topcoat. Then I added one coat of the flakie to most of them; I don't show it on its own because it's not meant for that of course. :)

Let's start with Berry And Bright, which is a Christmas red semi-foil with a flash of berry in it:

Color Club Berry And Bright

Color Club Berry And Bright in the sun

The name and some of the shots of it in the bottle on the internet are misleading, I think. When I think of a 'berry', I think of a purple of some sort. But at least on me, this was definitely a red, even if it had lashings of purple in it. It's shiny and fun, and perfect for the holiday season.

Next up is Gift Of Sparkle, which is almost as hard to describe as it was to photograph. The picture that captures it best is the one that's blurry, lol; the combination of purple and glitter made my camera freak out a bit. It's a blue-ish purple with a ton of glitter and holographic micro particles. Now, I don't like glitter bombs--my love for glitter still falls on the 'use sparingly' side. But I loved this. I hate to use the cliche line, but it's true--my pictures just don't do this one justice. It's extremely sparkly, pretty, and very festive:

Color Club Gift Of Sparkle in the sun

Gift Of Sparkle indirect light

Color Club Gift of Sparkle blurred to show the sparklies

Oh, and the best part about it? It came off just like a regular polish. No glitter struggles at all. :)

I also added a coat of the flakie that comes in this collection (Snow-Flakes) to this one, just for the heck of it:

Color Club Gift Of Sparkle + Snow-Flakes in the shade

I was surprised to really love the effect of the flakie on this (I didn't expect it even to be visible). It was very subtle, but it gave a pretty texture that made the polish just a titch more pretty. Gorgeous. This will make you stand out at any holiday party you go to, in a good way. :)

Next is Glitter Wonderland, which is sort of an odd name, since there isn't any glitter in this...There are pretty flecks in it, but no glitter, unless I got a bum bottle. If I did, I don't want to exchange it, thank you very much, cause it's beautiful. Mine has blue and pink flecks in a reddish-purple that has almost a duochrome in some lights; I tried to capture it for you:

Color Club Glitter Wonderland in the shade

Almost a bit of duochrome there 

Glitter Wonderland in the sun...I guess the flecks look a bit glittery here... 

And look at how pretty this one is with Snow-Flakes on it:

Glitter Wonderland with Snow-Flakes

Next up is Ho-Ho-Holly, a pretty grass-crossed-with-evergreen shade with gold flecks and micro-glitter throughout. When the sun hits this one, the micro-glitter in it goes nutso; unfortunately when I had this one on for the swatch, there was no sun around so you'll have to trust me on that:

Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly

Ho-Ho-Holly

This one did an interesting thing when I put Snow-Flakes on top of it. The color of the flakes, while  multicolor on the other colors, only showed gold on the top of this. The effect was again subtle, but very nice, especially for the holidays. I had to take this a bit out of focus to get the flakes to show up on camera:

Ho-Ho-Holly + Snow-Flakes

And finally, the namesake of the collection, Winter affair. In my opinion, this is a complete stunner--by far my favorite of the bunch. It's a deep maroon that looks more plum in the bottle, but shows as a cross of plum and deep vampy red on the nail. And oh, btw? It has FLAKES. They are smaller than what you'd normally think of as flakies, but they are flakes nonetheless, and they make the polish deeply textured and interesting. They're a deep orangey-gold, and they make the polish very versatile as either a holiday or fall color:

Color Club Winter Affair

Winter Affair

Not that it needed it, but I had to try out a coat of Snow-Flakes on this one to see what happened...and the sparks flew! The flakies light up like they're lit from within, and make this look like a spray of falling leaves are washing across the nail. I admit I'm partial to colors like this, and to toppers like this, but really, come on...this is stunning.

Winter Affair + Snow-Flakes

Overall, this collection was far more interesting and diverse than I thought it would be at first sight; I was worried I might regret buying all of them, but I don't, at all. Each of the 'purples' are very different from one another, and together they make a really cohesive collection, I think.

The formula was great on all of them; opaque in two coats, some you might be able to get away with one. No problems with the application, and as of today I've had Winter Affair on for three days and show no tip wear at all, which is unusual for me.

So there you have it--Color Club's Winter Affair Holiday 2012 collection. Something for everyone, and in my case, all for me!! :)

Thanks for reading,

Xoxox,
M.

(The products in this review were purchased with my own money.)