If you read a lot of nail polish blogs you will know that Australian polish brand Chimera has had problems in the past, bloggers that I respect and consider to be friends were affected and I do not in any way condone what went on. Since then, Chimera have apparently made a lot of internal changes and I believe in second chances so when they asked me to review these polishes I said yes. I will only be commenting on my opinions and experiences with the actual polishes. The polishes were provided by Chimera and all opinions are 100% honest and mine.’Nuff said.
*EDIT* Ok so it has come to my attention that the problems mentioned above have not stopped. As Chimera continues to engage in behavior like this I cannot recommend their polishes. I do not condone spam. I do not condone underhanded blogging tactics. I believe in second chances but I also believe that those chances need to be used well not squandered. My opinions on the polish stand but I do not support the brand AT ALL. */EDIT*
So let’s talk nail polish!
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I received 8 polishes in total so here are the basic details, specific polish details will be with the relevant photos below. Brand: Chimera From: Their website Price: $14.95 per polish Volume: 15ml Ingredients: N-Butylacetate, Nitrocellulose, Ethyl Acetate, Isopropyl Alcohol Bottle: I do like square bottles because it makes them easier to stack and keep tidy. The lid has an odd texture which is kind of grippy. Brush: Very thin flexible brush. Drying Time: Pretty much the same for all of them… quite quick. Colour Name: All of the colours have names on the website but only numbers are printed on the bottles so I can’t remember what the names are >_< This is number 121 Description: Dark grey polish with lots and lots of silver glitter.
Thoughts: Decent coverage with 1 coat, great with two coats. The polish itself looks a little matt so it reminds me a bit of gun metal. I like how dense the glitter is.
Good for: -Industrial style nails -Matte background for designs -Possibly good for Konad as it’s highly concentrated, haven’t tried though. Bad for: -Glossy nails, would need a good top coat
Colour Name: 124 Description: Purple with pink tones and a silver shimmer through it.
Thoughts: Very pretty light purple, quite metallic but not in a cold way. This is exactly the kind of blingy colour that I like ^_^ Very opaque too.
Good for: -Cute french tips -Flowery nail art -Possibly Konad because it’s very opaque but I haven’t tried it. Bad for: -Layering over other colours as it’s very opaque
Colour Name: 70 Description: A kind of sea blue with gold shimmers.
Thoughts: Opaque in 2 coats, a little streaky but that makes me think of the ocean even more haha!
Good for: -Ocean themed nail art -Swirly 70’s-ish nail art Bad for: -Super smooth base coats -Probably wouldn’t be very opaque over dark colours
Colour Name: 101 Description: Very light pearlescent pink.
Thoughts: Very thin polish, took 3 coats to be really opaque. I suspect it is supposed to be used in natural looking French manicures. It reminds me a lot of the colour my Barbie dolls used to wear XD
Good for: -Natural French mani’s -Office appropriate nails -Cotton candy themed nail art Bad for: -Standing out
Colour Name: 88 Description: Slightly darker than the previous pink, this is a bubble gum-ish pink pearl with gold tones.
Thoughts: Opaque in two coats, the colour you get with one coat is quite cute too. It has quite a pleasant shine to it but is a little thick for my liking.
Good for: -Sweet, girly nails -Nail art on darker colours Bad for: -Cold colour themed manicure
Colour Name: 68 (or possibly 89 >_<) Description: Light purple with a pearl finish, more on the blue side of things.
Thoughts: This polish is a bit of an odd colour, it is quite streaky but it layers in an interesting way. The difference between 1 and 3 coats is quite large. It’s quite opaque in 1 coat but if you continue to layer it becomes quite dark.
Good for: -Odd interesting layered designs -Possibly very good for Konad stamping over matte bases Bad for: -Super smooth bases
Colour Name: 64 Description: Very pale plain pink.
Thoughts: Very pink. Nice and smooth, opaque in two coats with quite a high shine factor. This is the sort of colour that is very versatile because it’s understated enough to go with lots and lots of other colours. While all of the pinks I’ve reviewed in this post are very similar I like this one the most because from a nail-art point of view it can be used in so many types of designs.
Good for: -Super cutesy nail art -Natural French manicures -Office friendly manicures -Possibly good with Konad as it’s very opaque Bad for: -Mmm… can’t think of any!
Colour Name: 117 Description: Deep chocolaty brown with a shimmery finish.
Thoughts: -Very very opaque creamy brown, it is absolutely spot on the colour of chocolate! The application of this one made me very happy, really smooth and shiny and I couldn’t stop thinking about melted chocolate.
Good for: -Leopard or animal themed nail art -Chocolate themed nails Bad for: -Plain manicures
Conclusion: I was really pleasantly surprised at these polishes. After actually trying them I was really happy with the results and I use some of them very frequently now. While being quite pricey I thought the quality was really good, they went on very smoothly and the finishes were overall very pretty and shiny. They have a very wide range of colours (especially pinks!), the shipping was very fast and the customer service that I experienced was very polite and I got same day answers to everything I asked. Verdict: If I had the money I would buy a lot of the other colours.So if you decide to order from Chimera I have a discount code for you… Enter the code “VIP” to receive 25% off your order. |
