Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A true drugstore gem: Tropez Aqua Pearl.

This polish took me by complete surprise. I wasn't looking for it at all- it sort of jumped out and grabbed me! And I wasn't even completely impressed with it at first- sure, it's nice in the bottle, worth buying on color alone, but the magic happens when you apply it.


Tropez Super Pearl Aqua Pearl.

You may not be able to tell from this angle, but it's a pretty strong blue/turquoise/greenish duochrome type color. It changes depending on the light, but it's not as dramatic as your standard duochrome (Nubar Peacock Feathers, for example).

So, the color alone is fantastic, but the formula.... Oh, the formula. It is the most perfect, smooth, pigmented, flawless formula I have ever used in my entire life.

Tropez is manufactured by Markwins, who also makes a lot of other drugstore type products including Wet N Wild and Black Radiance. I guess I wasn't really expecting much from the company who makes that The Color Workshop garbage, and Wet N Wild wasn't always known for its quality, either (though that has definitely changed in recent years!).

The quality of this polish is out of this world. On the very first brushstroke you can see the difference. The polish doesn't go anywhere you don't want it to go. It doesn't run and it doesn't drip despite the very thin texture. It is so amazingly smooth, it practically applies itself. The brush is perfect, and the polish only goes where you put it. The texture of the polish is very thin, but it's also ridiculously pigmented. It's opaque in one coat! A thin drugstore polish that's perfect in one coat. Am I dreaming? Is this real? This picture is two coats, but I could have gotten away with one. It was dry, shiny and bubble free in under 5 minutes.

I am used to using polishes that are more expensive, your standard OPI, Essie, Orly, stuff like that. To have a $2 drugstore nail polish totally annihilate them in the formula department is truly shocking and wonderful. It just goes to show you that price doesn't always indicate quality.

I haven't tried any of the other polishes from this brand, this is the only color that really got my attention, but I'm definitely going to pick up a couple more now to find out if this is just a fluke. I mean, I am seriously impressed by this little hidden gem of a polish.


And, on a totally unrelated note, I am slowly working through my emails and comments. I really appreciate your emails, and I hope no one thinks I am ignoring them! I am normally glued to my laptop for most of the day, and that hasn't been the case for the last month or so, but I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can :)

25 comments:

  1. I love this brand! The colors are really nice, but you don't hear much about them. Their black creme is the best 'one-coat' black I've ever tried.

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  2. beautiful colour!!! i don't do nails because i work with food all the time but i love looking at beautiful nails and yours are great!

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  3. what store did you find that brand at?

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  4. Thanks for this review! I have often looked at this brand and pondered purchasing but the crummy looking bottle always scared me away. I am really looking forward to more reviews of yours on other colors from this line!

    And to reply to "The Asian Girl" above: I am not sure of all the stores that carry this brand, but I know my local Kmart has a nice selection of their colors.

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  5. Walgreens has this brand too.

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  6. Gah! Lemming!!! I saw this on the NB the other day, along with an orange one too. LOVE IT.

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  7. Isn't it amazing that the cheap polishes can be better than the expensive ones? It seems like a lot of time the more expensive ones are deemed nicer because of the fancier names and/or the nice bottle shapes. I think if drugstore brands started focusing more on bottle style (less 80's looking in general) they would sell a lot better! Half the battle is the packaging!

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  8. O.O I must have this!!!!

    I'll have to go check Walgreens :D

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  9. I love this color! It was the first polish I ever bought. I've had to buy 3 bottles because I go through it so fast!

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  10. So is this line offered at Walgreens? Or somewhere else?
    This color is gorgeous!
    I favor Purples and teals :)
    This just loooks so pretty on you!

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  11. yup. walgreens. bought one today!! thanks for the tip scrangie.

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  12. I've seen this brand at Rite Aid along with Black Radiance, and I just wrote them off as low end polish. After reading this review, I need to go back and get some!!!

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  13. hey you, don't worry about taking it slow! we are always happy to have updates, whenever you can. take care of your health and yourself and we will be here waiting :)

    ps that color is gorgeous!!

    brookester1039

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  14. Holy macaroni, this sounds too good to be true!! :D VERY nice colour as well...

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  15. I have miami pearl the orange one. Very pretty. Before I discovered SV this polish chipped so badly. I'll try it again using with SV. I have to get aqua pearl very pretty. Thanks again for sharing.

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  16. its looks really nice!!

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  17. Ohmy, what beautiful color!

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  18. I found it! I found it! I'm not used to seeing things on the blogs and then going out in my area and finding them in the stores, I usually have to order them, but my trusty K-Mart had these.

    Marsha Smith

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  19. Wow! Being a guy, I can give you my possibly unique perspective here: if I saw this one on a woman's nails, it would absolutely stop me in my tracks!!

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  20. Mary, oh I will definitely have to pick that up, thanks for the tip!

    Jojoba, oh, I know how that is! Thank you :)

    The Asian Girl, I got mine at Meijer :)

    Chrissy, oh, don't be fooled by the ugly bottle, the polish inside is verrrrry nice :D

    Anonymous, thanks for the tip :D

    Mazoo, oooh sorry for the lemming hehehe :D

    VampyVarnish, YES! lol you're exactly right!

    Raeyi, it's only $0.98 too, can't beat that!!

    Jacy, oh how cool!!!

    Phyrra, yes, I believe so :D

    Anonymous, you're welcome!

    SiennaX, oh you must try it. For the price, you can't go wrong :)

    sweetpea85, awwwwe thank you so much :) You're so kind and understanding, I really appreciate it! *hug*

    Luckymirai, thank you! :)

    Lina-Elvira, I was truly SHOCKED :D

    Rmcandlelight, I'm going to look for that shade. I haven't had a problem with this chipping yet :)

    Anonymous, it really is!

    Sanna, it is :D

    Alexlyndra, indeed :)

    Marsha, very, very cool, I'm so happy!

    Jason, thank you! I really love hearing your point of view :D

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  22. Oooh, I'd love to see more swatches from this brand. I've tried their 6-eyeshadow palettes and have been impressed by the quality/price ration. I'm really curious to see if the nail polish performs as as well across the board.

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