Maple (Forever 21)

Talk about a soft return. This is Maple (Forever 21) and it is a gorgeous beige with just a touch of pink tone, more a rosy light taupe than anything. It's a lovely neutral with a touch of lovely barely there shimmer, and one of the better ones I've come across for my skin tone. It went on in three thin coats, though I'm sure two thicker ones would have done. I was just a bit out of practice (nearly four months with no polish, I was practically ill!) and took more care than was strictly necessary.

Vanilla Bean (Forever 21)

I don't always love it when mainstream brands try to imitate indie polish but in this case I have to give it to Forever 21, especially when I got it for only $0.99! Vanilla Bean is a slightly blue toned white base mixed in with lots of black matte glitter. It applied easily in three coats, but if I'd let the first coat dry I would probably have gotten in the clear at two.

I have to say that it's a bit distracting, my nails keep inciting ice cream cravings. What are your favorite indie to mainstream dupes?

Black Magic aka Purple/Gold (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

I sincerely hope the texture trend doesn't end any time soon. I feel like it forces brands to get more inventive with their glitter/shimmer combos, and that can transfer to non-texture shades- it's certainly evident every time I put around two coats of topcoat on these polishes to get them smooth and they are just startlingly gorgeous.

Forever 21 came in extremely late with their texture polishes but they made up for their lack of punctuality with some great shades. Black Magic (called Purple/Gold on the bottle) has to be my absolute favorite. I missed it the first go round, but they recently revamped their line, down to the bottle shape, and they brought this lovely darling back (so if you missed the Sand Lacquers the first time around, they have even more shades out now).

I had no application issues; I used two coats but a careful single coat could have done. The color is fascinating. In low light, this polish looks black with gorgeous sparkle; in indoor lighting, it looks like a very dark purple base packed in with all kinds of multi-colored fine glitter; in sunlight it comes absolutely alive and reminds me of NASA pics of galaxies.

I was in somewhat of a rush, so I put a layer of quick dry topcoat on  but trust me, that made no difference and it was still as textured as ever, it just dried faster. As for wear, these pics were taken after two days of wear and I did experience some tip wear; I'll add that I don't keep nail polish very well, and that I am a recovering (badly) nail biter. I definitely recommend checking out the rest of the line. Forever 21 surprised me here, even if they were a little late to the party.

What brand do you think did texture best this past year? What do you think of the texture trend's persistence?

Blue Jewel (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

Blue Jewel is a blue base packed with teal and gold flecks. The depth of this one is so rich I actually thought it might have some holo gltter in there as well (probably does). Great application and I only needed two coats.

Fire & Ice (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

Red/Gold aka Fire & Ice is a bright red base with red, pink, and gold glitter. It feels like the jelly base of the red covered up most of the gold sparkle in most lights and I don't get the red/gold effect until I go out into the sun; it's more red/pink, really, which isn't a bad thing. Application for this one required three coats and I could still see VNL.

Purple Silver (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

Purple/Silver aka Purple Jazz is a cool toned purple base with, just like it's description, silver and purple flecks mixed in. Best application of all five of the other sand lacquers that I got and I only needed 2 coats to opacity. This may be my favorite out of this collection.

Burnished Gold/Caramel Crush (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

I completely missed these trendy texture polishes called Sand Lacquers from Forever 21's cosmetic line, Love & Beauty. I'm feeling a bit devastated, because I missed a chance to grab two colors in particular, Black Glam and Metallic Love. Still, as consolation prizes go, the five I managed to get are pretty awesome.

These texture polishes are easy too apply, mostly two-coaters, and don't require a topcoat to get that desired rough sparkle. I have noticed that a thin top coat almost seem to saturate the overall color of the polish while still maintaining the texture feel (albeit a lot smoother). Either way, drying time was super quick.  They are, of course, horribly difficult to remove and I always have to wash my hands to get rid of lingering glitter around my fingernails (not a very troublesome issue, I'll admit). Another interesting tidbit about these polishes is that their bottle label names do not much their online listing name.

Burnished Gold listed on the website as Caramel Crush, which I think is a more accurate descriptor of its color. It's a dark caramel base filled with gold, pink, and copper flecks that made this a bearable shade for my skin-tone; the sparkle makes it feel pretty delicate, in my opinion. Application was standard and easy at two coats for opacity.

Mesmerizing Magenta (Forever 21) Sand Lacquer

Magenta/Multi listed as Mesmerizing Magenta on the website. This one was extremely difficult to photograph, and I think at some point I might have given up. Application wasn't the best for this one and I needed three coats with some VNL still showing through. Pretty worth it for the purple, blue, and pink shimmer that comes alive, especially in sunlight. I'll patiently keep this for summer and those winter days I need some extra cheer.