3D Glitter

Avon Crushed Crystals Nail Enamel [Pearl] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - November 16, 2023

Just one nail polish for today, but I promise you – this is no ordinary nail polish, oh no! This is the Avon Crushed Crystals Nail Enamel, in shade Pearl!

Oh my god – so sparkly!!! As soon as I saw this nail polish in the Avon catalogue I knew I just had to have it! This was a totally new type of nail polish for me back when I ordered it, a truly 3D surface?? Like, coarse, scratchy 3D? Wow, that sounds amazing! Now, what colour to choose... hmm, how about the light brown? That seems to be the most wearable of the bunch. Now, I am not a huge fan of glitter in general, but this is ~special~ glitter, and I just want it! I am a magpie sometimes, so I need my sparklies! Ahh, I cannot wait to finally see this nail polish! So, let’s check it out!
 
 
 
 
Packaging: like most Avon nail polishes, this is a thin rectangular bottle. The text is white, which is a very nice with the colour of this nail polish. There isn’t really much to say besides this, really. The cap, though, it is really elegant! It’s sharply rectangular and is very tall. I like the glossy finish. The cap closes so tightly that I often have trouble opening it – this is good! It keeps the nail polish from drying out too soon, which is especially important for such glittery nail polishes!
 
 
 
 
 
The outer packaging was made of cardboard. It’s black with a ton of text on it. The text is white, to be as legible as possible. Pretty basic, but it’s okay.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients: nothing nourishing, but also 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is like most nail polishes, although it is slightly more vinegary. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.
 

 
 
The brush is a classic Avon nail polish brush: elongated, thin and very elegant. A flat brush in shape, it picks up a very large amount of polish, much more than you actually need for one nail. It deposits the nail polish pretty much perfectly evenly; the thin, long shape makes it super easy to paint the sides of the nails precisely. It’s such a high quality, amazing brush! I love it!
 
 
 
 

 
Ooh this is such an exquisite colour! It’s so gorgeous, isn’t it? This is a grayish rosey colour with some mauve thrown in to make it even more jewel-like. It looks almost greige but it’s definitely more rosey. It’s a super elegant and neutral colour, perfect for both everyday and formal occasions alike! And it looks so darn gorgeous on nails, all sparkly like millions of quartz crystals! The glitter is chunky and perfectly colour-coordinated to match the base colour. It’s mostly silver, which is beyond beautiful here! I frequently stop just to look at my nails with this nail polish and am mesmerised every single time; it’s truly a one-of-a-kind nail polish! Certainly among the most beautiful of them all.

 
 
 
The formula is super silky and smooth and just feels lovely! You can barely feel the chunky glitter! It’s just right in terms of how watery it is; it’s a bit thin, but it is not at all runny. It’s extremely easy to use because it is, honestly, almost impossible to mess it up! Such a great formula! Oh, it also dries within a minute or two and is then very difficult to actually damage (this is without nail polish drying drops, as well). 
 
 
 

As for opacity, you might think this would be opaque with a single coat, but it is not! It is just barely sheer with one coat (you can just barely make out the nail underneath). However, the colour is not completely vivid as it should be with one coat. So let’s apply a second one, shall we? Oh, now it’s much better! The colour is proper vivid now and it is totally opaque and rich! It’s even more sparkly and glittery now, as well. It doesn’t look thick at all with two coats, but I really wouldn’t apply more than two, for multiple reasons. The texture is super glittery, sparkly and chunky, with a matte finish. This makes it look coarse, as if real crystals spilled on your nails. It’s a super extravagant finish, not for the meek of heart! But perfect for special occasions, when you need to be bejewelled! 
 
Although, it is 3D – that is, you can feel the chunky glitter when you touch the nails; for some, this may be very annoying! I know it annoys me when I want to wear tights but it keeps snagging on the thread! So be careful with delicate knitwear/fabrics when you are wearing this nail polish!

 
Longevity is outstanding! Under normal circumstances nothing can damage this nail polish, no matter what you do! It stays for up to a week without any chips, with the only damage being traces of new nail growth. So this is bloody fantastic! I managed to somehow chip it... don’t ask me how. I have no clue! And it wasn’t a small amount of chipping on a few nails, either! I was callous with my nails I’ll admit, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. However, this colour hides damage so well that I only noticed the chipped off parts when the nail polish started getting caught on my clothes. So it’s really not a big deal if you chip this nail polish as it is barely visible anyways. 
 
 
Oh, also, over time, the scratchy, rough surface of the polish will get sanded down to an almost smooth one. This is especially evident on the free edge of the nails as it no longer gets caught on so many fabrics as when it’s fresh. Don’t worry though, this doesn’t affect its appearance at all!
 

 
 
Oooh, this is the part I have been dreading. Removal. All these chunky pieces of glitter are, naturally, very difficult to remove. Normally, you have to scrub for ages before you even break through the polish, let alone remove it. And then scrub even more to actually remove the polish. And then scrub even more to remove the last few remaining pieces of glitter. This is, of course, not good for the health of the nails. It’s also the reason why I don’t wear glittery nail polishes too often, because I have sensitive nails that don’t like it when I scrub them as if they are a dirty plate. I honestly expected it to be this hard to remove. Oh well... but wait! 
 
 
There is a way to avoid all this suffering for your nails! And it’s very simple: you just need some remover, a cotton pad and a small glass or cup. Pour some remover into the glass and just soak your nail in the remover for a minute or two, then soak a cotton pad in remover and just press and swipe. It should come off much more easily this way. There is still some scrubbing required to remove it completely but it is much gentler on the nails. So it wasn’t a painful ordeal this time, and it didn’t take a long time to remove this way. So it’s not actually horrible – as long as you know some tricks!
 
 
All in all, this is actually a fantastic nail polish! The only thing that actually bothers me is how difficult it is to remove, but since it was plenty obvious it would be like that given the chunky glitter, I am not too surprised. Besides that, it’s all great! The precise, long brush that applies the polish perfectly evenly – hell, the formula that is basically impossible to mess up! Like, even if you really aren’t skilled with nail polishes, it’s super easy to make it look professional. I would advise applying two coats as it is a bit sheer and pale with just one; don’t worry, the formula is light and relatively thin so it won’t feel thick at all with two. The colour and texture though! Oh. My. God. Like, this is literally bejewelled! It’s so sparkly that it looks like you have real crystal dust on your nails! This is chunky glitter that doesn’t look cheap at all, it looks pretty expensive actually! And it is such a gorgeous light nude colour perfect for any occasion, especially formal ones! I adore the finish, the matte finish makes it even more like crystals! Oh, and you can actually feel the glitter; it’s rough and feels scratchy, which, I’ll admit, is a bit annoying, but it feels so darn fun to touch! This does also mean that it frequently gets caught on fabrics, so be careful if you are wearing sensitive fabrics such as knitwear or tights! With time this rough, scratchy surface gets sanded down to an almost smooth one without affecting the sparkliness of the polish. It takes about 2-3 days for that, but then your clothes should be safe from this nail polish! As for the longevity, it is usually incredible, with nothing being able to cause chipping or any other sort of damage. However, I somehow made it chip from day 3 onwards; by the end it didn’t look too good on a few nails. No idea how I managed this. In any case, the combination of extreme glitter and the light colour helps disguise the damage. So, am I happy with this nail polish? Oh am I! I am overjoyed with it! I am in love with it and it’s sparkling gemstone-like finish and the gorgeous colour! Truly, these are crushed crystals! Only, it’s a more quartz-like colour than pearl, no? I’d say this first foray into the world of textures nail polishes was a hugely successful one! Hmm, there are a few other colours that seem really nice... might want to check them out later. Yep, this nail polish absolutely earns its recommendation, it’s fricking awesome!
 
 
 
Rating: 8.5/10
 
 
Would buy again? YES (despite being a nightmare to remove, it is gorgeous!)




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