Maychiri's Thoughts: October 2024

Essence

Essence Fluffy Dreams Lash & Brow Spoolie Review

October 26, 2024

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Brow Gel

MUA Lash & Brow Clear Mascara Review

October 26, 2024

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Blush Brush

MUA Blush & Contour Brush Review

October 26, 2024

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Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Healthy Mix Clean Nail Polish [125 - Very Generose] Review

October 26, 2024

The only non-Rimmel nail polish for today! This is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Clean Nail Polish, shade 125/Very Generose!

You know, I never thought I’d have a Bourjois nail polish. I had been eyeing this one on Notino for quite some time, but it was mostly just curiosity. But then, one week, I had a special promo code that slashed the price even more so I decided to say ‘feck it’ and bought it! I was so curious to see what it would be like! A natural nail polish, from Bourjois, no less! It should be good, even if I am not really a fan of the Healthy Mix product line. Healthy Mix foundation is too shimmery for me, so I predict that this will probably be the only Healthy Mix item I have. The other thing that drew me in is the shape – I have never seen a bottle like that! And I still consider Bourjois to be slightly higher end than what I usually use, so I figured I could treat myself for once, especially at the low price I got it for! Seriously, it was more than 70% off the RRP (or what DM sells it at, anyway)! So, now that I am pretty hyped for it, let’s see what it’s actually like and if it’s worth it’s original price! I cannot wait! Let’s see!

My, what a curious shape for a nail polish bottle! I have never seen such a bottle! It’s really elegant and chic! The bottle itself is small and it’s got an interesting tapered shape; it’s also fairly heavy for such a small bottle. Black text is more legible than white, but I think white text would’ve been a better match for the cap. Speaking of, that is a ridiculously tall cap! It’s honestly funny how tall it is, it’s like twice the height of the bottle! I like its shape, with the elegant curve along it. The white colour is the perfect complement to the pastel pink colour of the polish. Oh, and, to aid with handling such a long cap, it has textured areas that give plenty of grip so that your fingers don’t slide all over it. That’s a great detail!

You know what makes this cap even more comical? The fact that the brush at the end of it is legit tiny! Max size cap – min size brush! What a contrast! The cap closes very securely, no need to worry about the polish drying out! Just a note: this cap is so long that it dwarfs all others that I have, which means that it barely fits into my nail polish drawer. You’ll want to ensure that you have enough vertical space for this! All in all, a funny, yet very French chic type of design!

Source: bourjois.fr

Ingredients: zinc sulfate and vitamin E to help make your nails stronger. 3 free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). Also, Lithothamnion calcareum and diatomaceous earth, interestingly! I guess it is a healthy mix! The scent is like most nail polishes, but it is also somewhat sweet. The expiration date is 30 months after opening.

The brush is quite small! That’s a change from all the wide, large brushes that I usually work with! I don’t actually mind that it is on the small side, as it is pretty wide so that it isn’t hard to work with. Besides the fact that it is small and quite short, it is, more-or-less, a typical flat brush. It picks up a huge amount of polish, way more than you’d think such a small brush can pick up! Much more than is necessary for one nail so be sure to tap it off! The brush does the best it can with what it’s got; the formula is somewhat uneven by nature, but this brush manages to make it look decent. It spreads the polish across nails easily, and, given its small size, is pretty precise on the sides of nails. It’s really easy to use, which is awesome that such a smol brush can be so good when I am so used to big, large brushes!

Colour: a very spring-appropriate pastel pink. It’s almost the colour of pink chalk. It’s also a very milky colour; indeed, it reminds me of strawberry milk! And that is so cute! This is a super girly colour but also very, very light. It’s almost a bit too light for even my pale skin, bordering on washing me out visually. But it’s also an elegant colour in its own right. Although, it’s nowhere near the colour you see on Bourjois’s website, there it’s more like a dark rose... when it’s actually a pastel baby pink. I like this colour, it’s always nice to have milky colours in your repertoire!

The formula is actually very nice to use! It’s slightly gelly, but in fact feels very creamy and soft. It’s not very thick, but it feels milky. It isn’t at all runny, but it does have some problems with how uneven it is, as one coat ends up being relatively uneven. I must say that this formula is a bit difficult to work with, it’s not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a feather-light formula that is still opaque with two thinner coats, this is a bit annoying to use, honestly.

One coat is semi sheer, about 70% opaque, I’d say. It would be alright as a milky wash of colour over the nails were it not pretty uneven. It looks pretty messy tbh. Shame. With two coats it can look totally opaque, if both coats are thick enough. If not, it can still be a tiny bit sheer. I like the way it looks with two coats, it’s not too thick but it still looks really milky. The texture is quite glossy. Oh, and it does seem to dry really fast! It seemed to be ready for the next coat in like seconds! Although I still didn’t want to take any chances, so I applied nail polish drying drops anyways.

Longevity is honestly excellent! On par with the Rimmel nail polishes that I got at the same time (here & here). After 4 days there is just one chipped off part, on one nail, that happened as I was washing my hair (it somehow survived me washing the turtle’s terrarium without any deterioration, which is magic to me). Besides that, the rest of my nails are in great condition, despite not even trying to keep them from chipping. So if it can survive my general clumsiness, that is truly fantastic! However, this nail polish does get scratched rather easily, so I definitely recommend some kind of top coat. The scratches aren’t too visible, and they don’t affect the highly glossy finish, but they are there nonetheless.

I even got a few bigger scratches that are plainly visible. So yeah, top coat! Also, it seems like this nail polish developed some air bubbles. It’s not the nails themselves causing this as the bubbles aren’t on the same nails as with the Rimmel nail polish, so it’s really annoying. But hey, at least the light colour prevents the bubbles from being too visible, and there aren’t many (which is something the Rimmel nail polish cannot say). I am still pissed that there are bubbles in the first place though. I am, in general, very happy with how durable the nail polish is, now if only it didn’t have those pesky bubbles...

I had no trouble removing this nail polish with my trusty Ebelin Express Remover. It didn’t take too long to remove it completely although there was a bit more rubbing required than with other nail polishes. Still, it wasn’t difficult and, given the very light colouration, there were no stains.

All in all, hmm, Bourjois did not blow me way with this one. Look, it’s not a bad nail polish in any way, but it just leaves some things to be desired. The colour is very pretty, but also very light, so be prepared for that. It’s already a bit too light on my nails and I have pale skin. But I do love how milky it is, it actually reminds me of strawberry milk! Yummy! It’s a great colour for spring, when pastels usually take over. The formula is good enough; if the polish looks milky, it makes total sense, then, for the formula to feel milky too. It feels pretty creamy and soft, and it offers nice opacity with one coat (~70%). However, not all is well with it; it suffers from being uneven, which means that you have to work harder to get a good looking finish. One coat is pretty uneven and rough; two coats is, in general, pretty good, but it does have a tiny bit of that unevenness still. Only if you really stare at it, though. From afar it looks good. And that’s not even mentioning the air bubbles that formed on a few nails (no, not on the same nails as with the Rimmel nail polish). This is the real problem, as the uneven finish can be fixed by adding another coat but this, this is a real problem to try to find and fix the root cause. To be fair, it doesn’t ruin the highly glossy finish and it doesn’t actually detract too much from the beauty of the polish. But it does get scratched up a fair bit – again, it’s not too visible, but you can see the scratches clearly if you look closer. And it didn’t take too long to get a few nastier scratches. That pretty much covers the bad. Now, let’s finish with the best this nail polish offers: Longevity. See, this nail polish lasted for four days on my nails without any chipping. And that’s saying a lot as my nails usually make most nail polishes chip within 2 days! I’ve just got cursed nails and I accepted it, it is what it is. But this one lasts ages! Even a hair wash only caused one little piece to chip off! Hell, even washing my turtle’s terrarium caused no harm to the polish! That’s real magic right there! That disinfectants and scrubbing with steel wire caused no harm?? How??? So that’s fantastic! The zinc inside this polish didn’t do much to strengthen my nails, but they were already strengthened by the previous two nail polishes that I wore (two Rimmels, to be exact). My nails did not feel weaker, that’s for sure! I cannot say how good this polish is compared to the rest of the Healthy Mix line, but on its own it’s pretty good. However, I honestly believe it’s not worth RRP, so if you want it, really, try to find it at least 30% off. For that reduced price it’s a very good polish, but for the original price, I simply expected it to be better. Sure, it’s almost endlessly durable, but it’s got significant problems with the formula. Honestly, I doubt that I am going to recommend it, the uneven formula and air bubbles are just a deal-breaker. Shame, it could’ve been much better. I would only recommend trying it if you find it like 50 or 70 percent off.

Rating: 7/10

Would buy again? Probably NO