Catrice

Catrice The Great Christmas Advent Calendar Nail Lacquer [C03] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - January 09, 2025

Hey, wait... oh no... this isn’t plain royal purple like it looked in the back of the calendar. Damn. This is another shimmery nail polish, but it’s very dark red with... purple (?) shimmer? Gosh, why not make it just solid royal purple... I have to say that I am already not feeling this colour at all. Ah well, let’s see what it’s like anyways.
 
 
 
 
Packaging: square bottle so it looks like a glass cube. It is quite heavy, though. The cap is golden, which goes fantastically with the dark red base of the polish, very eye-catching! The only detail is the Catrice logo, but there is some information in the back. The cap closes extremely tightly, and, since it is not ribbed, it can be frustratingly hard to open. But at least it keeps the nail polish from drying out! I like this bottle design, it is classy and easy to store, even though it is a bit large.
 
 
 
 
 

Ingredients: açaí (Euterpe oleracea) fruit oil for nourishment. 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is like any other nail polish, tbh. The expiration date is 36 months after opening.
 
 
 
Brush: oh, another thin brush, just like with C02... this is something between a flat brush and a round brush, and it is... not too good. Which pains me to say, because Catrice are known for having fantastic nail polish brushes. But this brush felt weird to use; like, it fans out nicely but it returns to an almost round shape after you lift the brush, so nail polish isn’t deposited too evenly. And it is hella messy around the edges, which, granted, is equal parts the watery formula’s fault and this brush’s. However, it does pick up a large amount of pigment, though it still wasn’t quite enough. I had to go back to the bottle to finish painting each nail. Needlessly tricky to use brush when they already perfected the game with the ICONAILS brushes... why, just why change it?
 
 
 

Colour: okay, so, the way this colour looks in the bottle is not the same as how it looks on nails. This is a relief to me, as I really didn’t like that deep red with very intense bright purple shimmer that is in the bottle. It’s much more purple on the nails, but still with a noticeable red hue to it, but it is definitely ‘purple’ instead of dark wine red. The base is dark wine red, of course, but the shimmer spreads so nicely that it changes the whole hue, and it has a purple shine to it, which makes it look even more purple. I am still not feeling this colour, I don’t feel any ‘connection’ to it, but I do like it way more now that I see how it actually looks like on nails. The base is a very dark and intense red, almost like mulled wine, which is appropriate for this time of the year. 
 
 
 
On top of that base sits the shimmer, which is multicoloured but the purple is most present. The purple shimmer is literally neon violet, so bright that it has the power to change the entire colour of the polish, but it wouldn’t be able to do that without the help of the plentiful lighter red and orange shimmer, which adds so much dimensionality. So, in effect, you have a dark red nail polish with purple shimmer. But when you shine a light on it, it becomes much more sparkly and multicoloured. So it’s quite a festive colour after all! Though I still wish it was a classic royal purple...
 
 
 
 
 
Oh god, this formula is very watery. It feels quite cheap, and it applies badly as well. It’s so hard to make it even, and it’s runny, which makes it even harder to use. Really awful formula, but I am glad that the shimmery isn’t chunky like with C02. This formula is watery, but it became weirdly goopy all of a sudden when I went to apply a second coat. Needless to say, I had a real mess around my nails after painting my nails...
 
 
 
 
 
 
One coat is horrible. Like, you cannot wear it like this as it is horribly uneven and semi-opaque. Plus, the colour isn’t as vibrant as it should be. It just looks like rubbish with one coat, sorry. Two coats improves the situation dramatically. Now it’s completely opaque and the colour is as vivid as it should be. Now it’s purple! Also, the shimmer becomes much more 3D with two coats. However, don’t apply more than 2 coats; it started to feel goopy with two, so there’s really no need for 3+ coats. I really think that 2 coats is ideal. The texture is glossy, first and foremost, but it’s not just a glossy nail polish – it is also a shimmery nail polish! The shimmer is extremely fine, so it doesn’t feel scratchy, and it gives the polish so much dimensionality, like, it actually looks deeply 3D! 
 
 
This effect is incredibly difficult to capture on camera; in person it is much more sparkly and magical and so wonderful!
 
 
 
Longevity is, again, like with C02, excellent! Although it is not quite as chip-proof as C02; it stayed free from any chips throughout the 5 days I had it on, but it started to chip when I went to wash my hair. It had a few tiny chips on two nails, which is entirely okay. However, it did seem to get scratched up after a day or two. The fine shimmer inside helps conceal this remarkably well, so it still had a lot of its initial shine despite this. I honestly expected it to chip much more since it isn’t as chunky glittery as C02, so I am satisfied with this longevity.
 
 
 
 

 
Eh, removing this nail polish was... a hassle, let’s just say. I used the best remover I have and it still had a lot of trouble removing this nail polish. It took 3-4 passes to finally start breaking through the top coat, and just as many to remove it almost completely. Almost, because there was still some polish remaining even after all that. So I had to go over all my nails again to fully remove it. Luckily, I was able to somehow avoid damaging my nails in the process. And there was no yellow staining as well! I was positive that there would be, since this is a dark red/purple colour and those almost always stain my nails but this one doesn’t! Now, if only it could be easier to remove...
 
 
 
 
All in all, not a too bad nail polish – if you fancy very dark red or dark purple nail polishes. I generally don’t like such colours on my nails for multiple reasons so I don’t vibe with this colour, sadly. It’s not a bad colour, but the way it is depicted in the back of the calendar is very misleading. Because it is not a plain glossy royal purple nail polish like it seems; it is actually a dark red base with annoyingly bright purple shimmer inside it. Or, at least, that’s what it looks like in the bottle – on the nails, it becomes much more multicoloured thanks to all the colourful shimmer. It’s not just bright violet shimmer, it also has light red shimmer, and the interaction between the two and the dark wine red base makes the nail polish glimmer magically. I rather like this, despite not liking the colour itself. It looks so magical, which is fitting for Christmas time, when there’s Christmas magic on the air! The photos certainly don’t do it justice, it is much more shimmery and 3D in person. However, for how good this is, the formula leaves a lot to be desired. It is noticeably watery and not the easiest to use, and it becomes slightly goopy with the second coat. And the brush is subpar, it is not that wonderful wide flat brush that Catrice usually use. I have no idea why they changed it when it was so good... the brush is far less precise and doesn’t apply the polish as well as the old brush. One other horrible thing is how extremely difficult this polish is to remove. I did not expect it to cause me this much trouble! I needed to go for like 7-8 passes until I was able to remove most of it, and I was using the best remover so what gives?? It’s not like it is chunky glittery... but at least it didn’t make my nails yellow. Silver linings. I will end in a good note, by mentioning how incredibly long-lasting this nail polish is; it isn’t quite as impervious to damage as C02, but it still remained in fantastic condition until the very end, and survived a hair wash without too much chipping. Just some. So yeah, honestly, a surprise! Listen, I still don’t like this colour, but it’s undeniable that it is nice quality. Albeit with quite a few problems.
 
 
 
Rating: 6/10



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