Saturday, January 18, 2014

An alternative to Rimmel nail polish in Crushed Pearl

My previous go-to nail polish was Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Crushed Pearl.  It's a subtle pink that alludes to the natural pink of my nails, but is a bit lighter and has a pearly finish, thereby making it more forgiving to my quickly-chipping nails.

Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere anymore.  I'm not sure if it was discontinued or what, but it isn't in any stores or on ebay.  So this sent me on a mission to find an alternative.

After much trial and error, I landed on the following:

1. One coat of Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant in "Pink-finity"
2. A second coat of Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant in "Perma-pink"

Pink-finity is a matte baby pink.  It's very boldly baby pink in a way that's not nearly as natural as Rimmel Crushed Pearl and, because it's a shiny matte, isn't nearly as forgiving.

Perma-pink is a far more natural pink with a forgiving pearly finish, but it finishes somewhat sheer when used on its own (which I dislike).

However, in combination, these two colours produce a natural, forgiving, opaque pearly pink that's very close to Rimmel Crushed Pearl (a wee bit lighter and without that tiny drop of purple, but I doubt you're going to get close with what's currently commercially available.)  Although I'd really still prefer Rimmel Crushed Pearl.

Added bonus factoid: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in "Pink Satin" is not a suitable substitute for Rimmel Crushed Pearl.  Even though it does have that drop of purple and appears similar in colour to the natural pink of my nails, it's far brighter and bolder, not subtle at all.  It can't even be tamed with a layer of Cover Girl Perma-pink over it.

Update:  If you don't want to combine colours, Revlon Colourstay Gel Envy in "Beginner's Luck" is also very similar.  It does have a tiny tiny amount of glitter in it though - it's extremely subtle on the nail, but is more difficult to remove like glitter polishes tend to be.

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