Depend spring 2011

Just in: most of the Depend spring collection. I got all new line colors except 224, for some reason, plus two of Depend's own crackle polishes, called Cracked Effect. Check it out!

These all have the same finish, which can be found throughout the collection, of a nice, smooth silver shimmer, coarse enough to be far apart from a frost finish.

Same shimmer in these.

230 is the only new creme color. 135 is a repromote, and is a warm, salmon coral type jelly like polish.

223 is a chrome silver, and 225 is actually a lot more interesting than it looks in the bottle... Here it seems to be a frost, but it's not.

On to my quick and sloppy wheel swatches. Because of a sudden absence of sun, this is with the flash on, and remember that the photo is clickable for an enlarged view, as always.


Like a little rainbow. The wide color range has always been Depend's forte, and I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised by this collection as a whole. Bearing the fall collection in mind, I didn't want to get my hopes up even after seeing the promo photos of this one, but these are overall nice. Sure, there are a few colors I won't wear, but that's inevitable and bound to make someone else with preferences opposite to mine happy. (Like the elderly.) Most of all, I'm glad Depend decided to abandon the terrible frosts they put out last season.

There are seven polishes with the exact same finish, but with different base colors, 218, 220, 221, 222, 227, 228 and 229 - a nice and perky (?!) silver shimmer. Most of these colors are on the cooler side, and very nice summer colors. 230 is a nice brown taupe, Particulière like, and I like it a lot better than the previous poop colored browns Depend have released. However, to any lacquer lover it may be redundant due to already existing similar ones by other brands, but definitely welcomed by the less rich inhabitants of Scandinavia.

The silver chromed 223 is not as good as the perfect China Glaze Millennium, it does leave a few strokes, but the overall result is definitely acceptable for a smaller brand, and I'm sure many Nordic girls will pick it up for summer. And to get on with it and stop teasing, the bright grass green 225, the one that initially looked like a terrible frost, is really a semi-matte drying metallic. I am concerned by the strokes it leaves though, and you will have to apply it very carefully, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Formula is overall good, recent Depend quality. Most cover completely in two coats, but you may get away with only one if you're talented or if your nails are shorter. The exception is the re-released 135 which has a jelly finish and is represented by three coats on the wheel - all the others are two.

Now, let's check out Depend's own Cracked Effect polishes.

They are of seemingly good quality, and besides me being glad to now own a red crackle, I'm happy to report that the blue one is a metallic shimmer!

Sorry this photo isn't perfect in terms of sharpness, but you might get an idea. Though the shimmer in the blue one isn't perfectly depicted here, you can see that it sparkles more than the red one does (which it of course doesn't because it's a creme). When applying the red, it looks pink leaning, but upon shrinkage, it contracts to a nice solid red.

My favourites? I'm definitely trying out all three in the top bottle photo sometime soon. The blue 228 is definitely a contender to a top spot among great sky blue polishes. I'll try 225 too. Heck, I may even wear the raspberry pink silver shimmer. And the Particulière dupe. And...

Which ones draw your attention? Are there any of these you'd like to see full swatches of?

Swedish word of the day:
lövsprickning -noun leafing
Can't wait, but it's a long road...