A true drugstore gem: Tropez Aqua Pearl.

This polish took me by complete surprise. I wasn't looking for it at all- it sort of jumped out and grabbed me! And I wasn't even completely impressed with it at first- sure, it's nice in the bottle, worth buying on color alone, but the magic happens when you apply it.


Tropez Super Pearl Aqua Pearl.

You may not be able to tell from this angle, but it's a pretty strong blue/turquoise/greenish duochrome type color. It changes depending on the light, but it's not as dramatic as your standard duochrome (Nubar Peacock Feathers, for example).

So, the color alone is fantastic, but the formula.... Oh, the formula. It is the most perfect, smooth, pigmented, flawless formula I have ever used in my entire life.

Tropez is manufactured by Markwins, who also makes a lot of other drugstore type products including Wet N Wild and Black Radiance. I guess I wasn't really expecting much from the company who makes that The Color Workshop garbage, and Wet N Wild wasn't always known for its quality, either (though that has definitely changed in recent years!).

The quality of this polish is out of this world. On the very first brushstroke you can see the difference. The polish doesn't go anywhere you don't want it to go. It doesn't run and it doesn't drip despite the very thin texture. It is so amazingly smooth, it practically applies itself. The brush is perfect, and the polish only goes where you put it. The texture of the polish is very thin, but it's also ridiculously pigmented. It's opaque in one coat! A thin drugstore polish that's perfect in one coat. Am I dreaming? Is this real? This picture is two coats, but I could have gotten away with one. It was dry, shiny and bubble free in under 5 minutes.

I am used to using polishes that are more expensive, your standard OPI, Essie, Orly, stuff like that. To have a $2 drugstore nail polish totally annihilate them in the formula department is truly shocking and wonderful. It just goes to show you that price doesn't always indicate quality.

I haven't tried any of the other polishes from this brand, this is the only color that really got my attention, but I'm definitely going to pick up a couple more now to find out if this is just a fluke. I mean, I am seriously impressed by this little hidden gem of a polish.


And, on a totally unrelated note, I am slowly working through my emails and comments. I really appreciate your emails, and I hope no one thinks I am ignoring them! I am normally glued to my laptop for most of the day, and that hasn't been the case for the last month or so, but I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can :)