Finger Paints “Fall of Surprises” Fall 2012 Nail Polish Collection Swatches and Review
If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you know that in June I had the opportunity to visit the Sally Beauty HQ, home of the Finger Paints brand.
I got to tour the HQ, seeing their museum of vintage beauty appliances, and meet Lindsey and Mindy, who you know if you read the “Eye for Beauty” Blog. Bonus points to them for knowing of my fondness for craft beer and taking me to a kick ass bar in the land of Denton, TX. If you’re ever in the area, head to the Oak Street Drafthouse. You’ll thank me.
Oh and I got to check out the Finger Paints “Fall of Surprises” Fall 2012 collection. I know, I know, way to bury the lead. Needless to say, I kind of flipped when I eyed a copper glitter bomb parked next to my holy nail color trinity of blue, green and purple.
Formula & Application: Finger Paints is produced exclusively for Sally Beauty and it is 4-Free (including formaldehyde resin) and does not include camphor. The Fingerpaints bottle is unique in that it’s kind of an oblong shape (remember The Oblongs) with a long, slender, slightly taped cap. The brush is long, thin and flexible. It reminds me of the old OPI brush which is probably why so many of us speculated that OPI made Fingerpaints back in the day.
The formula in this collection varied due to the range of finishes so I will comment on them individually in each color review. There are three frosts, one foil metallic, two clear-based glitters and one glass-fleck glitter.
Finger Paints Be-leaf It Or Not is the first of three frost/metallic finish colors. Its silvery sage hue is great for those who fear overly yellow/warm greens that don’t want to venture into blue-green territory. Because it has a frosty finish, brush strokes are a concern. Though not like a traditional chrome metallic. Application tip: Apply in three thin strokes; one on each side, ending with a stroke down the middle to minimize brush lines.
Finger Paints Fall-ing For You is a teal frost that favors the blue side of teal. It is well pigmented so watch out for staining.
Finger Paints Plum Startled had me at hello. I saw the glass flecks and micro-glitter staring at me from inside the bottle of this grape confection and I KNEW it was going to be a winner. Similar to a China Glaze glass fleck, the base is semi-sheer and jelly-ish so you need three coats to achieve full coverage but WOW is it worth it.
Finger Paints Take It Or Leaf It is a taupe-y, bordering on bronze, foil-esque metallic. The color is fantastic in the way it borders warm and cool making it a pretty universal fall metallic. Unfortunately, the formula is not the best. I found it to be goopy, thick and hard to spread leaving me with some dragging and bald spots. I could make it work but it was an effort. It’s like it was aged or exposed to air. It may have just been my bottle but I want to give you fair warning.
Finger Paints Fall of Surprises is shaping up to be my go-to layering glitter for Fall. It’s the perfect mix of copper glitter and sequins in a crystal clear base. And at almost half the price of its Sephora by OPI doppleganger, you can’t beat it. Even though the formula of Take It or Leaf It annoyed me, it looks so damn good under Fall of Surprises and I’m willing to call a truce with it. I’m also showing it over Be-leaf It Or Not, another worthy partner.
Finger Paints Gourd Or Bad? is a confetti-colored bar glitter top coat. I found it hard to apply evenly, unlike Fall of Surprises. My best tip… try dabbing the polish at the base of the nail first and then spreading it to help disperse the glitter better. Also, have a good thick top coat at the ready. The particles leave quite the odd texture as they don’t exactly lay flat on the nail.
Bottom Line: Fall of Surprises is my number one must-have of the collection, unless you gave into the $OPI version prior. I love these types of layering glitters (remember my fascination with Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale?) so for me it’s a no-brainer. Plum Startled is definitely my runner-up as my love of glass fleck knows no bounds. Gourd or Bad? gets a pass from me personally as I’m not a bar glitter kind of gal. Take It or Leaf It is worth investigating based on the color. The rest are all solid but not necessities to my nail wardrobe.
Finger Paints Fall of Surprises collection is available now at Sally Beauty stores nationwide and online at SallyBeauty.com. Finger Paints nail polish retails for $5.29 ($4.49 with club card) for a .5oz bottle.
Which color is your favorite in this collection? Do you plan to pick up any of these? If you purchased Take It or Leaf It, how was the consistency? What type of glitter person are you? Bar, Sequin, Traditional? Do you perfer layering or full coverage?
Bonus: A shot of what I called the “hair instrument of torture” in the Sally Beauty “beauty shop” museum. Can you imagine being attached to that, trying to curl your hair?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for Finger Paints. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
How do you think be-leaf it or not compares to china glaze agro?
Of the top of my head I want to say the China Glaze is a little richer, darker with more golden tone. I’ll look when I get back from NYC.
Lovely! Plum Startled is my favorite ^w^
Welcome back to blogging!
I’ve missed your posts. :’)
I agree with you, Plum Startled is absolutely the prettiest of the bunch!
I really love fall of surprises, it’s really pretty.. i love all kinds of glitter polishes. By the way i’m really happy that you are know back, i really missed you and your post..
oh…my….gosh! Plum Startled is STUNNING!
Oh my… That copper glitter!
They all look great, but Plum Startled is by far my favourite. It looks amazing on your nails!
I love that purple!! didn’t realize it was so awesome till I saw your swatch!
I love Plum Startled! I’m picky about purples, but will definitely pick that one up.
I love that purple and Fall of Surprises
Plum Startled is goorgeous! Gorg, gorg, gorg!
Ughly all around.
I like the glitters, not so much the shiny polish.
I’m old so I remember the Perm machine and the hair dryer. Never used the Perm machine but I used to get my hair cut as a child by a “beautician” as we called them in the ’50′s and she used one. It always scared me. LOL! I think it scared my mom too because she told the lady “no” when she asked if she wanted her to perm my hair. I always loved my mom a little bit more after that. ;D
The purple one is fabulous!!
I love the glitters and the plum the best!
Welcome back!
I’m so sorry that Take It Or Leaf It went on poorly, because it’s definitely my favorite!
I never liked bar glitter in nail polish either, but I must say I am really impressed by Gourd or Bad. It looks like a party on your nails! If only the name weren’t so horrendous…
Thanks for the swatches!
The plum one’s fabulous, the others haven’t won me over. But that THING in the last picture…… oh my god!!!! Scary!!!
I really like these in the bottle, but don’t care for the frosty finishes on the nail. Thanks for saving me some cash!
I picked up the leaf green and the orange glitter, but now wish I’d gotten the plum, too! Great swatches, thanks.
I love that copper glitter! And OMG so glad you are back in action, I missed your posts!
Back when Revlon Streetwear had all of those wonderful bar glitters, I used to dab them on the tips as a kind of ombre-inspired french tip, so that might be a nice way to try this new bar glitter.
I’ve passed in front of this display so many times and never knew that amazing purple was in there! I love Fall of Surprises but I already have Jordana Copper Blaze which is the same color glitter (even cheaper still!).
Has it been said yet? So happy you’re back! Your blog is the single reason I got into nail polish. I even came out of my lurking corner to comment ’cause I’m so excited
I haven’t had a chance to try any Finger Paints yet but that Plum Startled is calling my name! Found you on Bloglovin’, you have a great site!
Fall of Surprises is definitely a favorite. It’s good for me on just about anything (red, cream, teal). And where the heck is your Sally Beauty to have a museum in it?! That perm machine is creepy. So glad to have you back!
A couple of winners here. When i first saw the collection the instant eye-catchers of the bunch are deffinetly Fall of Surprises and Plum Startled! Fall of Surprises kind of reminds me of China Glaze ‘Harvest Moon’ from the Capitol Collection, only chopped up into glitter form goodness ;). And I agree, can’t go wrong with glass fleck! Plum Startled is beautiful! Hey All Lacquered Up, I’ve recently discovered your site and the nail polish world and I just want to say thank you for all your hard work that you put into creating informative, fun and accurate posts. Your enthusiasm is contagious and your passion for nail polish and what you do is obvious. You have me looking forward to reading the next entry and getting hooked on yet another nail polish I deem is a must have. Oh ya, and thank you, for unleashing the inner polish fanatic within me, my parents are now going insane from all my constant pleadings and sugar induced ramblings of “Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Look at THIS one guys! Mom? Dad? Wait, no! I’m SERIOUS! It’s the most gorgeousprettyamazingawesumtacular thing you’ve ever seen!….” ;)))
I did 3 coats of Fall of Surprises on a nail wheel and reached full coverage status. So so pretty!
I was rummaging through the clearance bin at Sally’s and stumbled upon most of this collection. I picked up Fall of Surprises, Plum Startled, and Fall-ing For You. I saw Take It Or Leaf It but it was disgusting…the polish was all layered and the color was weird-looking. I tried shaking it up for a few minutes but it was still splotchy and gross. It was the only color like that. A flaw in the formula for sure.