L’Oreal Paris “Miss Candy” Colour Riche Nail Polish Collection Swatches & Review
Candy girl, you are my world. You look so sweet, you’re my special treat. Candy girl, all I want to say. When you’re with me, you brighten up my day - “Candy Girl” by New Edition
L’Oréal Paris is showing its playful side with a limited edition, sweet treat of a collection called Miss Candy. The stars of the Miss Candy show are new gelly (aka jelly) Colour Riche Nail in eight delectable hues.
L'Oréal Paris Miss Candy Colour Riche Gelly Nail
Jelly polishes are fan faves, not just for their lucite looks and build-able coverage but also for their usefulness in layering and nail art. I had a great time experimenting with different syrup gradient combinations and glitter jelly sandwich looks. Keep reading to see what I came up with.
Formula & Application: L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Nail is 5-Free. The rectangular glass bottles are topped with a smooth, round cap that is the perfect length to hold comfortably between fingers without becoming cumbersome. The brush is flat, thin and long. It’s not as wide as OPI’s, which I find to be a plus. The bristles are flexible but dense so it doesn’t fan out much. This is a bonus for slim nails.
All of the “gelly” polishes are thin and squishy in texture. They glide on the nails and self level. The pigmentation is strong yet sheer so you get a punch of color with one coat but it has that see-through cellophane-esque appearance common to jelly polish. With multiple coats you can build coverage but even after three coats, it’s not opaque. You just get a more dramatic color payoff. I had no staining issues with any of the shades and they dry to a high gloss shine even without top coat.
L’Oréal Paris Bananarama Love is a lemony sheer similar to Deborah Lippmann’s Yellow Brick Road. It has a milky, buttery quality to it.
L'Oreal Paris Bananarama Love
L’Oreal Paris Berry Nice reminds me of a grape popsicle. Based on the bottle, I expected it to come out too vampy for summer but it’s just light and sheer enough to avoid that.
L'Oreal Paris Berry Nice
L’Oréal Paris Bubble Trouble is a baby pink creme. Due to the milkiness of its base, it gives more coverage than some of the darker shades.
L'Oréal Paris Bubble Trouble
L’Oréal Paris Créme de Mint is another milky shade though it’s not as build-able as Bubble Trouble. It’s a grassy mint green that reminds me of grasshopper cookie filling.
L'Oréal Paris Creme de Mint
L’Oréal Paris Jolly Lolly is a slightly berry-ish red creme. It’s like a wash of cherry red lipgloss for your nails.
L'Oréal Paris Jolly Lolly
L’Oréal Paris Lilac Coolers is the last of the milky jelly sheers in this collection. This pink-based pale purple gives a similar level of coverage as Bubble Trouble.
L'Oréal Paris Lilac Coolers
L’Oréal Paris Mango Mama is a crystal jelly that dries to appear like tangerine jello on the nail.
L'Oréal Paris Mango Mama
L’Oréal Paris Miss Pixie is a vibrant royal blue. In the bottle it looks like a lighter version of the cobalt colored JINsoon Blue Iris but on the nail it’s not quite as intense.
L'Oréal Paris Miss Pixie
As I mentioned above, jelly nail polish is ideal for use in layering and nail art. I tried my hand at two different looks using the Miss Candy gellies.
First, a glitter jelly sandwich using Miss Pixie. Starting with a base coat of Miss Pixie, I added a layer of L’Oréal Paris Sparklicious (a glitter from Holiday 2012). Over that, I added two coats of Miss Pixie, for a perfectly smooth finish, and the final result gives the impression of the glitter being trapped in a sea of blue jelly.
L'Oréal Paris Miss Pixie Jelly Sandwich
Finally, I tried my hand at a syrup gradient manicure using Lilac Coolers as a base with Créme de Mint creating the gradation.
How-to: 1) Apply two coats of Lilac Coolers. 2) Apply Créme de Mint to the tips of the nails. 3) Apply Créme de Mint starting a little further down the nail, covering the first layer, thus deepening it. 4) Apply one last coat of Créme de Mint starting about 2/3 down the nail from the free edge, again covering the other layers. 5) Add top coat to blend it all.
Application tips: 1) Don’t worry about perfectly straight lines when applying the top color. Each time you add another layer, it will smooth everything out. 2) Wait between layers. You’re putting on a lot of layers of polish and if you don’t wait for it to dry, you’ll end up clumping the polish at the tip.
Syrup gradient nail art using Lilac Coolers and Creme de Mint
And here’s a little New Edition to put you in the Miss Candy mood. I’m gearing up for the NKOTB, 98 Degrees and Boys II Men “The Package Tour” so I’ve been on a boy band kick of late.
Bottom Line: Jelly polish is a great way to wear bold color in a more subtle way. It’s also excellent for layering and nail art, as I’ve shown. If you want the true opaque color, a coat of white polish underneath will do the trick. Overall, the Miss Candy collection delivers a nice range of shades that offers something for everyone. My personal faves are Miss Pixie, Creme de Mint and Jolly Lolly.
The L’Oréal Paris Miss Candy collection is available now for a limited time at drugstores and mass retailers nationwide. L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Nail retails for $5.99/ea for a .39oz bottle.
Are you into these new “gelly” colors from L’Oréal Paris? Which ones are calling your name? How do you like my syrup manicure and jelly sandwich look?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for L’Oréal Paris. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
You know I’m not normally down with the red polishes (except for Ruby Pumps, which is one of my favorite pedicure colors), but I love love LOVE Jolly Lolly. That’s exactly the way I like to wear red polish.
I love the colors, the only thing is…maybe a good ridge filler or white polish underneath so that they don’t show VNL.
I wanted to show how the colors actually look, which is why I didn’t use anything under them besides a clear base. I mentioned in the “Bottom Line” that a white polish underneath will make them pop.
I’m pleased with how the milkier shades turn the VNL into something like a ghostly french tip. It looks very clean and summery.
Thank you for swatching these!
I am currently wearing a sandwich with Creme de Mint and OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Love! BTW, how many coats are you showing for each shade?
Hi Kate! I always tell you how many coats I use in the “Formula and Application” section of the post. For these polishes, I used three coats.
Love the orange!
I love the colors. I would def wear underwear with these…maybe a nude or even white. Fun colors for some jelly sammys!!
loving the layered ombre look!
Did these dry quickly or are these like OPI sorbets that took forever (at least for me) to dry?
They did take a little longer to dry. I think that’s just the nature of jellies.
I like the red one and think I might end up picking it up. The lilac color has my attention too. I am thinking of all the beautiful jelly sandwich manis I will be able to do with these.
I love the glitter jelly sandwich
I love how nicely this makes a jelly sandwich. I’ve tried doing the same thing with Revlon Royal, but it obscured the glitters more than I would like… I think this lets them shine through better.
Awww…they are so cute! Love the colors for i find them perfect for Summer or Spring. They are indeed perfect for nail arts.
gorgeous shades! my fave is lilac coolers.
I’m not usually a fan of sheer polish but surprisingly I love these! I love the gradient you did. I’ve never been brave enough to try one as I’m dreadful with nail art. That might have to change!
I really like Jolly Lolly. I think all the rest will be best for nail art like your lovely glitter sandwich!
Great pics, and I love your layering ideas
And now Candy Girl is in my head! That was my song!!! I picked up the purple and green, but have yet to wear them.
Candy Girl, u got me wanting you. Except pink, red, orange. Love your gradation.
Oh those last two ‘designs/uses’ are great!
I picked up the green, red, and lavender today based on your pictures. I wouldn’t have swatched them with white underneath either- this is how they are SUPPOSED to look!
totally agree. using them ‘nekkid’ is the only way to really see how they will look IRL. its easy to imagine how much more they will pop with a white base. I got them all specifically for jelly sandwiches and they are wonderful for that, so much fun and so many ways to play with them. now I must try the layered look you did too…. reminds me of those Rocket pops popsicles from the ice cream man as a kid!
Ooh I absolutely love Jolly Lolly! It looks so summery and fun. I also loved your glitter & gradient ideas, I’m going to try those!! Thanks so much!
I bought Lilac Coolers and Jolly Lolly-love them! I did a jelly sandwich manicure with Jolly Lolly and star shaped glitter for Bay to Breakers (our theme was holidays and I went as 4th of July). Thanks for bringing these to my attention!
New Edition!! \O/
I picked up 2 in Lilac Coolers and Miss Pixie. I think I’m going to go back for Jolly Lolly and Berry Nice. I think these are fun for spring/summer. Bubble Trouble might get picked too *shifty eyes* I did a jelly sandwich with Lilac Coolers and a lavender glitter polish. I likey. These may be my go to polishes for spring/summer.
I love the syrup gradient! I am going TOMORROW to get me some of that Mango Madness!
You know, I slept on these when I saw them at the store but I love the jelly gradient/syrup nails you did with the colors! I’ll have to go back and snag a few of these soon. ^_^
I love these (except the Bananarama one, shudder!). I got Miss Pixie, Berry Nice, and Jolly Lolly. I was bummed – my Walgreens was out of the Lilac and Green shades. I love the 2 looks you did. The green and lilac one does look like a popsicle! I always used to want those from the ice cream truck because they were so pretty, but then they would taste awful and I’d feed them to my dog.
PS, so glad to see you posting again regularly. I love your blog.
I bought six of these the day they appeared and went back for the other two (Lilac and Bubble) the next morning. I was already wearing Creme de Mint and have since worn a few others. I can’t wait to try a ‘syrup’ gradient. I hadn’t thought of that, but I love jellies.
However, I only just now got around to actually opening Miss Pixie (the royal blue) — I know, I know. I’ve fallen away from my own rule about checking brushes in-store. Anyway, I just opened it to swatch it and it REEKS. Not a normal polish smell, but a SKUNKY smell. Enough that I swatched two nails on a wheel and can’t even bring myself to do a second coat. Even though it’s been a while and I don’t even know if I can find the receipt, I’m going to see if I can exchange it or at least get a good one. (I hope they still have it in stock! The others in the collection are downright pleasant, no problem there or with any other L’Oreal I’ve sampled.)
My question to you is — have you had this experience? With L’Oreal or any other brand? Or by some crazy chance is this how Pixie smells? I doubt that. I’ve never even heard of this problem before. It’s like…actual skunk smell. Or skunky beer. Very gross and very strong.
Update: I held my breath and swatched three coats. In the bottle and on the nail, the color has a near-perfect dupe in Nina Ultra Pro in Cobalt. Cobalt is a crelly — more opaque but still a nice squishy quality after two coats. It could actually be used as underwear for Miss Pixie (with or without glitter sandwich layers).
I still definitely need a new bottle though. Even after drying and a top coat, I can smell the skunkiness.
Another update: After contacting L’Oreal, they have e-mailed me and said that they “are interested in examining the product” and want me to send it to them (they’re sending me a paid mailer). I guess it’s a pretty rare occurrence! (In all my polish-lovin’ years and hundreds of bottles, I’m sure I’ve never encountered this before.) Since it’s been a few days since I first opened it, I think it’s mellowed a bit but it’s definitely still skunky.
Oh I love that ombr
Thank you!
Searched 4 drugstores and CANNOT find this collection anywhere! It’s not even on the L’Oreal website!!! HELLLLPPP!!! I NEED!!
Hi Krista! As with all the L’Oreal seasonal collection, they are limited edition. When they sell out, they are gone for good. Sorry
Try ebay, I just ordered the whole set for 28 bucks (including shipping) and the seller has 7 more sets available.
Awesome tip, thanks!
I love your blog! I just got interested in nail polish recently and I’m impressed with the high quality and great ingredients of modern products. I love to browse the Internet for swatches, and your site is very helpful.
I have a really dumb newby-type question: are “gels” and “jellies” the same? I was about to order this collection when I started reading about the more complicated removal process for gels, soaking in acetone etc. It looks like “gel” is an earlier term and “jelly” is more a nickname. Please advise.
Hi there! Gels and Jellies are not the same.
Gels usually refer to gel polish or gel nails (which is similar to acrylic nails). Gel polishes like CND Shellac, Gelish, Red Carpet Manicure, etc are cured on the nail with a light source.
Jellies on the other hand is a term for a type of traditional nail polish. Jellies have a Jello-esque appearance, which is how they got their name. They are tinted but sheer, like lucite.
Thank you, that’s very helpful! I may go ahead and order this set, they all look so yummy (it’s on amazon). You’re great, ALU!
I was searching for a dupe to the blue because I finally used all mine after trying to save it for so long….I have gotten more compliments using that in jelly sandwiches then any other nail polish ever…