Models Own Tropical Sun

Models Own have released their 2nd Beetlejuice collection, this one being their Spring/Summer 2012  collection. I have to say, I wasn’t a huge fan of the 1st Beetlejuice collection (other than Golden Green) and didn’t get them on the basis that Models Own polishes still contain toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and camphor, and I am reluctant to part with £5 for something which could potentially damage me when many companies these days produce Big-3-Free polishes – always check your nail polish ingredients! It seems the Big-3-Free label is a big selling point for the Models Own Pro range but to pay £8 for that when many cheaper polishes from other brands are Big-3-Free anyways is a little frustrating!

However, since I never tend to wear a polish for more than a day or two before changing it, I did buy some polishes from the 2nd Beetlejuice collection as they are too hot to miss! Today I have Tropical Sun for you guys, a very very very pretty peach 🙂

So it’s not exactly duochrome (which was one of the selling points of the Beetlejuice collection) but it does look different in different lights – hopefully you can get that from the many photos I took 😛 the final photo shows how it looks distinctly orange in natural light, while the rest are in sunlight or direct light. Essentially it’s a very pink base filled with golden-orange shimmer. Tropical Sun also has silver microglitter throughout, which gives a subtle sparkle to your nails, very pretty!

Application:

The pictures show 3 coats. At 3 coats Tropical Sun still shows some free-edge of the nail, especially if your nails are stained, so if you are a stickler for opacity you will need a 4th coat! The golden-orange shimmer does reflect a lot of light which does conceal the free-edge somewhat though :). I found that Tropical Sun actually took a little while to dry, which was a bit of a pain as I did need a 3rd coat so I ended up doing the 3rd coat the next day. The polish smelled quite strong, a different smell from most polishes (maybe it’s the Big-3 chemicals? Anyone know?) so definitely apply this in a well ventilated area. Finally the finish is shiny, but ever so slightly bumpy so if that’s annoying to you, you may need a topcoat! I think that’s due to the microglitter. Tropical Sun is also just sheer enough to make a nice layering polish, but only just!

Despite all the application pains, I do LOVE this polish. It’s sooo pretty and definitely lives up to the ‘Tropical Sun’ namesake. I’ve never been a peach-person polishwise, but this one is gorgeous. It kind of reminds me of Boots 17 Glisten, but they are very different in base and finish. Tropical Sun is much more pink and has a somewhat more jellyish base. Would you like to see a comparison? Lemme know!

What do you guys think of this one? Also I’m interested to hear what you think of the fact that Models Own still contains the nasty chemicals?! They definitely improve the consistency and finish of any polish, which is a bonus, but I would never wear it say if I was pregnant due to the unknown long-term effects of them. I also wonder how many other drugstore polishes still contain these, I haven’t really looked into it fully yet. Does a polish containing the Big-3 put you off buying it?

x

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.