*This is a reposting of a review from early 2010. I recently rediscovered this nail varnish after moving house and thought it deserved another turn on the blog (and some better photos). I still love it just as much as the first time I tried it*

It upsets me when nail varnishes don’t have a name. Why not? I mean, it wouldn’t stop me from buying one (obviously) but I feel sad just referring to something as a number. I feel like I have been spoiled by OPI, Models Own and China Glaze taking the time to give their polishes all these wild and wacky names.

Any way, enough of my geekiness, and on to what is a pretty amazing nail varnish. I’d never seen this one before so when I was killing time  in the Boots at Canary Wharf (always dangerous) I spied this polish on the Bourjois rack, and what can I say? It called to me.

In the bottle, it appears like a fairly standard brown, but under the hot lights of the shop, I quickly realised that it contains a gorgeous purple shimmer. This is such a “me”combination that I knew it needed to come home with me.

The “1 seconde” brush takes a bit of getting used to. I handled it ok though and actually started to enjoy the curve of it, realising I could work with it rather than seeing it as a hindrance. It wasn’t exactly one second though as I needed to do a few strokes to cover my larger nails. I didn’t have any overspill or clean-up to do though so that was good news. I’m still not certain how people with smaller, narrower nails will fare though.

Oh and as for the 50 second drying time? Maybe, if all you do is one thin coat. This needed three, and the polish leans towards the thick side, so in actual fact it took about 20 minutes. I did rush it though and didn’t wait for it to dry after each coat before adding the next one.

I can best describe this as a hybrid of OPI’s Catherine The Grape and the Dior Lemon Balm that everyone went crazy for in 2009. It is glorious – a brownish grey base, packed with purple shimmer, and a silver flash. So complicated but so beautiful. In fact, I would go so far as to say it has a hint of my all-time favourite nail varnish, OPI’s Route Beer Float.

High praise indeed – quite simply, I love it.