All About Face: Scarlet Red
2011
Sometimes I wonder about some companies’ quality control departments, I really do. My other half has this saying “Buy Cheap, Buy Twice”. Sometimes I disagree as there are amazing cheap things out there (Diamond Cosmetics, Sleek Make Up, for example), but other times, I agree with him.
All About Face is a brand I’d never heard of until walking through the beauty aisles of my local Tesco. I have a watchful eye on the supermarket beauty ranges as you never know when you’re going to stumble upon a little gem. Sadly, this wasn’t one.
All About Face is a “no frills” cosmetics range that was launched by Tesco in 2005. When it comes to nail varnish, I’d consider a “frill” to be fab packaging a la Rococo Nail Apparel, or perhaps a fancy glitter or holo finish. What I do not consider to be a “frill” is decent quality.
This nail varnish is so sheer I think it was literally the teeniest bit of pigment
per million bottles. What you see in the photos is about eight coats, and it needed more. I only swatched this, really couldn’t be bothered to wait for each coat to dry.
OK, it’s a nice red, not too blue, and not too tomatoey but really there are plenty of nice reds around without the frustrations and hassle that this presented.
I know there are many of you out there that only use high-end polishes, but there are also plenty of you who shop in Tesco and like a bargain. All I can say is, if you see this on the shelf at the bargainous price of about £2.00, don’t bother. All About Face? Maybe. It’s definitely not All About Nails.
Helen
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[...] Remember my less than complimentary review of All About Face’s Scarlet Red polish not so long ago? Well, I ...
This colour really suits you. I assume you have a dupe somewhere. REALLY suits you.
I like mid-range to high-end but I scout for ebay bargains or sales or some kind of discount. Very rarely do I pay RRP. Almost never.
This is the fear I have with buying cheap make up! Also, i hate to think what goes into it that makes it so much cheaper. The colour is hardly original so at least you won’t be too disappointed.
What a shame because it does look like a colour which really suits you as Jenni says. I think there are some great cheap makeup products around that do perform but they tend to be from companies that produce makeup rather than food. I have heard that the nail varnish by George@Asda is meant to be good though. Thanks for this. Jan x
Gorgeous red on you. Shame you discovered a dud instead of a gem.
it’s really rare to find something that’s cheap and amazing…I get nervous with really bottom price products for exactly this reason..it *is* a great colour though!
I own and work for the company that manufacture this product for Tesco in China, each product is manufactured agaisnt national benchmark products such as Boots, Rimmel, Barry M etc. Every product is put through a test of 100 people who vote if the product is as good if not better than the product Tesco is copying. This is how Tesco work on all their products in the beauty sector – everyone is at least as good as a national brand or it would never be allowed to be sold at Tesco….I would always recomend buying a Tesco product verses a national brand as it is the same quality and product inside. Just different packaging.
I bought all about clear nail varnish to wear for a wedding recently-I applied 2 coats 10 minutes apart and initially it looked fine but within an hour it started peeling off. Thinking perhaps I had rushed the process I cleaned it all off-washed my hands and started again-1 coat this time. Same result! So I gave up and went to the wedding without any glamour on my nails.I have bought Tescos beauty products in the past and been quite satisfied-this was a very disappointing buy.