Review: CrowsToes Orion - Pleiades Collection

Orion is a constellation that appears just above the horizon here in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months. CrowsToes nail polish is made by The Polished Crow and she discusses the Greek mythology story behind her collection here: 

http://thepolishedcrow.blogspot.com/2012/12/blog-post.html

NOTE: I purchased this polish myself from llarowe.com with my own money!

Bottle shots

Orion the constellation has personal meaning to me. When I was growing up in San Diego, our family would sometimes take a trip to IHOP to eat breakfast for dinner. I always got the chocolate chip pancakes! When we were out doing this one night when I was around 10, we all went outside to wait for my mom who was using the restroom after eating. I looked up in the sky and I seriously thought I had just discovered a constellation (because I had never learned it). It was Orion but I saw the main rectangular shape with the "belted waist" and I called it the Hunter Daddy constellation because my dad was a hunter (gun AND bow). I was a bit of a daddy's girl at the time. When I found out later that week that I had not made it up myself, I was devastated---until I learned that it was named the Hunter, too! I was right about something at least :)

Onto the polish! 

This is a really sparkly multichrome that goes from a green-gold to green to blue. It is not a drastic multichrome like, say, Ludurana Show but it is noticeable. I am wearing it over black in all the photos. 

Wearing a multi or duochrome over black is the best way, in my opinion, to bring out the range of color. This polish is fairly sheer and I hate wasting multichrome so one layer of Wet n Wild Black Creme and one layer of Orion means I get to wear it many more times!

This photo shows how blue it can get. Open up the image in another window to see it better!

See, I have been on the hunt for a multi or duochrome polish that has a base color of green (hunter green in this instance) and changes easily in the light. I think I have found it, which makes me so happy! No diss intended but the shots of this polish on The Polished Crow were not promising.

Open this photo in another window to see the particle sizes and the changes in color better.

The bottle does that thing that a lot of duochromes in rounded bottles do; they appear to be a MUCH more complex multi-chrome. Don't be fooled, this one only has about 3 distinct colors as far as I can tell.

I added the constellation Orion to my ring finger using Sally Hansen Gold Chrome and Petites 24k Gold

Now, I compared it to the only other two greenish duo-multi-chromes I have; Scherer Chameleon in Fandango and MISSHA HGR01

Bottle Shots

Reverse order from the above photo

Correct order

Correct order

As you can see, the MISSHA is a more dramatic multichrome but it never gets to the deep golden or forest greens of the CrowsToes. Fandango really only has two colors and it is a muddied and sort of frosty color.

How would I rate this polish on a scale of 1-10?

Uniqueness: 10

Do you see many forest green-based multi OR duochromes out there?! No, seriously, if you know any more, tell me! This is very unique to me!

Formula: 10

Like other duochromes, it has a really smooth formula and applies rather sheer. It is opaque in 3 coats but I don't like to use that much. I recommend it over a black nail polish like I recommend most other duochromes :)

Payoff: 7

I am only saying 7 BECAUSE...it is not a dramatic duochrome. That may bug some people. The other polishes in this collection seem to be a lot more dramatic. I think it is probably because of the pigment used in making a green duochrome and the type of pigment used. Maybe one day, I will get my wish of a wicked awesome, super dramatic and flashy green-based multichrome!

ORION rates a 9 for me by those standards

I really like this polish a lot!

Again, this was purchased by me (Nat) using my own money! No one knew I was going to review this polish or asked me to :)