Here is the latest collection from Ulta3. Canberra girls, I grabbed mine from the chemist next to Coles in the Gungahlin town centre. I was surprised to see another Ulta3 release this summer, given they released eight polishes in spring. Usually they only do two collections a year, maybe they are going to up that to one every season. I sure hope so.
The Ulta3 gelato collection is a set of six creme polishes. They are not brights and they are not pastels, they are somewhere in between.
First up is Violet Crumble. Arrrgggghhhh Violet Crumble *wipes drool from mouth* I can't remember the last time I had one of those. And now, damn I wish this polish was that metallic purpley blue from the Violet Crumble wrapper, that would have been totally awesome. Sadly it's not, instead it's dusty violet colour which is still pretty, just not awesome. This was three coats (and it needed all three!) with no top coat.
Blue Heaven. Oh yeah baby, this really is blue heaven. I totally love this one. There was a serious lack of decent blue cremes in the Ulta3 range, so this one fills a big hole in my opinion. This was three coats and a coat of Seche Vite top coat, again two coats were a bit streaky.
Kiwi Kaos - I'm surprised to see a green in this collection, given that they did three greens in the last collection. This is a toned down green that is quite wearable, unlike the rather hideous Frog Prince. This was three coats with no top coat. I really shouldn't have been lazy on this swatch and added the top coat, cause it would have looked so much better with it.
Lemon Tart - Very pretty light yellow. Streaky and horrible to apply. This was four coats with SV top coat, but once it dried it was great and very nice on the nail. This is the last one I swatched and I wore it as a full mani.
Mango Mayham - rich orange creme, but not neon or ultra bright like tangelo or tahiti. A unique colour in the Ulta3 range. With a name that includes the word Mango, I was expecting something more yellow, like mango flesh, mmmmmmm I have one on the bench I might go eat now! This was three coats with Seche Vite top coat.
Strawberry Sundae - A medium bright pink creme. Ulta 3 have a stack of pink cremes so I'm sure it's similar to something they have already released, I'm just not sure which one yet. I'm not a huge pink lover, but I'm really feeling this one at the moment.
The formula on all these was only OK. Very much like the last collection. Runny, but thick at the same time. I had a lot of trouble with the brushes from these polishes. The Ulta3 brushes used to be delicate and smooth, but I found these rather stiff. So much so that the brush left drag mark ridges through the polish as I wiped it over the nail. I had this same problem with the spring collection. I'm guessing they are probably using a lower quality brush now that the polishes are made in China, rather than made in Australia like all the previous polishes.
Despite the weird formula and crappy brushes, I totally love the colours. I also love collections like these that just go together and look like a set. They almost did this with the Spring collection from 2009 which were almost a set of pastels, except with Hot Spring and Spring Break.
Over all, yep they are totally worth their $2.25AUD price tag and are a great addition to my nearly complete set of Ulta3 polishes.
If anyone wants comparisons swatches just let me know what you want to see.
