Hey Swatch It! Models Own HyperGel Collex, pt 1 - Pastels and Neutrals

Hey y'all!

At the beginning of February, Models Own reached a massive 250,000 likes on Facebook just before the launch of the HyperGel line, and celebrated by having a 50% off sale on their website.  Like so many others, I couldn't resist and ended up ordering 7 of the 10 HyperGels (I passed on Pink Veneer and Cerise Shine because "meh, pink", and Red Lustre, because it was already sold out), along with some other goodies (including the Midori set because ohmydot I wanted watermelon scented green polish... ahem).  Today I'll be showing you my pastels and neutrals of that HyperGel haul, and will post the other three ("brights") next Saturday.  The hype around these polishes is that they give a gel-like finish and shine without topcoat or UV curing.

I started with Lilac Sheen, a soft violet cream.  I applied two coats, the first deliberately thin and the second a bit thicker.  These polishes are pretty thick, which is of course one of my nemeses, but I actually found it fairly easy to work with, as long as I ignored that first coat being streaky and letting it dry thoroughly so that it doesn't drag on the second coat.

I applied the second coat at about 8pm, and it was definitely touch dry in about 10 minutes, so I went about my business for the rest of the evening, and went to bed about midnight with all appearances normal and the intention of snapping pics the following day.  Unfortunately for Models Own, I woke up with a mess of sheet marks after, count them, FOUR HOURS of dry time!  I was fairly disgusted.

It's not blatantly obvious from these pics, but if you click to enlarge them, you'll see what I'm talking about.  To forgo any further problems of this nature, I opted to take my pics immediately after the dry time was finished, and then sealed them in with SV after I was done with the pics.  It will warrant further investigation to determine if this was a problem only with this color/bottle, or if all of them are questionable in this regard. 

However, dry time issues aside, I really love this shade, and it made a perfect backdrop for my swatch of Quirk's Peace is Free and of course my spun sugar ropes.

My next pastel is Cornflower Gleam, which if you're paying any attention at all, means it's a soft cornflower blue.  Application on this was much like Lilac Sheen, 2 coats of one thin and one slightly thicker.

I wasn't expecting to like this so much, but in fact it did grow on me quite a bit.  Typically I go for darker blues, but I felt like this played really well with my skin tone.

I did end up using this in some nail art, which you'll see on Tuesday.

The stark white of this collection is called White Light.

Application on this one was a bit trickier - I was expecting a bit more opacity given the thickness of all of the polishes in this line, but it ended up taking me three coats to get this one smoothed out.  That said, it does look nice and squishy - like a big plump marshmallow, waiting for the fire.  And graham crackers.  And chocolate.  Dangit!

I ended up using this as a base for Chubby Owl Majestic Moonstone, and the stark white made it totally easy to see the lovely purple jelly in that polish.  It's a bit stark for me to wear alone, but I can definitely see myself using it for nail art!

Finally, I have a lovely neutral to show you called Naked Glow. 

I love this pale nude!  It is a great match for pale skin like mine!  Application was the same one-thin, one-thick two coats.

Incidentally, this is the exact color I like my hot tea, LOL.  I used Naked Glow as a base for my abstract neon brushstroke nail art.

Overall, I'm glad that I bought these guys because they do have merit, but I'm also glad I didn't pay full price for them, because they aren't flawless.  Aside from the dry time issue, I also noticed that they might be prone to bubbling (ergo my warning about letting the first thin coat dry properly before applying the second), and I don't feel that these give QUITE the same shine as a gel polish would.  They shine a bit more like a gel polish after a week of wear.  I have not yet tested them for durability, so I cannot say they last any longer than a normal polish without topcoat, either (although that isn't a claim of the product, just a curiosity for me).

I hope you're all having a great weekend!  Be sure to tune back in next Saturday for the conclusion of the HyperGel swatches.  I can already tell you that they're big and bold and I'm IN LOVE with the shades!