Sinful Colors Haute Rebel

Not just the first new collection post of the year, but this blog's first Spring collection ever!  I'm not a fan of pastels, so there probably won't be a flood of new collection posts like the have been the last few months.  Haute Rebel is an edgier set of colors than the usual Spring offerings, so I snatched it right up the first time I saw it at Walgreen's.  Rite Aid might get it, possibly with a different name, but I haven't seen it there yet.  It has eight creams in various grays and earth-tones.  It's a new release, but almost all of the colors are from previous collections.  Only Ardoise seems to be brand new.  Four of the eight shades were also in Fall's Enchanted/Muse collection.  Like that collection, this is all cream formulas.  I'll be re-posting my swatches of three of the Muse re-releases (Rain Storm, Smokin, and Mesmerize) below the ones that I hadn't swatched before.


Beau Khaki is a medium army green cream.

That name!  BWAHAHAHA!!  Either you get it and you're laughing yourself dizzy (or you're grossed out) or you don't get it and you're a much more innocent person than me.  The name is quickly becoming a running joke in the online nail communities.  It's...well...it's hilarious.  It's also odd and inaccurate.  It's not khaki at all!  Khaki is brown.  This is a dead-on, M.A.S.H. rerun, army green.  All of the polishes in this collection have the standard Sinful Colors cream formula.  It's got a bit of a learning curve at first, but when you get the hang of it, they're one-coaters.  Bit of cuticle flooding, but nothing awful.  I really like their cream formula, now that I'm used to it.  I won't be reviewing the application and formula of these shades individually because they're all essentially the same.


Inkwell is a very dark purple cream.

I had skipped this when I reviewed Enchanted/Muse, because I initially thought it was black.  It's not, but it's daaamn close.  Under my LED lamp it's clearly deep purple, but in normal light it's more of a soft black.  In layering it just looks black.  It's not a bad shade, just very VERY dark.


Ardoise is a dark cool gray cream.

It's not quite as blue as it looks in this photo, but it is far into the cool side.  Ardoise is French for "slate," and the name is perfect.  This is the only brand new shade (as far as the internet would tell me) in this collection.  My bottle has the slightest hint of shimmer to it, but I'm not sure it's intentional.


Mauve is a very dusty cool pastel purple cream.

This is the "Spring-iest" shade in this collection, but it's still not the average pastel.  The grayness gives it more personality and keeps it out of easter egg territory.  Pastels usually look awful on me, but I kinda like this one.  Mauve has tons of layering potential.  You'll see it as the base for a sheer shimmer in my next post.


Cool Gray is a light cool gray cream with very slight green undertones.

I prefer a warmer gray, like Jungle Trail, because they go better with my skin tone.  If you're cool toned and have the opposite problem, Cool Gray is probably ideal for you.



The three shades below are older swatches from my Enchanted/Muse collection post last September.  I kinda miss the squarer nail shape I had until around Thanksgiving, and I might switch back.  The ovals are just more break-resistant on me.


Rain Storm is a medium blue cream that manages to be dusty and bright at the same time.

It's grayer in person than shown here, but this is fairly accurate.


Mesmerize is a deep indigo cream.

I adore Mesmerize, though my camera doesn't show it true-to-color.  It's more of an indigo than the blue shown here.  This is close, but off a bit  It's one of my favorite creams, so I'm very happy to see it out again!  It's a very close dupe for Essie No More Film, which has also been re-released recently.


Smokin  is a cool medium gray cream.

I found it really wearable.  Grays can be tough, but I really liked this.


Haute Rebel is a nice diversion from the flood of baby pastels that will be upon us very soon.  Of all eight shades, Mesmerize is my favorite, though I like all of them.  Personally, I won't be wearing Mauve or Cool Gray on their own again, but I really like them for layering and you'll be seeing them 'dressed up' in my next post.  I'd recommend all of the shades in this collection, especially if you're a fan of Sinful Colors' cream formula.

Another layerable Sinful Colors sheer duochrome from their core collection is up next!  See you then!