My Picks from L'Oréal Gold Dust

The 'Year Of The Texture' is almost over and I think the trend is starting to slip, but there are still a (final?) few textured collections coming in.  I'm pretty much over it, but then I was never as into them as many people were.  Still, I can't fight the lure of sparkly stuff and L'Oréal's new Gold Dust collection looked outstanding in the bottles.  I oooh'ed out loud when I saw it on Nouveau Cheap and I was shocked and delighted to find a full display at the tiny CVS down the street from my house.  I usually skip going there, since they don't get many LE's, their cosmetics section is tiny, and their parking lot is awkward, but I'm gonna have to check in more often!  I think I went back to the display four times before settling on three shades from this collection.  The choice was tough, but the results were obvious.


Too Dimensional? is a textured blue jelly absolutely packed with gold microfleck shimmer and has a handfull of small silver hexagonal glitter too.

This is two coats.  It's pretty rough without top coat, but not as sandpaper-y as some.  It's ok as-is, but I knew I'd like it more with copious top coat.  There's some insane shimmer there and it gets muted by the texture.

Man oh man was I right!  Gorgeous!  My buddy McGee called it "celestial" and I couldn't possibly put it any better.  I think it's a little too busy for me to use as a full manicure, but I will be reaching for it as an accent nail.

The gold microfleck is at its boldest in indirect light and it glows when it gets the chance.

Sexy In Sequins has an intense amount of gold microfleck and a scattering of small silver hexagonal glitter in a dark purple textured jelly base.

The glitter and shimmer mix seems to be the same as Too Dimensional?, but the result is quite different because of the base.  The deep, rich purple tints the glitter and shimmer far more than the sheerer blue does.  It creates a much bolder look.  The formula's different too.  This is just one coat because it's thick and gloppy.  Not the toughest texture I've ever applied, but a bit more ornery than I like.

Topcoat makes it completely worth any hassle.  Stunning!

The sparkle is outrageous!  I got a little distracted by the almost perfect line of glitter on my ring nail, but this shimmer is way too intense to ignore for long.

Hidden Gems has a mix of sparse small white gold (I think) hexagonal glitter and dense teal/blue/purple multichrome microfleck shimmer in a sheer black textured base.

Different formula here too.  Hidden Gems is much thinner than the previous two and took three coats.  It's also much easier to work with.  The shift in the bottle isn't terribly strong on the nail, but it's there.  It mostly goes from teal to blue, but there are hints of purple at the borders.  I'm honestly not crazy about how it looks without top coat.

...but with it?  Oh yes!  The shift is stronger and the shimmer gets a massive boost.

If you embiggen the photo above, you can see that the shift is fairly cromulent.  There are hints of purple there and if you stare long enough and hold your fingers at strange angles, you'll see plenty of purple....but nothing like the bottle.  I never saw the slightest suggestion of gold shift on my nails no matter how hard I wiggled.

Bottom line: On their own they're ok.  I'm a poor judge since I'm not big on textures.  With top coat though?  Mindblowing!  Incredibly impressive!  I'll be taking another look at the collection just to be sure, and I might wind up buying a couple more.


I may have asked this before, but how do you like textures?  I've seen every reaction and every preference.  Hell, Scrangie even likes the varnished cottage cheese that is China Glaze There's Snow One Like You.  To each their own, I guess!  So are you still abstaining?  Are you deeply smitten?  Somewhere in-between like me?