Barielle Rachel Red

I love random swaps of polish. You never know what discoveries await when a big box o' polish arrives from a fellow polish enthusiast, as one did here recently courtesy of my favorite polish fairy, the delightful Marisa of Tiny Twinklings. Such a wonderful box, thank you so much my dear! I'm still sorting through all the goodies therein, but I squealed in delight when I came across today's polish, Rachel Red from Barielle. Oh this color! I knew it needed nail time ASAP!

I know that Rachel Red is part of Barielle's core line, but that's about all the provenance I can give you. It's officially described as a "fire engine red," and I agree. As I was applying it, I was like, oh hello there Zoya Janel dupe -- Janel being the deeper of the two reds that belong to Zoya's new Focus collection for fall 2015. But after studying images of Janel I'm waffling on that duplicate status. They're both medium-dark cool-leaning red cremes, but Rachel Red feels slightly cleaner and more blue-toned to me, with less of an autumnal demeanor. I love blue-based reds and Rachel Red is delicious. It's not what I think of as vampy, but it's definitely deep enough to mean business if you know what I saying. At the same time, the color is rich and saturated, with a certain vibrancy to it that allows it to access the vivacious, flirty aspect of feminine energy without relinquishing the sense of power and potency carried by all deep red polishes.

Application was luscious. What a nice formula! The consistency of Rachel Red is fluid, creamy and dense, with a silky glide over the nail and outstanding self-leveling properties. I'm not the biggest fan of Barielle's brush -- the bristles have always seemed a little stiff to me -- but this polish goes where you put it and stays there without running or pooling. Pigmentation is also outstanding; this beauty is a one-coater. I used a second coat to finesse some of my lines, but it made no difference to the opacity or the color. Cleanup, on the other hand, is a bear due to copious pigment travel the instant the polish comes in contact with acetone and the residual pinkish staining to skin and cuticles. The only thing to be done in such cases is to effect as clean a manicure as possible from the outset, a task make considerably easier with a superb formula like this one. Rachel Red dries naturally in good time to a beautiful glossy finish. 

Photos show two coats of Rachel Red over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Barielle Rachel Red

Rachel Red is available singly for $8USD or as part of a $25USD five-pack of red polishes called Red Haute Mamas, which also includes Bold n' [sic, really...] Confident, Vivacious, Katalicious and Elle's Spell, a nice selection for you red lovers out there.

love,
Liz