SpaRitual-Deep and Hidden Reef

My first SpaRitual polishes! I had a aveyou gift certificate I needed to use and they had the Spring 2012 Water collection already in stock (think it's not supposed to be released until February). I didn't get them all but I got the two that caught my eye first, Deep and Hidden Reef. Was a bit excited going in. Not so much now. Let's start with Deep.

Deep is a dark gray creme with purple shimmer. I love the thought of this. It's why I got it. A dark polish with a shimmer contrasting it. It sounds like a winner. The problem is the purple shimmer doesn't really show up in the polish. I think the darkness of the grey overtakes the shimmer to the point where you really can't see it. I will say that it's way more visible without top coat on, but even then the grey takes over the polish.

close up. hoping the shimmer is a bit more visible.

The formula was okay. Kind of streaky but nothing too bad to work with. It did dry quickly so I can't complain too much about it. I was most excited about this one because, again, I love the idea of it. I just think the execution wasn't that great.

Hidden Reef was the second polish I got. Now usually I wouldn't get a polish like this, but in an attempt to step out of my comfort zone this year I got the pink. This turned out to be my favorite of the two. This is a rose pink with shimmer running all through it. The shimmer looks gold and it really shows up in the light, even if you can't see it too well in my pictures. It's pretty. Just pretty.

horrible photo is horrible. but this is the actual color of the polish.

The formula was again okay. A bit like Deep in that it was streaky and wanted to go on weird, but even out at two. I have a bit of VNL with this but I don't care all that much about VNL so I'm good. If you do then maybe three coats would be best.

All in all, I'm a bit disappointed with my first SpaRitual experience. I really wanted to like these a lot more than I actually do. I do like Hidden Reef and have a feeling I'll pull it out when Spring actually comes along later this year. Deep however...I don't know about that one yet. I have two more SpaRitual polishes that I'll be wearing so hopefully those change my opinions on the brand because SR is one of those I've wanted to try for a while now. Here's hoping.