Jessica Heavy Petal Collection Spring 2012 Swatches and Review

It's been a while since I've seen anything new from Jessica. Their new Spring 2012 Collection (called Heavy Petal) was a surprise in more ways than one. One, because I haven't seen a new collection from them in so long that I wasn't sure if they were even releasing a spring collection. And two, because at first glance these all appear to be stereotypical "spring" colors, but there are two polishes in here with an awesome, unexpected surprise:

DUOCHROME SHIMMER.

Jessica Born 2 Pansy. This is such an amazing color. It's a creamy semi-sheer pale purple base with lots and lots of color-shifting glass fleck shimmer. The shimmer shifts from blue to teal to pink, purple and gold. Most of the time the shimmer looks blue and green, but in certain lights, it's pink/purple duochrome with only a little blue. The base color of it is so perfect and very unusual. It's very light and pastel but it's so vibrant. It looks mostly like a bright (but very pale) blue-toned purple to me, but in some lights it looks much more pink and a lot warmer. If you were disappointed by Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy, you should really check this one out. It has that same multichrome shimmer, but in this polish it actually shows up and is quite noticeable.


Jessica Dazed Dahlia. This is a deep fuchsia creme with a little bit of a jelly finish to it. This is a pretty basic color, not much else to say about it.


Jessica Geranium Gypsy. You know... for a frost, this wasn't that bad. The application was flawless and most of the streaks go away as it dries, leaving it with a near chrome-like metallic finish. The color is a soft purple that changes a little bit depending on the lighting. Maybe it's because it's purple, maybe it's because of the unexpectedly nice application, but I actually kinda like this.


Jessica Hotter Than Hibiscus. This is a shiny, silver-based metallic frost like Geranium Gypsy, but instead or purple, it's pink. The same oddly nice application (frosts are usually a nightmare to apply), same shiny finish... But I don't like it like I like the other one! (Did I just say 'like' three times in the same sentence?)



Jessica Rolling Rose. This is just like Born 2 Pansy, but with a pink base instead of purple. It has all of that lovely color-changing shimmer and it actually shows up on the nail. In the bottle this one seems like a warm pink, but when I'm wearing it, it looks like it has a blue undertone. Could be from all the pretty blue sparkles, but it definitely looks different on my nail than it does in the bottle.


Jessica Witchy Wisteria. This type of color always turns out looking so dark in my pictures. It does dry a lot darker than bottle color, but it is at least a shade lighter than this in real life. This is basically a less-shimmery version of OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? / Zoya Tru. Red-toned grape purple with red, orange and gold shimmer.

The formula on these was great. It was a little thick, but it flowed smoothly and didn't run or bubble or pool. I was really impressed with the application of the two frost shades in particular because frosts are usually horrible to apply. I did three coats of each color, but only the Born 2 Pansy and Rolling Rose needed the third. Dry time is long, so don't forget your quick-dry topcoat!

Overall, I guess I'm pretty pleased with this collection. Born 2 Pansy really, really impressed me and I love it intensely. Rolling Rose is one of the nicest pale pinks I've ever worn. The rest of the colors don't stand out to me, but those two are so pretty and unique that I've started to think that maybe I'm not as sick of pastels as I thought I was. Still not excited about the idea of bringing back frosts (Please, no. Don't do it, polish companies! I'm begging you!), but at least the two frosts in this collection applied well.

This collection is available now on jessicacosmetics.com.

(This was sent for review.)