Farmec Autumn-Winter 2014 Nail Polish Collection - Swatches and Review

Hello my lovelies! It's Saturday and it's the perfect time to relax. I'm finally having a weekend that I can fully enjoy. My only job for today is to write this post and tell you everything about a collection of nail polishes brought out by a local brand. It's not the first time I talk about Farmec on my blog. It's a brand of cosmetics that comes from my very own city, Cluj, and has a tradition of over 120 years. I tried some of their polishes but always complained that the colors weren't very diverse. They finally started bringing out some fun shades starting in the summer of last year. So now they bring out small collections of 7 fun shades in the summer and autumn of every year. I received this year's autumn-winter collection at the last Beauty Bloggers Meeting Cluj and decided to swatch them all for you. This will be a massive post so grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy. I thought about breaking it into two posts but thought that having all the shades together would be better. So here we go!

Farmec Autumn-Winter 2014 Collection

Let me start by telling you about the collection as a whole. It consists of 7 shades that come in little round bottles of 5 ml. The fact that the bottles are smaller means that the brush is on the smaller size too. It's a little tricky to use but it's definitely larger than a regular mini bottle brush so I think one can manage with it. This collection is aimed for the autumn and winter seasons, however I find that most of the shades are autumn shades and only two of them are classic winter shades. Some of them can transition from fall to winter though. The finish is mostly creme or crelly, with only one shimmery shade.

Farmec Autumn-Winter 2014 Collection

The formula and consistency of these polishes is very variable between shades, so I will discuss it for every shade in particular. They have a medium drying time, not too fast but still pretty good, which also depends on the thickness and amount of coats you use. From my personal research and the list of ingredients on the label, these are 5 Free, which means they are free of all the nasty stuff and completely safe for your health. I only wore one of the shades for a longer time so I can't really comment on lasting power for the whole collection. The one I wore (the blue shade, of course) didn't last very well, with visible tip wear after only a day. They have a shiny finish but I still used top coat for all my swatches. And now, in no particular order, here are the swatches.

It's Freezing Out There indoors, artificial light

It's Freezing Out There is a light grey shade with a slight taupe hue, which means it's a bit warmer compared to a regular grey. This is the nude or neutral shade of the collection, but it's the autumn take on neutral. The Farmec website calls this one of the winter holiday shades but I don't see that. It's great for the cold season though, so it can definitely transition into winter as well.

It's Freezing Out There indoors, artificial light

As expected, this was the thinnest and sheerest in the collection, so it needed 3 coats to be fully opaque. It also leveled out harder compared to the other shades so even if you do thicker coats you might need a 3rd one to take care of the bald spots.

Honey, I'm Home indoors, artificial light

Honey, I'm Home is an orange shade with lighter, almost golden shimmer. They should have called this pumpkin instead of honey because it's the perfect pumpkin shade. The pearly shimmer is really dense and gives it a very interesting finish. I wasn't expecting this to look good on me, in fact I was expecting a disaster because that's how bad orange is on me, but this one somehow works. It's perfect for autumn and Halloween. Here's a direct light shot to really show the pretty shimmer.

Honey, I'm Home indoors, artificial direct light

This one has the thickest formula in the collection. It's pretty opaque and goes on in thicker coats, but needs 2 coats to level out nicely. The shimmer makes it a little streaky but nothing that can't be solved with top coat.

Tree's Rock indoors, artificial light

Tree's Rock is one of the two winter shades in the collection. It's a very rich dark green creme. I wouldn't say it's exactly a Christmas tree color, but it still very much reminds me of winter. I'm a big fan of dark polishes so this was right up my alley.

Tree's Rock indoors, artificial light

This one has a good opacity but still needs 2 coats to look good and level out completely. It dries out to a very shiny finish that makes it look delicious. Being such a dark color, it does stain a bit so cleaning up your cuticles might be a bit of a hassle.

Your Highness indoors, artificial light

Your Highness is a navy blue creme that is my kind of shade. Of course this wasn't unique in my collection. In fact it's a perfect dupe for China Glaze Man Hunt. It even has the same squishy gel-like feel of the original. It's perfect for the cold season so it can be worn both in the autumn and in the winter (and all year long if you ask me).

Your Highness indoors, artificial light

This shade has good opacity and isn't too thick, so it needs 2 coats to look perfect. It was the one that I wore for a few days and, as I've mentioned before, it didn't last very well. The fact that it's darker makes every little flaw visible. I wore it for 3 days and the tips only looked good for one day. It also stained upon removal so you should definitely double up on the base coat with this one.

Santa's Here indoors, artificial light

Santa's Here is the Christmas red creme in the collection. It's the second winter shade of the bunch but it's not the classic Santa suit color. It's darker and warmer, with almost a brick red quality to it. Again I was expecting this to clash with my skin tone considering that it's so warm but it wasn't that bad. I still think it's better for someone with a warmer skin tone than mine.

Santa's Here indoors, artificial light

The formula for this shade is average. It has a medium thickness and the first coat applies streaky but the second one levels out nicely. As usual with reds, this one stains the cuticles so be careful with application if you don't want your cuticles to look like a massacre.

Go Get Them, Girl indoors, artificial light

Go Get Them, Girl is an olive green creme that is perfect for autumn. I was surprised by how much I loved this shade. I don't have anything similar in my collection and it's such a special one that I'm sure I will wear it as a full manicure soon. It's darker and has a dustiness that I enjoy a lot.

Go Get Them, Girl indoors, artificial light

The formula is very interesting for this one. It's a crelly, which means it has the opacity of a creme and the squishiness of a jelly. Even though it's thinner, it's opaque in 2 coats and looks absolutely amazing: shiny and delicious. Love this one!

Enjoy Your Dark Side indoors, artificial light

Finally, we have Enjoy Your Dark Side, the black shade in the collection. There's not much to say about this, except that it's a black creme. You can use it for whatever season you like, although it naturally is more of a cold season shade. Considering that black is not an original shade, I was expecting a great formula and opacity from this one to justify its presence in the collection. That wasn't the case however because this is a crelly and it has a thin formula so 2 coats are a must. At least the lesser pigmentation means it doesn't stain the cuticles which is always a plus for a black.

Enjoy Your Dark Side indoors, artificial light

To sum it up, this is a really nice autumn-winter collection. The fact that it has smaller bottles is great because you can play with the multiple colors without getting huge quantities that you will never use. My personal favorites are Go Get Them, Girl, Your Highness and Tree's Rock. I really hope that you enjoyed these swatches and that the amount of work I put into them will make them useful for some of you. Please leave your suggestions and questions in the comment section. Thank you for reading!