** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Pssst. Can you keep a secret? I’ve never actually finished watching or reading The Wizard of Oz. I mean, I know how the story goes – sort of. I know the creatures Dorothy and Toto meet along the way. But I don’t know who’s missing a heart, a brain, a couple of fingers… OK, you may drop your jaw now.

What I do remember is the pair of ruby slippers Dorothy was wearing. When I saw Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle, those slippers were the first thing I thought of! Having tried two other colors from the same collection, I was sure that Red Sparkle would twinkle brighter than those sequined ruby slippers!

Big sigh though. I wish I had worn a top coat with this color – it would’ve brought out the sparkles even more. I was lazy!

Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle Swatches & Pictures

*~* 2 Coats Without Top Coat in Flash *~*

*~* 2 Coats Without Top Coat in Natural Light *~*

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Claims: TRUSTED

√ Full coverage
√ Highly concentrated glitter colors
√ Long-lasting chip-resistant formula
X Easy application

Key Notes

• Name: Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle
• Amount: 0.45fl oz or 13.2ml
• What I Paid: $4.99 USD
• Price Per Unit: $11.09/fl oz or $0.38/ml
• Other Milani One Coat Glitter Colors Available: Purple Gleam, Blue Flash, Silver Dazzle, Gold Glitz
• Where to Buy: Milani & Cherry Culture

Milani Red Sparkle Review

Color

Milani Red Sparkle is a medium red with a very slight vampy feel. It’s really breathtaking, especially since I love red nail polishes! And this polish is glitter galore. Whenever I move my hands, all I see is glisten, glisten, glisten as the glitter catches the light. The glitter has the same red hue as the base color, but sparkly. My swatches don’t do the sparkles justice. 🙁

In the swatches, you can kind of see some silver near the cuticles. That’s not actually part of the nail-polish color. But when I was cleaning the edges with a cotton swab, the nail-polish remover took off some of the red, leaving a silvery color.

Finish

Holy G-R-I-T-T-Y. I expected this from Milani One-Coat Glitter Red Sparkle because I’ve tried Silver Dazzle and Purple Gleam already. But if this is your first, you might be yucked out by the gritty finish. Run your finger along your nail, and it’d feel like you’re touching cement. It’s not smooth at all! Of course, if you like texture, you might love it.

I chose not to wear a top coat with this because I would need at least 3 TC to get a smooth finish. The grittiness of this polish basically soaks up top coats, and I was too lazy. 😛 But I think the color is more gorgeous with a glossy finish. I wore a TC on the index finger for comparison purposes, and you can see that the sparkles glow from within. Oh, the regret!

Application & Consistency

Hm. For some reason, One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle by Milani is a bit harder to apply than the other two I’ve tried. I expected some blotchiness as with the other two, but it is more so with Red Sparkle. It is hard to get the polish to stay put, as the brush keeps sweeping the already-applied polish off the nail! It goes on more uneven than expected.

Opacity

Again, had a bit of a negative surprise here. Red Sparkle isn’t completely opaque in one coat for me. After one application, the polish is still a bit see-through, just very slightly. That along with the slightly uneven application made me put on another layer. It’s not a 2-coater… but maybe a 1.5 coater?

Longevity

Another reason why I regret not wearing a TC is because I noticed tip wear and slight chipping on Red Sparkle… the next day! 🙁

Pros Dazzling color with pretty glitter Dries fairly quickly Free of DBP, toluene & formaldehyde

Cons Can go on uneven Not completely opaque with 1 coat Gritty finish (would need multiple layers of top coat) Doesn’t wear well without a top coat

Final Verdict: 8.3/10

“Hey! Look at me! I’m sparkly and glittery.” That’s exactly what your nails would be saying if they wore this color. I really like Milani Red Sparkle because it demands attention and gets it, even if the application was a little difficult.

For other polishes and makeup I purchased on my Cherry Culture mega haul, please see this post.

Does this color remind you of Dorothy’s ruby slippers, too? Would you still love a nail polish if application was less than you expected but the color is gorg?