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You’d never catch Damini Sud without those perfectly manicured, brightly painted nails. She insists that well-maintained nails are a social necessity if you’re living in south Delhi, and having tried out several nail paint brands, she swears by Revlon. But Damini believes even perfection can be worked upon. Watch the video for her review of Revlon nail paints.

Make it loud and festive

Damini points out the tendency of most international brands to produce nail paint shades that are more suited for lighter skin tones and do little to satiate the Indian appetite for loud, festive colours. While brands such as Maybelline and its parent company, L’Oreal, do feature bright shades, they somehow fall short of the utter richness of Revlon’s darker shades — such as the red Damini’s wearing in the video.

Where are the old favourites?

Then there’s the issue of too much sparkle. Shimmer nails have been quite a rage since late 2011, so Revlon can’t be faulted for jumping on the bandwagon with a new glittering collection of nail paints. However, in a rush to flood the market with products that cater to the latest fads, it is possible to end up alienating loyal customers. While ubiquitous brands such as Revlon can afford to do this, if favourite shades go out of stock or become difficult to track down, you’re only driving your loyal buyers into the arms of competitors and diluting your brand value. Instead, Damini simply suggests launching separate matte and sparkle collections every season to keep everyone happy.

And big bottles are a pain

Even if it’s a question of keeping costs down (both for the company and the consumer), there’s no excuse for chunky bottles of nail paint anymore. With deepening pockets and narrowing attention spans, large bottles of nail paint make little sense. Being stuck with a big bottle of nail paint is like being stuck in a relationship you found interesting a month ago but now it’s just lying there, waiting for you to finish it off.

In addition, as Damini points out, there’s the problem of dried up paint that’s of no use to anyone. Cheaper makeup brands like Elle 18 that cater to younger women with budgetary constraints already give you a choice of buying 2ml bottles instead of the larger 4ml ones. Can’t top-end brands like Revlon be motivated to do the same? We think, why not? What do you think?

Pros: Great range of shades

Cons: Difficult to find certain shades, chunky bottles

Product: Revlon Nail Polish

Weight: 8ml

Price: Rs.140