My bottle arrived in this luxurious leather drawstring pouch. The bottle shape is cool too, faceted like a diamond! In the bottle, it looks like a black polish with silver glitter. But instead, it is a grey jelly with silver and black glitters.
The polish is delicate and beautiful, while still retaining a bit of an edge. It was intended to be reminiscent of the sparkle of a black diamond, and I think that Azature did a good job with that.
You guys know I love black glitters, so that was immediately appealing to me. This polish actually reminds me of something that an indie brand would put out (that's a good thing)!
The jelly base is thin, which allowed the different depths of glitter to show well. However, because of this, the polish required four coats to get to the opacity you see here.
I haven't tried layering this polish over a creme yet, but imagine that would both solve that and completely change the look of this polish. I guess it's a matter of what is most important to you: opacity or depth? If you want it to look the way it does in the bottle, I'd suggest putting it over a black creme.
The formula on this was good. It applied easily and wasn't lumpy, like some jellies can be. The glitters aren't gritty, either.
When applying, I would recommend giving it a bit of extra time between coats to set to prevent pulling of the previous coats. Add a layer of topcoat to boost the shine and you're good to go!
Final thoughts: this is a pretty polish and a unique look from a larger manufacturer. Is it worth $25? It depends. The formula is good and the final effect is nice, but the number of coats required will be a drawback for some. In the end, you may be paying for the brand and the novelty of the black diamond. But isn't that the way it is with most luxury polish?
Azature Black Diamond is sold on Ron Robinson for $25 per bottle.
The product in this post was provided to me by the manufacturer.
EDIT: I've heard back from Azature and the black diamond in the bottle is whole. The size may vary by bottle but the texture is different and distinguishable.
EDIT II: Due to a ridiculous amount of spam comment attempts on this post, I have shut off commenting. Please feel free to email me with questions or comments.