When I came across this shade a couple of months ago on Fragrance Direct, I knew I had to have it - is this not the most autumnal shade? Admittedly, despite my best intentions it did take me several weeks to get around to wearing it, and when I eventually did I'm sorry to say that I made a pig's ear of it. I applied it like usual, popped on a top coat and went to sleep... only to wake up with the worse duvet nails I had ever seen. I managed to save it somewhat with another layer of the top coat to smooth things out, but it does mean that this swatch is not the neatest I've ever done.


Moving onto the shade, I fell in love with this instantly. It's a rich, chocolate brown that leans almost red and orange in certain lights - it's not a true brown by any means and I think it's all the better for it. It almost looks rust in tone; it's a shade completely unique to my collection. It definitely reminds me of the most indulgent hot chocolate, like the name! Talking of which, this is up there with the best name for a nail polish that I have come across. This is a polish that has a subtle shimmer; nothing blinding, but enough to give the shade some dimension and prevent it from looking flat.


The formula was pretty good, and what I have come to expect from the Complete Salon Manicure range. This was very easy to apply and was opaque in two coats if I remember rightly, and dried to a smooth, glossy finish. Looking back, I'm wondering why I bothered with a top coat at all! I was expecting to see some visible brush strokes, but I'm pleased to say that there were none. This polish had a tendency to show up the ridges on my nails, though - I'm not sure whether my nails were particularly ridged before this application, but it's something I've not noticed with previous ones from this range. I'm not sure that I'll be breaking this out again this year (far too many others to try) but when autumn rolls around again, I'm sure that this will make a regular appearance on my nails!

Selected shades from the Complete Salon Manicure range (including this one) can be bought from Fragrance Direct for £1.49.