I was introduced to a new local (Malaysian) brand of cosmetics yesterday known as Covo Cosmetics and while I have my reservations about getting excited over a new player in the market without quite knowing how long it’ll be hanging around for, I must say I have been quite taken by the few items I’ve seen. After all, for a brand to succeed, they do need our support, don’t they? 🙂 But I’ll tell you about it another time.
I wanted instead to very quickly share about one specific item that had me zeroing in on it as if my gaze was hooked by a tractor beam. It was the Covo nail polish in Maldives and if you have been following the nail colour trends for Summer 2013, you will understand why I singled this one out for special mention 😀
Covo Cosmetics is the first local brand to have a range of nail polishes that are 3 Free. What this means is that they are free from the 3 ingredients most believed to be toxic – formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). I was pleased to see this because the other big brand available locally that is well known to be 3 Free is Butter London (available now at Sephora stores) and they cost almost double what Covo nail polishes do!
Oh yes, did I mention that Covo offers us luxe for less in that the nail polish is just RM29 (under US$10)? 😀
I wanted to show you Covo Maldives right off the bat because the summer 2013 trend for nails appear to be this interesting iridescent shade of peacock/aquatic blue-green. You may have seen it in Chanel (Azure) and Dior (one half of the Samba nail duo).
Granted, the colours are not all 100% the same (stock photos and actual photos do differ) but they all fall in the same colour family which means you can now get on trend, even on a budget! 😀 I can update this post to show a comparison between Samba and Maldives in the next day or two, but I don’t have Azure so we’ll just have to imagine it 😛
I very quickly applied it on nails to let you have an idea what it looks like. A bit messy because I’m a klutz and proceeded to smudge them halfway. But I hope it gives you an idea of how pretty the colour is.
In bottle, Covo Maldives is an iridescent green-blue and the finish on nails (no top coat) is very highly shiny and you can get it opaque in 1 coat. The iridescent shimmer finish means that mistakes are a bit more forgiving and the only other brand I have experienced that is similar in terms of ease of application for a colour like this is A-England polishes.
The square bottle does look familiar doesn’t it? *coughChanelcough* but the similarity stops there. Where the Chanel cap lifts off to unveil a smaller cap within, the Covo brush is attached straight to the cap. I personally find this a little unwieldy because the cap is rather large to grip. But who am I to judge? I’m no nail polish afficionado 😀 The brush in mine didn’t splay and was quite well structured, which surprised me because I guess I don’t have a lot of confidence in budget price products like these, so I was very pleasantly surprised.
In a nutshell
Covo Cosmetics is a new player in the local cosmetics market. The nail polish in Maldives is quite a dead ringer for colours from 2 big luxury brands who launched similar shades for Summer 2013. The colour is a lovely iridescent shimmer peacock/aquatic green-blue and when applied on nails, go on smoothly with a high gloss finish. I am not good with painting nails, but I found this one quite easy to use, even if the cap is a little large and unwieldy and the brush wasn’t streaky. Covo nail polishes are 3-Free and they are the first local brand and one of the few brands available locally that have this formula. What this means is that its not formulated with formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) which are believed to be toxic. I’m told they last very long but I didn’t test that because I have no patience with nail polish. I just liked how this colour is so in trend right now! 🙂
Pros: Affordable, Pretty in-trend colour, Easy to apply, Formulated to be 3-Free
Cons: Limited availability at the moment, Takes a while to dry (but you can use a quick drying top coat to speed it up), Cap is a little large and can be unwieldy for small hands
Who will like this: Anyone who is looking for a budget alternative to the aqua/peacock colour that is in-trend for Summer 2013
Pretty colour right?!?! 😀
Maldives is quite an apt name too. I have never been to the Maldives but I can imagine how this colour reflects the deep turquoise hue of the ocean surrounding the beautiful beaches in the Maldives, with the golden light of the sun reflecting off the surface. I can almost smell the sea breeze already! 😀
Do you like colours like these? Have you gotten in on the aqua/peacock colour trend for summer?
I don’t wear polishes a lot. The longest I can bear having them on is about 2 days before I remove LOL! Impatient is my middle name. Paris ‘Impatient’ B 😀
Paris B
Covo Cosmetics Nail Polishes come in 15 shades Price: RM29 Availability: Sunway Pyramid, One Utama, The Mines, Berjaya Times Square. Hopefully online soon at covocosmetics.com
so pretty!! I’m lately really into looking at nail polishes from around the world.. I follow like 10 Indie Nail Polish maker in my instagram.. lusting all the colors. But need to consider shipping fee when they are half globe away from me 🙁 Even distributors at Singapore sells at about SGD15-18,minus shipping fee.
This is really affordable! Is that 1 or 2 layers on your nails? The shine! Woo!
I’m not very good with nail polish so its not something I particularly look out for but isn’t it great to know that there’s one available here that’s worth looking at (and is cheap)? 😀 There is another shade in New York which is a shimmer red that looks gorgeous too! I had 1 layer on my index finger and 2 on the others because I messed up – no top coat 🙂
off topic.. A England no do FOC shipping to MY anymore 🙁
Sadly that’s true but its because Royal Mail does not allow them to deliver nail polish outside of the UK anymore so they can only ship within the UK. When buying from outside the UK we have to buy from their distributors and our closest is in Singapore 🙂 Hope that helps!
It is such a beautiful colour and very affordable too. Might check it out but I am also very lazy at applying nail polish. LOL.
Haha that makes 2 of us Victoria! 😀 But at least you now know that if you want to look in trend, you can pick up a budget option 😀
Aaaaah! I love it! I’m a bit obsessed with the whole peacock trend, I just love the shift, the shimmers and the glow in these. Maldives looks like it has a stronger green tone than Samba which makes me want it even more! It looks like a really nice brand, and yay for being so affordable! ^^
These peacock shades are so gorgeous aren’t they?! I haven’t compared Samba and Maldives side by side but I hope to over the weekend and then I’ll update the post with more pictures so we have a better idea. I just love that they’re affordable 😀
I think it’s even PRETTIER than the Chanel one I’ve seen everybody sporting! AND cheaper! I hate spending that much money on nail varnish. I just can’t justify it. 😛
I haven’t seen the Chanel one but I am tempted to go to a counter, swatch it on my nail then go home and compare it with Maldives HAHA! I don’t wear nail polish much so I’m not into spending a lot on it either. I suppose though, afficionados would tell us otherwise but my answer would be “I love budget lipstick too!” 😉
OK…. Covo is at a walking distance-ish for me. PB Y U TEMPT ME SO…
hehe 😀 At least its affordable! 😉
wow, just wow :O that colour is stunning! I never heard of this brand I think but now I want that colour! So beautiful, I have to take a look at their other shades as well. I always use a drying top coat so I hope the drying time in general won’t frustrate me, haha. I hate to wait ages till my nails are finally done! xxx
I hadn’t heard of it either myself Claire, and its local! LOL Its only available in Malaysia for now being newly launched, only in January 2013! Another pretty shade is a shimmery red they call New York. I don’t know if they’ll start selling overseas at any time soon but do feel free to let me know if you need some help 😉
😀 I will! and thank you so much <3 The red shade sounds amazing … and well it's red, I am so weak, haha 😉
(will have swatches of that one when I can!) 😀
Oh haaaai Maldives! I’m a TOTAL fan of this trend! I have Chanel Azure, and a little part of my greedy heart STILL wants Dior Samba :p The good thing is I do think there will be enough knock-offs of these shades on the market soon (remember Peridot?), so if people can resist the temptation now they might be able to score something similar enough later for a fraction of the price!
These are such pretty colours aren’t they? A lovely change from the oranges and yellows we got last year 😀 I haven’t seen Azure myself but Dior Samba is very pretty 🙂 I am quite certain there are already similar colours available out there – its not a hard colour to dupe I don’t think! At least that way, it’ll give lots of options to everyone to sport this shade on their nails 😀
That colour is so beautiful! I have been keeping my eye on colours like that since last year and the brands that usually have them are really not in my budget as I’m still just a student…. But this! I hope it will be available locally in Sarawak…
Hey, I’m told they will be selling online in the future so do keep an eye on their website and facebook page! Also, if I’m not mistaken on the FB page, I saw that they have said that you can email them and bank in payment and they can send the products to you. Don’t quote me, but its worth asking because they just might! 😉
I love the color but I wish that it’s more shimmery. I’ve done my nails with this color (with lots of bling) but it’s another brand and it’s gel polish. Butter London is popular overseas before they made their way to our shores. My friends from overseas posted pics of their nails painted with Butter London nail polish. It was wow, pretty colors. Do they have a shop at BTS? I didn’t notice it.
I still haven’t tried gel polish. But due to the longevity, I fear I’d be seriously bored after Day 2 which would be a waste 😛 I have a couple of Butter London polishes but since I’m not much into them, I just didn’t bother blogging about them Haha! Butter London is available in Sephora. Covo has a pop up counter thingy in Berjaya Times Square they said, behind the entrance. I rarely go there so I’m not sure where that is.
Oooh, the colour is really pretty, and reminds me of peacocks/pretty scarab beetles! 😀
I have a similarly-coloured nail polish from Revlon called Ocean Breeze, wonder how that shade compares to this Covo one? >_<
Ooh I had Ocean Breeze too! Hated it. Haha! I found it goopy and hard to apply but then I’m not good with using nail polish so maybe its just me being a klutz about it 😀 The Covo polish is more vibrant by comparison. I also found Ocean Breeze too thin in terms of colour oh and I think it had a weird scent added to it 😛
Today I was at the Beauty Fair at 1 Utama and the Covo booth was having a promo for nail polish of buy 2, free 1. Think the fair lasts till this Sunday. Wanted to get some but I had just bought 8 Sally Hansen nail polishes from another booth for RM7 each!
Thanks for sharing the promo, Yee! 🙂
Very nice color. I think it’s so glossy and ultra beautiful 🙂
Its just soooo… bling! 😀
That is such a pretty colour! The fact that it’s local and affordable makes it all the more appealing. Should support local products!
You, my dear, are absolutely right! I’m all for supporting a local brand and local products if they can deliver us results 🙂 I hope the other products will be as promising!
Wow it’s so pretty and shiny (I thought at first you used a top coat)!
I want to go back to KL again just for shopping!! hahahaha :p
Its getting so much better here! But for variety and choice, Bangkok still trumps us! 😀 I want to go to Bangkok and eat again haha!
After seeing the prices of beauty stuff in Malaysia, I do not have any heart to buy them here anymore. I think online stores like hqhair or feelunique that offer free shipping will be my saviours, for now.
But food, yes… Do come here again! We’ll go somewhere far from your comfort zone! :p (MAS ticket is not that bad these days and it’s comparable with AisAsia!)
Ooh I love those sites but you know what? They don’t want to ship to me! So that really pisses me off 😛 I do plan to visit BKK again soon. MAS is running a super cheap promo! :O