C'est les Bon Bons de Revlon

✯ Day 338 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

These days just about anything goes when it comes to nail colour, and while I like the freedom to sport a rainbow's worth of hues on your hands if you so want, at the end of the day, 99% of the time, I - vintage loving gal at that I am - reach for the most classic of shades.

Chiefly reds, but also pinks, burgundies and peaches. These colours are akin to neutrals when it comes to cosmetics for your hands. They're feminine, utterly timeless and unlikely to ever raise an eyebrow (pulses, however, are another matter entirely ).

Sometimes though - I suppose that would be the aforementioned 1% of the time - I do like to break out of my tried-and-true comfort zone of nail polish choices (in a nod to my early teen years perhaps, when I loved sporting funky hues like lime green and cobalt blue), but even then I usually stick with very soft shades like the colours in the delightfully lovely vintage Revlon ad below.

{Charming 1950s Revlon nail polish ad via sugarpie honeybunch on Flickr.}

 

As one might have deducted from the inclusion of the word "frosted" in the description, this particular line - named rather beautifully Bon Bons de Revlon - debuted in 1959, as the decade neared ever closer to the most frost-filled make-up era of the 20th century.

Thankfully however these hues - with scrumptious sounding names like Pistachio Mint, Pineapple Yum Yum, Champaign Taffy, and Butter Pecan - stopped short of crossing into Priscilla Presley territory and remained more in line with the pastel craze that filled homes and wardrobes alike during the decade.

I love the sweetness of this line's name, the cheerful add with its trays of sweets and fresh cut blooms, and every single one of the nail polishes themselves.

Though these particular Revlon shades have probably long been out of product, one need only glance at them for a minute to recognize colours that are currently available from other lines at all manner of price points.

So while I do like to stick to my timeless reds and pinks most days, I love knowing that if I want to don pale, pearly blue or marigold yellow nail polish once in a while, I (and you!) can do so and still be wonderfully, authentically true to the styles of the 1950s. Now that’s c'est bon indeed!