Femme Fatale Ethereum

Aussie indie artisan polish and cosmetics maker Femme Fatale Cosmetics has been innovating and growing the indie polish and cosmetics scene for several years now and while they're website is a dream come true for indie polish lovers in Australia it's been hard to get their polishes here in the US. Enter Color4Nails, a US etailer of indie polishes including Femme Fatale, bless them!

The wonderful Belgian beauty blog Very Emily recently had a swatch and review fest of a slew of Femme Fatale offerings, here, and I was simultaneously smitten and enabled. After I got through drooling over Emily's photos I quickly found my way to Color4Nails to get myself a Femme Fatale fix. I got six of the shades I'd seen on Very Emily, including today's polish, Ethereum.

Ethereum is described by Femme Fatale as a "pale pink with subtle blue glass flecks and holo." Essentially accurate, but not near detailed enough to do proper justice to this ethereal jewel of a polish. Ethereum is a pale cool raspberry pink lavishly dusted with glass fleck shimmers that appears blue, pink, or silvery white depending upon how the light hits, along with a generous dose of finely milled holographic pigment. The glass flecks are of a substantial size and very sparkly, and combined with the rainbow of colors sparking from the holo pigment create a rich tapestry of visual texture on the nail. In natural light, this polish is a just a feast for the eyes. Indoors under incandescent lighting, the pink develops a semi-metallic sheen that throws a blue flash sprinkled with holo sparks. It's the kind of polish you want to eat with a spoon, simply fabulous.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Ethereum is fluid and light but not runny, very easy to control with excellent self-leveling flow over the nail. Femme Fatale's brush is long and round with very flexible bristles that hold an ample amount of polish and encourage finessing the cuticle curve. The process was profoundly satisfying and, for me, full of open-mouthed fascination as I watched the glass flecks disperse their sparkly selves evenly over my nails. Pigmentation is very good for a pale polish, with even coverage in two coats, although those who dislike seeing light through their polished nails will want to do three for a more dense opacity. I stuck with two. Cleanup with paler polishes can be tricky as tiny swipes are harder to see, and the flecky shimmers in this polish like to stick around and require a bit more attention to remove. I wasn't entirely successful at that and left a few flecks around my cuticle area that I didn't notice until I looked at the photos. Ethereum dries naturally in good time to a basically smooth finish with a great deal of deeply cool visual texture from the glass flecks. Topcoat smooths out this texture a bit, but it also pops the colors.

Photos show two coats of Ethereum over Seche Rebuild treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. I was in too much of a hurry to photograph this puppy before the sun went down to prep the cuticles and nail environs beforehand and they look a bit skankity, my apologies

I took many pictures of this photogenic little gem and had difficulty selecting which to include here. I have to say that even though this polish doesn't know how to take a bad picture, really, no photo truly captured the fascination and wonder it inspires in person.

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Femme Fatale Ethereum

So so so gorgeous! If you love glass fleck shimmers or chunky shimmers in general, Ethereum has your name written all over it. I simply adore the visual complexity of this polish and the way the holo particles nuance a bit of warmth into the coolness of the pink and mix their rainbow colors with the shimmering glass flecks. It's to die for! And the way the flecks blossom into a luminous silvery sheen at certain angles adds a flickering gossamer luster that is magical. And of course, they're blue too, those flecks, which is double plus good!

In short, a masterful piece of polish formulation by Sophie, the creative force behind Femme Fatale's lacquers. I love chunky shimmers and this one is beautifully done, with an exquisite balance between the components and a lovely tingle to their interplay. 

love,
Liz