Application was a little tense. The consistency of Mount Wutai is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium-to-thicker viscosity and a smooth, if uneven, glide over the nail. Self-leveling properties were ok, but slow. I had a hard time figuring out how best to apply this polish -- unevenness and slow leveling made me want to use thicker coats, which turned out to be not such a great approach. It did an excellent job of camouflaging my nail ridges, though. *lol* Next time I'll use the thinnest coats I can manage, allow plenty of dry time in between and ignore the streaks. Inevitably they take care of themselves. Pigmentation is very good but streaky, as I mentioned, in the way that many white-based polishes are, and I ended up using three coats for this manicure. Cleanup was easy. Mount Wutai dries naturally in fairly good time to a beautiful glossy finish. Small favors -- take 'em where you can!
Photos show three coats of Mount Wutai over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
 |
| Elevation Polish Mount Wutai |
My late aunt used to have a magnificent jade ring with a huge, highly polished elliptical cabochon that was similar in color to this polish but brighter. I only saw her wear it once, to dinner at a small restaurant in Chinatown during a trip my family took to NYC to see A Chorus Line, but I'll never forget the luminous beauty of that stone. I remember watching it as she flipped back her long platinum blond hair and extended a graceful hand to the owner of the restaurant, a very large man with a Cheshire Cat grin who knew her well and came out to our table to greet us. I didn't even realize at that moment that I was vowing to myself that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up -- not the only time I ever had that thought!
Despite my issues with application, I adore this fresh pale green. It's unequivocal and pleasingly piquant for a pastel. I think it's probably better served by a richer skintone than mine and it does make my fingers look red, but the color really hits the spot!
love,
Liz
LOLOL, I know I say this every time... but I love that color! A lot of the spring green pastels, to me, are more mint-tinted, some with a blue lean. While I (yes!) love them, this pale jade is oh so elegant. I am having grabby hands now!
ReplyDeleteWonderful story you related about the dinner with your aunt. I can only imagine! I have an aunt I have admired all my life - she's still beautiful, in her 90s. She always reminded me of a model - tall, slim, stylish (she even owned a small upscale dress shop!), gorgeous and the most wonderful smile. She also reminded me terribly much of my mom, who passed when I was 12. I think it is great for a girl to have such women of stature to admire!
You have every reason to love this shade, Lara! Mount Wutai really is brighter and zestier than most pastel greens. Looking at it right now is making me want some key lime pie!
DeleteHow wonderful to have your aunt with you still! It must have been a great comfort and source of joy to have her in your life after losing your mother so young.
My aunt, Crickett, as she was known, was killed in a single-car accident about ten years ago. I can't believe it's been that long, the loss still feels so immediate. She was the youngest of four sisters, and glamorously beautiful with bright blue twinkling eyes and that long blond hair. She wore makeup and had long, well-manicured nails. She was like a goddess to me. She was also an alcoholic, tried many times to quit but never could for long, and tended to choose difficult, unstable men. For all her beauty and humor -- she loved to laugh! -- there was an undercurrent of tragedy to her life that I didn't recognize until I was much older that culminated in her death. But she was always incredibly loving and welcoming to her friends and family and we all still miss her so much, even though in many ways we lost her long before she actually died.
Your aunt sounds like one of those very rare people - those that scintillate and are so brilliant. One who walks into a room and everyone is drawn to. What combination of stars or events or atoms joined to make such a uniquely effervescent person. But what a tragedy for friends and family to be so helpless in helping her. I know - my mother was an alcoholic also - that how she finally died, sclerosis of the liver. She also tried to 'dry out' several times, in and out of hospitals. I was in my 40s before I could enter a hospital without immediately thinking of her. My father died in a auto crash when I was seven, and I do have a few memories of her in the five years that she survived him, with that aura of unbreakable aloneness about her. Even when she smiled or laughed, there was an unconscious reserve about her. But even before he died, looking at older photos, there seems to be that reserve in her. She was smart, beautiful, knowledgeable - but none of that helped her battle depression. Yes, I know what you mean when you say you lost your aunt long before she died.
DeleteIf there's one thing I feel, it's that life is hard, especially mentally - no matter what your circumstances. Life is difficult For Everyone, whether they are conscious of it or not, whether others see it or not. What makes one person able to make a life from it and the next unable to deal with it is one of the questions of the ages. Something to ponder while appreciating a scrumptious slice of key lime pie!