Electric Beat is a beautifully formulated creme polish. It is well-pigmented and nearly a one coater. The consistency is liquid enough to glide effortlessly onto the nail, with enough viscosity to stay where you put it. This is China Glaze at it's best, which is pretty darn hard to beat.
For this manicure I applied two easy coats of Electric Beat over my basecoat duo of Seche Rebuild and Essie First Base and added a topcoat of Seche Vite.
My apologies for the rather gruesome overall scruffiness of my fingers and cuticles in the photos for this post. A tête-à-tête (that's FRENCH, btw) with my bottle of Blue Cross cuticle remover is close on the horizon.
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat, bottle shot |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat |
As a card-carrying blue polish lover, you know I adore Electric Beat. Wearing it makes me feel like I should be up in one of those incredible hot air balloons that you get to see so often above your neighborhood there in Charlottesville.
I used this manicure as a base layer for a beautiful azure blue based polish by indie polish maker KBShimmer called Watercolor. You may remember KBShimmer from my Toucan Touch This and Lilac Dreams posts. Then again, you may not. *grin* Whatever!
Watercolor is a glitter crelly polish, a creme/jelly hybrid full of a mixture of purple, blue, pink and silver glitters of different sizes and finishes. It's blue base is a bit brighter and less milky than the color of Electric Beat. It also has a jelly's glowing translucence.
Christy Rose, the founder and creative force behind KBShimmer, describes the variety of glitters in Watercolor: "I started with purple glitters in two sizes, a bright blue and a satin purple. I then loaded it with royal blue large hex, pink holographic hex and magenta hex glitters. It is finished with micro pink and larger sliver holographic glitters for some added sparkle." As you would guess from the name, her inspiration for this polish was a watercolor painting "where the pinks, purples and blues just flowed into one another."
Watercolor is superbly formulated. The consistency is light and fluid and each dip of the brush is loaded with glitters, which disperse beautifully across the nail. I had a similarly wonderful experience applying Toucan Touch This. Christy's formulary skills with these glitter packed polishes are just magical, especially when you consider how many differently sized glitters she uses in her polishes. There is no stickiness or goopiness, no stacking, no dragging, no clumps. It is pigmented enough to build to opacity on it's own, but my application skills serve me best when I layer. Plus I just really like layering, it gives me a selfish, satisfying little charge to think that I had a hand in how a combo turns out on the nail.
On my nubbins I used my patented (NOT!) plosh and spread technique to apply two coats of Watercolor over the Electric Beat manicure. One was sufficient for number and variety of glitters, but I wanted two to take advantage of Watercolor's beautiful translucence and Christy's vision for this polish. Watercolor dries naturally to a semi-matte satiny finish and I added two coats of Seche Vite over it to smooth the surface and get that gorgeous glitter under glass look.
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat and KBShimmer Watercolor |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor, macro shot in the bottle |
 |
| China Glaze Electric Beat on the nail, KBShimmer Watercolor in the bottle |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
 |
| KBShimmer Watercolor over China Glaze Electric Beat |
Sweet, no? Though outwardly Watercolor is somewhat complex, it has a singular message and that message is: have fun! Whatever you're doing, make it fun! This polish has a big heart, it's brimming with a cheerful generosity of spirit that you just have to love. The color mix is cohesive and beautiful to the eye, and the bright pops of sparkle give it a nice energetic hum. This is one of those polishes that will give your spirits a little lift when you're feeling like you've been rode hard and put up wet. It's one of those that reminds you that God is in the details.
A little bit of whatever you're in need of can go a long way when you're needing it, don't you think? I do!
love,
Aunt Liz
No comments:
Post a Comment