Orly Gorgeous is a vivid medium dark fuchsia crelly fully loaded with blue/purple duochrome (able to appear either blue or purple) microshimmer. This polish is a diva with a shimmer pistol in her pocket. It has a profoundly changeable look depending upon lighting and angle of view. At times it affects a metallic magenta, at times a metallic purple. Other times it's a deeply saturated hot pink with a bright blue otherworldly glow. At still other times it's a dark almost plummy magenta with gleaming blue/purple overtones.
The formula is thin, very liquid and prone to cuticle drag. The microshimmer can show brushstrokes, so I found that applying it with a light hand and the brush at the smallest angle possible to the nail to be the best way for me to achieve even non-brushstrokey coverage. Even so, the microshimmer did tend to sort of settle into the furrows between my AWESOME *snort* nail ridges, but after two coats the appearance diminished enough to be not really noticeable by anyone but me.
Two coats gets a decent opacity (provided you have no cuticle drag, ahem) but if I were to wear this as a full manicure I would apply a third coat for maximum richness and effect of the shimmery duochrome and for more complete elimination of VNL (Visible Nail Line).
Gorgeous dries naturally to a shiny but not glossy finish. There is something hinky about the way this polish dries, though. I don't know if I can put my finger on it (no pun there...*pfft*). It's like the initial drying or film forming happens fairly quickly but the surface is sticky, tender and uber vulnerable to contact. Underneath the surface film, the polish remains quite liquid for longer than I was aware of. Then I caught the tip of one thumb nail with the tip of the other thumb nail during camera maneuvers and took off a patch right down to the basecoat. *groan* More fun than throwing up, that was. Luckily, a carefully placed blobbette of polish did an admirable job of leveling and filling the offending bare patch so I didn't have to redo the whole nail.
Photos show two coats of Orly Gorgeous over basecoat with a topcoat of Sec 'n Dry to protect against da smudge demon.
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| Orly Gorgeous, bottle shot |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous with a skosh of VNL and shimmer settling into nail ridge furrows, DEAD SEXY baby! |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous, at the window... |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
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| Orly Gorgeous |
Atolla by Hare Polish is another polish from their Illuminated Life collection. This is the third polish from that collection that I've shown you so far. The Illuminated Life polishes, as you know, were inspired by the phenomenon of marine bioluminescence. Atolla is named for the Atolla jellyfish aka Atolla wyvillei, a species of deep sea crown jellyfish.
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| Atolla wyvillei (credit: michaelaw.com, source) |
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| Atolla wyvillei with bioluminescent display (credit Edith A. Widder, source) |
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| Atolla wyvillei (credit Kim Sharpe, source) |
So cool. Makes me want to go watch the deep sea episode of Blue Planet.
Nikole, the founder and creative force behind Hare Polish, describes Atolla as "a very pink based red jelly with glowing blue glass flecks and hexes." I've said it before and will certainly say it again in the future, Nikole's polishes are always greater than the sum of their parts.
To me, Atolla's base is a well-saturated vivid cerise or deep raspberry color with very strong pink overtones. Especially in sunlight, the abundant bright blue hex glitters and glass flecks sparkle and glow from the crimson depths of this polish exactly as you'd imagine bioluminescence does in the depths of the ocean. Photos cannot capture the full effect but let me tell you it is masterful and awesome to see.
I think I've finally got the application of these Illuminated Life polishes under my belt -- it's about time. For happiest results application must be quick, careful and decisive with a medium loaded brush and only the bare minimum amount of brushstrokes. Atolla is fluid but can fast become syrupy if overworked. Glitter distribution is smooth and even across the nail and it dries very quickly. Once it has dried, you can go back and apply additional polish to even up the coverage if you need to, as I did along the edges of nails where Orly Gorgeous didn't get completely covered.
Photos show one coat of the beautiful and fascinating Atolla over the Orly Gorgeous manicure above, topped with Seche Vite. Apologies for the flaky skin on my fingers, I'm not sure what that's all about but I'm working on it I promise.
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| Hare Polish Atolla, bottle shot |
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| Hare Polish Atolla, macro shot in the bottle |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, near macro shot on the nail (I took many pics of this kind, the intricate effects of the microenvironment created by this polish on the nail just compels scrutiny!) |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, at the window... ho hum I'm just another dark pink polish... NOT! |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, direct sunlight |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, direct sunlight |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, direct sunlight |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, direct sunlight |
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| Hare Polish Atolla over Orly Gorgeous, direct sunlight |
Gosh, I'm just so engrossed in its magnificent mechanics that I don't even know if I can describe the way this polish feels on the nail. Truly! When I look at my nails or catch them out of the corner of my eye, my immediate response is to try and detect the blue flashes of Atolla's glitters and glass flecks or the blue shimmer of Orly Gorgeous beaming through from below.
The base color is what you see first, very strong and direct but there's a secret stealthiness to it too because you KNOW what lies beneath mwuahahaha. The contrast between the deep saturated powerfully feminine fuchsia and the mystical magical blue elements hidden within is compelling and a little startling. Like when you find something out for real that, in retrospect, you actually knew all along.
There's a cool kind of synergy going on in this layering combination that I'm very pleased with. But really I think anything you layered Atolla over would make a great combo because Atolla is a fabulous polish. It totally showcases the innovation and creativity that are intrinsic to the best of indie polish making.
We love them, those indie polish makers. We love them, yes we do! Almost as much as I love YOU!
xoxo,
Aunt Liz
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