Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

To continue my happy spree with indie polish maker Smitten, today I have for you another polish from Noelie's Shipwrecked collection released last spring. It's called The Isabella Emerald, and there's a fascinating story behind it.

This polish was inspired by a huge mystical emerald presented by Montezuma II to explorer and conquistador Hernan Cortes at Cortes' arrival in Tenochtitlan on 8 November 1519. Cortes wrote of the emerald to Queen Isabella of Spain to entice her to use her influence with Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, to grant him men, funds and arms with which to capture the rest of the New World. But Charles V was broke from fighting wars in Europe and the emerald stayed with Cortes, who gifted it to his second wife. The emerald remained in Mexico with their descendants until 1757, when the Spanish family of the second wife sent a ship for the fortune and treasures of Cortes, including the Isabella Emerald. While sailing through the Bermuda Triangle on its return journey to Spain, the ship encountered catastrophic weather, caught fire and sank, and all of its riches and contraband were lost at sea for the next 236 years.

Incredibly, in 1993 the wreck was located and many of its contents, including the Isabella Emerald, were recovered. The 964 carat, oblong, ancient table cut deep green precious stone was verified and certified as the world's largest gem emerald by the Gemological Institute of America, and its value estimated at $20 million.

Can a nail polish possibly live up to this kind of legendary stuff? Yes it can, if it's created by a formulator of Noelie's gifts and ability. The Isabella Emerald is a glitter jelly polish, with a tinted translucent saturated deep emerald green jelly base filled with gorgeous color shifting hex glitters in medium and micro sizes that appear emerald green, gold or aquamarine depending on how the light hits them. The overall appearance is of a bright shimmering medium emerald green with facet-like flashes of light from the abundant medium glitters and tiny sparks of green, gold and aquamarine thrown out by the microglitters. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.

Application of this beautiful polish was relatively trouble free. The consistency has a sort of bulky feel probably due to all of its components, but they are well incorporated into the base and flowed easily onto the nail. Glitter spread was even and smooth with no stacking or dragging. The translucent jelly base provides buildable coverage and I achieved rich color and full opacity with three coats. The Isabella Emerald dries naturally to a silky textured finish with a hearty appetite for topcoat.

Photos show three coats of The Isabella Emerald over treatment and basecoat with a "topcoat sandwich" of Seche Vite, Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food and another layer of Seche Vite.

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald, macro shot in the bottle -- delicious!

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Smitten Polish The Isabella Emerald

Pretty spectacular, no? I think Noelie totally succeeded in doing justice to her inspiration. This polish is just lush verdant exuberance, is what. It celebrates itself and makes no apologies. Not a polish for those who are on the fence about green lacquer (Fuzzy, for example, who can't quite bring herself to accommodate green as a nail color), but green lovers like you and me, Eleanor, can rejoice and swoon and bask in its rich emerald glow.

And so we shall!

love,
Aunt Liz