Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont is another polish from Hare's recently released Viva Los Angeles collection. Nikole describes this one as having a light robin's egg blue base filled with neon pink, hot pink, gold, black and white glitters as well as gold flakies and gold shimmer. I'd say that the blue is a little more robust, kind of like a medium-light azure or sky blue with a drop or two of grey in it. The eclectic collection of glitters gives it a chaotic speckled feel and I especially love the golden components for the way they add a bit of glimmery sparkle. 

By the way, I was so curious about the inspiration for this polish that I googled Chateau Marmont and found all kinds of info and pictures, including the Chateau Marmont website, which I spent some time exploring. What an interesting site, I loved looking at all the floor plans for the suites and bungalows and the menus for the bar and restaurant. It's a fun site to investigate!

Back to the polish. From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont was surprisingly easy to apply. I'd considered layering it over something like China Glaze Electric Beat but I'm glad I didn't because it really doesn't need undies. Although it has a creme-jelly hybrid sort of base with a degree of translucence to it, it's remarkably buildable to opacity with just two medium coats. I did three for the photos, but would wear it at two as the third coat really didn't make that much of a difference in the look of the polish. Glitter payoff was great -- each dip of the brush brought a nice range of components that dispersed easily over the nail. I experienced some tumbling and protruding glitters, but that's kind of par for the course with a glitter-filled lacquer like this one. I didn't do much in the way of cleanup with this mani and have a few tell-tale glitters around my nails to show for it. From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont dries naturally in very good time to a shiny finish with some texture to it from the glitters.

Photos show three coats of From the Balcony at the Chateau Marmont over treatment and basecoat with a smoothing coat of Gelous followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

Hare Polish From the Balcony of the Chateau Marmont

As you can see, the surface still isn't perfectly smooth but this doesn't detract from the look of the polish. I was wearing this during a trip to the grocery store and got complimented by the check out clerk! It's a bit like having a confetti parade on your nails, very fun, and the blue is a nice one for the warmer months. 

I've learned more than I would have thought about Los Angeles from this collection, especially from reading Nikole's descriptions of the polishes and LA native Thithi's posts about them over at pretty tough nails! It's not the first time a collection from Hare has taught me stuff I didn't know before, and I'm betting it won't be the last.

love,
Liz