Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

84 Charing Cross Road was released by indie polish maker Literary Lacquers in November 2013 as part of the wonderful Community Collection, a series of ten polishes created by Amy in collaboration with individual bloggers from the nail polish community. Although until recently I only owned one of Amy's polishes, I've been a fan from afar from the moment I first came across Literary Lacquers on etsy, and follow her releases with enthusiastic admiration. Just lately I was able to add a couple of Literary Lacquers to my small collection, and this is one of them. Based on inspiration provided by Sheila of Pointless Cafe, 84 Charing Cross Road is described by Amy as a "sepia taupe holographic nail polish loaded with silver glass fleck."

This is such a rare color for a holo! It's a medium-light cool taupey brown with so many nuances to it that it's difficult to describe them all, a richly composed color of the sort that grows more beautiful and multi-faceted as you study it. And to top it off, there are fantastic ethereal silver glass flecks that read iridescently as pale blue or violet, depending upon the light and angle of view. They're the perfect complement to the subtle browns of the base and give the polish an added touch of coolness. The coup de grâce of this marvelous formulation is an even-handed dose of holographic pigment, which provides that delectable finely-grained speckled look to the polish in shade and a fine linear prismatic flair in direct light.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of 84 Charing Cross Road is fluid and light, very easy to work with, with excellent flow over the nail and the perfect paintable balance of fluidity and viscosity. It starts out very sheerly on the first coat, but coverage is buildable and I achieved opaque rich color in three coats. This polish is fascinating to apply. At first it's so sheer and neutral that it's hard to see clearly, but with each coat the color grows more interesting and complex. My favorite part was watching the glass flecks go on! (Ok, I'm easily entertained and a cheap date, I admit it.) Cleanup is easy and straightforward, just watch those glass flecks as they like to stick around. 84 Charing Cross Road dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of 84 Charing Cross Road over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Please excuse the CAT HAIR adorning the left hand middle finger nail in most of these pics, I didn't notice it until editing time.

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

Literary Lacquers 84 Charing Cross Road

The inclusion of the lovely icy-colored glass flecks in this is absolute genius, and works its wonder in a subtle but significant way. Not only are they beautiful up close, but they add twinkling sparks to the polish in low light. 

I think I'd probably love 84 Charing Cross Road as a taupe holo even without those flecks, but with them it's almost worship worthy. Such a delicate and sophisticated polish!

love,
Liz