Lacquer Slacker Liz: July 2014

Thursday, July 31, 2014

KBShimmer Right as Reign

Try as I might, this polish was impossible for me to capture with my little Canon Powershot A3000. In almost all of my pics, the appearance is too dark and too blue. I debated whether to publish this post because of that, because there are plenty of photos out there that do show excellent true-to-life photos of Right as Reign. But I figured I might as well, since I'd written the post already and perhaps those of you who read regularly might want to hear what I have to say about it.

Right as Reign was released by indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Early Summer 2014 collection in late May. Christy, owner and creative force behind KBShimmer, describes this lacquer as "a deep, bold purple with blue and indigo undertones," and I agree. Right as Reign is an incredibly well-saturated perfect dark indigo violet, if there is such a thing, that could almost pass for navy in shade and indirect light. In bright direct light, it displays a bright bloom of pure deep purple-toned violet. Under dimmer incandescent lighting, this polish still retains it's intrinsic purple-ness and does not look totally black as some polishes that are as dark as this one do.

Application was crazy good. The consistency of Right as Reign is fluid, creamy and dense, with a lovely viscosity for painting and smooth even flow over the nail. It is very user friendly and easy to control and manipulate with KBShimmer's flat, flexible brush. I found this polish adapted well to thin, medium or thick coats. I'm typically a medium coat polisher, and the pigmentation of Right as Reign was so good that I achieved completely opaque coverage with one medium coat on all but one nail, which I chalk up to user error. So I ended up using two coats, but am inclined to classify this polish as a potential one coater. Cleanup was fairly straightforward with the few wisps of purple left on my skin by my cleanup brush easily removed with a second pass. I detected no signs of staining, but I suspect that any polish as well-pigmented as this has the potential to stain, especially dry nails or skin. Don't forget the basecoat and moisturize the nail environs before removal. Right as Reign dries naturally in average time to a shade slightly darker than bottle color and a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Right As Reign over treatment and basecoat with the ubiquitously bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite. How it is that I've managed not to master topcoat application after over a year of doing it every day is a mystery in this world.

KBShimmer Right as Reign

I know I said it already but this is just such a perfect deep blue violet creme that I can't even imagine one any better. It is striking and confident on the nail, with the hint of mystery that all purples seem to possess and an awesome glossiness. Superbly pigmented and having a wonderful creamy-dreamy application, it warrants every bit of the praise it has garnered in the online polish community. And its dark color and creme formula make it unique in my stash. Love it!

xoxo,
Liz

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Femme Fatale Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase by Australian indie polish maker Femme Fatale is described as a "dark teal with golden shimmer and holo." This polish is out of this world, seriously. It is a medium atlantic blue linear holo that is awash with ultrafine golden shimmers, which bloom through the base color in a pale olive green free-floating sheen. In the midst of this, the holographic pigments commingle with the shimmers and veil everything in a silvery mist that reveals a dilute linear prismatic flair in direct sun. The result is a complex multifaceted shimmering smoky sea green polish that deepens to steely blue around the edges of the nail and sparkles with the rainbow of colors associated with the holographic display, with blue having visual predominance. The smokiness of Chrysoprase is unusual in that rather than darkening the look, it lightens it, giving this polish the feel of a magical elven cloak a la J.R.R. Tolkien.

It's one of those polishes where words just aren't adequate to describe it. Definitely a right brain lacquer.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Chrysoprase is fluid and light with excellent painting viscosity. This is not a polish that runs and pools, even if your brush is overloaded. It IS a polish that will leave tiny swipes of shimmer on your cuticles and around your nails if you aren't careful or don't have a steady hand (ahem). Pigmentation is very good, with evenly opaque coverage achievable in two coats, although I did three for the photos and to make sure that my ridges were completely camouflaged. Clean up is easy as long as you take care to seek out and remove those little swipes of shimmer. Chrysoprase dries naturally in good time to a smooth shimmery finish that is enhanced by a glossy topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Chrysoprase over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


Femme Fatale Chrysoprase

Femme Fatale Chrysoprase

I also took some photos of Chrysoprase in direct sun....

Femme Fatale Chrysoprase

I don't know what more I can say that the photos don't show, other than this exceptional, subtle, irresistible polish is one of the most fetching I've swatched, ever. I ran errands today and while I was at Phydeaux, our local pet 'booteek' (buying MOAR cat toys and braided bull pizzle for the dog), I had my hands on the counter writing out a check and the sales associate tapped one of my nails with her finger and said, "That is really beautiful." "It's Australian," I said, flushing with joy at the compliment. *lol*

Green and blue lacquer lovers, you NEED this. Go, go, go to Color4Nails and get it for yourself because you deserve to have something rare and fantastic for your nails. You won't be sorry!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Femme Fatale Ethereum

Aussie indie artisan polish and cosmetics maker Femme Fatale Cosmetics has been innovating and growing the indie polish and cosmetics scene for several years now and while they're website is a dream come true for indie polish lovers in Australia it's been hard to get their polishes here in the US. Enter Color4Nails, a US etailer of indie polishes including Femme Fatale, bless them!

The wonderful Belgian beauty blog Very Emily recently had a swatch and review fest of a slew of Femme Fatale offerings, here, and I was simultaneously smitten and enabled. After I got through drooling over Emily's photos I quickly found my way to Color4Nails to get myself a Femme Fatale fix. I got six of the shades I'd seen on Very Emily, including today's polish, Ethereum.

Ethereum is described by Femme Fatale as a "pale pink with subtle blue glass flecks and holo." Essentially accurate, but not near detailed enough to do proper justice to this ethereal jewel of a polish. Ethereum is a pale cool raspberry pink lavishly dusted with glass fleck shimmers that appears blue, pink, or silvery white depending upon how the light hits, along with a generous dose of finely milled holographic pigment. The glass flecks are of a substantial size and very sparkly, and combined with the rainbow of colors sparking from the holo pigment create a rich tapestry of visual texture on the nail. In natural light, this polish is a just a feast for the eyes. Indoors under incandescent lighting, the pink develops a semi-metallic sheen that throws a blue flash sprinkled with holo sparks. It's the kind of polish you want to eat with a spoon, simply fabulous.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Ethereum is fluid and light but not runny, very easy to control with excellent self-leveling flow over the nail. Femme Fatale's brush is long and round with very flexible bristles that hold an ample amount of polish and encourage finessing the cuticle curve. The process was profoundly satisfying and, for me, full of open-mouthed fascination as I watched the glass flecks disperse their sparkly selves evenly over my nails. Pigmentation is very good for a pale polish, with even coverage in two coats, although those who dislike seeing light through their polished nails will want to do three for a more dense opacity. I stuck with two. Cleanup with paler polishes can be tricky as tiny swipes are harder to see, and the flecky shimmers in this polish like to stick around and require a bit more attention to remove. I wasn't entirely successful at that and left a few flecks around my cuticle area that I didn't notice until I looked at the photos. Ethereum dries naturally in good time to a basically smooth finish with a great deal of deeply cool visual texture from the glass flecks. Topcoat smooths out this texture a bit, but it also pops the colors.

Photos show two coats of Ethereum over Seche Rebuild treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. I was in too much of a hurry to photograph this puppy before the sun went down to prep the cuticles and nail environs beforehand and they look a bit skankity, my apologies

I took many pictures of this photogenic little gem and had difficulty selecting which to include here. I have to say that even though this polish doesn't know how to take a bad picture, really, no photo truly captured the fascination and wonder it inspires in person.

Femme Fatale Ethereum

So so so gorgeous! If you love glass fleck shimmers or chunky shimmers in general, Ethereum has your name written all over it. I simply adore the visual complexity of this polish and the way the holo particles nuance a bit of warmth into the coolness of the pink and mix their rainbow colors with the shimmering glass flecks. It's to die for! And the way the flecks blossom into a luminous silvery sheen at certain angles adds a flickering gossamer luster that is magical. And of course, they're blue too, those flecks, which is double plus good!

In short, a masterful piece of polish formulation by Sophie, the creative force behind Femme Fatale's lacquers. I love chunky shimmers and this one is beautifully done, with an exquisite balance between the components and a lovely tingle to their interplay.

love,
Liz

Monday, July 28, 2014

Smitten Polish Mother of Dragons

I'm not sure exactly when indie polish maker Smitten Polish released Mother of Dragons, but I know it was over a year ago now. I remember pondering it in Noelie's etsy shop, helplessly bewitched by it's softness and subtlety. I never did purchase it, though, and then it was gone. Amazingly enough, it turned up at auction on ebay and I was finally able to get my hands on this lovely lemming.

Mother of Dragons was inspired by the character of Daenerys Stormborn of the House of Targaryen, played by actress Emilia Clarke, in Game of Thrones. It's a perfect tribute to the Khaleesi's ethereal beauty.

source

This glitter crelly has a pale creamy griege base softly accented by tiny metallic hex glitters in muted gold and pale sky blue. It has a fluid, thin consistency that is easy to work with. A good random mix of glitters makes itself available with each brushful, and disperses smoothly over the nail with a minimal amount of tumbling and protrusion over the free edge. Pigmentation is good. I got opaque coverage in two coats although I ended up doing three to even it out a bit. Mother of Dragons dries in very good time to a slightly flat finish that is textured from the glitters. I used two layers of topcoat, one of HK Girl and one of Seche Vite, to get a smooth glossy finish. It also looks great matte. Ida Nails It has a nice photo of Mother of Dragons mattified on her blog, here.

Photos show three coats of Mother of Dragons over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Smitten Polish Mother of Dragons

It's hard to separate how I feel about this polish from how I feel about the character of Daenerys. If you've watched Game of Thrones, Daenerys is kind of a polarizing character: some people really love her, some really can't stand her. I'm in the former group and as a matter of course I'm disposed to love this polish. Beyond the fact that it so articulately mirrors elements of Dany's appearance, the pale blue of her eyes, the gold of her hair, the milkiness of her skin, etc., it's just a lovely fluent polish composition with a graceful understated neutrality.

Except for the occasional sparkle when light hits the glitters just right, in terms of glitter polishes Mother of Dragons is very low key. The small size and pale colors of the glitters themselves contribute to this and so does the ratio of glitter to base. It's not as sparse as some glitter crellies out there, and the natural translucence of the base allows you to see buried glitters in addition to what's on the surface, but I get the feeling that the ratio of glitter to base was determined with a bit of reserve. It's a beautifully put together creation by Noelie -- she did an excellent job tying the polish to the character and I'm glad I had the chance to add it to my small stash of Smittens.

love,
Liz