Application was touch and go, literally. The consistency of The Fallen Kingdom is fluid and light for having so many components. The slightly blackened plummy brown jelly base is translucent and slightly sheer, as you'd expect from a jelly, and coverage is buildable. I haven't applied a glitter jelly in a while and struggled a bit with my application. I read in a review on The Polishing Life that it's best to begin with a thin first coat to avoid excessive thickness later on, so I painted on the first coat as I would any polish. Even with Femme Fatale's long, round, relatively thin brush, a good range of glitters was available with each brushful. Beginning with the second coat, I began dabbing on the polish to facilitate delivery and placement of glitters. The largest pale rose holo glitters were shy, and I was only able to capture one of them but I didn't fish. All the other glitters came out in a nice, random fashion. I achieved an opacity I was happy with after a third dabbed coat. The Fallen Kingdom dries naturally in good time to a shiny finish with some texture from the components, which I smoothed out with a Topcoat of Sephora X Shine followed by an additional layer of Seche Vite.
Dabbing a glitter heavy polish is not my forte, as you've seen by my recent efforts with Deborah Lippmann Glitter and Be Gay. I have a tendency to overload my brush, which often leads to glitter stacking, tumbling, protrusions over the free edge, uneven shapes on the nail and an uneven surface. Additionally, too much base makes for glitter sinkage, drowning the pretties instead of showcasing them. Even though I understand why these things happen, I seem to be unable to change my maladapted ways in order to prevent them. I need more practice, is what. Don't you think? Alternatively, I could layer The Fallen Kingdom over a dusky plum, brown or even a dark berry color.
Photos show three coats of The Fallen Kingdom over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Sephora X Shine followed by an additional topcoat of Seche Vite.
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
 |
| Femme Fatale The Fallen Kingdom |
The Fallen Kingdom is much prettier in motion than a still image can capture. The brown jelly base appears rather murky, but as you turn your hand the light strikes various glitter and they reflect back their colors through the base. This is especially striking when light hits the holographic glitters, and a brilliant glowing spark of fuchsia or red or violet beams out from the depths. Depending upon the color shift of the shimmers, this polish will read as plummy brown or golden brown, and it changes more frequently than I first thought.
I love the analogous mix of glitter colors in The Fallen Kingdom, it's subtle and classy and plays beautifully with the dark brown base. I never would have thought to pair them this way for fear that the result would be murky. And to some extent, it is, and that's the point. The glitters are antiqued and veiled, except when the light hits them just right.
Unusual and very cool.
love,
Liz
I really don't like brown polishes to be honest but I like this one a lot! It's really pretty, especially with those gold and rose glitters. I am very fond of polishes that have those kinds of glitters in them. It really does have an antique look to it because of them, which is a reason I like it so much. The shimmer is also very lovely. You captured it quite nicely!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Melissa! I don't have many brown polishes but I got this one specifically because of those beautifuly glitters that you like. I have to say that I like this better in the bottle than on my nails, but I think I can do a better job of applying it, with less base so more of the glitters are easily visible and so it looks more like it does in the bottle.
Delete