Darling Diva The Alchemist

The Alchemist was released by indie polish maker Darling Diva Polish as part of the WitchEE collection for fall 2014. It's the candy bright sister to The Arcanist from this collection, a medium-dark saturated crimson linear holographic polish with a sprinkling of tiny red microshimmers. This polish glows no matter what light its in, it's like wearing rubies on your fingertips. I'm besotted with this brilliant cherry red, it's total eye candy for me. The prismatic display is almost swallowed by the profoundly saturated color, but adds nice dimensionality to the polish and infuses the red with a beautiful violet flash in certain lights.

Application was lovely. The consistency of The Alchemist is fluid, smooth and dense, and glides over the nail like velvet. Self-leveling properties are excellent as is the pigmentation. Save for a touch of translucence on the free edge, The Alchemist is all but a one coater. I used two for completely even opaque color. Cleanup is a little tricky as it always is with a polish this pigmented. Acetone tends to draw pigment into the sidewalls and along the cuticle, so I found it easiest to wait until the polish has dried a little bit before starting in with the cleanup brush, which will draw tendrils of color onto the skin as well. I had a harder time removing the red from around the shoulders of my fingertips than anything else. The Alchemist dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat does not diminish the holographic effects of this polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of The Alchemist over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. My apologies for the black fibers stuck in every conspicuous place on my fingers. Apparently it's still "fibers in your polish" week here....

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

Darling Diva The Alchemist

If you're not drawn to red polish then I'd recommend skipping this one as it is red like nobody's business! It even has a red metallic flash to it under dim incandescent lighting, where the prismatic flair shows up as a ghostly ring of scarlet sparkle around the deepening edges of the nail. My significant other declares The Alchemist "not dark enough" to be considered candy-apple. Fiddle-dee-dee, my swaggering honey-pot! It's as candy and apple as it can be!

I haven't worn a true crimson in so long it's gone right to my head. The violet bloom helps this color lean to the cooler side of the red spectrum, but doesn't interfere with it being a real red. Think cherry pops in the summer and shiny red wrapping paper!

love,
Liz