Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Darling Diva Nightbird

Nightbird was released by indie polish maker Darling Diva Polish as part of the White Witch collection in February this year. This collection of twelve holographic polishes was inspired by rock artist Stevie Nicks, and each polish was given the name of one of her songs. Carrie, the owner and creative force behind Darling Diva, describes Nightbird as a "deep indigo blue holo" with "just enough purple in there to make it not just another navy." It is indeed a beautiful dark but vivid indigo blue holographic polish that produces a beautiful well-defined linear prismatic display in direct sun. What impresses me about this polish is how finely tuned the balance is between the color and the holo. It doesn't contain overwhelming amounts of the holo pigment; the color doesn't segue into a reflective metallic in direct light and yet still produces a bold, nicely delineated flair; the base color is deep and rich in all lights; the holo pigment is sufficient and responsive enough to infuse the base color with prismatically nuanced shades of deep sapphire, midnight blue and violet in bright indirect light.

Application was very nice. This is a very user-friendly polish that has a fluid, smooth consistency with an even, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is very good -- I used two coats for completely even opaque coverage. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with no trace of staining left behind. Nightbird dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not diminish the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of Nightbird over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl, and are a mix of indirect and direct light shots.


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird


Darling Diva Nightbird

To me, the indigo color of this polish shows off the holo flair in a particularly exquisite way. The prismatic colors pop boldly from the deep blue, and the contrast between them is graphic and overt. It is pleasing to the eye the same way that the primary colors are when you see them used together in graphic art or a woven pattern or even a floral arrangement. I love that the burst of color comes from within the polish instead of floating above it, which often occurs with strong linear holos that develop a metallic sheen in direct sun. Nightbird is a consummate holo with equal parts of strength and grace in its prismatic properties.

The depth and dimension of this deep blue polish dovetails well with the song Nightbird, which is about coming to terms with grief and loss. I think Stevie would be pleased.

love,
Liz

4 comments:

  1. This is one beautiful polish. I wanted this entire collection when it was first released. As of right now, I have NONE of them, haha!! I love indigo. I don't have an indigo holo. WAAH, I really DO need this polish. :P

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    Replies
    1. Over this past year Darling Diva put out a number of collections in a row where all of the polishes were so awesome that I wanted every one, but I got overwhelmed and ended up with none until I saw a blog post about this one and made a spur of the moment purchase. When I went back to the Darling Diva store to see about getting another one or two, I got overwhelmed again and couldn't choose. This happens to me quite a bit with nail polish purchases. You just get past the point of being able to discriminate between those you really want and those you like a lot but don't necessarily need to have. In the end, its turns out to be easier to close that browser window and walk away than to try and force a selection. I've been trying to buy some Literary Lacquer polishes for months now and can't do it for this same reason.

      That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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