Laters Baby was released by Literary Lacquers as part of The Good Parts collection, a line of polishes inspired by erotic fiction "from Fanny Hill to 50 Shades." This one was inspired by 50 Shades of Grey, which I have not read (it's true: I do in fact live under a rock). It's a deep taupe linear holographic polish, slightly silvered by the holo pigment, with a sprinkling of tiny holographic hex glitters. The color is an organic mix of charcoal and raw umber that reminds me of tree bark, and blazes with a beautiful flame-shaped linear prismatic display in direct sun. Beyond the holographic flare, the base color slips into a stormy shade of deep brownish grey, punctuated by sparks in a rainbow of colors from the tiny hex glitters. This polish has a discrete sleek complexity to it -- the color is mysterious and deliciously indistinct and contrasts with the tantalizing sparkle of the holo glitters, which add a bit of elegant showmanship to the mix.
Application was lovely. The consistency of Laters Baby has some body to it but is paintably fluid and smooth with a sweet, self-leveling glide over the nail. It's a fast drying polish, and I found it best to work quickly -- not my forte generally, but the formula is user friendly enough that I had no problems with it. Pigmentation is a curiosity. There's a degree of translucence to this formula that makes it difficult to judge opacity. I had two coats on but wasn't quite satisfied, so I added a third and was happy with that. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Laters Baby dries naturally in very good time to a silky finish with just a hint of texture from the tiny hexes. It takes topcoat beautifully, which doesn't diminish the holographic effects at all.
Photos show three coats of Laters Baby over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
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| Literary Lacquers Laters Baby |
As you can see, in almost any light Laters Baby is suffused with a silvery, softened version of its direct sun prismatic flair, which is predominated by azure blue with green, yellow and red appearing at the edges. The blue is a wonderful complement to the charcoaly brown of the base. For all its ambiguities, this is such a lovely polish! The more I wear it, the more I appreciate it, and right now I really don't want to take it off! I feel like I could live in this polish til spring and not want for anything....
love,
Liz
Trust me, dearest, it is to your credit and benefit that you have not witnessed the dictional trainwreck that is 50 Shades. It would honestly offend your lyrical linguistic aptitude so cruelly. You just stay under that rock; it's a better place without the most annoying and awkward first-person narrator ever written. (Harsh, but painfully true.) Interestingly enough, the movie looks to be a much more refined account of the story. My very favorite summation of the series (i.e. all you ever need to know) plus trailer: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/at-the-movies/a512275/50-shades-of-grey-23-funniest-quotes-from-el-jamess-novel.html#~oZUvDtlpC6OuoU.
ReplyDeleteBut more to the point, this is amazing on you, Liz!! And those words: bark, umber, stormy, raw... I can see it without pictures, more than pictures even. It's the actual soul of the color. I just love that ♥
Oh my, you were right, Marisa. Yuck! What is the phenom with this book? Why did so many people buy it?
DeleteI wish my photos had done this polish more credit and that I could explain better what it's like on the nail. Wearing it is profoundly satisfying, it's one of those that constantly catch your eye with the graceful reappearance of a facet you initially admired but may not have fully appreciated. It's kind of like a really well-made pair of shoes -- the more you wear them the more reminded you are of how fine they are. There's a lot of integrity to this polish....
Ugh, right?? I've asked myself this many times, and I've gathered a few conclusions. Apparently it was originally a Twilight fan fiction that became quite popular (I'm not familiar but my friend tells me that it is better and more involved than most), so someone decided to publish it, except they kind of forgot the whole editing part of the process...
DeleteI've always felt like people were fascinated by 50 Shades because they had forgotten that romance as a genre exists. I mean, the books do explore some darkly taboo, little-known topics, but why they should attract so much more attention than any other novels of their kind...? I think the Twilight connection initially garnered notice from audiences who had disdained and/or not yet discovered romance/smut, and they found this "new" topic so thrillingly forbidden that they just endured in spite of the sloppy writing. (Though I've also sensed that some people simply do not notice the author's inferior command of the English language, sobering a reality as that is.) In all, I find the series has an awful lot in common with a trainwreck, including the inexplicable lure of morbid fascination. Blargh.