Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

The Ruby Thief was released by indie polish maker Literary Lacquers as part of the recent 2014 Community Collection last month. This is the second year for such a collection, where Amy, owner and creative force behind Literary Lacquers, collaborates with eight enthusiasts from the online polish community to create eight new lacquers, each based on a literary inspiration provided by the participant. The Ruby Thief was created in collaboration with Jenne of Polished Pathology and was inspired by the real-life 1964 De Long Star Ruby theft detailed in the book Dinosaurs in the Attic.

Star rubies, like star sapphires, contain minute titanium oxide rutiles or needles arranged in a three-fold pattern at 60 degrees to each other. With a cabochon or half-sphere cut, light enters the gem and lights up the rutiles, which intersect at the center forming a six-rayed star. The best star rubies are pinkish red or reddish pink and come from Myanmar or Sri Lanka. 

star ruby cabochon from Myanmar, 2.67 carats

The Ruby Thief is a medium-toned "light deep pink" glass fleck shimmer polish. It's a brilliant, cool, vivid, gift-wrap-ribbon pink that is just a hair short of magenta -- but not for want of trying. It is shot with pale violet and packed with glistening glass flecks and flakies to the point where the finish actually has a glassy look to it. This is a crisply vivacious, celebratory color that will not be confused with Barbie pink.

Application was interesting. The consistency of The Ruby Thief is on the thicker side with a high degree of translucence from the superabundant glass flecks, so multiple coats are needed for opacity. As I've said before many times, thicker formulas are not the most compatible with my application skills, so I added polish thinner to get a consistency more amenable to my technique (such as it is). I was apprehensive after the sheerness of the first coat, but it built up nicely to wearably opaque coverage in three coats, with just a touch of lingering sheerness at the tips of some nails. Cleanup was easy and straightforward. The Ruby Thief dries naturally in average time to a smooth, shiny, shimmering finish. 

Photos show three generous coats of The Ruby Thief over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite to ensure drying of all the layers. 

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

Literary Lacquers The Ruby Thief

After looking at photos of star rubies, including the 100.32-carat De Long Star Ruby, I have to say that Amy and Jenne really hit this one out of the park. How Amy coaxed this rich, dramatic, intense color with such a high degree of translucence out of her materials to create an opaque polish is a wonder in this world, just like the gemstone. The color is perfect! I love glass fleck shimmers and this one is gorgeous. Not many pinks feel appropriate around this time of year, but The Ruby Thief does. It is perfectly at home with the jewel-toned hues that are so popular during winter, and would make a particularly festive and eye-catching New Year's manicure.

love,
Liz