Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Bionic Mmmm-Detector was released by indie polish maker Literary Lacquers as part of The Good Parts erotic fiction-inspired collection in March 2013. Amy writes, "This polish was inspired by Vox by Nicholson Baker, published in 1990. This entire book is one long anonymous phone sex conversation over a 1-900 number. This book, published in the midst of the AIDS crisis represents the ultimate safe sex in a pre-Internet era." It also has the dubious, media-titillating distinction of being the book that Monica Lewinsky gave to Bill Clinton (a fact that I absorb with some queasiness and goes straight into the TMI file in my opinion).

Bionic Mmmm-Detector is a microglitter jelly. It has a black jelly base brimming with microglitters in blue, aqua, teal and emerald green. The thing I consider most striking about it is how flippin' well-made it is. Everything about the composition of this polish is perfect, from the consistency and translucence of the jelly base to the mix of microglitter colors to the application to the dry down. The construction and quality are simply superb. On the nail, the base is an inky black but with enough translucence to allow the colors of the microglitters to be easily identified. It's wicked sparkly in the sun, with sparks of red and yellow in addition to the blues and greens that makes me think there must be some holo microglitters in there. This polish has a sinister, intensely witchy presence that exudes danger and completely blows any oceanic feel you might expect from such a glitter mix to kingdom come. It is one vampy polish, for sure.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Bionic Mmmm-Detector is much more fluid than I was expecting, very smooth in spite of the density of components and completely without stickiness. It applies as easily as any non-glitter jelly you can imagine, with no stacking or dragging of glitter, no stick-ups or protrusions over the free edge and no patching. Pigmentation is pretty amazing for a black jelly-based polish, with a wearable opacity and rich color available in two coats although I used three for the photos. So impressive! I have absolutely no application caveats to offer about it. Cleanup is easy and straightforward -- even the glitters, which you might suspect would be difficult to remove from cuticle/skin, come off readily with a swipe of the cleanup brush. And as if all that wasn't enough, Bionic Mmmm-Detector dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish that needs no extra surface smoothing other than your regular topcoat. Huzzah! 

Plus, plus, plus I read that removal of this polish is only marginally more time consuming than a non-glitter polish, no tin-foil needed. I know, right?! (If my experience differs from this I'll add a postscript to that effect.)

Photos show three coats of Bionic Mmmm-Detector over Seche Rebuild treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm-Detector

A masterful polish in every sense of the word. It has a powerful impact on the nail. So powerful, in fact, that I can't say I'm completely comfortable wearing it. But if it wasn't as dark and tricksy and full of impending peril as it is, it wouldn't be as impressive either so I'm in the somewhat discomforting state of loving it and feeling a bit alienated by it simultaneously. 

It's a sad truth that I would perhaps be more at ease with this amazing vampy sparkler if Monika Lewinsky's name wasn't associated with the book that inspired it. *lol* I am pathologically susceptible. 

However, do not let my poor mental hygiene taint this polish for you! It's one of the best examples of perfect artisanal polish making in a glitter jelly that I can think of, and is worthy of being in any polish enthusiast's collection based on that fact alone. If you're ready for IT, it's definitely ready for YOU!

love,
Liz