Lacquer Slacker Liz: Elevation Polish Pic du Gar

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Elevation Polish Pic du Gar

Pic du Gar was released by indie polish maker Elevation Polish as part of the Pyrénées collection in July of 2012. It's the plummy purple sister to Pic de Sotllo from the same collection, although Pic du Gar is more of a jelly or a creme/jelly hybrid than a creme. The color is a beautiful rich medium-dark true purple, very saturated and lush, especially in the sun when the light can get into the slight translucence of the formula and really fire up the pigment. It's a powerful color with a lovely sort of decadent self-confidence on the nail. Purple lovers will compliment you on this polish!

Application was very jelly. The consistency is fluid and full-bodied with a little bit jelly stickiness to it but not enough to interfere with painting -- provided you are smooth and assertive with the brush. Pigmentation is buildable and the polish goes on most smoothly if allowed to dry between coats. The first coat was sheer and a little streaky for me, but wearable coverage can be achieved in two coats if you're evenhanded. I am not, so I added a third, which I think makes the most of the color and the jelly-ish qualities of the formula, leaving a nice bouncy plump look. Cleanup is easy, but once again I managed to miss swipage on the sidewall of my left middle finger. Why is it always that finger, I wonder? Pic du Gar dries naturally in average time to a sort of rubbery finish. Some love that look but I rely on fast-dry topcoat to cure my manicure so I added topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Pic du Gar over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Elevation Polish Pic de Gar

The rich purple color and glossy plump finish reminds me of beautyberries!

Beautyberry Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst' (source)

This polish is named for a peak in the French Pyrénées located near Haute-Garonne, France. Lulu writes:

The Pyrénées is a mountain range separating Spain from France. Pic du Gar is located on the French side of the Pyrénées. All I remember of my trip was How purple/plum Pic du Gar looked from far away. The closer we got the more intense the color of the limestone became. Up close the limestone color played tricks on the eye. It wasn't until up close that you really got a sense of the color.