Lacquer Slacker Liz: May 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Too Fancy Lacquer Magnifique

Magnifique was released by Hong Kong-based indie polish maker Too Fancy Lacquer as one of the brand's debut polishes in the summer of 2013. This is a deep magenta linear holographic polish. In typical Too Fancy form, the color and the holo have equal footing here, each informing the other to produce a beautiful melange of shifting analogous hues that enhance and complement the magenta base. The holo effects are athletic and responsive in almost all circumstances, with nuances of berry, violet, purple, orchid, fuchsia and cerise dimensionally shading the base color and floating over a gleaming semi-metallic flash of rosy golden pink. In direct sun there is a brilliant prismatic display with a central flair of almost fluorescent blue-violet edged by a sparkling band of rainbow colors that shades to a plummy red-violet around the edges of the nail. The colors visible in this polish remind me of lampworked borosilicate glass beads and the ethereal drifting wisps and clouds of color that are rendered by the flame. No matter how many times you see them, they never cease to leave you openmouthed with delight.

Application was exactly as one would expect from this brand -- in a word, wonderful! The consistency of Magnifique is fluid, smooth and creamy with a silky, self-leveling glide over the nail and a beautifully-balanced viscosity for painting. So pleasant and satisfying to work with! The user-friendly formula is amenable to thin or thicker coats, as preference and skill dictate, without running, pooling or bubbling. Pigmentation is excellent with near-opacity in one coat, but you'll want two for fullest depth color. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Magnifique dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat does not diminish the holographic effects in any way. In fact, I find it actually enhances the colors.

Photos show two coats of Magnifique over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite, a little less bubbly than yesterday but still sporting a bubble here and there.

Too Fancy Lacquer Magnifique

Another deliciously radiant holo from Too Fancy Lacquer! The magenta base color in Magnifique is only a breath of reddish pink away from yesterday's deep fuchsia creme, Essie Flowerista -- the holo makes a world of difference! Magenta and fuchsia are often used interchangeably, but in my mind magenta leans more pink while fuchsia leans more purple. Shades of both are ubiquitous in the nail polish world, though if acuity of visual discernment leads you to pursue the finer points of color differentiation, you know they each possess their own individual charms.

I'm humbled to remember how I once disliked magenta, considering it heavy, muddy and trite. Oh, the aesthetics of the ignorant! Nail polish has been and continues to be a source of enlightenment for me -- I learn something new almost every time I write about it.

love,
Liz

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Essie Flowerista

So I finally got my mitts on the namesake polish of Essie's Flowerista collection for spring 2015, courtesy of an ebay auction. This is the fourth polish I've purchased from this awesome collection, the others being Blossom Dandy, Garden Variety and Petal Pushers. The two I didn't get and won't be getting are the peachy nude Perrenial Chic and the tannish camel Picked Perfect, both warm neutrals that would look horrendous on me. Based all of the reviews and photos I've seen of it online, I expected Flowerista to be my favorite of the bunch.

Flowerista is a deep saturated shade of fuchsia with a plummy purple appearance. I initially thought it WAS a purple until I compared it to the fuchsia swatches on my Joen Wolfrom color tool that I used a lot back when I was stringing beads. This kind of explains why the shade you see varies quite a bit depending on the light circumstances under which it's viewed. In indirect light, it leans to a reddish purple but in the sun the deep pink in it comes to the fore and it's a deep but vibrant fuchsia. I'm usually quite partial to plummy colors like this, my eye loves them and for me Flowerista is very much a Rebecca Minkoff sort of shade -- I love it in her bags and accessories. Not sure how I feel about it on me, however. I was expecting something a little more radiant and floral and it feels a bit subdued on my nails.

Application was pretty good. The formula has a luscious, creamy fluidity to it with a velvety flow over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. It likes to set up fairly quickly, however, which can cause some angsty moments if you're a slow painter with a tendency to overstroke like I am. Judging from the reviews, though, most folks found the formula to be fabulous, and I can see how it would be in swifter, more dextrous hands. Pigmentation is outstanding. One coat is all you need for completely even, opaque coverage. I used two to finesse some lines left wanting after my first coat and to ensure the non-appearance of my ridges. Cleanup was surprisingly easy for a polish this well-pigmented, with just a little bit of pigment travel. Flowerista dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Flowerista over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a most regrettable, obnoxiously bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite.

Essie Flowerista

Although I like the look of Flowerista in the last photo (despite the topcoat bubbles), overall it's just not doing it for me today. I feel a bit puny in general, though, so maybe it's a pall of malaise that's affecting my view. Normally I'm quite fond of plummy fuchsia/magenta shades. I've got a holo in a very similar color from Too Fancy Lacquer to try tomorrow. Perhaps the holo will bring me around.

love,
Liz

Friday, May 29, 2015

SV by Sparkly Vernis Pink Starfish

Pink Starfish was released by indie polish maker SV by Sparkly Vernis as part of the Palm Trees at Night collection for spring 2015 in April this year. I've followed the Sparkly Vernis blog for several years and knew that she frankened her own polishes, so I was delighted to see her establish her own brand in December 2014.

The Palm Trees at Night collection of linear holographic polishes was inspired by springtime vacations at the beach in the Pacific northwest and Pink Starfish gets its name from the Giant Pink Sea Star Piaster brevispinus, a species indigenous to the northeast Pacific. Described as a "cool-toned, medium pink holographic with purple shimmer," this is not a simple pink. It has all kinds of rich magenta, rose and orchid tones to it -- I'll tentatively call it a dimensional steel pink. Its holographic effects are nothing short of phenomenal and contribute to the complexity of the color with beautiful analogous tonal shading in almost any light. In direct sun a perfectly delineated blazing prismatic flair floats over a central semi-metallic flash of warm golden pink that shades to a deeper purple-toned magenta at the edges of the nail.

Application was outstanding. The consistency of Pink Starfish is fluid and creamy with a beautifully-balanced viscosity for painting and a buttery, self-leveling glide over the nail, an eminently user-friendly polish that is easy to manipulate with Sparkly Vernis' flattened flexible brush. Pigmentation is fabulous with complete, even opacity achievable in only one coat. I did find, though, that the colors become richer with the addition of a second coat and that's what I recommend. Cleanup was surprisingly easy for a polish this well-pigmented, with no pigment travel at all. Pink Starfish dries naturally in good time to a silky smooth shiny finish. Topcoat adds depth-enhancing gloss and seems to actually intensify the hues of this amazing holo.

Photos show two coats of Pink Starfish over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Sparkly Vernis Pink Starfish

The liveliness of the prismatic display and holo effects and the depth, sparkle and dimensionality they produce are simply breathtaking. I don't usually fall in love with linear holos but this one has my heart! Despite the holographic athleticism, it doesn't eclipse the gorgeous color. Instead it makes the most of it, parsing it into an abundance of shimmering analogous tones. It's just a beautifully-balanced holographic composition, with the color pigment, particulate shimmers and holo pigment in perfect ratio to each other to permit the contributions of each to be maximized.

The Giant Pink Sea Star Piaster brevispinus can reach a diameter of two feet while weighing up to two pounds! (source)

Pink Starfish manages to be an exceptional tribute to its namesake as well. Gosh, and this polish isn't even its creator's favorite from the collection! According to the Sparkly Vernis blog post about the Palm Trees at Night collection, here, that honor belongs to a creamy blue-green holo called E. huxleyi Bloom, which I am going to purchase the minute I finish this post so look for it to feature here in about a week or so!

love,
Liz

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Glam Polish EM

EM was released by Australian indie polish maker Glam Polish as part of the special limited edition OH.EM.GEE! Trio in April this year. This sparklefest has a deep violet base absolutely packed with tiny sterling silver microflakes, silvery ultraholo microglitters and bright purple glass flecks. The ultraholo microglitters are amazingly light responsive, throwing out bright multicolored sparks at the slightest provocation, and combine with the other components to produce a truly lush sparkle in direct sun. In shade, the sterling microflakes decorate the deep violet with highly reflective diminutive silver speckles, giving it a scintillating silvery shimmer. The lavish, dynamic mix of components creates a lively tableau out of the otherwise somber violet the way a serious expression is transformed by a beautiful smile. The effect is magical.

Application was lovely. The consistency of EM is fluid, light and remarkably smooth and user-friendly for a component-laden polish, with an easy, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is very good. Completely opaque, even coverage is available in two thin coats, which is what I used for this manicure. Cleanup, though, is a bear! Microglitters, glass flecks and sterling microflakes, the latter especially, are loosed upon the nail environs at the touch of acetone and happily scamper further afield at any attempt to brush them away. I chased them down to my first knuckle before I gave up. EM dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth finish with only the slightest discernible texture from the components.

Photos show two coats of EM over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Apologies for the the unfinished cleanup!

Glam Polish EM

I don't think that my photos do proper justice to the rich color and awesome sparkle of this polish, and it may be true that no still image could. EM is another of those kind of polishes that need to be experienced on the nail in person to grasp its amazing visual textures and glittering dynamic relationship with light. It was just fabulous under the lights at the gym and the longer I wear it, the more smitten with it I become....

love,
Liz