Rainbow Honey Tessie

Tessie was released by New Jersey-based indie polish maker Rainbow Honey as part of the Summer of 199X collection in June 2013. It's one of three shimmered cremes from this collection that I've been admiring from afar for some time, the others being Apple Kid and Mint Flavor. Creator Dee describes Tessie as a "dusty and shimmery periwinkle." For me, it kind of walks the line between a whitened cornflower and lavender, like a pastel blue-purple filled with what seems to me to be bright blue glass fleck shimmers that appear turquoise in comparison to the base. In the sun, it has a lavender look sprinkled with sparkle from the shimmers when the light hits them just right. In dim lighting and shade it goes into a more demure dusty periwinkle mode. While this is a softer shade, it's pleasingly colorful on the nail and the sweet sparkle of the glass flecks make it one of those polishes that becomes lovelier and more interesting the closer you get to it.

Application was ok. The consistency of Tessie is fluid and light with a nicely balanced viscosity for painting. While it self-levels well enough to hide my nail ridges in two coats, it also sets up and dries rather quickly, meaning that if you're like me and don't have the most even hand you can get a slightly lumpy look because the polish ceases to self-level once it sets up and starts to dry. Thank goodness for the smoothing powers of Seche Vite, which resolved this issue quite handily. Pigmentation is very good, with any sheerness in the first coat building easily to opacity with the second. Cleanup is mostly a matter of chasing down free-roaming glass flecks that are loosed upon the nail environs by acetone, no pigment travel to speak of. Tessie dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that loves a nice topcoat to pop the color of the glass flecks and add a glossy shine. 

Photos show two coats of Tessie over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Perhaps Tessie is more characteristic of a springtime color, but I quite like it as a soft bright for summer. It has a friendly, relaxed vibe and sits easily on the nail. I love the pretty glass flecks, which are more intense and sparkly than my photos show and set this polish apart from other lavender cremes. It's just unusual enough to make it feel special.

love,
Liz