Powder Perfect Maneater

Maneater was released by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Lady is a Vamp collection in June 2014. This is a medium-dark lush teal that is beautifully balanced between blue and green. Described as a scattered holographic polish, it is also sprinkled with two sizes of small iridescent teal hex glitters, which are most visible in shady circumstances where they light up through the base color in bright shades of teal, blue and green. In direct sun there is a stunning, uber-sparkly prismatic display with a scattered central blaze of cerulean edged by aqua and blue that shades to a deeper green-leaning teal around the edges, the whole floating above occasional flashes of semi-metallic emerald. Beautiful peacock colors in this dressy jewel-tone! 

Application was great. The consistency of Maneater is fluid and dense with a creamy glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Glitter payoff is very good with a modicum of glitters available per brush dip that disperse effortlessly around the nail without bunching up or stacking. I did have a few instances of protrusions over the free edge, but nothing that a tip-wrapping swipe couldn't handle. Pigmentation is very good with a few areas of sheerness on the first coat that build easily to completely even opaque coverage in two. If you wanted a larger balance of glitters, you could add a third coat but it's not necessary in terms of opacity. Cleanup is fairly straightforward, but there is some pigment travel with this saturated color as well as a little bit of residual staining to skin. Maneater dries naturally in good time to a shiny finish with a just a tiny bit of visual and tactile texture from the glitters that easily smoothed with a layer of topcoat.

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

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

Powder Perfect Maneater

I admire this polish, but I do not love it.

I've been kind of fence-sitting when it comes to the inclusion of larger glitters in holographic polishes. On the one hand, they do add a bit of splashiness to the look, especially out of direct light, and it appeals to my love of monochromatic arrangements to see such larger glitters sparkling in like colors from within the polish. On the other hand, the glitters produces a sparkle that is so radically different than the sort brought to the table by holographic effects that it makes for a degree of busyness that I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with. 

Maneater's balance of glitters to base has a modest feel, but I'm not inclined to think I'd like it better with more. The base color is spectacular and the iridescence of the included glitters adds a near perfect range of analogously-colored accents so why my indifference? I think it has to do with the way these two kinds of components present themselves. Holographic effects are geometrically balanced and pervasive, while these larger glitters are by nature random and spotty. The presence of both generates an almost painful tension that has no purchase in my aesthetic. I keep wanting one or the other but not the two together.

On the other hand, shimmers and microglitters, when combined with a holographic base, are usually so tiny and abundant that they become equally as pervasive as the holo, and so strike a much more successful balance. 

Such are my thoughts on this thorny issue. Film at eleven. ;)

love,
Liz