Ever After Polish PHighting

PHighting was released by indie polish maker Ever After Polish as part of the Valerie Trio at the end of April this year. This series of polishes was created to raise funds for the family of Valerie Haines, a remarkable, selfless woman of uncommon generosity of spirit who devoted her life to serving those in need, especially medically fragile and disabled children. Valerie passed away on 15 April after suffering a brain aneurysm. Miranda and Rachel, co-owners and creators of Ever After Polish, held a charity event at the release of the Valerie Trio with a percentage of sales donated to support Valerie's family of five adopted special needs children. PHighting was inspired by and created for Valerie's daughter, Laycee Renae, who suffers from Pulmonary Hypertension.

PHighting is a creamy medium lavender bearing abundant blue/magenta duochromatic flake shimmers. The color is a true floral lavender, extremely flattering on the nail, and the flake shimmers floating within the polish create a cloudy visual texture that reminds me of a mackerel sky. The predominating color of the flakes depends upon their position relative to the source of light. Direct light elicits a sparkling bright blue and leans the lavender base color toward periwinkle. Indirect light generates a glowing magenta and adds a pinkish flash along the axis of light. There are also circumstances when blue and magenta appear simultaneously on different parts of the nail. This glistening chameleon quality provides additional visual interest to the shimmer-stippled look of the polish. Very pretty!

Application was great! The consistency of PHighting is fluid and smooth with a little bit of pull to it but an easy flow over the nail. This is a fast-drying polish that likes to thicken with exposure to air, so a deft, light touch and thinner coats provide for most even painting. Closing the bottle and giving it a brisk shake periodically helps to re-establish initial fluidity if the brush thickens with polish. Coverage is buildable. The first coat was quite sheer, but the opacity builds significantly with the second coat and by the third I achieved an evenly opaque coverage I was happy with. Those with shorter nails will probably not feel the need for a third coat. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with a little bit of stickiness on the part of the flake shimmers. PHighting dries naturally in very good time to a semi-matte sort of finish that loves a generous topcoat to even everything out and add gloss.

Photos show three coats of PHighting over treatment and basecoat with a slightly bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

Ever After Polish PHighting

I find this kind of dewy, glistening visual texture extremely appealing. There's a certain fresh rustic quality to it that becomes an artisan-crafted polish. The lavender base color of PHighting is actually fairly deep for a lavender, but it's true to it's nature and always looks lavender, not purple or violet. I should note that the colors reflected by the flake shimmers are much more vibrant and their sparkle more pronounced in person than what you see in my photos. I wish I could have captured an image in direct sun showing the crop of gleaming blue sparks that light up under those circumstances, but my camera would have none of it. Suffice to say that this polish is even prettier and more remarkable than the photos show.

love,
Liz