Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Lucy is the final polish from my recent Grace-full Nail Polish spree at Ella Ann Cosmetics. I've been stalking the Ella Ann Grace-full listings for some "coming soon" shades that have yet to present themselves, namely the Vampire collection and Mount Doom. I would love to see the Fireside and Peacock collections available there too (hint, hint)! All in good time, my little pretty, all in good time....

I am all but certain that Lucy is another polish from the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun series, but I'm unsure of the exact collection. Theresa calls Lucy "a wonderful chameleon," with shifting appearances depending upon the circumstances in which its viewed. It's a shimmer polish with a slightly translucent medium-light blue-green base bearing superabundant sterling silver flakies. You guys know how much I love sterling silver flakies -- eat them with a spoon! -- and this polish is just alive with them! The color is delicately balanced between blue and green, a cyanic aquamarine shade that looks like the silver-washed love child of light sea green and cerulean blue. Mermaidian and mutable, Lucy leans greener in some lights and bluer in others, just as Theresa described, with a glowing speckled foily finish that scintillates with sparkle from the tiny reflective silver flakes. 

Application was lovely. The consistency of Lucy is fluid, light and smooth with a whispery glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is sheer enough on the first coat to have me worried, but lo! Once again Theresa has created a translucent polish that builds to wearable opacity in only two coats. Don't know how she does it, but clearly she knows what she's doing. The beauty of a translucent formula is that any included components are much more a part of the show than they would be in a more opaque formula. I used three coats of Lucy for the photos, but would happily wear it at two were I not photographing it. Cleanup is all about the silver flakies and how they love to linger in the sidewalls and adorn cuticle and skin. Lucy dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, foily finish. 

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

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Grace-full Nail Polish Lucy

Lucy was vibrant and sparkling under the lights up at the gym, just gorgeous. I had on my bright blue and aqua fitness top and was doing upper body exercises with the baby bosu ball and Tory was like, OMG everything matches! The air conditioning is still only half working and it was 85°F in that place and humid as all get out. Ugh. I came out of there looking like a drowned rat (a really BIG drowned rat). But at least my nails looked fabulous!

I've really enjoyed the Grace-full polishes that I've featured here over the past week. What strikes me most about them is creator Theresa's skill at creating colors that are new and exciting, and especially her ability to combine pigments with variously colored components to produce unique looks. She makes the most of the elements of her trade with a sense of creative freedom that is fresh and full of enthusiasm. You can't help but share a vicarious thrill when you work with her creations, as if by doing so you are actively participating in her creative process. It's profoundly satisfying to be on the receiving end of that sort of energy. And every formula has been spot on. It's clear to me that Theresa's intentions for the brand include producing the most trouble-free, easiest-applying polishes she can. Judging by the polishes I've worked with so far, she is succeeding brilliantly. 

I look forward to trying more of her offerings as they become available here in the US. In the meantime, I'll be drooling over the unattainable (for Americans, anyway) inventory of Grace-full's big cartel shop and keeping up with Theresa latest doings via her blog, It's All About the Polish.

love,
Liz