Wasn't the Cult Nails' collection A Day at the Races also inspired by Lana Del Rey? Maybe I'm making that up.
Creator Nikole describes I'm Your National Anthem as a "retro cherry red jelly with blue/purple ultrachrome flakies, gold flakies and holographic shimmer." This is a medium-dark brilliant translucent crimson jelly with a deliciously squishy look bearing ultrachrome flakies that read mostly as bright blue, golden flake shimmers that read as gold and tones of bright red depending on their depth and the unusual addition (for Hare) of a minimal dusting of holographic particle shimmers. The effect of the holo is quite subtle and mostly visible at close scrutiny and in the sun, where the particles send out tiny sparks in rainbow colors. The flake shimmers are bright and shiny and gleam from within the polish in blue, gold and tones of red as the light hits them. It's a gorgeous dimensional effect. For me, the star of this show is the divine base color. So spirited and exuberantly rich, I defy you to find a juicier, more passionate red!
Because it's also fairly translucent, I applied two coats of Deborah Lippmann All About That Base Correct and Conceal basecoat over my usual nail treatment to prevent my polish stained nails and their himalayan ridges from interfering with the tone and evenness of the color. With the basecoat taken care of, application of I'm Your National Anthem was a blast. The color is just so bright and fabulous, it made my eyes happy to work with it. The consistency of the polish is quite fluid but not runny, and light and smooth with a silky slip over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. There is absolutely none of the stickiness that often accompanies jelly polishes -- this is an eminently paintable jelly. Pigmentation is buildable. You're never going to reach bottle color with this polish, but I found three coats to provide even coverage of bright, rich color. You'll see in the photos that there's a corona of pinkish red around the cuticle edges of the polish where I didn't align my coats precisely, but this is not noticeable in person. Cleanup took some care. This polish is quite pigmented despite the translucence and I experienced some pigment travel and a tiny bit of residual staining to skin, mostly in the sidewall areas. I'm Your National Anthem dries naturally in good time to a shade that is much lighter than bottle color and a glossy finish with a skosh of visual texture where flakies touch the surface, fairly well smoothed by a generous layer of topcoat. Topcoat also enhances the colors of the flakies.
Photos show three coats of I'm Your National Anthem over two coats of Deborah Lippmann All About That Base Correct and Conceal basecoat over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment, with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
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| Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem |
This is such an awesome polish! Nikole has a way of connecting her polish with music that is uncanny. Red strikes me as the perfect color for the song National Anthem, which deals (in part) with the discomforting ambiguities of devotion. Red is the color of sexual passion and is associated with our most physical needs and will to survive. It's also associated with power, danger, war and destruction. I'm Your National Anthem is a particularly dynamic crimson shade, mirroring both the ambition/strength of will and the accompanying disillusionment/loss of self that are touched on (among many other things) in the song.
Up at the gym today. I'm Your National Anthem was absolutely stunning under those lights. The ultrachrome flakies were gleaming in the brightest blue through that cherry red base, and the golden flakes lit up like embers in the fire do when you blow on them. The air conditioning was still out and it was thick as all get out in there but this polish looked like dynamite! My trainer said it reminded her of Rosie the Riveter. I can definitely see that!
Anyway, awesome polish and a true Hare, full of unexpected twists and wonderful surprises. Nikole, I salute you! Happy Independence day to Americans at home and abroad, and the happiest of bright red polish vibes to all!
love,
Liz
TWINSIES!! :D I'm sharing your enthusiasm for red today, Liz- this one reminds me of cherry Dilly Bars, scented lip gloss, and driving with the windows down. I was thinking of you when I bought it back in May, and so I was so happily surprised to see it on your blog today!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Your posts have been so awesome this past month or so that I've disappeared. I've been reading them on my phone, but have taken a much-needed hiatus from the computer that will only temporarily relent in the week before I vacation to Alaska (squee!). I've missed you but I'm (almost) back!! <3
Pyschic friends! We have excellent taste, no? I absolutely love this polish, such an amazing red and such a blast to wear!
DeleteHow exciting that you'll be vacationing in Alaska! Will it be a touring kind of vacation or are you going to one spot? What Alaskan kinds of things will you be doing? That is one place that's still on my shrinking list of places I'd like to see before my ultimate demise... I fantasize sometimes about an Alaskan cruise, but viewing the state from a ship doesn't strike me as the kind of vacation you'll be having. Will you be climbing Denali? *grin* Marisa, I will keel over if you say yes....
So glad to see you around here!
ps What's a Dilly Bar?
DeleteOohh Liz, Dilly Bars were my childhood :) They're a Dairy Queen thing, a disc of soft serve ice cream with a little twirl in the middle all coated in their cherry/chocolate/butterscotch edible wax mixture (sounds weird, yes; my mom worked at DQ when she was a teenager and she has told us all about it, but even though she knows about the wax she still loves that hard coating too), and then served up on a popsicle stick. You'll have to Google it to see the real ones! Chain stores sell them all manufactured and packaged in plastic without the iconic cone twirl, but the DQ by my house still makes them by hand and they are magical. Cherry is by far the best (it actually tastes more like almond).
DeleteWe ARE hiking in Denali; just made our cabin reservations, in fact!! Though not Mt. McKinley itself, just on the few hiking trails available in the park, on the eastern side near the Visitor's Center. There is very little access to the park except by official park bus, but I didn't get to hike there at all last time so we're hiking now! This is my fourth trip to Alaska but Kellen's first, so we're going to make the most of it :) My auntie is going on an Alaskan cruise at the same time we'll be there, and much of their itinerary is actually inland, including to Denali! Most of our time though will be spent on the Kenai Peninsula, as usual, and most of the group will be fishing most of that time, though I'll mostly be hiking, with a little sea kayaking and horseback riding thrown in :D