Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Cherry Ingram was released by boutique polish maker Priti NYC as part of the Sailing in Sardinia collection for spring 2012. It is classified as a limited edition polish, but is still available on the Priti NYC website. Incidentally, the only other Priti NYC polish that I owned prior to my recent ebay spree, Spring Gentian, was also part of this quartet of beautiful Mediterranean blues. Cherry Ingram is the last polish I have to show you from my spree.

This one is described on the website as a "deep cerulean blue with shimmer," and I concur, although the photo of the bottle has more of an azure aspect to it in the listing than it does in person. The polish is a medium-dark marvelously rich true cerulean, a lush oceanic blue-green from the cyan family, bearing glowing ultrafine on-tone turquoise particulate shimmers that give the polish a bit of that "lit-from-within" look. It has a jewel-like quality on the nail and reminds me of the tourmaline species indicolite or London blue topaz. At oblique angles and in low light, it's quite dark, but in direct and bright indirect light the color is absolutely radiant. I love cerulean blues and this one really hits the spot for me.

Application was an exercise in delayed gratification. Cherry Ingram is an odd duck. It's much more translucent than the other Priti NYC polishes I've tried, although the formula had a similarly fluid, ultrasmooth consistency with very good self-leveling properties. Coverage is buildable, and I'm going to say flat out that this polish requires a minimum of three coats to look its best. The first coat is sheer and the polish dries to a satiny matte finish that does it no favors. I was like, oh hell to the no (as my nephew likes to say). The second coat was better but not by much. Opacity and even coverage finally got it together by the third coat but with that matte finish it just kind of lay there. I did my cleanup, such as it is, with a sinking heart and experienced some pigment travel but no residual staining. Cherry Ingram dries naturally in average time to the satiny matte finish, which I don't think flatters the polish at all. Finally, with topcoat, the color bloomed. It was like a miracle! I don't know why they created this to dry matte, it absolutely requires a glossy topcoat to look its best. 

Photos show three coats of Cherry Ingram over treatment and basecoat with a bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite. I'm going to blame the pervasive humidity of late for the fact that I can't seem to apply a non-bubbly layer of topcoat to save my life.

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

Priti NYC Cherry Ingram

My camera had difficulty rendering this color accurately, so I had to tweak the hue in photoshop a tiny bit. But isn't it gorgeous? Eat it with a spoon!

The name of this polish comes from Omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram,' also known as  Navelwort or Blue-eyed Mary, a low-growing flowering plant that's cousin to the Forget-me-not. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, they grow well in moist woodland settings. Airy sprays of flowers appear in early spring, deep blue at first, changing to violet. Their color is actually much more of a periwinkle than the cerulean of the polish, but what the hay.

I hope you've enjoyed these Priti NYC polishes! I know I have. Fuzzy has taken a real fancy to this polish maker, she loves their colors. I do too, and may have to spring for more! I missed taking advantage of Priti NYC's 30% off summer sale in July, dammit. I don't know that I want to wait for next July to acquire more of their beautiful colors, but at $15 a pop I may have to. 

love,
Liz