Lacquer Slacker Liz: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

KBShimmer Carpe Denim

Carpe Denim was just released by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Fall 2015 collection about two weeks ago. It's a gorgeous deep ultramarine blue jelly swimming with silver holographic hex glitters sized micro to small. The color is unmuddied and amazingly well-saturated for a jelly, and easily passes for the color of new dark denim or a variation of navy. Not that I'd seriously ever want to mess with one of Christy's puns, but she could well have called this one Carpe Noctem for its likeness to a moonless night sky with its holo glitters twinkling like stars against the dark fathomless blue. The jelly base suspends the glitters perfectly within it, with no sinking or dimpling to the surface. Fantastic!

Application was great! The consistency of Carpe Denim is thicker than some but still quite fluid, and very smooth, with an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail. No need to even think about the glitters, they disperse effortlessly across the nail in a perfectly random way as you paint. Pigmentation is excellent for a jelly, with opaque coverage achievable in two medium coats or three thinner ones. I used three medium coats for this manicure, but would happily wear it at two were I not photographing it. Make sure to wrap your tips carefully with this one, as it can show some sheerness there. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with a bit of pigment travel and residual staining that's not too hard to remove. Carpe Denim dries naturally in very good time to a wonderful glossy finish.

Photos show three coats of Carpe Denim over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Apologies for the scruffiness of my nail environs!

KBShimmer Carpe Denim

You can see how very inky this blue is -- it reads as near black in the photos (as have many of the very dark blues I've featured here, an ongoing issue...), with only a blue tint to the silver glitters to let you know that it is indeed blue. Other folks are better at capturing this kind of deep color than I am. For an excellent example of how this polish appears most of the time in person, check out Emily's photos in her review of KBShimmer's Fall 2015 collection on The Lacquerologist. She manages to convey both the depth of tone and the exact hue in her pics, no small feat!

As a glitter jelly, Carpe Denim is pretty darn flawless. Just the right amount of glitter to give it that perfect random sprinkling, superb pigmentation, a wonderful formula and that glossy jelly finish. It has the glamorous feel of a delicately sequined gown, a little bit of swish, if you will, and throws out sparks in prismatic colors in any kind of lighting -- which Fuzzy says makes it look like a CGI-generated version of outer space instead of the real thing, but if you ask me that sort of rhetoric doesn't even remotely qualify as a quibble.

Oh, I almost forgot to add: removal of Carpe Denim is only the slightest bit more labor-intensive than that of a creme. No tin foil necessary! Use a clean surface on each nail to avoid transfer of the color to your skin and if your nails are dry, there may be some light staining that can removed by wiping them down well with a cotton pad soaked in cuticle remover.

Nope, it really doesn't get much better than this!

love,
Liz

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Hare Polish Two Forty-five AM

Two Forty-five AM was released by California-based indie polish maker Hare Polish as a limited edition stand alone polish towards the end of August this year. Other than the polishes she creates for box collections, Nikole doesn't typically do limited editions. This one was limited to 75 bottles, and just happened to still be available at the time I came across Hare's blog post announcing it's release.

Two Forty-five AM is an example of what I think of as Nikole's "mini flotsam" type of polish, a creme/jelly hybrid laced with various tiny components. She describes the base color for this one as a lavender with grey and periwinkle tones. This isn't a wimpy lavender, it has a more robust character that gives the color a little push. It's like a tropical indigo with slatey-blue overtones, the sort of color you see in the clouds when it's getting ready to storm. Mixed into this color is a plethora of diminutive glitters and flakies in a variety of colors -- tiny square and hex glitters in white, shiny blue and green ultrachrome flakies and orangey copper flakies -- creating a lovely speckled pastiche on the nail. This seemingly random miscellany invites closer scrutiny and adds visual texture in a particularly graceful way. It's a charmer!

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Two Forty-five AM is fluid, light and creamy-smooth, with an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail. It has a perfectly balanced viscosity for painting, with no interference at all from the copious glitters and flakies. As a creme/jelly hybrid, there's a degree of translucence to the formula but it builds quickly to wearable opacity in two medium coats. I added a third for the photos, but I actually prefer it at two coats where lingering sheerness gives it a delicate, diaphanous quality. This polish went on so nicely that I barely had any cleanup to do, but as with all component-laden polishes I suggest doing your cleanup as you go along while the polish is still wet and the glitters and whatnot haven't had a chance to adhere firmly to skin, nail or cuticle. Two Forty-five AM dries naturally in very good time to a surprisingly smooth, shiny finish with almost no discernible texture from the components.

Photos show three coats of Two Forty-five AM over Pretty Serious Rock On nail strengthening treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base ridge-filling basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. It's overcast and raining here today so the blue-grey overtones are strong, and I imagine that you would see more of the lavender in the sun.

Hare Polish Two Forty-five AM

Nikole's mini flotsam polishes tend to have a random, organic feel, but I've often found them to possess distinct structures in terms of color. Two Forty-five AM is a particularly good example of this. On a color wheel, the complementary color for purple (base color) is green (green ultrachrome flakies). Triadic complementary colors are orange (copper flakies) and blue-green (blue ultrachrome flakies). The tiny white square and hex glitters are a what I call a creator's conceit, or signature touch. Nikole often includes tiny squares like these white ones in her component mixes. In this polish, they sort of pull all of the other components together with a delicacy that keeps the focus on the many small pieces of this puzzle.

I absolutely love this color, even if my photos don't show as much of the lavender as you see in person. It has a wonderful synchronicity with the overcast sky right about now, and possesses a pleasantly insouciant feel on the nail, a sort of imperturbable, relaxed serenity that makes it quite gratifying to wear.

I think I'll keep this one on for a few days.

love,
Liz

Friday, September 25, 2015

Indigo Bananas Indigo Montoya

Indigo Montoya was released by California-based indie polish maker Indigo Bananas as part of the Fall 2015 Holos collection in August this year. As you may guess from its name (tip of the hat to the 1987 fantasy comedy adventure film The Princess Bride), this is a deep blue linear holographic polish. It has a medium-dark violet-blue base that is beautifully shaded with brilliant hues of sapphire, ultramarine and indigo blue courtesy of its abundant finely-milled holographic pigment. Unfortunately it is overcast here today so I don't have direct sun to provoke a full prismatic display, but if Indigo Montoya is anything like its sister polish, Olive Time and Space, the holo flare should be dramatic and fully linear in the sun. Even in bright indirect light, you can see a few tiny sparks of yellow, orange and red edging a central blaze of bright sapphire and saturated ultramarine, which shades to deep indigo at the edges of the nail. Low light and shade gentles the base color to a silver-speckled denim.

Application was a treat. The formula for Indigo Montoya is similar to its stablemates, Olive Time and Space and Synonym Bun, having a fluid, light and very smooth consistency with an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail. This is a user friendly polish with a very nicely balanced viscosity for painting that is a pleasure to work with. Pigmentation is buildable, with some sheerness to the first coat building quickly to even, opaque coverage with the second. Given the propensities of the other two polishes that I've shown you from this collection, I decided to add a third to see if it would deepen the color or enrich the holographic effects. In my opinion, while it's eminently wearable at two, three coats does indeed provide a richer, more dimensional look. Cleanup was easy and straightforward. Indigo Montoya dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not diminish the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show three coats of Indigo Montoya over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Indigo Bananas Indigo Montoya

Judging from other photos of this polish that I've seen online, I expect that the brightness and intensity of all of the blues generated by the holo pigment that you see here will be exponentially greater in direct sun. Take a look at Debbie's photos in her review of this collection on The Crumpet to see what I mean. Wow! The indigo really takes the stage in those pics!

With so many holographic polishes available from indie polish makers these days you can have your pick of various blues, but I think this one is especially lovely and so easy to wear. The brighter blues in it reminds me of clear fall skies and the deep indigo around the edges bring to mind rain-slicked asphalt roads littered with fallen leaves. I've only seen a hint of fall's touch in the leaves of the trees around here, but our big red maple by the front porch has some flame-tipped branches high in the canopy, a sure sign that autumn is here at last.

love,
Liz

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Ella+Mila Honeymoon Bliss

Nail polish etailer Color4Nails recently began carrying Ella+Mila, a self-described luxury polish brand that is 5 free (made without toluene, dibutyl phthalate aka DBP, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin or camphor), vegan and certified cruelty free by PETA. Named after the twin daughters of one of its founders, this eco-friendly, high-end brand is made in the US and touts its formulas as being chip-free, quick dry and high shine.

As I perused the Ella+Mila offerings at Color4Nails, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of pretty pale pink and peach shades, any of which might be perfect for my friend and personal trainer Tory to wear for her wedding on 3 October. The next thing I knew, I was checking out with six Ella+Mila polishes in my cart. When I presented this bounty to Tory, she insisted I take one home with me to feature in a blog post since I'd never tried the brand before. So today I have Ella+Mila Honeymoon Bliss from the Love collection to share with you.

Honeymoon Bliss is described on the Ella+Mila website as simply "a natural hue with a touch of love." What does that mean, exactly? Well, in this case it means a creamy almond nude very gently tinted with pink, lavender and grey, cool-toned and reminiscent of porcelain somehow. The color is extremely flattering on the nail and not stark in the least, nor does it appear washed out. Rather, it has a dreamy, demure vibe that is simultaneously soft and sleek.

Application was delightful. For a white-based color, Honeymoon Bliss has an outstanding formula. Its consistency is quite fluid but not runny, light and very creamy. It has a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail and is easy to manipulate with Ella+Mila's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is very, very good. The first coat tends to be just a tad sheer but not streaky if applied with a light touch and an even hand. Two coats builds the opacity to an evenly opaque, eminently wearable level. I am not the most even-handed of painters so I added a third coat for the photos but would happily wear it at two under other circumstances. Cleanup is easy as pie. Honeymoon Bliss dries naturally in good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show three coats of Honeymoon Bliss over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ella+Mila Honeymoon Bliss

The lavender overtones aren't as visible in these photos as they are in person, especially in low and incandescent light.

I really like this gentle pinkish nude. It elongates my fingers and has such a graceful look that I scarcely recognize my own hands -- my nails look like petals! It might not be as suitable for warmer complexions, but it's just wonderful on my pinkage. It would make a sweet pedicure shade too, I think.

Fuzzy was totally underwhelmed by the delicate nature of Honeymoon Bliss. I tried to explain how perfectly bridal it was, but she was not moved. Red polish, that moves her. Here is a person who's never worn a full manicure once in her life declaring that it's just fine to wear red polish at your wedding. "Why not?" she asked.

Indeed!

love,
Liz