ILNP Lulu
Lulu was released by boutique polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Fall 2015 collection earlier this month. Creator Barbra describes this as a "deep grape holographic polish with strong blue undertones." It's a dark saturated violet/blue hybrid along the lines of indigo dye, a somewhat protean shade that will lean more to violet or blue depending upon the circumstances in which it's viewed and the skin tone of the wearer. Although not classified as an Ultra Holo, it is similarly constructed with holographic particles in varying sizes, only in lesser density. The base has a certain jelly-like translucence to it, which allows light easy access to the holographic bits, giving the polish some lovely nuanced shading in denim and imperial blue in bright indirect light and a sparkling scattered prismatic display in direct sun. The larger sized holo flecks are quite visible and generate a constant star-like twinkle even in dim light, but really come into their own in direct sun, where their brightly colored sparks totally pop against the deep blue-violet base.
Application was very nice. The consistency of Lulu is quite fluid but not runny, light and smooth with an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail. This polish is capable of flooding if you touch skin or cuticle with the brush during application, so take care with those edges! Pigmentation is excellent for a jelly-ish formula, with very even coverage and complete opacity with full depth of color in only two medium coats. You might expect pigment travel and residual staining from a polish this saturated, but cleanup was remarkably easy, although the larger holo flecks like to adhere tightly to the nail and require a bit of persistence to remove. Lulu dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat does not diminish the holographic properties of this polish in any way.
Photos show two coats of Lulu over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
 |
| ILNP Lulu |
Indigo is such a charismatic shade, and like most deep blues has that elegant affability that makes it quite a pleasant companion on the nail. It's like the Gregory Peck of nail colors, effortlessly inspiring affection and esteem. Lulu has the added charm of its scattered holographic effects, which bring a bit of merriment and high jinks to the fluent beauty of the color.
This polish was very well received by Fuzzy, who I knew would love it based on the name alone. Her last dog was named Lulu, a beautiful field lab with a big heart and a noble soul. She has long crossed the rainbow bridge, but we miss her still.
love,
Liz
:'( I totally understand. I'd love a polish named Sebastian.
ReplyDeleteThis is very nice. It's a pretty hard color, and I like that about it. It reminds me of some kind of rock. I'm loving the red flash in the holo offerings these days.
Gregory Peck. Yum.
M, you could totally design a custom polish and name it Sebastian! I've never done it but there are lots of indie polish makers that do customs. What a wonderful, special gift to yourself that would be!
DeleteA rock, eh? Lapis, perhaps? The blue in it gives it a nice lapis kind of color. I love bright red with dark blue. Actually, I love the three primaries together, like in a floral bouquet. Red tulips or carnations or sweet william with iris or delphiniums or hydrangea or purply blue statice and sunflowers or yellow asiastic lilies or roses... with freesia in there if the lilies are unscented and some nice spikes and tendrils of greenery.... Makes me want to go send somebody a bouquet RIGHT NOW. Instinct tells me that you might not be as fond of cut flowers as I am. Am I right?
When it comes to colors, I just don't think in terms of flowers. I think in food and gemstones. This looks like a more purply sodalite. As far as liking flowers, I like anything blue, especially blue roses. When my family sends me flowers, they request blue anything, and sometimes the florist will even spray paint white flowers blue, LOL. I consider flowers a highly impractical gift, as they die in days and make me sneeze. :) You seem like a very flowery girl.
DeleteI do love roses in cake icing form. :D
I am a flowery girl and love a fresh bouquet! I ordered Fuzzy a birthday arrangement of white flowers with greenery (her favorite) right after I wrote that comment from my favorite local florist. It arrived yesterday and they did such a great job! It has roses, hydrangea, stock, snapdragons, bells of Ireland and a couple of others I didn't know, with nice leafy spikes. So pretty and the stock smells wonderful.
DeleteCake icing roses. Yum. I'm the only one in the house that eats them, so they're all mine.