Lacquer Slacker Liz: Different Dimension Vulpecula

Vulpecula (pronounced vuhl-PECK-yule-ah, or thereabouts) was released by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as a limited edition Shooting Star polish just last Friday, which should tell you something about the swiftness of owner/creator Missy's customer service. Shooting Stars are single batch polishes that Missy whips up and sells on a one-time-only basis. When they're gone, they're gone for good -- that's the premise, anyway. The ever-awesome Lisa of Cosmetic Sanctuary is the source for preview swatches of these polishes, usually the day before their release. I've purchased several Shooting Stars based on her reviews and have never been let down. Case in point: today's polish, Vulpecula.

Missy describes Vulpecula as "a slate grey linear holographic polish with blue to violet color shifting shimmers added," and I agree. It's a wonderful deep cool creamy grey with a slightly murky aspect, as though perhaps a drop or two of green was added to the mix. The shimmers are very fine and give the polish a slightly dusty look at the outset but will display either a bright blue twinkle or an amazing misty blue glow depending upon the lighting circumstances under which it's viewed and how that light hits the nail. Although you can see the shimmer shift to violet in the bottle, it's a bit shy on the nail. In bright indirect light, the polish has a subtle sparkle, like mica in a stone. Direct sun generates a slightly dispersed prismatic flare with a radiant inner band of bright cerulean blue edged by trailing pinpoint sparks in green, yellow, orange and red, the whole framing a glittering central blaze of blue. Unfortunately, my photos don't really come close to showing how beautiful this polish is in person, but hopefully you'll get an idea.

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Vulpecula is quite fluid but not runny and very creamy, with a silky slip over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. It likes to go on in thin to medium coats and is easily manipulated with Different Dimension's flattened flexible brush. Pigmentation is excellent. With the proper mojo and a generous hand this could be a one coater, but I think it's best at two thinner coats for consistently even opaque coverage. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with very little pigment travel and just a ghost of trace staining. The polish is so easy to work with, though, that it's entirely possible to produce a completely clean manicure from the get-go. I didn't, but then I hardly ever do. I mean, if I did, how could I report on cleanup issues? (Wink wink, nod nod.) Vulpecula dries naturally in very good time to a slick glossy finish. Nice!

Photos show two coats of Vulpecula over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension Vulpecula

That last photo with the blue twinkles is probably the closest of all the pics to what this polish is like in person. I love this polish. It's very sleek with an organic chatoyant aspect that reminds me of labradorite. The silky blue glow that shows up in low indirect light is to die for!

In case you're wondering, as I did, about the name, Vulpecula is Latin for "little fox." It's a constellation in the northern sky. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an asterism consisting of the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair).

The constellation, under the full name of "Vulpecula and Anser," on a c. 1825 star map from Urania's Mirror. Anser is Latin for "goose." It refers to the goose the little fox holds in its mouth and was once considered a separate constellation but nowadays is merged into a single constellation under the name of the fox. (source: Wikipedia)

Almost all of Missy's Shooting Star polishes are named after constellations or stars -- makes sense, no? Very cool.

love,
Liz