ILNP Ski Lodge

Like yesterday's Sweater Weather, Ski Lodge was recently released by Nevada-based boutique polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Winter 2015 collection. This is another complex jelly-based holographic polish bearing a blend of variously-sized holo pigment with the addition of abundant flake shimmers. Creator Barbra describes its color as a dark moss green, and I couldn't agree more. Ski Lodge is dark moss green perfectly calibrated, a very deep yellow-green with aspects of avocado and olive. The copious golden flake shimmers read as a gleaming chartreuse from within the polish, and give it wonderful depth with a notable twinkling quality in bright indirect light that is complemented by bright sparks of color from the larger shardy holo bits. Bright sun at a 45° degree angle generates a slightly dispersed sparkling prismatic flare that lengthens into a shimmering fully linear display at a more oblique angle.

Application was awesome. The consistency of Ski Lodge is fluid and smooth, slightly thicker than Sweater Weather but with the same beautifully-balanced viscosity for painting. It has a silky slip over the nail and self-levels like a dream. With its jelly base, pigmentation is buildable, and completely even opaque coverage can be had in two medium coats or three thinner ones. I used a very thin first coat and after the second could still detect some sheer patches so I added a third. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, with a tiny bit of pigment travel but suprisingly little residual staining. Ski Lodge dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. A glossy topcoat seems to intensify the presence of the shimmers and does not affect the holographic properties in any way. 

Photos show three coats of Ski Lodge over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

ILNP Ski Lodge

I don't believe that I've ever come across a dark green holo that's anything like Ski Lodge. The abundant gorgeous glimmering flake shimmers and bursts of color from the larger holographic pieces combine to make it singularly memorable. And the color! Earthy and mysterious, it's like the yellow-leaning counterpart to bottle green but without the venomous quality that I think bottle green often seems to possess. Ski Lodge, for all its dark drama, has a much more mellow sense to it, and it never looks black. Even in very low light it retains its green soul. 

Lovers of green nail polish, take note! This one will be a truly unique addition to your collection. So yeah, I'm going to say it: you NEED this polish!

love,
Liz