ILNP Sweater Weather

I received my selections from the Winter and Holiday 2015 collections of Nevada-based boutique polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) this past weekend -- time to get some of these puppies on my nails! I pre-ordered two from the Winter collection and four from the Holiday collection. Compared to some of the haul photos I've been seeing from the ILNP Lovers Anonymous Facebook group lately, mine was rather modest but excitedly anticipated nevertheless. I shall begin with one from Holiday 2015 collection, Sweater Weather.

Creator Barbra describes Sweater Weather as a petrol blue holo with ice blue shimmers. I love petrol blue. (OMG, how awesome would it be to see Pantone chose petrol blue as its color of the year instead of the insipid choices made for 2016?) I always think of petrol blue as a particularly British expression, but I'm sure it's got more legs than that. Here in the US, we use different names for this deliciously rich, stealthy, complex color such as Prussian or midnight blue. It's a very dark cyan with a skosh of grey to it, sort of like a deep vivid slate blue kissed with green or the blue version of skobeloff green. Sweater Weather is a perfect dark petrol in a jelly-type base, deep and slightly murky but rich and mysterious. It's swimming with variably-sized holographic pigment, from tiny particles to larger shardy flakes as well as ice blue shimmers, which read as bright turquoise sparkles from within the polish. We have overcast skies here today, which minimized the holographic effects to a sweet scattered-type prismatic sparkle with notable hints of bright green and yellow, but they'd certainly be turned up a few notches in direct sun.

Application was blissful. I love ILNP's formulas, they feel like they were made for me! The consistency of Sweater Weather is fluid and light, I'd say on the thinner side as far as viscosity goes but not the least bit runny, with an easy-to-control flow over the nail and outstanding self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is very good for a jelly-based polish. The first coat of Sweater Weather is sheerish, but it builds quickly to opacity in two medium coats or three thin ones. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with a bit of pigment travel as you might expect from a deep, saturated shade like this, as well as a hint of trace staining, especially to dry skin. Sweater Weather dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. 

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

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

ILNP Sweater Weather

Such a pretty polish! As you can see Sweater Weather is quite the little twinkler -- the bright turquoise of the shimmers is much more complementary to the deep petrol blue than I could have imagined it would be. From arm's length and farther, you see less of the individual sparks and more of the marvelous sense of depth possessed by this polish. Since it's a jelly, it catches and holds light beautifully, brightening up the base to a beautiful jewel tone that reminds me of London blue topaz. 

I just love this. It's a very me kind of color and it's beautifully constructed and formulated. A keeper, for sure!

love,
Liz