Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Menthol Nights was released for pre-order last month by Connecticut-based indie polish maker Octopus Party Nail Lacquer (OPNL) as part of the Winter 2015 collection. I'm so glad that Dave, owner and creative force behind OPNL, is doing pre-orders for his polishes -- it makes them much easier to acquire, provided you don't miss the pre-order window! Stay on top of OPNL doings by joining The Octosquad on Facebook!

Officially described as a deep spruce linear holo, Menthol Nights has a carefully blackened emerald jelly base bearing an abundance of finely-milled, high-quality holographic pigment. The blackened emerald base reads as a rich deep blue-leaning green from the darker-toned spectrum of the spring green family that includes jungle, sea, pine and skobeloff greens as well as teal. The nature of the holographic properties is such that the base is nuanced by all of these hues in indirect and low light with a lavish sparkling aspect provided by the holo particles themselves. The translucent jelly base allows plenty of light to penetrate and illuminate its colors. Direct sun generates a breathtaking linear prismatic flare with a central lick of gleaming semi-metallic sea green framed by a flame-shaped sparkling band of co-mingled indigo and dazzling cerulean blue, edged by a brilliant ribbon of bright spring green and a slender shifting corona of sparks in yellow, orange and red before shading to a deep foresty green at the edges of the nail. Spectacular!

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Menthol Nights is fluid, smooth and surprisingly light, with an even, near-effortless slip over the nail and outstanding self-leveling properties. This is a user-friendly formula that prefers application in thin to medium coats and is seemingly impervious to various user folderol. An unfortunate incident resulted in my nicking a small patch of freshly applied polish off of one nail, but a careful repair job using a small bead of polish on the tip of the brush melted smoothly into place, leaving no trace behind. Huzzah! Pigmentation is excellent for a jelly-based lacquer, with completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, with remarkably little pigment travel or residual staining. Menthol Nights dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not appear to interfere in any way with the holographic properties of this polish. 

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

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Dave writes that this polish was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor's Bulgari emeralds. I totally get this! Taylor's personal jewelry collection, renowned as one of the best in the world, was of superlative quality and no particular ensemble more so than her stunning emerald parure, purchased for her piece by piece by Richard Burton from the Bulgari store in Rome during and after the filming of the 1963 cinematic opus Cleopatra.

The centerpiece of Taylor's emerald parure: Bulgari necklace in platinum with 16 octagonal step-cut Colombian and Zimbabwe emeralds plus the 23.44ct emerald pendant element. The pendant is actually a detachable brooch, purchased for her by Richard Burton as an engagement gift in 1962. It was the only piece of jewelry she wore for their wedding in 1964. Burton later returned to Bulgari and purchased the necklace. This piece, along with teardrop earrings, a bracelet and a ring made up Taylor's celebrated emerald ensemble, which she wore all over the world, including to the Academy Awards when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in the 1967 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf and during her introduction to Queen Elizabeth II in 1976. (source)

Iconic portrait of Elizabeth Taylor wearing her Bulgari emeralds, taken by the celebrated artist Helmut Newton in 1989 in Los Angeles. (source)

Taylor's collection of jewels, including the emerald parure, was auctioned by Christie's over two days in 2011 for $137.2 million USD, setting a new world record for a single-owner sale in what Christie's called "the sale of the century."

Reading about Elizabeth Taylor's emeralds and her incomparable jewelry legacy only further endeared Menthol Nights to me -- if I was impressed by it before, I was over the moon for it afterward! What a fantastic tribute to a woman who set the benchmark for how to wear such impressive, large, hugely valuable jewels with grace and panache. 

Well done, Dave. Well done, indeed. 

love,
Liz