Colors by Llarowe If You Dare

Like Plum Perfect, If You Dare was released near the end of November 2015 by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe (CbL) as part of the Winter 2015 collection. Described as a deep fuchsia linear holographic polish, this rich, luxurious color is difficult to pin down. It's kind of like a dark mulberry or amaranth purple with bold overtones of plum and dark red. Complex and wonderfully dimensional, blood red sparks and gleaming semi-metallic flashes of hot pink simmer deep within the base, which is suffused with glowing, holographically-nuanced hues of cobalt and indigo. In direct sun,  a magnificent prismatic display predominated by an inner band of intense indigo and an outer band of brilliant red surrounds a central lick of sparkling hot pink before shading to a deep magenta at the edges of the nail. Really stunning and remarkably vivid for such a dark color.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of If You Dare is fluid, light and very smooth with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a silky, self-leveling glide over the nail. It has the endearing quality of being fast-drying but still allowing plenty of time to finesse the application -- I love that in a polish! Pigmentation is outstanding with opaque coverage in a single coat, but you'll want to add a second for fullest richness of color and to make the most of its holographic properties. Cleanup is fairly straightfoward. There's some pigment travel, as you might expect, with a skosh of trace staining. If You Dare dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic effects in any way.

Photos show two coats of If You Dare over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Once again, my apologies for the raggedy-ass nail environs. Apparently the salt scrub last night only managed to activate new areas. I need to get a cuticle remover that is more gel-like so that my fingers aren't so easily exposed to it during use, the source of all the flaky skin.

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

 

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

CbL If You Dare

There's a weighty, ornate sense to this polish despite its brilliant color and considerable holographic properties. Sleek and graceful on the nail, this is a very grownup holo.

ttyl,
Liz