Lacquer Slacker Liz: May 2016

Monday, May 30, 2016

Vapid Lacquer Resting Bitch Face

Resting Bitch Face was released by indie polish maker Vapid Lacquer as part of the Valentine's Trio in late January 2016. Named for the bitchy resting face phenomenon humorously documented by Broken People on YouTube, this is a well-pigmented medium-dark red creme, a cool-toned creamy shade of crimson along the lines of Fresno State Cardinal or crimson glory from the Plochere Color System. While fairly deep, there's a certain bright, vivid aspect to it that keeps it from being overly vampy. It is, as creator Krys describes it, "a classic shade in a serious way."

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Resting Bitch Face is fluid, light and creamy with a thin-to-medium viscosity and an effortless, plush, self-leveling glide over the nail -- just a superb, eminently-paintable formula that is easy to manipulate with Vapid's compact flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is outstanding with wearably opaque coverage delivered in a single coat, although if you use particularly thin coats you may want to add a second for full bottle color. Cleanup is fairly straightforward, with some pigment travel as you might expect from a red this saturated and a trace of residual staining. Resting Bitch Face dries naturally in very good time to a gorgeous glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Resting Bitch Face over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Vapid Lacquer Resting Bitch Face

While I bought this polish in part for the name -- the concept of "resting bitch face" is so hilarious, something you could imaging building whole episodes of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm around -- it's a great-looking red with an awesome formula that actually does have a satisfying and befitting amount of mercuriality and moodiness to it. Depending upon the circumstances in which its viewed, it can be sanguine or smoldering, intensely radiant or deep and inscrutable, arterial or venous.

A perfect Geminian red. Shout out to my fellow Geminis out there, here's one for YOU!

love,
Liz

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Cupcake Polish From Cancun, With Love

From Cancun, With Love was created by Texas-based indie polish maker Cupcake Polish for inclusion in the May 2016 collaboration box from The Holo Hookup. Officially described as an "aqua colored super linear holo with subtle iridescent flakies," From Cancun, With Love is a brilliant cyanic blend of light sea green, cerulean and bright turquoise, a beautiful shifting melange of the tropical oceanic hues that you see in the clean shallow coastal waters that Cancun is known for. Finely milled holographic pigment further nuances the blend into indefinable variations of blue-green, from which flash gleaming analogously-colored iridescent flakies, creating a lush network of reciprocal hues. In direct sun, there's a dazzling linear holographic display with bands of rich cerulean and bright aqua trimmed with a narrow ribbon of lime green and a corona of sparks in yellow, orange and red before shading to dark cyan around the edges, the whole floating over a shimmering underlay of pale metallic sea green.

Application was delicious. The consistency of From Cancun, With Love is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a luxurious, self-leveling slip over the nail. Each brushload delivers a goodly amount of iridescent flakies, which spread effortlessly over the nail without stacking or stickups and only the occasional slight protrusion over the free edge, easily nudged into proper position with Cupcake's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering wearable opacity in two coats, although I used three for maximum flakie goodness. Cleanup is straightforward; any loose flakies dislodge without issue and there's no pigment travel or residual staining to speak of -- hooray! From Cancun, With Love dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with a bit of barely discernible texture from the flakies. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties of this polish in any way.

Photos show three coats of From Cancun, With Love over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Cupcake Polish From Cancun, With Love

From Cancun, With Love is the fourth and final polish from the May 2016 Holo Hookup box -- the other three are Glisten & Glow From Tokyo, With Love, Painted Polish From London, With Love and Different Dimension From Cairo, With Love. While I confess to purchasing the box mostly because I just had to have Tokyo, I'm very happy with all of the polishes. Beautiful, interesting creations all, excellent quality too!

xo,
Liz

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Different Dimension From Cairo, With Love

From Cairo, With Love was created by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension for inclusion in the May 2016 collaboration polish box from The Holo Hookup. Officially described as a "nude linear holo with added glitters and flakies," this is a complex sandy nude holo with aspects of pale gold. It bears superabundant fine coppery pink microflake shimmers as well as gold flakes and infinitesimal silver holographic microglitters. The coppery pink microflakes are especially influential to the look, producing a stunning pink sheen that resonates beautifully with the luminous, holographically-nuanced patina of nacreous hues -- pale violet, blue, pale minty green, cream -- displayed in ambient light. A sprinkling of pale golden flakies float in the sandy base, accompanied by random prismatic sparks from the microglitters. And in direct sun, there's an extra sparkly linear flare, slightly diffused by the components, with all of the rainbow colors in an expansive, shifting corona around a gleaming, semi-metallic lick of shimmering pink.

Application was fabulous. The consistency of From Cairo, With Love is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium-to-thicker viscosity and an easy, self-leveling glide over the nail. The formula is remarkably easy to work with considering the slightly thicker viscosity and abundance of components. The gold flakies took occasional runs at protruding over the free edge, but were easy to coax back onto the nail with a tip-wrapping swipe of the brush. Missi's formulas always feel like they are expressly created for application with Different Dimension's slightly bushy flattened-style brush, which holds a lot of polish. Pigmentation is very good, with a touch of sheerness on the first coat building easily to completely even, opaque coverage after the second. Cleanup is actually not difficult given all the flakes and microglitters. From Cairo, With Love dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with a tiny amount of visual texture from the flakies, not really discernible to the touch. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of From Cairo, With Love over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension From Cairo, With Love

Although I'm not a gold lover, I'm full of admiration for this graceful, uber glamorous polish. Missi has a masterful touch with metallics imo and From Cairo, With Love is a wonderful example of her expertise at work. Copper microflakes, golden flakies and silvery holographic glitters work together beautifully in this lustrous holographic creation. Gleaming lightplay, exquisite holographically-nuanced colors and sparkle abound, yet nothing overpowers anything else and the look on the nail is harmonious. The pervasive pink sheen produced by the coppery microflakes is a fantastic encompassing element and more overt in person than you see in the photos.

In low light, the nude base reads as a dusky desert sand with a soft silky luster, a flash of pale golden-pink along the axis of light and a lovely gentle twinkle as light catches the holographic microglitters. As gorgeous as it is in bright daylight, I imagine this polish would kill it in candlelight!

Missi, you rock!

love,
Liz

Friday, May 27, 2016

Painted Polish From London, With Love

From London, With Love was created by California-based indie polish maker Painted Polish for release as part of The Holo Hookup May 2016 collaboration box entitled From The Holo Hookup, With Love. Creator Lexi was the contributing guest polish maker for this particular box, which also includes creations from hosts Cupcake Polish, Different Dimension and Glisten & Glow.

Officially described as a "blue gray linear holo with added holographic silver galaxy glitter," From London, With Love is a light to medium-toned silvery sapphire blue with aspects of azure and steel blue undertones, sort of along the lines of Pantone's vista blue. The holographic pigment in this polish is extremely light responsive, so much so that it is difficult to determine the true nature of the base color once it's on the nail. In almost any light, it creates a sparkling blaze of light sapphire shading to steel blue with a gleaming, semi-metallic platinum-blond underlay that is just delicious. The color brightens considerably in direct sun and generates a brilliant linear display predominated by bright azure blue. Abundant holographic microglitters dot the holographic activity with vibrant prismatic sparks, giving the polish a wonderful overt twinkle as light travels over them.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of From London, With Love is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a creamy, self-leveling glide over the nail. This is a user-friendly polish, amenable to thin or thicker coats and remarkably easy to manipulate with Painted Polish's somewhat bushy flattened-style brush. The added microglitters presented absolutely no issues. Pigmentation is very good, with a bit of sheerness on the first coat building to wearably opaque coverage after two. I used particularly thin coats (for me, anyway) and added a third for the photos. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, even with the microglitters. From London, With Love dries naturally in good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that wants a good topcoat to look its best. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic properties in any way, and plays up the creamy semi-metallic underlay beautifully.

Photos show three coats of From London, With Love over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Painted Polish From London, With Love

This is a beautifully constructed linear holo with some subtle features that just don't lend themselves to being rendered with a still image. I'm a little disappointed that my photos don't quite convey the intensity of the holographic light play in this polish that it displays in person, nor could they capture its sensuous reflective platinum-blond underbelly, which slides like moonlight along the axis of light.

I tend to gravitate toward darker blue holos or blues with a bit of green to them, and perhaps I take the sapphire/azure category a little for granted. It's nice to be reminded of how beautiful they are too!

love,
Liz