It has a deep translucent blue-green base with a protean character that defies categorization. It's like a cloudy, turbid variation of midnight blue with green undertones that come to the fore in certain lights. Enfolded within are superabundant ultrafine duochromatic particulate shimmers with a bronze/red shift and sparkling pink microflake shimmers, as well as copious tiny holographic microglitters in silver giving the polish a gorgeous prismatic twinkle that resonates perfectly with the name. The color-shifting shimmers create a floating bronzey blond stratum with a pinkish aspect and a glistening, silky presence that is more or less visible from within the polish depending upon viewing circumstances and contributes substantially to the distinctive murkiness of the look.
Application was fantastic. The consistency of Stargazing on Saturn is fluid, light and super smooth with a thin-to-medium, viscosity and a slick, self-leveling slide over the nail. It has one of those incredible formulas that feels like it almost applies itself. Pigmentation is translucent and buildable over multiple layers. It needs three solid coats for most evenly opaque coverage and full, rich presentation, but applies so beautifully that it really isn't a hardship. Cleanup is fairly straightforward. Stargazing on Saturn dries naturally in good time to a gently-textured, satiny finish that requires a nice layer of topcoat to look its best.
Photos show three coats of Stargazing on Saturn over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
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| Femme Fatale Stargazing on Saturn |
From arm's length in ambient light, Stargazing on Saturn has the appearance of a cloudy charcoal with vague greenish/blue-ish tones to it and a soft shine. Tiny prismatic sparks suddenly appear and disappear from the amorphousness within, along with hints of a glimmering sandy shimmer when the light hits it just right. The closer you get to it, though, the more structural and interesting it becomes, and after you study it for a while, its careful composition and contrasting elements never leave your purview, so that when it later catches your eye or you happen to glance at it, your mind still sees those meticulous details that are mostly imperceptible to a casual glance.
All this is to say that this is one of those secretive polishes that hides its true substance from the camera. I am fascinated by it and love its multi-faceted, changeable presentation: depending on the light, it can appear as anything from a dimensional gunmetal to a dense, lush deep blue-green. It strikes me as an artfully composed lacquer, mysterious and almost poetic. You have to experience it in person to believe it.
love,
Liz
This seems to be one of those polishes that you casually look at and then look closer and continue to gaze at it to fully appreciate it. A very dimensional polish! Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall to watch the making of this polish?!
ReplyDeleteOnly if I were a talking fly and could ask questions along the way! *lol* This polish is just so flippin' cool. It's like a coastal ocean, constantly changing and full of moods. It's the kind of polish that feels like it almost transcends the craft of polish making and forges its own niche as art. I have experienced this before with Femme Fatale creations -- back when complex holos were a new thing, Sophie was right there on the leading edge. She never falls back on her laurels either, which makes me sad sometimes because some of those laurels were pretty spectacular and I'd love it if she were to revisit them.
DeleteSpeaking of fly on the wall, I really do wish a quiet, low-key film would be produced on the making of a polish. (I say quiet instead of being produced in a choppy, frantic direction - I see films/videos like that and they make me crazy!) To start with, the maker would talk about her inspiration and what type of polish she aims for. Then show in real time, with some good editing, her choices and how she feels about them. After, showing her making her choices of the various elements. I'm sure it's not cut-and-dry like that - sure there are starts and re-starts and going off in different directions occasionally. I would just like to see the making of a polish like this one, out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a most excellent project, Lara -- I'd love to commission a small documentary like this! It would need to be in the hands of someone with the right kind of feels for the creative process -- I'm sure that most of the decisions made by a polish maker of this caliber are done intuitively with a huge amount of experiential knowledge. You'd have to be able to tease out the specifics and make them accessible for a layperson. From living with a working painter, I know this isn't always the easiest thing to do. But it sure would be fun to try!
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