Lacquer Slacker Liz: Elevation Polish Hindu Kush

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Elevation Polish Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush was released by Minnesota-based indie polish maker Elevation Polish as part of the Exotic India collection in December 2015. Officially described as a blue creme/jelly hybrid, it is replete with a compendium of golden shimmers: particles and two sizes of flakes. The color is a medium-toned substantial shade of azure with the flake shimmers reading as bronze dapples from with the base, lending a certain dusky quality to the look. The immediate impression is of a sky blue, but in low light it's a little deeper than that with hints of cornflower, more of a jordy or vista blue. Speaking generally though, it's very much a skyscape shade, almost exactly replicating the color of the midday sky here on this first day of June, and full of beautiful glints and gleams from the superabundant golden shimmers as light travels over them.

Application was pretty good. The consistency of Hindu Kush is fluid and light with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a creamy glide over the nail. There's occasional tumbling on the part of the flake shimmers, but ultimately they sort themselves out and lay flat to the nail. Self-leveling properties are good but not entirely immediate -- the formula continues to level out as it sets up. Pigmentation is somewhat sheer and tends to be a little streaky. Building to evenly opaque coverage using thin coats took three layers on me, and it needed all three. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with a bit of stickiness on the part of the larger flakes. Hindu Kush dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish that looks even better with a layer of glossy topoat.

Photos show three coats of Hindu Kush over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Elevation Polish Hindu Kush

This polish was named for the Hindu Kush, a western extension of the Himalayas that separates Central Asia from South Asia. It runs from the Pamir Mountains in the east, where the borders of China, Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and Afghanistan meet, southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan.