Lacquer Slacker Liz: August 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

FUN Lacquer Let the Sea Set You Free

Like Starry Night of the Summer, Let the Sea Set You Free was released in July this year by Singapore-based indie polish maker FUN Lacquer as part of the Summer 2016 collection. While creator Yuin describes it as an "ocean blue holographic polish with purple/blue/pink shimmer," it's actually a very complex, changeable blue shade that is difficult to pin down. It has a medium-light, translucent, somewhat cyanic blue base along the lines of Crayola's sky blue that is packed with tiny microflake shimmers in iridescent hues of purple, blue and pink, which give the polish a subtle transparent pinkish-purple sheen and reflective, semi-metallic finish. These shimmers transform the overall look a more azure-leaning color similar to Columbia blue, with a delicate smoky quality to it and subtle periwinkle overtones. The look brightens even more in the sun to a bold, sparkling azure that features a linear prismatic display, slightly dispersed and extra sparkly from the shimmers.

Application was great! The consistency of Let the Sea Set You Free is fluid, light and slightly fluffy from all of the microflake shimmers, with a medium viscosity and a smooth, even, self-leveling glide over the nail. Pigmentation is sheer, but delivers completely opaque coverage and best representation of bottle color in three coats. Despite the abundance of microflakes and their potential for stickiness, cleanup is actually more or less trouble free. Let the Sea Set You Free dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers and does not inhibit the holographic properties of the polish at all.

Photos show three coats of Let the Sea Set You Free over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

FUN Lacquer Let the Sea Set You Free

This polish is difficult to photograph and I'm a little disappointed with how my pics turned out. They make it look like any old azure holo, which it's not. In person, it has this sleek, almost silvery semi-metallic finish with a pinkish/purplish sheen and an icy vibe that transcends the summery seasonality of the base color and gives it potential for winter wear, when those lovely, lighter, icy blues really come into their own.

Lexa's photos of this polish in her review of FUN Lacquer's Summer 2016 collection on her polish blog Glitterfingersss, here, are closer to what this polish is like in person than mine, plus you can actually see all of the tiny shimmers that blend in a little too well in my pics. She has mad polish-photography skillz! If you've never visited her blog, her photos are a feast for the eyes.

ttyl,
Liz

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

KBShimmer Oh My Ganache

Like Poppy Kisses and Orchidding Me, Oh My Ganache was released earlier this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Fall 2016 collection.

As often as chocolate is used to described brown polish, it's actually a rarity for me to come across a lacquer that immediately makes me think, "ooh, chocolate!" This is one of those lacquers, and it is eminently worthy of its name. The color here is a rich, deep melding of dark brown with a kiss of burnt umber for the perfect chocolate shade, with exactly the right sort of smooth, creamy quality and and tonal depth to make you long for the taste and feel of ganache on your tongue. As a holographic polish, this is a particularly dense color. Artful use of holo pigment adds a graceful touch of dimensionality in ambient light and allows a semi-metallic golden brown underlay to peek through occasionally, while in the sun there's a modest, slightly dispersed prismatic display that's just enough rainbow sparkle to remind you that you've actually got a holo on your nails.

Application was accompanied by salivation, I kid you not. The consistency of Oh My Ganache is fluid, full-bodied and deliciously creamy with a medium viscosity and a plush, velvety, self-leveling glide over the nail -- a superb formula that is a joy to work with. Pigmentation is excellent. It's almost a one-coater but you'll want two for fullest, richest color. Cleanup is easy, another of Christy's formulaic feats consistent to all three linear holos from this collection that is much appreciated, by me anyway! Oh My Ganache dries naturally in very good time to an unusually glossy finish for a holo that only deepens the chocolate association. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties at all.

Photos show two coats of Oh My Ganache over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer Oh My Ganache


KBShimmer Oh My Ganache

KBShimmer Oh My Ganache

KBShimmer... hey wait, that's REAL ganache! (source)

If you're a fan of brown polish, which I think possesses an exceptional chic-ness any time of the year but especially in the colder months, this is a great one! When you consider that brown is a neutral, it goes with everything and its richness and depth will give you a particularly resonant counterpoint to any jewel tones or smoky heathers or metallic colors in your wardrobe. How awesome would this be with a leather jacket, eh?

xo,
Liz

Monday, August 29, 2016

KBShimmer Orchidding Me?

Like Poppy Kisses, Orchidding Me was released earlier this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Fall 2016 collection. It is also a linear holo, the second of three in this collection. The color here is a wonderful deep vibrant Mardi Gras, a red-leaning variation of purple that is slightly brighter and cleaner than plum. It is enriched and dimensionalized on the nail by lively, responsive holographic effects, which generate shifting hues of indigo, red-violet and palatinate in ambient light and give the polish a gleaming semi-metallic purple underlay. There's a lush delineated holographic flare in the sun, predominated by an intense, glowing indigo that is edged by azure and bright red and interspersed with sparks in mixed prismatic colors before shading to deep murky plum around the edges of the nail.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Orchidding Me is fluid, full-bodied and super smooth with a medium viscosity and a gloriously silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent. It's evenly opaque in a single coat, with full bottle color in two. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with hardly any pigment travel to speak of and only a skosh of trace staining. Orchidding Me dries naturally in very good time to a sleek, shiny finish. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic effects in any way that I could tell.

Photos show two coats of Orchidding Me over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer Orchidding Me?

Fabulous!

You really can't go wrong with a holo from KBShimmer. Well-pigmented and formulated to perfection, it's just a matter of choosing your color. And I bet a lot of folks will want this rich, glorious purple!

love,
Liz

Sunday, August 28, 2016

KBShimmer Poppy Kisses

Poppy Kisses was released earlier this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Fall 2016 collection. Described by creator Christy as an orange-toned red linear holographic polish, it's an absolutely perfect warm, glowing red for fall -- I can't imagine a better one! The color is a medium-verging-on-dark vermilion expanded by tones of persimmon and firebrick to a beautiful red-leaning variation of flame. Rich and lively, it's full of apples and turning leaves and crackling fires in the fireplace. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment creates a demi-flare of violet and shimmering bittersweet in ambient light, while in the sun there's a brilliant linear prismatic display with slender sparkling ribbons in all of the rainbow colors surrounding a bright semi-metallic lick of red-orange, shading to deeper vermilion around the edges of the nail.

Application was delicious. The consistency of Poppy Kisses is fluid, light and very smooth with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a particularly fluent glide over the nail that is creamy and self-leveling. This polish likes to travel, so load your brush accordingly. Pigmentation is outstanding with one-coat coverage if you are so inclined -- I always recommend at least two coats with a holo and that's what I used for this manicure. Cleanup was remarkably easy for a well-pigmented red, with very little pigment travel and almost no residual staining. Poppy Kisses dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat does not in any way inhibit this polish's holographic properties.

Photos show two coats of Poppy Kisses over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer Poppy Kisses

I love this polish, everything about it! The rich, ruddy color is just divine and you couldn't ask for more responsive, athletic holographic effects. A quintessionally autumnal red, if you love wearing your reds in the fall, you want this!

ttyl,
Liz