Lacquer Slacker Liz: September 2016

Friday, September 30, 2016

Lollipop Posse Lacquer This Fruit Was Bruised

This Fruit Was Bruised was released in July 2015 by Ohio-based indie polish maker Lollipop Posse Lacquer as part of the Midsummer Midnights collection, a series of six polishes inspired by "memories of hot summer nights filled with endless possibilities and a lot of self-discovery." This particular polish takes its name from lyrics of the 1992 song "Happy and Bleeding" by British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey.

Creator Karen describes This Fruit Was Bruised as "a deep, bruised burgundy/purple linear holographic." The color is a well-pigmented, sumptuous byzantium purple that reminds me of heavy silk satin, very rich with that shimmery, semi-metallic sort of sheen that satin has. The holographic effects in ambient light are understated and complex, nuancing the base with analogous hues of dark violet, mardi gras and burgundy and veiling the finish with a loose net of tiny prismatic sparks. In the sun, the polish's burgundy tones are more apparent, and there's a bright linear holographic flare with a compact ribbon of compressed prismatic sparkle framing a lick of gleaming semi-metallic mardi gras purple.

Application was as luxurious as the color. The consistency of This Fruit Was Bruised is fluid, silky and dense with a medium viscosity and an opulent, velvety, self-leveling glide over the nail that has a bit of pull to it. It is quick to set up but obliges a small window to finesse the application. Pigmentation is excellent, delivering evenly opaque coverage in a single medium coat and full bottle color in two. Cleanup was fairly easy with some pigment travel and a skosh of trace staining, relatively benign considering how intensely-pigmented this polish is. This Fruit Was Bruised dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish.

Photos show two coats of This Fruit Was Bruised over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Lollipop Posse Lacquer This Fruit Was Bruised

Stunning color! This Fruit Was Bruised displays remarkably little of the finely-grained visual texture to the finish common to holographic polishes. It has the silky, lustrous sheen of a shimmer with a dusting of prismatic sparkle at the surface. Karen achieved an exquisite balance between pigmentation and holographic effects with this polish -- neither is sacrified at the expense of the other, with glorious results!

love,
Liz

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Il Était Un Vernis Wild and Free

Like Field Trip Fun and Is it Monday Yet, Wild and Free was released at the beginning of the month by French boutique polish maker Il Était Un Vernis as part of the Back to School collection. The color is a Dutch blue, a rich medium-toned variation of blue-grey with a stormy/steely/slatey aspect. It has the same sort of deliciously complex, blended quality that petrol blue has, here with less green and more grey, and is stunningly rendered in Il Était Un Vernis' signature plush, velvety holographic style. A dimensional greenish-gold prismatic bloom shifts on the nail with the light, giving the polish that delicious lit-from-within glow that shades to a deeper, denser hue at the edges. Tiny iridescent shimmers twinkle discreetly within the base and create a transparent pinkish sheen at certain angles, and in the sun there's a delicate but sparkly scattered prismatic display.

Application was great! The consistency of Wild and Free is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium-to-thick viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it has a luxurious, satiny-smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail and is a pleasure to work with. Pigmentation is outstanding, with completely even, opaque coverage in one medium coat, although I think that the color and holographic effects are both richer and more intense after a second. Cleanup is easy. Wild and Free dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties at all, and actually seems to intensify and deepen the color.

Photos show two coats of Wild and Free over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Il Était Un Vernis Wild and Free

This polish just sends me, I adore it! The color, with its delicate graining and prismatic bloom, is rich and graceful. It really is splendid on the nail, a lovely weathered but elegant medium blue for fall or any time of the year. I think this is my favorite so far from the Back to School collection, but I still have two to go!

xo,
Liz

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Dreamland Out, Damned Clot!

Out Damned Clot was released by Missouri-based indie polish maker Dreamland Artisan Nail Lacquer to coincide with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Awareness Month in March this year. Creator Noelie donated $4 from each sale during March to the National Blood Clot Alliance. The polish was inspired by Noelie's friend Jill, a DVT survivor.

Officially described as a bright red linear holo, Out Damned Clot is a brilliant ruby color with a glowing, dimensional, molten finish. The holographic effects are extremely responsive and athletic, generating an anologously-hued prismatic flare even without direct light: defined, flame-shaped arcs of violet, marachino, raspberry and crimson that float over a gleaming, semi-metallic ruby underlay. We are without sun here again today, but I imagine the display would be sparkly and even more intense in the sun!

Application was fantastic! The consistency of Out Damned Clot is fluid, light and creamy with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a silk, self-leveling slip over the nail. It is amenable to thin or thicker coats and even though fast-drying still allows plenty of time to finesse the application, very user friendly with an all-around superb, eminently-paintable formula. Pigmentation is outstanding, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in only one coat, although I used two for this manicure. Cleanup was easy, with remarkably little pigment travel for such an intensely-colored shade, and no residual staining to speak of. Out Danmed Clot 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 Out Damned Clot over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Dreamland Out, Damned Clot!

Fabulous! You'd have to work hard not to love this vibrant little dazzler -- unless you just didn't care for red, in which case all bets are off. Fuzzy says it reminds her of satin lingerie. Well! I guess she would know! It's wildly feminine, I think, and simply glows on the nail, really showy and attention-grabbing.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Powder Perfect Horus

Horus was released in late August this year by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection. Horus served many functions within the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, including god of the sky, war and hunting. He was most often depicted as a falcon, or as a man with a falcon's head.

Creator Jacinta describes Horus as a "dark maroon varnish with flickering red glitters and holographic particles" in a holo-twist formula, a dusky claret with purple overtones that is very like the color of venous blood. Infinitesimal microglitters read as bright red within the base and create a delicate twinkling effect as light travels over them with added prismatic sparkle from abundant holographic pigment. The microglitters and holographic effects combine to enrich the color, add depth and give the finish a finely-grained, dimensional appearance.

Application was great! The consistency of Horus is fluid, light and very smooth with a medium viscosity and a plush, self-leveling glide over the nail that is easy to manipulate with Powder Perfect's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in two medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Horus dries naturally in good time to a flat, slightly sandy texture that is completely smoothed by a single layer of topcoat.

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

Powder Perfect Horus

I was expecting more red, less purple in this color. Although my bottle is labeled Horus, I wonder whether I didn't actually get Heka? Mislabeling with indies is rare in my experience but not completely outside the realm of possibility. It's quite overcast here today, perhaps the dim light played a part in the look. In any case, it's a wonderful, rich color and very flattering on the nail.

This is the last of my purchases from the Egyptology Part 3 collection, the others being Saqqara, Scarab and Ra. My favorite of the four is Scarab, with the sparkly Saqqara a close second. All were beautifully formulated and a pleasure to work with. Well done!

love,
Liz

Monday, September 26, 2016

Il Était Un Vernis Is it Monday Yet?

Like Field Trip Fun, Is it Monday Yet was released earlier this month by French boutique polish maker Il Était Un Vernis as part of the Back to School collection. This is a coffee bean brown holo in the brand's signature scattered style with added copper and silver microflake shimmers. The color is a sophisticated umbery shade, a cool brown with a charcoal aspect that is warmed and lightened by variably-sized copper and silver microflake shimmers, which can be seen gleaming brightly within the base at certain angles. Finely-milled holographic pigment creates a delicately-grained, dimensional look with a glow in the center of the nail that shades to cafe noir around the edges, and generates a field of delicate prismatic sparkle in the sun.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Is it Monday Yet is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium viscosity and a mag-lev smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail -- a superb, eminently paintable formula, as I've learned to expect from Il Était Un Vernis. Pigmentation is outstanding, delivering evenly opaque coverage in a single medium coat. Adding a second enriches the color a bit and you get more of the shimmers that way. Cleanup is easy with no pigment travel or residual staining to speak of. Is it Monday Yet dries naturally in very good time to a beautiful shiny finish. Topcoat enhances the presence and effects of the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of Is it Monday Yet over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Il Était Un Vernis Is it Monday Yet?

I love cool browns -- umbers, wenges, taupes, walnuts, coffees and the like -- for their poise and modern, urbane style. I mean, how elegant, graceful and sleek is this polish? It's an elevated look!

xo,
Liz