ILNP Central Station
Like Industrial Park, Central Station was released in mid-September this year by Nevada-based indie polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Neutrals subset of the Fall 2016 collection. These two were my picks from that group. In retrospect, I wish I'd purchased Chleo as well.
Central Station is officially described as a "soft brown neutral shade with a subtle grey undertone," and while that's exactly what it looks like in some viewing circumstances, in others it looks more like a true grey. Six of one, half dozen of the other? Perhaps. Mostly it reads as a light-to-medium, semi-translucent taupe grey with cinerous aspects, a gentle, unassuming neutral shade with soft hints of mauve and violet that's actually very well-balanced between cool and warm. It is packed with ILNP's signature mix of holographic components, variously-size flakies, particles and pigment, and the built-in translucence allows for maximum light penetration so that there's always a bit of prismatic sparkle to the look. Direct sun generates a loose (or tightly scattered) but very sparkly holographic flare.
Application was stellar. The consistency of Central Station is fluid, light and smooth with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. ILNP makes one of my most favorite formulas out there, and this is a prime example of it. Pigmentation is sheer. Three medium coats will net reasonably opaque coverage and unless you're sporting shorties you'll need all three. Cleanup is easy but frees up all kinds of holographic particles to ensconce themselves about the nail environs and in the sidewalls. Central Station dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties at all.
Photos show three coats of Central Station over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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A lovely neutral shade with lively holographic sparkle, I imagine this is wearable for a broad range of skintones. It's warmer and cozier than a true grey, which tends to have a more formal, reserved quality to it.
NPR: our current microwave went feet up the other day, much to Fuzzy's dismay. Warming her coffee in the microwave is de rigueur for her morning routine. John also was perturbed, he microwaves everything. Nothing is too hot for his asbestos mouth! I ordered a new one from Best Buy online and picked it up on my way home from Raleigh yesterday. This makes the fourth new microwave we've had in the twenty-plus years we've lived in this house, which is just sad if you ask me. When they were manufactured in Japan, those things had a much longer lifespan. These days, we're lucky to get two and a half years out of one of them. John says it's planned obsolescence. Imagine the landfill load simply from dead microwaves. Ugh!
ttfn,
Liz
Wow, this polish is gorgeous. Hard to think it is considered a neutral! Hahah, all those sparkles!
ReplyDeleteY'all aren't having much luck with microwaves, it sounds like. These kitchen appliances don't seem to be working as long anymore. We've lately replaced the oven and the fridge much sooner than I thought we should have. And is it ever a pain! Our kitchen has a lot of built-ins, from 1950, and trying to find appliances to fit the slots is getting harder and harder. We're been luckier with microwaves. Hahah, the one appliance that is not a built-in, and it never breaks! It would be SO easy to replace.
This one really feels very neutral when you're wearing it, even with the holo.
DeleteWord! Our kitchen has built-in spaces for all of the appliances also, from a 1972 reno, including the microwave, which were obviously taller back in the day as that space is too tall for modern microwaves and our newer ones have all looked like they are sitting in their own little cavern. The space for the refrigerator is slender and short by current standards, and like you say it was a total PITA to find one that fit in there when the original died about ten years ago. Don't even get me started about the cooktop. It's original to the space, a totally capricious Jenn-Air with electric coils. *grimace* Or the countertops. Black, textured formica with a six-inch backsplash of the same. We're still running the original dishwasher and oven, as well.
I love to watch the reno shows on HGTV and DIY, but renovating a space because it's "outdated" is not something we ever even considered. Our aesthetic has always been to adjust to what the house has to offer, not to scrap it and start over. Even if we could afford it, updating appliances because they are old is not something Fuzzy would ever agree to. And even if she did, we'd have to gut the kitchen and the laundry because new appliances by and large just don't fit. The cabinets were all custom made here on the property, nice solid wood shaker style cabinetry, and Fuzzy's eyes just glazed over when I tried to make a case for it. *lol* First world problems dot com.
But gosh, it would be so nice to have new quartz counters in that kitchen. As Fuzzy says, a cat can look at a queen!
LOL - Fuzzy and her words of wisdom!
DeleteBack at a time when we even talked about doing some updating to the kitchen... we have green formica counters. There is even a cutout in it at one spot which is countersunk that has the lower mechanical apparatus that ran the blender for it. The blender is long since gone. In the meanwhile, all and every crumb, food splash and dirt particle gleefully makes it merry way into that countersunk lower basin. It is a magnet for everything loose. I normally keep a folded kitchen towel over it, and things still find their way into it! You should see it after my husband makes pizza dough or biscuits. Or after a big autumn pesto making session. Yeah, it's right at the spot in all the counter space I have that is the most convenient for all the cooking things you need counter space for. I crave quartz counters!!! My husband was wanting tile. Tile! With all those icky grout lines! On a much-used counter! If I was Empress, I would eliminate any material that needed grout lines! Or at least require special dispensation for it. So we ended up doing neither, and still have the green counters, with the old blender base. (Sometimes, I hear it snickering...)
Our cabinets were constructed on site also, made of maple with a clear coat on them. They are pretty, but wow there is a LOT of wood in the kitchen - one wall even has wood paneling, again, nice, but... so much wood! I wanted to paint the wood white or off-white, or something! Nope - my husband is one of those who think painting wood cabinets or any nice wood is the next thing to devil worship. I then tried to convince him that we could take out some of the cabinets in strategic places and replace with shelving. That would reduce the overall look of 'wood'. Nope. Then I tried to convince him - how about replacing some of the wood fronts with glass to lighten the look. Nope. Probably just as well. With the action and bumping that takes place in that area of the kitchen, there would have been broken glass to clean up and replace by now!
Yes, the built-ins. Aren't they fun? We are on the third oven so far, just replaced the latest a few months ago. It is on a pillar wall. No room to enlarge or build out the hole. The first two had a separate broiler. The second one was a overpriced but cheaply built piece of junk, which we both hated from Day One. Always having trouble with the door hinge. So when it came time to replace it, even though it was still available, no way were we going to get it again. So, for the size of the hole, we only had one oven choice left. It was expensive but we have been happier with it than I thought I would be. So far! LOL, maybe we should buy a second one and store it in the attic for when this one goes! And a spare refrigerator. And a cooktop. Hah!
A countersunk space for a blender... incredible! That blender must have been top of the line when they were remodeling that kitchen to make a special place for it like that. Further incredibleness that plans for new counters stalled because your spouse wanted tile. Tile! I totally agree with you about grout. We don't even have tile in the one shower in our house, Fuzzy had her shower surround custom fabricated out of stainless steel and her floors are original hardwood. Upstairs John and I have a soaker tub with a hand held shower set into a beaded board enclosure to match the walls and ceiling, which isn't ideal as you can imagine, and modern linoleum on the floor. Apart from visits to my sis and bro-in-law's place, I haven't taken a shower in years.
DeleteIn a perfect world, I'd love to have a walk-in shower AND a soaker tub in a bathroom. There's potential for that upstairs. You would have to take out the wall between the bathroom and my little office and lose the office, but you could probably make an awesome bathroom out of the combined space.
The second floor is a squirrelly kind of place, though, built up by hand by the original homeowner, Mr. Paul as we call him, in the late 50s as a separate apartment. It even had a tiny kitchen, now my office. From what I understand, the only actual tenants were a newlywed couple who lived here for several years, long enough to conceive and bring home a son. Then Mr. Paul sold them a nice adjacent chunk of land up the hill, where they built themselves a house that the wife still lives in to this day.
Last week Fuzzy and I met with a rep from Pella and set up an order for our first installment of new windows. We have a two year plan to replace all of the old windows in the house, which are equipped with clumsy aluminum storms and heavy screens that are almost impossible to clean. I'm totally psyched to lose those storms, it will make such a difference inside and out! We're starting with the sunroom, seven windows, which will be installed in December. This will be the biggest, most expensive improvement we've done here, and I'm hoping it will help motivate me to do some much-needed maintenance and general cleanup in our second floor space.