ILNP Fir Coat
Fir Coat was released last month by Nevada-based indie polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Winter 2016 collection. It is officially described as an "emerald green holographic nail polish." Ever since I reviewed Octopus Party Nail Lacquer's Menthol Nights about a year ago, I've become somewhat fastidious about my emerald greens, so I must respectfully disagree with this description of Fir Coat. The sheerish base goes on initially looking like a slightly dusky pine green, but deepens to a rich midnight green when opaque. Midnight green is actually a very dark variation of cyan, and the holographic microflakes read as bright blue-green sparks within the jelly base. As well, you can see a beautiful flash of cyan in direct sun, where the microflakes fire up and blanket the look with scattered prismatic sparks.
Application was quite agreeable. The consistency of Fir Coat is fluid and smooth with a medium-to-thinner viscosity and a fluent, easy, self-leveling slip over the nail. As I mentioned, pigmentation is sheerish. Evenly applied, two generous coats will net wearable opacity but if, like me, you're not so even-handed you will find sheer patches when you look at it in the sun. I recommend three thin-to-medium coats to avoid having to worry about this and ensure full, even bottle color. Be sure to wrap your tips carefully with each coat as well. Cleanup is remarkably easy for a dark tealish green, with no pigment travel and very little trace staining -- hooray! Fir Coat dries naturally in average time to a beautiful glossy finish.
Photos show three coats of Fir Coat over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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I swatched this first on a swatch palette and was not moved. The color felt a little muted to me, which the scattered holographic microflakes didn't seem to enliven or illuminate. But I have to tell you that it slowly grew on me as I applied it, to the point of the third coat, which is when I think this polish really comes together and where I was like, Wow! The built-in translucence lets loads of light into the dark base to light up those holographic microflakes, creating gorgeous blue-green sparks that fire from varying depths in ambient light. The effect is slightly understated but dimensional and truly elegant.
love,
Liz
Wow, it's a perfect Slytherin green!
ReplyDelete*lol* Indeed!
DeleteSo few green polishes that advertise themselves as emerald are, imo. Since I'm a May baby, that color has always been on my radar - plus the jewel is fabulous! One polish I have loved over time is China Glaze Emerald Sparkle (the original formula, not that second formula that leaned a bit teal instead). Even though it is seemingly a simple emerald green glitter, I don't think I have ever seen an exact dupe. Too bad, I still see people in search of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's easy to call something emerald green, but to actually be an emerald green it has to recall the jewel. May is my birth month also, but I didn't cotton to emeralds or greens in general until much later in life. Oh the follies of the young! I still have yet to own any jewelry that features my birthstone. Every now and then I consider rectifying that and do searches for rings on Etsy, but no purchases. Nice emeralds are $$$!
DeleteSpeaking of searches, I used to search for Emerald Sparkle on ebay way back when but I guess I never found it at a reasonable price. Just as well, with my luck I'd have gotten version 2. I just took a nice walk down memory lane reading old Emerald Sparkle reviews from over the years. Mainstreamers sure got a lot of attention before indies showed up!