Lacquer Slacker Liz: February 2017

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Toasted Hazelnut

Like 4am Latte, Toasted Hazelnut was released in January this year by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Neutral Beauty collection. Described as a medium brown linear holo, the color is a raw umbery kind of brown with relatively cool tone, similar to a beaver brown. It has an interesting sort of mixed metals thing going on, subtle metallic shades of silver, pale gold and pale copper working in harmony to give the polish a becoming sleek reflectivity on the nail. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment graces the base color with hues of translucent violet, dusty gold and pale azure, and creates a gleaming underlay of light silvery brown, while in the sun there's a brilliant linear holographic flare displaying a full retinue of prismatic colors.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Toasted Hazelnut is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a nearly effortless, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail, a superb, eminently-paintable formula that is amenable to thin or thicker coats as preference dictates. Pigmentation is very good, delivering completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Toasted Hazelnut dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic effects in any way.

Photos show two coats of Toasted Hazelnut over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Toasted Hazelnut

A very graceful brown, I think, with beautiful dusty holographic effects over a semi-metallic finish and a sleek, nimble feel on the nail. Sweet!

love,
Liz

Monday, February 27, 2017

Dreamland Everything I Do

Like The Search is Over, Everything I Do was released for pre-order in January by Missouri-based indie polish maker Dreamland Artisan Nail Lacquer as part of the Power Ballads collection. The name of this polish comes from the 1991 song "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams.

Everything I Do is a pink microglitter bomb with a pink jelly base that is packed with holographic microglitters. The color immediately reminded me of one of my favorite pinks, Baker-Miller pink, but it's slightly cooler and rosier in tone, more of a Persian pink, a bright, fresh medium-light pink with a creamy aspect. The holographic microglitters give it a delicately stippled look and display a scintillating twinkle even in low light, tiny sparks in rainbow colors. In the sun they explode into a dazzling field of full prismatic sparkle.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Everything I Do is fluid, light and smooth with a medium consistency and a fluent, even, self-leveling glide over the nail that is very easy to work with and has none of the stickiness that I often associate with jelly-ish polishes. Coverage is provided in some part by the microglitters, and I'd rate it at very good to excellent. Hints of sheerness on the first coat build easily to wearable opacity and full bottle color with the second. Cleanup is easy. Everything I Do dries naturally in very good time to a flat finish with a gentle sandy texture that is easily smoothed by a single layer of topcoat, which also serves to enhance the presence and prismatic sparkle of the microglitters.

Photos show two coats of Everything I Do over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Dreamland Everything I Do

Dreamland Everything I Do (so sparkly that my camera wouldn't focus!)

Dreamland Everything I Do

A wonderful sparkly springtime pink, so girly and fresh! I've been a fan of Noelie's microglitters from early in her Smitten Polish days, they are always superbly formulated and so easy to work with -- as is this polish. I love the creaminess of the color, it reminds me of petunias and makes me want to go out and plant container gardens full of blooming annuals.

Spring feels like it has pretty much arrived here in central NC. Now that I've said that, see if we don't have some kind of freak snow in March....

love,
Liz

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Colors by Llarowe What's Your Dream?

What's Your Dream was released in April 2015 by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe as part of the Pretty Woman 25th Anniversary collection. Described as a magenta purple holo, the color is indeed a warm, medium-dark purple shade along the lines of dark magenta or Mardi Gras purple with an especially bold and sumptuous appearance on the nail. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment dimensionalizes it with shifting shades of indigo, ultramarine and red-violet and creates a gleaming semi-metallic red-violet underlay. In the sun, there's a sparkling linear prismatic flare with a glowing indigo heart and twin arcs of azure and bright red that frames a lick of semi-metallic red-violet and shades to eminence purple at the sidewalls of the nail.

Application was incredibly good. What's Your Dream has a perfect formula for painting, with a fluid, silky smooth consistency, a medium viscosity and a near-effortless, buttery, self-leveling glide over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent. One medium coat will net wearably opaque coverage, but I think two is best for richest color and maximum holographic effects. Cleanup is easy. What's Your Dream dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic effects in any way.

Photos show two coats of What's Your Dream over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Colors by Llarowe What's Your Dream?

For some reason I had anticipated that this would be more of a berry-ish sort of shade, but it surprised me with a glorious, opulent purple color and I am delighted to be wrong. It is simply an outstanding true purple holo! The holographic effects are fabulous, generating a vivid, luminous indigo heart in all circumstances that is to die for. Absolutely a must-have for purple lovers and holo enthusiasts alike, it's still available on Llarowe's website. Celebrate Mardi Gras this year by purchasing a bottle of this gorgeous purple!

love,
Liz

Saturday, February 25, 2017

SuperChic Lacquer Pheromone

Like Cherub, Pheromone was released earlier this month by California-based indie polish maker SuperChic Lacquer as part of the Cupid's Bow collection. The color is officially described as chartreuse, but in my usual must-pee-on-this-fire-hydrant way, I like to think of it as more of a citrine, definitely in the same family but slightly less green and more substantially golden than traditional chartreuse. Superabundant finely-milled holographic pigment nuances the base with dimensionalizing hues of sparkling lemon, pear, maize and old gold in ambient light, and in the sun there's a brilliant, sparkling linear prismatic display predominated by slender arcs of spring green, yellow and orange.

Application was just awesome. The consistency of Pheromone is fluid, full-bodied and very smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, even, self-leveling slip over the nail, a superb formula that is a joy to finesse with SuperChic's flattened, flexible brush. Pigmentation is excellent. One medium coat will net wearably opaque coverage and full bottle color, although I think two is best for maximizing the holographic effects. Cleanup is easy. Pheromone dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its very best. Topcoat does not in any way interfere with the polish's holographic properties.

Photos show two coats of Pheromone over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

SuperChic Lacquer Pheromone

What can you say about this bold yellow other than WOW!? Beautifully rendered, it's an usual but not entirely unheard of color for nail polish, with a modern, graphic sensibility that reminds me of Piet Mondrian's grid-based paintings. Most impressive!

love,
Liz