Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Vertical Control was released in January 2017 by Australian indie polish maker Emily de Molly (EdM) as one of six new stand-alone polishes for that month. Creator Hayley describes it simply as "a bright blue holo," and it is stunning. The color is an utterly brilliant cyanic shade of blue that is very close to process cyan or the web color deep sky blue, brighter and cleaner than either Pacific blue or blue-green. It reminds me of an iced blue curacao cocktail -- get me a blue Hawaiian, stat! Superabundant ultrafine holographic pigment dimensionalizes it on the nail with glowing hues of bright cerulean, sea green and misty electric blue, creates a gleaming underlay of pale silvery blue green and gives the finish a sleek, semi-metallic reflectivity. In the sun, there's a sparking analogously-hued linear flare predominated by arcs of bright spring green and azure with a corona of mixed orange, yellow and red sparks. 

Application was divine. The consistency of Vertical Control is fluid, light and ultra smooth with a medium viscosity and a silky smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a joy to finesse with EdM's sleekly compact flattened-style brush. Superb! Pigmentation is very good to excellent. You get full bottle color in one medium coat with a bit of sheerness that builds easily to wearable opacity after the second. I added a third for the photos to avoid any visible nail line when backlit, but it did not alter the look of the polish otherwise. Cleanup is easy. Hayley warns of the potential for staining, but I experienced no pigment travel or trace staining during cleanup. Vertical Control dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic effects in any way.

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

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

Emily de Molly Vertical Control

In person, this polish has just a whisper more green to it than my camera would capture, with a slightly richer quality to the color.

As much as I love Hayley's softer, subtler greys and grieges, this dazzling cyanic blue holo just sends me! The intensity of this shade is like the jewel-toned tropical sea of your most far-flung fantasy or the brilliant blue sky of your childhood imagination, an evocative, shimmering blue that is exuberant in its brilliance, effusive in its depth of color. Like I said, stunning!

love,
Liz