Thursday, March 30, 2017

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Sea Glimmer was created by Sophie of Australian indie polish maker Femme Fatale Cosmetics as a Live Love Polish exclusive, released in June 2016. It is described as "a purple polish with iridescent gold shimmer and silver holographic microglitter." A sparkly, ethereal concoction with a transparent base tinted a shade of pigment violet, it's absolutely packed with superabundant ultrafine golden particulate shimmers and two sizes of silvery holographic microglitters, a scintillating, diaphanous look that's like the faerie ballet costume of your imagination. The gold shimmers a create glistening underlay over which the violet base drapes like sheer silk chiffon, revealing a shimmering swath of lemony gold along the axis of light delicately shaded with violet that deepens toward the edges of the nail, the whole densely spangled by bright, twinkling prismatic sparks. 

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Sea Glimmer is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, even slip over the nail that likes to go on in thin coats and is easy to manipulate with Femme Fatale's flattened-style brush. Self-leveling properties are very good and glitter payoff is excellent, dispersing easily and evenly over the nail without undue stacking, stickups or protrusions over the free edge. Coverage is provided by the component mix, dense enough to net wearable opacity in three coats although the polish is so beautiful and goes on so evenly that it could easily be worn as a sheer in one coat. I added a fourth for the photos, but the look did not differ significantly from three. Cleanup is a bear. I did mine as I went along, but even so the glitters, especially, are very sticky and the shimmers disperse to ensconce themselves about the nail environs. Sea Glimmer dries naturally in very good time to a gently textured finish that's not entirely smoothed by topcoat, but given the tremendous lightplay of the components, it doesn't need to be.

Photos show four coats of Sea Glimmer over ÜNT peel-off basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. 

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer
 
Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer

Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer
 
Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer


Femme Fatale Sea Glimmer


This is not a polish that can easily be captured in a still image and I'm a little dismayed by how my photos turned out. The gold shimmers are more fundamentally golden in person, and the look of the polish sleeker, more coherent and more richly colorful. For another look, check out Hayley's pics in her review on Emily de Molly.

Generally I don't much cotton to extremely sheer polishes, but Sophie's creations are an exception. She is the shimmer whisperer of nail polish makers, and it is almost always worth the time and care to build them to a wearable opacity. Sea Glimmer is a magical polish with a delicate, floaty, otherworldly feel and boatloads of dimensionalizing lightplay, like layers of crystal-studded tulle over shimmering charmeuse. Fantastical!

love,
Liz  

p.s. 

No comments:

Post a Comment