KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

Macaw Me Maybe was released last month by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Nauti by Nature collection for spring 2017. Inspired by the Scarlet Macaw and described as a bright red holo, the color is a medium-dark variation of scarlet that, to my eye, closely resembles Venetian red. It's not quite as vivid as I expected, but is appreciably brightened and enlivened by superabundant ultrafine holographic pigment, which nuances the base with dimensionalizing hues of glowing red-violet, pigment red and crimson and creates a gleaming, semi-metallic underlay in a bright flame color, almost a coral. Direct sun generates a full, brilliant linear prismatic display, with sparkling rainbow arcs surrounding a central lick of silvery flame and shading to a dense fire engine red at the sidewalls of the nail.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Macaw Me Maybe is fluid, full-bodied and creamy with a slightly thicker viscosity than what I usually see from KBShimmer. I wouldn't describe it as TOO thick, but I did add bit of polish thinner to my bottle at the outset simply because I prefer a thin-to-medium viscosity. Thinned, it still retained plenty of body but was a bit more fluent, with a plush, buttery, self-leveling glide over the nail that was super easy to control and manipulate with KBShimmer's somewhat bushy flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good to excellent, delivering evenly opaque coverage in one medium coat and full bottle color in two. Cleanup is remarkably easy for a bold red, with no pigment travel or trace staining to speak of. Macaw Me Maybe dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat seemed to brighten and increase the intensity of the color a bit, and did not in any way inhibit the polish's holographic properties. 

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

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

KBShimmer Macaw Me Maybe

You really can't go wrong with one of Christy's holos and Macaw Me Maybe is a beautifully-formulated, nicely-balanced red. It's not my very favorite red holo from KBShimmer -- that honor goes to the cooler-toned Get To The Poinsettia -- but Christy thoughtfully includes a comparison photo with swatches of all four available red holos on Macaw Me Maybe's listing page so that you can see the differences between them -- and they are all different -- for yourself.

love,
Liz