Cirque QT Kitty
QT Kitty was just released a few days ago by NYC-based indie polish maker Cirque Colors as a limited edition polish and part of the Kawaii collection. Officially described as "a deep violet with sparkling holographic flakes," this darker shade walks the line between violet and purple with qualities of both, which makes it particularly interesting. It's kind of like an eminence purple with aspects of French violet and Munsell purple, a rich, luxurious color that reminds me a little of the ribbon on a Purple Heart medal. Superabundant silvery holographic flakes give it a distinctive flecked appearance and generate a warm prismatic bloom along the axis of light at certain angles. In the sun, that warmth brightens to opulence, augmented with bright, complementary sparks of magenta and surrounded by twinkling prismatic sparkle in all of the rainbow colors.
Application was a pleasure, as it always is with Annie's polishes, although I miss the fresh fragrance of the added lavender and clary sage essential oils, which she has decided to discontinue. The consistency of QT Kitty is fluid and full-bodied with a medium viscosity and a surprisingly light, easy slip over the nail. Self-leveling properties are excellent and pigmentation is outstanding. This is a true one-coater. I used two like I always do, to fix lines left wanting after the first coat, but it didn't alter the color at all. Cleanup is straightforward with just a skosh of pigment travel. QT Kitty dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.
Photos show two coats of QT Kitty over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.
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QT Kitty is more beautiful and exciting in person than my photos show. To see what kind of brilliance it can get up to, I recommend taking a look at Edina's pics in her review of the Kawaii collection on lakkomlakkom.
With this collection, Annie introduces her new logo and packaging designs. The iconic, calligraphic initial "C" has been replaced by the full brand name in a modern, lowercase font on the bottle and box and the box color has changed from black to cream. Packaging redesign always elicits emotion from loyal consumers, but the product is the thing and Cirque enthusiasts know this. The bottle shape, cap and brush are unchanged. As I opened my bottle of QT Kitty, that reassuring, tactile clink of the cap against the bottle was all it took for me to reorient myself to the new look.
love,
Liz
QT Kitty is the one shade from that collection that has really made me go "ooh"! It looks so rich and velvety. Lovely photos, as ever!
ReplyDeleteThanks, lasoti! A lot of people have that reaction to QT Kitty, I've found. The color has this layered feel to it that mingles purple and violet, warm and cool, opulence and subtlety. It's beautiful and even more interesting in person. If you love purple, it's a sure thing!
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