Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Diving with Mermaids was released in February this year by Connecticut-based indie polish maker Glisten & Glow as a special collaboration shade with Tiffany of @stunnin.nails on Instagram. Officially described as an oceanic blue linear holo with green shimmers, silver and red holographic glitters and a touch of gold, this is one of those sensous, tapestried holo-based polishes that creator Jill does so very well. The color is a medium-toned variation of azure along the lines of Honolulu blue with aspects of sapphire and steel blue and a slightly washed feel, enriched and dimensionalized on the nail by abundant finely-milled holographic pigment that creates a luminous, on-tone holographic flare in ambient light, lighter in the center and shading to a deeper hue at the sidewalls. Tiny gleaming microflake shimmers in sea green and gold give it a sumptuous visual texture punctuated by bright prismatic sparks from silver and red holographic glitters, which read as blue and pink within the base.

Application was great! The consistency of Diving with Mermaids is fluid and dense with components, with a medium viscosity and a lush, self-leveling glide over the nail that has a skosh of component tumbling and a few attempted protrusions over the free edge by the microflake shimmers, easily guided back onto the nail with a tip-wrapping swipe of the brush. Pigmentation is excellent and will provide evenly opaque coverage in one medium to generous coat, although I used two for the photos. Cleanup was surprisingly easy for a polish filled with potentially sticky stuff, with just a little bit of sparkly component dispersal. Diving with Mermaids dries naturally in very good time to a shiny, gently textured finish that is mostly smoothed by a single layer of topcoat. Topcoat does not in any way inhibit the holographic properties of this polish.

Photos show two coats of Diving with Mermaids over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat. I'm afraid my pics do not do justice to what I see in person.

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

Glisten & Glow Diving with Mermaids

This gorgeous blue polish reminds me very much of G&G's Beatboxing in the Bronx in style and structure, with the same lovely artisinal quality and sense of having been carefully composed. I keep coming back to the word "tapestried" to described the richness of these polishes -- they are like luxurious woven taspestries embellished with bits of ornamental shine and sparkle, lush, dimensional and gratifying to the eye in the way fine decorative hand-woven textiles are.

A pleasure to apply and to wear, I'd love to see one in orange or red!

xo,
Liz