Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Like Green Apple, Blue Raspberry was released in May this year by Missouri-based indie polish maker Contrary Polish as part of the Cotton Candy Mattes collection. This series can be worn with the natural matte finish or a glossy topcoat, and I've found that I like them best glossy so that's what you'll see here.

Officially described as a "turquoise blue with fine green shimmer," the base color of Blue Raspberry is a translucent but bright medium-toned sky blue along the lines of French sky blue, inclining slightly to azure on the azure/cyan spectrum. Ultrafine grassy green particulate shimmers reverse the inclination, giving the color more of a cyanic lean to a beautiful pool blue shade similar to Spanish sky blue. It reminds me of those glacially-fed lakes where glacial rock flour is suspended in the water and gives it a luminous bright blue color. The translucence of the formula allows plenty of light to penetrate and fire up the shimmers, creating a dimensional, ever-so-slightly milky luminosity to the look of the polish on the nail in ambient light and a fine mist of delicate green sparks in the sun.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Blue Raspberry is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a biddable, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail that sets up fairly quickly but still gives you plenty of finesse time. Pigmentation is sheer, but builds nicely to evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in three medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Blue Raspberry dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, matte finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers and gives the color a luminous appearance.

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

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

Contrary Polish Blue Raspberry

I love the translucence of the color and how delicately balanced the ratio of shimmer to base is in this polish. There's a certain lucidity and depth to the look that all but invites you to dive right in -- the very definition of a pool blue! A tiny bit of milkiness adds luminosity (thereby making it even more delicious, in my opinion), but the impact is clean, fresh and buoyant. So good!

xo,
Liz