Polished For Days Waitomo

Like Morocco, Waitomo was released at the end of June this year by California-based indie polish maker Polished For Days as part of the Around the World Part 3 collection. It is named for New Zealand's Waitomo District, a territorial authority located on the west coat of the North Island and home to the famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

Creator Jenna describes this polish as "a deep purple based grey with holographic flakes, green-blue-fuchsia-gold color shifting flakes, navy-violet-teal chrome flakes, and a bright-purple blue shimmer." The color is more of a medium blue-grey to my eye, similar in depth and appearance to the way Crayola's shadow blue looks on a computer screen, with subtle hints of violet to it. Copious tiny metallic and holographic flakies stipple the look, punctuating it with delicate gleams of color, most notably purple and turquoise, when the light hits the metallic bits just right. Abundant bright blue particulate shimmers give the polish a transparent blue sheen and are visible as a radiant mist of blue along the axis of light. They really come to the fore in direct light, where the holographic flakes blanket the polish with a net of fine prismatic sparkle.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Waitomo is fluid, light and remarkably smooth for a flakie-laden polish, with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. All flakes are well-dispersed, going on easily and laying flat to the nail without stacking, stickups or protrusions over the free edge. Nice! Pigmentation is very good to excellent. Occasional patches of sheerness on the first coat build quickly to evenly opaque coverage in two. Cleanup is mostly easy -- watch out for sticky metallic flakies! Waitomo dries naturally to an unexpectedly smooth and shiny finish. Topcoat serves to accentuate the presence of the colorful flakies. 

Photos show two coats of Waitomo over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

Polished For Days Waitomo

I'm feeling quite partial to this lovely grey polish with its flecky visual texture, eclectic mix of gleaming metallic flakies and smoky blue sheen, and I expect it will continue to grow on me as I wear it. There's something particularly elegant about its composition that I find very satisfying, and the crelly-ish formula is outstanding and such a pleasure to work with -- unusually so for a flakie-laden polish in my experience. A wonderful example of indie creativity!

love,
Liz