Lacquer Slacker Liz: November 2017

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Cirque Rioja

Like Coronation, Rioja was released earlier this month by NYC-based indie polish maker Cirque Colors as part of the Holiday 2017 collection. It is the sole polish in the collection that is not a Limited Edition.

Creator Annie describes Rioja as "a brilliant ruby red holographic," and I agree. It's a dark, dense, saturated true ruby that in low light reminds me for all the world of a drop of venous blood on the nail. When the princess pricks her finger on the spinning wheel in the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, this is the color that my imagination sees. It's packed with fine, shimmering holographic pigment and I believe there may be some slightly larger holographic particles in there too because I see brightly glowing bits when the light hits them just right. This polish is absolutely glorious in the sun -- bloodlike transforms to rich, blazing brocade, with a linear prismatic flare featuring all of the rainbow colors that frames a lick of glimmering semi-metallic ruby and shades to a deep red wine color at the sidewalls.

Application was great! The consistency of Rioja is fluid, dense and smooth with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity and a full-bodied, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent, delivering evenly opaque coverage on the first coat, but I think that adding a second does increase the depth and native richness of the look. Cleanup is straightforward with some pigment travel and a skosh of trace staining. Rioja dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not in any way inhibit the prismatic properties of the polish and actually seems to accentuate its holographically-generated dimensionality.

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

Cirque Rioja

There's a smoldering glow to this rich, vampy deep red that is just stunning, and it has a dramatic, sensual kind of clarity on the nail that's very seductive. Much better in person than any still image could portray and perfect for date night! It's unusual in my experience to come across a red holo this dark and saturated that displays such a full range of prismatic color in the sun, fabulous! I'm loving it on my shorties, it makes my fingers feel long and graceful and cunning, like I could perform any number of magic spells to bend the hapless passerby to my will! Let's see if it works on the dog....

xo,
Liz

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Il Était Un Vernis Tap Dancing Rain

Like Velours by Sfumati and Farewell Party, Tap Dancing Rain was released last month by French boutique polish maker Il Était Un Vernis (IEUV) as part of the Choose Happy collection.

Co-creators Bé and Stephanie describe this one as a greyish sky blue with small metallic shimmer and a holographic veil. I see the color is a variation of powder blue with a bit of grey added -- but not so much that it becomes muddy or that you would mistake it for a grey. It's similar to the Australian standard for powder blue, a gentle, elegant shade. Tiny silvery microflake shimmers and finely-milled holographic pigment give the color a lovely sense of depth and dust it with delicate silvery motes and minute sparks of pale gold in ambient light, and light up in a sparkling, scattered flare of pasteled prismatic hues in the sun.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Tap Dancing Rain is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a nearly effortless, buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail, a fantastic formula that is a joy to manipulate with the brand's flexible, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Tap Dancing Rain dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic effects in any way.

Photos show three coats of Tap Dancing Rain over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Il Était Un Vernis Tap Dancing Rain

This is exactly the kind of beautifully-balanced, sophisticated light blue that that I would expect to see from IEUV, a pan-seasonal shade that's not only excellent for wearing with your winter whites and earth tones during the colder months of the year but will also be absolutely wonderful for spring. The color kind of reminds me a little of some of Essie's older blue-grey shades, Cocktail Bling and Parka Perfect and (to a slightly lesser extent) Maximillian Strass-Her, although the shimmers and holo give this one a much more delicate and dimensional character. So pretty!

love,
Liz

Monday, November 27, 2017

Cupcake Polish Plum Perfect

Plum Perfect was released in October 2016 by Texas-based indie polish maker Cupcake Polish as part of the Fall Fancies collection. Officially described as a plum purple linear holo with heavy purple shimmers, the color is a dark, cool, violet-leaning purple along the lines of eminence. Superabundant finely-milled holographic pigment gives it a shimmering, dimensional appearance and nuances the base with misty hues of indigo and plum with a hint of azure in ambient light. In the sun, there's a perfect linear prismatic flare featuring all of the rainbow colors that frames a lick of silvery purple and shades to dark purple at the sidewalls.

Application was great! The consistency of Plum Perfect is fluid, dense and smooth with the medium-to-thicker viscosity common to Cupcake formulas and a full-bodied, even, self-leveling glide over the nail. Pigmentation is outstanding, a true one-coater, although I used two like I always do to finesse lines left wanting after the first. Cleanup is straightforward. There's a skosh of pigment travel but little trace staining. Plum Perfect dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its best. Topcoat does not in any way interfere with the holographic effects.

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

Cupcake Polish Plum Perfect

I really love the rich, saturated, violet-leaning purple color here, it's less sentimental and flamboyant that a warmer, red-leaning purple and is one of my favorite colors to wear around this time of year. The feel is neat, sleek and grounded, and there's plenty of graceful, holographically-generated dimensionality not to mention the gorgeous prismatic flare in direct sun. Excellent!

This and the other 2016 Fall Fancies are all currently available in Cupcake's big cartel shop.

love,
Liz

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Colors by Llarowe Topaz Fire

Like Plum Ready for Summer, Topaz Fire was released earlier this month by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe (CbL) as part of the Winter 2017 collection. Officially described as a "deep blurple prismatic glowing holographic with lavender flame," the color is a gorgeous, bold, saturated, medium-dark Byzantine blue with strong indigo aspects, especially in low light, and a Spanish violet look under incandescent light. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment gives it a shimmering, luminous, dimensional appearance in ambient light, and in the sun there's a lovely sparkling prismatic flush along the axis of light.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Topaz Fire is fluid and silky smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, even, self-leveling slip over the nail, so nice! Pigmentation is excellent. I used two coats for the pics but it's evenly opaque at one. Cleanup is straightforward with a skosh of pigment travel. Topaz Fire dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish that loves a glossy topcoat to really bring out the dimensional nature of the polish on the nail.

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

Colors by Llarowe Topaz Fire

Only Leah Ann could do a blue holo like this. The color reminds me of CbL's Independence Day from the Summer 2015 collection: dark enough to be grounded but vibrant and animated enough to make your spirit soar -- so brilliant and saturated that the color almost leaps off your nails! An exuberant, celebratory shade that makes for an eye-catching manicure, especially if you love blue on your nails like I do. This polish makes my eyes happy. Highly recommended!

Topaz Fire and the rest of the Winter 2017 collection will be restocked and available when the CbL shop opens for a week beginning 1 December.

xo,
Liz

Friday, November 24, 2017

Darling Diva Chi Town Divas

Chi Town Divas was created by Carrie of Minnesota-based indie polish maker Darling Diva Polish especially for Polish Con September 2017 in Chicago and released as part of the Road to Polish Con series in July this year.

I had originally thought that this was a microglitter, but it's not. The jelly-like base is a dark red that is similar in appearance to rich maroon. It is absolutely packed with silver holographic particles and tiny silver holographic microflakes, which glow in shades of silver, pink, rose and red from within the base as light travels over them and give the finish a delicious, finely-flecked appearance that reminds me of apple skin. In the sun, that glow becomes a sparkle and blankets the polish with a scattered carpet of bright rainbow sparks, and there's a gorgeous prismatic flush along the axis of light predominated by brilliant rosy pink, fuchsia and bright red.

The consistency of Chi Town Divas is fluid, dense and slightly sticky, with a thicker viscosity to which I added a couple of polish thinner at the outset. Even thinned, it retained a dense quality, with a lush, self-leveling glide over the nail. The holographic microflakes present absolutely no issues to application. Pigmentation is excellent, possibly a one-coater for some, but I used two for most even opacity and best depth of color. Cleanup is surprisingly easy. Chi Town Divas dries naturally in good time to a smooth, ever-so-slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its best.

Photos show two coats of Chi Town Divas over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Darling Diva Chi Town Divas

Beautiful! There's more red to the color than a typical burgundy, which usually has strong purple tones to it, and the teeming holographic microflakes are dense enough to create a stealthy, semi-metallic underlay in a brilliant rosy hue. While not as overtly showy as a microglitter bomb or a conventional holo, there's boatloads of dimension and light play.

I like it. I like it very much!

love,
Liz