Tonic Polish Lula

Some of you may remember my July 2017 review of what I thought was Tonic's Lula, which turned out to be a mislabeled bottle of Huckleberry Sparkle instead. Well, I'm happy to say that I finally got my paws on the real Lula during Tonic's recent sale.

Released in August 2016 as part of the Interlude collection, Lula is officially described as "a purple polish with strong red shimmer and a sprinkling of silver holographic micro glitters. It is the alter ego polish to Huckleberry Sparkle, but where Huckleberry Sparkle has a blue-purple base, Lula is true purple." The base color is a Mardi Gras purple, a rich, regal shade, one of my favorites. Here, it is given a magenta cast by abundant, luminous, ultrafine red particulate shimmers, which brighten and blend with the base, transforming it to more of a Munsell purple with a glowy, dimensionalizing mist of magenta along the axis of light. A loose net of starry, twinkling prismatic sparks from the microglitters completes the look.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Lula is fluid and smooth with a medium viscosity and a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good. Slight sheerness on the first coat builds easily to wearably opaque coverage with the second. I used three coats to maximize the impact of those red shimmers. Cleanup is easy. Lula dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss that accentuates the presence and dimensionalizing effects of the shimmers.

Photos show three coats of Lula over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

Tonic Polish Lula

There's something particularly romantic about this polish that would make it a wonderful Valentine's manicure if you're not into the traditional reds and pinks. The glowing red shimmers add a bit of worldly passion to the imaginative and spiritual qualities of the purple.

Oksana of The Polished KOI made an interesting observation about Lula in her review of it not long ago:

This polish is kind of one that got Tonic its start - I remember seeing swatches of this proto in comparison to a popular color at the time, Illyrian's Unicorn Spell that was released in April '16, and so many people wanted to get their hands on it that Tonic as a brand was more or less forced to step up on the market! It was exciting watching it unfold, but Lula was released to the public in the Interlude collection rather than Debut, and I suspect some people have missed picking it up as the hype over Unicorn Spell kind of died down. So this is a very important color in Tonic's history, as far as I'm concerned!

Lula is also an excellent example of what I think of as a signature characteristic of Lindsey's polish making, the use of fine shimmers in carefully calibrated amounts to create new, more complex colors, textures and looks. Tonic won a bunch of categories in the recently announced 2017 Indie Bests by IndieSwatch.com, including Best Shimmer and Best Overall. I can't wait to find out what Lindsey has in store for 2018!

love,
Liz