Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories

Sugar Coated Memories was created by Hayley of Australian indie polish maker Emily de Molly especially for the "Sugar Rush" February 2017 edition of Polish Pickup. It is described as a bright red jelly filled with metallic silver flakes and silver holographic micro glitter. The color is a brilliant, intensely saturated, medium-toned variation of scarlet, similar to red-orange. Abundant, highly-reflective silver flakes read in bright hues of red, pink and orange from within the base and give the polish a foily, semi-metallic sensibility with a dappled visual texture that has tremendous light play -- gleam, glow, flash and sparkle -- interspersed with pinpoint prismatic sparks from the holographic microglitters. Fabulous!

Application was great! The consistency of Sugar Coated Memories is fluid and full-bodied with a medium consistency and a very even, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent -- it goes on so evenly and opaquely that you could easily wear it at one medium coat. Two deepens the color to match the bottle. Between pigment travel and sticky silver flakes, cleanup can get messy real fast -- ask me how I know! Best to go for as clean an application as possible and allow the polish a bit of dry-time before going in with the acetone-dampened cleanup brush. Sugar Coated Memories dries naturally in very good time to a slightly flat finish with a skosh of discernible texture from the components, easily smoothed by topcoat.

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


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories


Emily de Molly Sugar Coated Memories

If you're after a high-energy, uber splashy look, here you go -- the very definition of eye-catching! The brilliant, saturated color and dynamic light play of the components make for a jazzy, flamboyant presence on the nail, like a glitzy stage costume -- sensational!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn

Like In Brightness, The Cold Hour of Dawn was released this past November by Michigan-based indie polish maker Great Lakes Lacquer as part of the Holiday 2017 collection, a quartet of lacquers themed around Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl."

This polish is officially described as "a royal blue soft holographic filled with shimmer that shifts from magenta and red to bronze to green." The base color is a translucent, medium-dark variation of web royal blue. The degree of translucence gives it a softened, misty quality that I find unusual for this kind of shade, a quality that is enhanced by superabundant color-shifting shimmers glistening within, reading most readily as magenta and creating a wide, bold swath of it along the axis of light with a shift through bronze to green at oblique angles. The power of the shimmers is such that the polish takes on the appearance of a Munsell purple or vivid violet when in motion, and a darker eminence purple in low and incandescent light. The holographic effects have more of a supporting role in this polish, creating a finely-grained visual texture and a dimensional, mobile prismatic flush of azure in ambient light.

Application was lovely. The consistency of The Cold Hour of Dawn is fluid, light and loamy with a medium consistency and a fluent, smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail that sets up fairly quickly and does not appreciate being messed with after that. Pigmentation is very good. Two to three medium coats will net evenly opaque coverage -- two only for shorter nails and two to three for longer. Cleanup is straightforward. The Cold Hour of Dawn dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of The Cold Hour of Dawn over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn


Great Lakes Lacquer The Cold Hour of Dawn

Needless to say, the shimmer is the star of this show! The translucence of the blue base has light-gathering properties that make the polish particularly luminous on the nail -- it's an elegant showcase for those wonderful, glistening magenta shimmers. Beautifully done!

love,
Liz

Monday, February 26, 2018

Picture Polish Coral Reef

Coral Reef was released in 2009 by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish. Described as a "coral pink creme," it's part of the brand's Classic line. I was surprised to realize when I looked that this is my first creme from Picture Polish -- the polishes I have in my collection are all Collaboration, Holographic and Opulence shades.

Coral Reef kind of sits in between two other corally PP cremes, Watermelon and Sunset. More orange than the former, more pink than the latter, it's a bright, medium-light coral pink, an amalgamation of pink and orange that looks pretty well-balanced between the two -- similar to salmon or Congo pink. Clean and creamy on the nail, it has that lush, tropical, floral/fruity vibe and the buoyant cheerfulness that I love so much about coral nail polish.

Application was every bit as fantastic as you'd expect from Picture Polish. The consistency of Coral Reef is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, deliciously buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a delight to manipulate with PP's flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering fully opaque coverage in two to three coats depending on how you paint. I thought that I could still detect a hint of darkness around the nail line after two so I added a third, but if I weren't taking photos I'd happily wear it at two. Cleanup is easy. Coral Reef dries naturally in very good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

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


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef


Picture Polish Coral Reef

Not sure there's much I can add to the photos -- it's just a beautiful, engaging, happy shade! Great for summer -- or dreaming about summer, as it may be, given that it's still February. We've been experiencing unusually warm temps here lately, and the deciduous magnolias, daffodils, honeysuckle bushes and spirea have enveloped the place in a fragrant cloud of the sweetest light lemony floral perfume you can imagine -- it's amazing! One of my favorite things about spring!

love,
Liz

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice

Sugar & Spice was just released at the beginning of this month by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe as part of the Mild & Wild collection. Officially described as "a light lilac creme base with pink to red fine shimmer," to me the color is more of a medium-light floral lavender, bright and deliciously creamy. Abundant superfine particulate shimmers give the polish a transparent pink sheen and a delicate, luminous reddish-pink mist along the axis of light that has a subtle dimensionalizing effect on the look and a dainty sparkle in the sun.

Application was interesting. The consistency of Sugar & Spice is fluid and creamy with an eminently-paintable, medium viscosity and a buttery, even, self-leveling glide over the nail, so nice! Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two or three coats, depending on how you paint. The first coat dried noticeably lighter than it went on, but the second returned the look to bottle color. Cleanup is easy. Sugar & Spice dries naturally in good time to a smooth shiny finish.

I'm curious about the pigment used in this polish because the color appears to react to quick-dry topcoat, developing barely perceptible streaks and irregular areas that are ever-so-slightly deeper, as well as a whisper-thin band at the cuticle edge especially that is slightly lighter. This may be my hyper-acute visual discrimination aptitude freaking out on me as the differences are very slight, perhaps even unnoticeable by someone else, but I did want to mention it.

Photos show three coats of Sugar & Spice over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze.


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice


Colors by Llarowe Sugar & Spice

A gorgeous, singing color for spring! Really resonates with those purple spring bloomers like crocus, violets, iris, lilac and wysteria!

love,
Liz

Friday, February 23, 2018

Emily de Molly Memory Maker

Memory Maker was released at the end of January this year by Australian indie polish maker Emily de Molly as part of the Valentine's Day Trio, officially described as "a dark raspberry red with blue shimmer and copper flakes." The color is a dark, dramatic, saturated variation of red-violet along the lines of Crayola's jazzberry jam, with aspects of Tyrian purple that wax and wane with the type and angle of light in which the polish is viewed. It has a richly opaque quality but there's still enough translucence to allow easy visibility of abundant, tiny bright blue microflake shimmers along the axis of light as well as small, reflective copper flakes, which gleam in bold hues of flame, raspberry and red as light travels over them. 

Application was great! The consistency of Memory Maker is fluid and full-bodied with a medium viscosity and a fluent, self-leveling glide over the nail. By and large, the copper flakes go on smoothly and disperse evenly with a few attempted protrusions over the free edge, easily rectified by a tip-wrapping swipe of EdM's compact, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is excellent. There's only a hint of translucence on the first coat that you might not even notice until you apply the second, which does slightly deepen and add density to the color. A bit of pigment travel is released with cleanup, not entirely unexpected, and the shimmers and flakes are a little sticky. Memory Maker dries naturally in good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with occasional shallow dimpling from flakes at the surface of the polish. Topcoat accentuates the components beautifully.

Photos show two coats of Memory Maker over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker


Emily de Molly Memory Maker

Red-violet is among my favorite colors for polish and this dark beauty is fabulous -- bold, dramatic and seductive, filled with stealthy blue sparks and sensuous, twinkling gleams of analogous hues from the copper flakes embedded within. My photos don't completely capture the deliciousness of those flakes -- for a better idea of what they're like, check out Tracy's photos in her review of the Valentine's Day Trio on Olivia Jane Nails

love,
Liz

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light

From Darkness Comes Light was released last month by Michigan-based indie polish maker Great Lakes Lacquer as one of four custom, limited edition polishes for January 2018 created exclusively for members of the Hella Holo Customs Facebook group. Creator Mariah describes it as "a green leaning teal linear holographic with gold to bronze multichrome flake and shimmer that shifts from blue to purple."

The color is a semi-translucent, medium-dark variation of blue-green that is similar to ming from the Xona.com Color List, deep and mysterious. Holographic pigment creates lush nuances of ultramarine, cerulean and misty golden olive that dimensionalize the polish on the nail, over which the blue-to-purple color-shifting microflake shimmers cast a transparent blue-violet sheen. Small multichrome flakes glow in contrasting shades of bright yellow-green and bronze within the base as light travels over them, and combine with the luminous color-shifting microflake shimmers to give the look a rich, tapestried visual texture. In the sun, there's a glorious linear prismatic display, slightly dispersed from the components but extra sparkly because of them, with flame-shaped arcs of ultramarine, azure, yellow-green and reddish-orange.

Application was awesome! The consistency of From Darkness Comes Light is fluid, light and loamy with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity and a fluent, self-leveling glide over the nail. Components go on smoothly and disperse beautifully without stacking or stickups. Pigmentation is very good, delivering fully opaque coverage in two to three coats depending on how you paint. I used three, and thought that it made the most of the polish's intrinsic richness. Cleanup was surprisingly easy, even with all of the tiny flakes. From Darkness Comes Light dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the components and does not interfere with the holographic properties.

Photos show three coats of From Darkness Comes Light over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light


Great Lakes Lacquer From Darkness Comes Light

There's a lot going on in this polish and it all comes together splendidly for an especially luxurious look on the nail. I love how the multichrome flakes and microflake shimmers piece together like a minute, shimmering mosaic within the base to give the polish that rich visual texture -- they glisten like tiny, embedded gems and add an extra sense of opulence to the color, which is already pretty sumptuous. A gorgeous polish with a luxe, almost regal sensibility, it reminds me of Cleopatra. I think she would approve!

love,
Liz