Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Young Turks was released in February 2014 by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe as part of the Spring 2014 collection. Described simply as a "bright turquoise holo," the color is bright, saturated, medium-toned cyanic blue from the pool blue family, but it's so lush and intense that it actually kind of transcends that category. I searched for something similar on Wikipedia and the closest seems to be Pacific blue with aspects of process cyan, but you might also call it a summer sky blue or a Malibu blue. It is hypnotically beautiful, a luxuriant marine shade from the most brilliant seascape of your imagination.

Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment makes it a linear holo, but the saturation, richness and intensity of the color is such that the prismatic properties inform the color rather than stand out from it. In ambient light, lush hues of ultramarine, cerulean, deep turquoise and misty hints of sea green nuance and dimensionalize the base. Bright direct light elicits a brilliant linear flare with an ultramarine heart and sparkling arcs of azure and spring green.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Young Turks is fluid and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail. Superb! Pigmentation is excellent. Wearable opacity can be had in one medium coat, but two does better justice to the color. Cleanup is surprisingly easy for such a saturated shade, with only a tiny bit of pigment travel and little perceptible trace staining. Young Turks dries naturally to a smooth finish with a satiny shine. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of Young Turks over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. As is common with cyanic shades of this kind, my camera skews to blue. It's even richer in person, with a touch more green to it.

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

This is, hands down, a must-have polish in my opinion. Don't fool yourself, as I did for far too long, by thinking that it's just another bright blue holo. There's a reason that it's still around and available after four years! It will evoke startlingly visceral visions of the most profusely blue sea on the clearest day you can think of, transporting you there in an instant. For the seasonally-minded, Young Turks not only makes for an absolutely stunning summertime manicure, but is certainly bold and brilliant enough to hold its own amongst winter jewel-tones as well. SO GOOD!

Incidentally, CbL's Spring 2014 collection was also the fountainhead for two other highly prized and venerable core shades, The Mighty Red Baron and My Big Girl Panties. An amazing collection, for sure.

love,
Liz