Lacquer Slacker Liz: Blush Lacquers

Showing posts with label Blush Lacquers. Show all posts

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Blush Lacquers Mojito Mondays

Mojito Mondays was created by Victoria of Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers exclusively for the Cocktails & Mocktails July 2017 edition of Polish Pickup. Officially described as "a soft lime linear holo with gold shimmer and small gold to lime green shifting holo glitters," the color is indeed a tender, shimmering lime shade, very similar to tea green or the color of a luna moth, with an ethereal, translucent quality. The gold shimmers are very fine and give it a softly reflective golden flash, while holographic pigment creates misty, dimensionalizing hues of cyan and golden green within the base and tiny holographic glitters dot the look with twinkling sparks of green, gold and turquoise in ambient light. In the sun, there's a beautiful linear holographic flare featuring sparkling arcs of azure, spring green and yellow gold edged by a corona of mixed prismatic sparkle and interspersed with bright sparks in all of the rainbow colors from the holographic glitters.

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Mojito Mondays is fluid, light and buttery smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, easy, self-leveling slip over the nail, easily manipulated with the brand's tapered, flattened-style brush, which lends a luxe, silky feel to the process. Pigmentation is excellent for such a light, translucent color. Two coats delivers evenly opaque coverage, but I used three for the photos to ensure the absence of any hint of visible nail line. Cleanup is straightforward with a bit of stickiness on the part of the glitters. Mojito Mondays dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show three coats of Mojito Mondays over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Blush Lacquers Mojito Mondays

This is an absolutely magical polish! The look is delicate, diaphanous and faerie-like, like fine silk chiffon, with a glistening, finely-grained visual texture. The color has a clean, limpid sort of luminosity and the tiny gold-to-green holo glitters are a wonderful complement, matching the holographically-generated colors in ambient light almost perfectly and giving the polish an effortlessly cohesive feel. Beautifully-composed and one of a kind!

Actias luna, Luna Moth (source). If luna moths wore nail polish, it would be this one. ;)

love,
Liz

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Blush Lacquers Electric Bloom

Electric Bloom was created by Victoria of Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers exclusively for the science-themed May 2017 edition of Polish Pickup. Officially described as a "neon magenta pink with a blue shimmer and holographic flakies," the color is a light, bright, rosy variation of hot pink along the lines of Crayola's original brilliant rose shade. It is filled with tiny silvery holographic flakies, giving it a finely-speckled appearance in ambient light and a sprinkling of prismatic sparkle in the sun. Superabundant ultrafine azure particulate shimmers create a luminous, dimensional, translucent blue sheen in ambient light that brightens and solidifies in the sun to a bright mist of glistening particles along the axis of light.

Application was top notch. The consistency of Electric Bloom is fluid, light and silky smooth with a medium viscosity and a truly buttery self-leveling slip over the nail. This was my first experience with the brand's new brush, a wide, flattened-style implement with a tapered edge that is extremely flexible and contributes greatly to a pleasurable painting experience. Pigmentation is very good. Wearably opaque coverage can be had in two coats, although I used three for the photos. Cleanup is easy. Electric Bloom dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Blush Lacquers Electric Bloom

I love this rosy, uber-feminine shade of pink and the shimmer effects are divine, giving the polish a delicate dimensionality with a graceful, effortless feel to it. So very pretty!

Electric Bloom was inspired by an "ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence" photo of ice plant flower buds by photographer Craig P. Burrows using a process that brings out the glowing fluorescence in plant matter through the use of high-intensity UV lights. Visit the entry about his stunning UVIVF flower photos on the arts blog Colossal or check out his portfolio to see more of his work.

love,
Liz

Friday, April 21, 2017

Blush Lacquers Batter Up!

Like I'm No Clown, Batter Up was released in August 2016 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers as part of the 'Sychotic Squad collection.

Designed to be worn as a topper or on its own as you'll see here, it has a clear base in which are suspended about a bazillion of the teeniest, finest holographic glitters I've ever seen in black, gold and silver, along with beaucoup blue particulate shimmers in a medium azure hue. The shimmer color mixes with the black and metallic microglitters to give the polish the general appearance of a shadow blue with shimmering highlights of blue-grey, a stormy neutral sort of shade that with the abundance of sparkle is transformed to something much more dramatic and decorative. The prismatic sparkle is ubiquitous, twinkling like mad in even the lowest light and exploding into a field of pinpoint rainbow sparks in the sun.

The consistency of Batter Up is fluid and dense with components, with a thicker viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. It maintained a medium-to-thicker viscosity even so, but was easier for me to manipulate. I had some trouble getting it to go where I wanted it to, specifically to what I think of as the "shoulders" of my nails, those areas where the sidewall ends and free edge begins, an issue I often have with thicker polishes. Coverage is provided solely by the components, and I reached an opacity I was happy with in three coats without any undue bulkiness once the polish had dried down. Cleanup is a bear! Even though I did mine as I went along, those tiny microglitters like to scatter. Batter Up dries naturally in very good time to a flat, textured finish that honestly looks very like gravel until you get some topcoat on it. For a glassy smooth finish, I used a layer of gel-effect topcoat plus a layer of quick-dry.

Note to self: Try harder to remember not to cuddle the cat if you're fixing to apply nail polish.

Question: Am I the only one who laments the absence of a stainless steel mixing ball or two in a polish? I realize that they take up space that would otherwise be filled with polish, but I like using the sound of them to gauge the thickness of the contents. Also, when they aren't there, I never quite trust that added polish thinner is properly distributed throughout. Maybe its just me, but I do miss them when they aren't included... ok, I'm done now!

Photos show three coats of Batter Up over ÜNT peel-off basecoat topped with a layer of Pretty Serious Plump Up the Volume gel-effect topcoat and finished with a layer of Seche Vite. This manicure does not win any prizes for precision -- bear with me!

Blush Lacquers Batter Up!

Although it doesn't translate all that well to a still image, I find this look deeply cool in person. I'm always up for a sparklefest and this polish delivers in style -- love those tiny twinkling holographic microglitters and the speckled blue-grey color is awesome. I doubt I'd ever have an even enough hand to use this properly as a topper (although I suspect it would be interesting to try it over black or grey), but that's ok because I much prefer the look on its own. Fun polish!

love,
Liz

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Blush Lacquers I'm No Clown

I'm No Clown was released in August 2016 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers as part of the 'Sychotic Squad collection, a quartet of polishes inspired by the 20016 American superhero film Suicide Squad. Described as a light neon pink jelly, the color is a very bright and pretty shade pink that sort of reminds me of a French pink or what you'd get if you took French pink and amped up the brightness a bit. To me, it's rather more neon-esque than a true neon, perhaps because it's a jelly and not a white-based creme. It doesn't have too much of that glow-in-the-dark kind of fluorescence to it, and there's a degree of warmth to the color on the nail that keeps it lush and floral.

Application was very nice. The consistency of I'm No Clown is fluid and smooth with a medium-to-thicker viscosity that I added a bit of polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it had a fluent, almost buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that was easy to work with. This polish has Victoria's original, very slender brush, which she has now updated, along with the bottle and cap. Pigmentation is sheer. I used three generous coats to achieve an opacity I was happy with. Cleanup is easy. I'm No Clown dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of I'm No Clown over treatment and base coat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Blush Lacquers I'm No Clown

This is such a rich, pretty pink! It reminds me of gerbera daisies.

The 'Sychotic Squad collection is listed as "last chance" in Victoria's etsy shop, so now's the time to grab any that you're interested in!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Blush Lacquers Evening Sparkler

Evening Sparkler was released last July by Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers as the July 2016 Color of the Month. Inspired by fireworks, it is officially described as "a slightly deeper than royal blue base with an intensely strong red shimmer that is accented with tiny orange holographic glitters."

The base color is indeed a dark but translucent variation of the color that most of us think of as royal blue. It turns out that traditionally, royal blue was actually much darker, similar to a navy, and although this polish has a very denimy look going on, the opaque color is very close to this traditional royal blue. Abundant red shimmers mix with that deep blue to create a bold indigo shade, and are visible along the axis of light as a subtle mist of red particles, a variation of that dimensional, lit-from-within quality beloved by shimmer enthusiasts. Infinitesimal holographic glitters issue a glamorous twinkle from the depths as light travels over them, and the whole look amps up exponentially in the sun -- the indigo color brightens, the shimmers show themselves more widely and take on a sparkle, and the holographic glitters explode into brilliant prismatic sparks.

Application was a study. The consistency of Evening Sparkler is fluid, smooth and a little bit sticky, with a medium viscosity and a light but sort of reluctant flow over the nail that wants a determined hand to make sure it goes everywhere you need it to. Pigmentation is sheer and I recommend using medium to generous coats. The first one is streaky. The second begins to even things out but the most evenly opaque coverage and fullest realization of bottle color required three tip-wrapped coats for me. Cleanup is easy, for which I am very grateful as I made a quite a mess working with this puppy. Evening Sparkler dries naturally in fairly good time to a slightly flat finish with a sandy texture from the glitters. A generous layer of topcoat evens it out to glassy smoothness and accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers beautifully.

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

Blush Lacquers Evening Sparkler

This polish was difficult to photograph! I apologize for my pics, which are full of extraneous reflections and I'm afraid do not acquit themselves very well.

Although I found Evening Sparkler a little tricky to apply, I think the look is most definitely worth it. It doesn't come together completely until you get topcoat on it and it's somewhat stealthy in ambient light but downright stunning in the sun, and the component mix is spot on. I love that deep indigo color and the way the shimmers and glitters, activated by light, emerge from within the cloudy depths.

love,
Liz