Lacquer Slacker Liz: CANVAS Lacquer

Showing posts with label CANVAS Lacquer. Show all posts

Thursday, April 30, 2015

CANVAS Lacquer The Good Silver and OPI My Voice is a Little Norse

The Good Silver was released by Canadian indie polish maker CANVAS Lacquer as part of the Vintages trio in November 2014. This is a medium-dark smokey silvery grey creme/jelly hybrid bearing superabundant ultrafine particulate shimmers in silver, pale pink and pale blue with a luminous, pearly look that's unusual for a contemporary grey polish. It's not what I would call a metallic polish but the color and lustrous finish reminds me a lot of titanium alloy wheels or the soft shiny graphite of a pencil lead or a dark grey freshwater pearl. In the sun, there's a subtle scintillating sparkle and it has a little bit of an old school shimmer vibe, but it isn't frosty and doesn't show brushstrokes. I don't think of myself as someone who typically goes for finishes like this one, but the eye likes what the eye likes and I find myself strangely attracted to this moody, curious grey.

Application was pretty good. The consistency of The Good Silver is on the thick side and I added polish thinner to get a fluidity commensurate with my skills and comfort zone. Once thinned, it had smooth self-leveling flow over the nail and was much more user friendly than I was expecting. As a crelly it has a certain amount of translucence but builds easily to opaque coverage in two or three coats, depending on how you paint. I needed three coats on my left hand and two coats on my right, don't ask me why! All I know is that when I looked at both hands after two coats, the right was darker than the left so I added a coat to the latter and that evened up the look. Whatever! The Good Silver cleans up in a trice and dries naturally in fairly good time to a smooth shiny finish.

Most of the photos show three coats of The Good Silver over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. The photos of my right hand show two coats.

CANVAS Lacquer The Good Silver

The Good Silver turns out to be a perfect base for the bling of My Voice is a Little Norse from OPI's Nordic collection for fall 2014. My Voice is a Little Norse is a glitter topper with a grey tinted suspension base that is jam packed with tiny holographic silver microglitter hexes and squares. The microglitters are dense enough for this polish to be worn alone in two or three coats layered over itself, but it's great for adding a blast of sparkly goodness to an amenable base color.

I used one coat of My Voice is a little Norse over the above manicure. It's very easy to work with, just paints on beautifully with excellent glitter payoff and even distribution across the nail. It dries in very good time to a textured matte finish that I chose to wear glossy. This glitter has a huge appetite for topcoat. I had a coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food, a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite on there before the texture of the microglitters finally smoothed out. Once all those topcoats dried I got huge pull back around the edges, less on the tips. Thank goodness for small favors, eh?

Photos show one coat of My Voice is a Little Norse over my manicure of The Good Silver with a coat of Glitter Food followed by a coat of Gelous followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

OPI My Voice is a Little Norse over CANVAS Lacquer The Good Silver

The bling turned out to be very popular with the staff at my gym -- they didn't seem to notice the massive pull back. It's so interesting to see which polishes people will comment on, isn't it? As you know I love looking at polish under the lights there and this was dazzling, just afire with multicolored sparks.

Fuzzy likes to call toppers like My Voice is a Little Norse "novelty polishes," and I think she means it in the gewgaw sense of the word. She's suspicious of too much sparkle, unlike the folks at the gym....

love,
Liz

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

CANVAS Lacquer Tempts are Rising

Tempts are Rising was released by Canadian-based indie polish maker CANVAS Lacquer as part of the Spring Fling collection at the end of February/beginning of March 2015. I was tempted (sorry, couldn't resist) to purchase this pretty lacquer when I saw it swatched by Jenny on her wonderful blog, Lavish Layerings, here. It's a medium-dark, nicely-saturated rich berry or pinkish purple holographic polish, a full-bodied color with a sleek, feminine vibe on the nail. In indirect light it displays a rich, purpled cranberry hue with subtle rainbow twinkles from the holo pigment. In direct sun it lightens to a bright, juicy raspberry shade with a soft linear display and unexpected metallic tone-on-tone sparkles that emanate from deep within the polish.

Application was very nice. The consistency of Tempts are Rising is fluid, creamy and dense, a little thicker and more viscous than I was expecting but still eminently paintable. It has a velvety glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. The creme/jelly hybrid formula leans to the creme side of the spectrum, with excellent pigmentation that very nearly allows for one coat coverage. But you'll want to do two for the added depth and richer color that the second coat brings. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with no pigment travel or residual staining. Tempts are Rising dries naturally in average time to a smooth, plump, glossy finish. Nice!

Photos show two coats of Tempts are Rising over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite, except on the ring finger nail of my left hand, which has three coats of Tempts are Rising. I had to add a third coat to that nail to paint over some flotsam that got painted into the second coat. You'll note the deeper color of that nail compared to the others -- it shows the degree of translucence in this polish's crelly formula.

CANVAS Lacquer Tempts are Rising

This is one of those eternally lovely shades that's appropriate year round and for any occasion or activity. One thing I love about it is that it makes my hands look dainty and pale. My skin is very pink and prone to ruddiness, as I'm sure you've noticed if you've been reading my blog for a while, and I regularly have to desaturate the red in my photos to get my pinkage under control. Didn't have to do that with Tempts are Rising.

The other thing I'll add is that while Tempts are Rising is a crelly holo with a certain amount of sparkle and translucence, it's also possesses a creamy, substantial quality that reminds me of mainstream polishes like Zoya and OPI. Fuzzy says it reminds her of the redbuds that are currently putting on a show on our place along with the flowering plums, forsythia, spirea and Korean spice viburnums. Daffodils are everywhere. In a little while, the trees will be bathed in a pale green mist of baby leaves and the wysteria that's all over the woods across the road as well as trellised next to the driveway will be blooming with its fresh sweet scent filling up the atmosphere, and it'll be full-on spring.

Huzzah!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

CANVAS Lacquer G.I. Jane

G.I. Jane was released by new-to-me Canadian indie polish maker CANVAS Lacquer as part of the Girl Gang Trio in September 2014. It has a medium-dark olive drab jelly base with abundant golden flake shimmers as well as a complex mixture of flecky microshimmers in gold, copper, turquoise and green. The turquoise flecks are an especially beautiful addition. On the nail, G.I. Jane is a sleek, glamorous take on an edgy color with a beautiful burnished sheen to it and a subtle constellation of sparkle from the gold and copper shimmers, which adds a nice dimensionality to the overall look. It's one of those polishes that feels elevated to fashionable chicness by it's muted, earthy nature and subtle combination of components. It is deceptively complex, but feels simple, direct and classic.

Application was interesting. The consistency of G.I. Jane is fluid, dense and thicker than usual. Given my difficulties with thicker polishes, I added polish thinner at the outset but there remained a certain jelly-ish stickiness to the formula that caused some patchiness on the first coat. I found it easiest to apply with a generously loaded brush and a light touch. The second coat goes on more easily, with a smooth, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation is very good. With a thicker first coat followed by a thinner second one, I achieved an even opaque coverage that I was happy with. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. G.i. Jane dries naturally in average time to a smooth, low-shine finish that is enhanced by a glossy topcoat, which also pops the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of G.I. Jane over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

CANVAS Lacquer G.I. Jane

Fuzzy really liked this polish, as I suspected she might, although she objected to its classification as an olive drab, preferring instead to call it "an olive tinged with charcoal." Greens are her favorite, and this is such an interesting one. She thought it was very elegant and stylish, and we agreed that it would be a great polish to wear while traveling. It just really has that "go anywhere, do anything" kind of feel to it, very light and sleek on the nail in spite of being a darker color.

love,
Liz