Lacquer Slacker Liz: Candeo Colors

Showing posts with label Candeo Colors. Show all posts

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sinful Colors Unicorn

'Tis the season for Jellybean! I've featured this polish twice already on my blog, once in the most early days, here, and once last April, here, which made my list of most-viewed posts for 2014. It's too sweet and springy not to visit again, so Happy Easter to you if you celebrate and Happy Jellybean Day to you either way!

Jellybean was released by now sadly defunct indie polish maker Candeo Colors for spring 2012. It's a glitter crelly with a pale soft creamy yellow creme/jelly hybrid base loaded with multicolored glitters in two sizes. There are medium-sized pink, turquoise and purple hex glitters and tiny square microglitters in lime, yellow and pink. The bright springy melange of colors pops from within the yellow base color in the prettiest way -- it's just a little darling of a polish!

Previously I had layered this puppy over Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, a brighter yellow that leans to the lemony side of the spectrum. I've seen Jellybean perform beautifully solo with opaque coverage in two coats, but my bottle is particularly dense with components and I wasn't certain that I wanted the same abundance of glitters on my nails that two coats had provided in the past, so I chose again to layer. Taking a cue from Lacey of Lace and Lacquers, I dug out my bottle of Sinful Colors Unicorn, a pastel fluffy chick yellow that's part of Sinful's core line. Unicorn turns out to have a decent formula for a yellow polish, if a bit sheer and streaky at the outset. It has a smooth, creamy consistency with a nice flow over the nail and it actually self-levels. I used the lightest touch I could muster and floated on two thin (for me) coats, which wasn't streak-free or even wearably opaque but definitely suitable as a base for Jellybean.

I used about one and a half coats of Jellybean over the Unicorn base. The first coat I simply painted on as I would a non-glitter polish. The consistency of Jellybean is fluid, smooth and super easy to work with, a really outstanding crelly formula for a yellow. It has a lovely flow over the nail with no tumbling of the components, very few protrusions over the free edge and excellent self-leveling properties. Glitter payoff is also excellent with a substantial mix of components per brushful dispersing fairly evenly over the nail. I had just a few bare-ish patches on various nails so I subsequently dabbed on extra Jellybean over those areas. I was really happy with how well this worked out, there was no ghosting around the dabbed on patches and the amount of glitters on each nail was a bit less than in past manicures with this polish -- goldilocks! Cleanup was a snap. Jellybean dries in fairly good time to a finish with some texture from the components. To smooth the finish I used one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food and one coat of Seche Vite.

Photos show one and a half coats of Jellybean over two coats of Unicorn over treatment and basecoat, with a surface-smoothing layer of Glitter Food followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sinful Colors Unicorn

Sinful Colors Unicorn and Candeo Colors Jellybean, bottle shot

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sinful Colors Unicorn

Adorable! I've had this polish for a while and never tire of it. I like it with Unicorn even better than with Mellow Yellow. Unicorn is a pretty good match for the base of Jellybean and doesn't overbrighten the yellow, leaving it soft and delicate. It's still a party, though!

We're having guests from out of town this weekend -- my sis and her family (including my wonderful niece, Eleanor, for whom this blog was originally created) are here to celebrate Easter with Fuzzy, John and me. We're having an Easter feast and just hanging around the place enjoying the spring. Perhaps you'll be doing something similar? Enjoy!

love,
Liz

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Candeo Colors Shelu Blou over China Glaze Electric Beat

I've got another lovely glass fleck shimmer from indie polish maker Candeo Colors for you today, Shelu Blou. This is another one from the Aruba collection. The name Shelu Blou is Papiamento for "sky blue." This polish is described on Candeo's website as "a light blue base with pink and purple shimmer," but this little jewel is much more special and distinctive than that makes it sound! It has a medium-light milky translucent cornflower-leaning azure jelly base with beautiful iridescent glass fleck shimmer that reads predominantly as pink but shifts to blue, purple and gold depending upon how the light hits it.

Application was trouble-free. Like other Candeo glass fleck jellies I have experienced, this polish does well with a bit of polish thinner mixed in before applying. Even so, it retains a fluffy, gel-like texture that is never the less quite easy to apply. You just kind of brush it into place and there it stays. Shelu Blou is quite translucent so for opacity's sake I began the manicure with one thin coat of China Glaze Electric Beat and layered three coats of Shelu Blou over that. You could really stop at one and still get a decent dose of the shimmer effect from Shelu Blou, but I wanted to retain some of the ethereal qualities of the translucence. Shelu Blou (love that name!) dries in good time to a slightly flat satin finish that enjoys a topcoat coat to pop the shimmer colors and add some shine.

Photos show one coat of Electric Beat and three coats of Shelu Blou over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

China Glaze Electric Beat and Candeo Color Shelu Blou, bottle shot

Candeo Colors Shelu Blou over China Glaze Electric Beat

The pink glass fleck shimmer in this is strong and visible in any light. In direct sun this polish gives off a scintillating shimmer with sparks of pink and blue. Under incandescent lighting there's an amazing pink flash.

I love the intricate visual texture of strong shimmers like this, it reminds me of mackerel skies and looking at the cosmos overhead at night, although we have too much light pollution around here to get anything close to the true magnificence of it. But a gal can imagine, right?

love,
Liz

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Candeo Colors Laman Brisa

Laman Brisa was released by indie polish maker Candeo Colors as part of its Aruba collection. The name Laman Brisa means "sea breeze" in Papiamento, the most widely spoken natural language in Aruba. Described on the Candeo website as a "sea foam base with gold and silver shimmer," Laman Brisa (such a pretty name!) is a pale delicate very shimmery blue-green jelly polish, a color that reminds me a bit of Anchor Hocking's Fire-King glassware in jade-ite. What makes this polish really special is the glass fleck shimmer, which reads as pale yellow green and turquoise through the blue-green jelly base.

Application was great. In my experience, Candeo's jellies are usually thick and sticky at the outset and do well with the addition of polish thinner and this was the case with Laman Brisa. With the added thinner, the consistency settled out to a fluid, smooth and kind of fluffy texture that applies beautifully. Pigmentation is buildable with this sheer translucent polish. With the first coat, you kind of go uh oh, this is going to need a million layers to be opaque. Not so! I was pleasantly surprised to find that I got even opaque coverage in three medium coats, which is pretty much par for a color this light. Laman Brisa dries naturally in good time to a rather flat finish that takes well to a layer of topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Laman Brisa over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite to ensure drying of all the layers and provide a glassy shine.

Candeo Colors Laman Brisa

To be honest, I'm not one hundred percent sold on this color as completely compatible with my pasty pale pinkage, but I can see it as being totally gorgeous on tanned or warm-toned complexions. It would be stunning on tanned toes at the beach! Laman Brisa has a slightly minty poolside vibe and feels quite substantial on the nail for such a soft feathery color. Also, despite any semblance of frostiness in the photos, it is most decidedly a shimmer in person, with the glass flecks clearly visible and giving off a scintillating sparkle in direct light. Very pretty!

love,
Liz

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Reprise: Candeo Colors Prénses Ros

I originally featured this polish last summer towards the end of July (here) but it's just too pretty and fresh and girly not to share it again during springtime.

Prénses Ros was released by indie polish maker Candeo Colors as part of its beautiful eight-polish Aruba collection. All of the polishes in this collection have names in Papiamento, a creole language of African and Portuguese heritage that is the most widely spoken natural language in the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles. Prénses Ros is Papiamento for "princess pink," eminently fitting for this delicate translucent candy pink polish with its semi-sheer jelly base strewn with medium and small silver holographic hex glitters.

In my original post, I layered Prénses Ros over a simple pink jelly, but I wanted to try it without the base polish this time. I began with two layers of Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat to camouflage my polish-stained natural nails and then applied four coats of Prénses Ros, allowing each to dry before the next went on. The consistency of this polish is a bit sticky and fluffy and I added polish thinner, which made it easier for me to apply thin coats. Prénses Ros goes on sheerly with buildable color and coverage and I didn't have any other problems with application or glitter distribution. It dries naturally in very good time to a very slightly textured shiny finish.

Photos show four coats of Prénses Ros over treatment and a double layer of basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl to perfect the surface, add gloss and ensure drying of all the layers.

Candeo Colors Prénses Ros

I love the translucence of this polish and the way the holo glitters flash from within all the layers giving it a kind of iridescent laciness. It's reminiscent of the all the ornamental fruit trees that are in full flower here in NC at the moment. And the shade of pink is so agreeable, with just enough warmth in it to edge it a baby step or two towards neutral territory. Over a pink base polish (and possibly too over natural nails less stained than mine), the pink pops a bit more than it does here, but I'm really loving the softness of this look.

Candeo has all of their polishes marked down to the lowest prices I've ever seen them offer, $6 each for most. I refused to stop myself from picking up two more glass fleck shimmers from the Aruba collection. It's a good day to buy polish!

xo,
Liz

Friday, April 4, 2014

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Candeo Colors Jellybean

From daffodils, tulips and forsythia to peeps, jellybeans and dyed eggs, 'tis the season for yellow. From what I've seen, new yellow nail polishes start popping up around this time of year too. The first one I have for you today isn't new, in fact it just might be an old friend (or enemy, depending on how you feel about it). It's Mellow Yellow from Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear line, a bright lemon yellow creme.

Application of most yellows tends to be a battle against streakiness, and Mellow Yellow is no different. On my very furrowed nails, this is a problem. But I'm happy to say that Mellow Yellow has pretty awesome self-leveling qualities for a yellow and even though I only used two coats as I planned to top it with another polish, I was actually impressed with the coverage I got. Sure, the ridges show, but overall the color is fairly even and the coverage definitely sufficient for a base layer. The consistency was fluid and thin without being runny, applied fairly easily in medium coats and dried naturally in average time to a shiny finish. Let's take a look....

Photos show two coats of Mellow Yellow over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

While I probably wouldn't wear this by itself (if I did I'd definitely add another coat), it makes great undies for the next yellow I have for you, Jellybean by Candeo Colors. Jellybean was among my first forays into the wonderful world of indie polishes. I saw a swatch and was smitten. It's adorable! Jellybean has a pale creamy yellow base brimming with all sorts of brightly colored glitters. There are medium hexes in pink, purple and turquoise and microglitter in chartreuse, lime and pink. The contrasting colors against the yellow just make my eyes so happy I can't help but love this polish.

Application got a little out of control. This polish has a high glitter density and if you're not careful (hello!) you can end up with more glitter on your nail than you bargained for. Luckily, I'm not averse to packing on the glitter especially with such a bright background and applied two coats of Jellybean over the Mellow Yellow manicure above. This is probably too much for some folks, but I love it on the nail. Other than demasiado glitter, Jellybean is an easy and fun polish to apply. I had some instances of the medium hexes protruding over my free edge, but again this polish is too much fun to worry and quibble. I just wait til everything's dry and gently file off the offenders using a glass file. Jellybean dries naturally in good time to a surprisingly smooth and shiny finish.

With apologies for the lack of cleanup, on to the photos, which show two coats of Jellybean over the Mellow Yellow manicure above plus a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

Candeo Colors Jellybean, macro shot in the bottle

Candeo Colors Jellybean over Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

As you can probably tell, Mellow Yellow (ironically) brightens up Jellybean's base color considerably, and I find this quite acceptable. This is no time for subtlety! Applied more delicately, Jellybean can have a less rowdy air, but it's always going to be a party on the nail. It's a striking, colorful and fun polish composition for this time of year. Yes, it's busy, but in a good way!

love,
Liz