Lacquer Slacker Liz: Carpe Noctem Cosmetics

Showing posts with label Carpe Noctem Cosmetics. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Paint Uranus Pink

This post is dedicated to Erik Engberg, who enjoys seventh planet puns more than any person should.

Paint Uranus Pink is part of the core line of Michigan-based indie polish maker Carpe Noctem Cosmetics. I'm not sure when creator Emily released this polish. It went on my wishlist for the name alone the moment I came across it, which seems like it was a while ago now. Just recently I made a point of visiting the Carpe Noctem myshopify store and purchasing it, along with two other pink polishes that I suspect will inevitably make their way here also.

Emily describes Paint Uranus Pink as a super bright magenta holo and I agree. Loaded with fine metallic hot pink shimmers, the overall impression is of an intense steel pink with aspects of orchid. It has a gleaming, semi-metallic finish with that slightly dusty holo look that shimmer holos sometimes have and a wonderful purpley pink flash. In direct sun, the color brightens to a hot pink and the dustiness transforms into a sparkling prismatic mist. Now I'd have bought this no matter what it looked like, but it is totally gorgeous, a fiercely feminine, unrepentantly flamboyant eye-catcher of a polish.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Paint Uranus Pink is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky slip over the nail. Self-leveling properties are excellent as is pigmentation, delivering opaque coverage in a single coat. I used two coats for this manicure as I usually do, but it honestly did not seem to affect the look of the polish on the nail at all. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with a skosh of pigment travel but no residual staining to speak of. Paint Uranus Pink dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth finish with a soft shine. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and does not affect the holographic properties of the polish in any way that I could tell.

Photos show two coats of Paint Uranus Pink over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Paint Uranus Pink

Dat shimmah, tho'!

I don't remember being the slightest bit embarrassed by the traditional English pronunciation of Uranus until middle school, so I must have learned my planets before I grasped the concept of double entendre. Well, either that or I hadn't yet been exposed (so to speak) to the proper anatomical term for that part of the body. A sheltered life dot com.

It's worth pointing out that only in English is it impossible to speak the name of the seventh planet aloud without somebody in earshot snickering. Other languages handle it much more gracefully than we do. We get all the fun, don't we?

ttyl,
Liz

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Taupey Tips

In my ongoing leisurely exploration of what I’m now calling the YNBB (Your Nails But Better, modified from Mannequin Hands) polish genre -- pale neutral nudes, basically -- I have for you today Taupey Tips from Michigan-based indie polish maker Carpe Noctem Cosmetics. From the online reviews I’ve read, I gather that this was released as a stand alone polish in January 2014 at the latest and reformulated, I believe, early this past summer. It is a greige or pale milky taupe linear holo. I find this shade particularly lovely. It’s a beautifully balanced mix of ash grey and sand that hints at pinkishness, warmer than cement but still cool overall, a delicate shell-like hue that is profoundly graceful on the nail. As a pale creamy holo, the effects are naturally subdued, rendering a vestigial prismatic display in pastel colors under direct sun. But my favorite effect of the holo in this polish is the nacreous look it confers upon the finish in indirect light, a perfect partner to the shell-like aspect of the coloring. It gives this pale neutral an exquisite glistening quality that adds a certain freshness to its soothing, gentle elegance on the nail.

Application was very nice. The consistency of Taupey Tips is fluid and supremely creamy with an even, buttery glide over the nail and very good self-leveling properties for a white-based shade. There is a certain amount of built-in translucence to this polish that is actually quite stunning as it has the endearing quality of camouflaging polish staining while still permitting visible nail line at two coats. But if you’re into opacity, that can be accommodated by adding an additional coat, which I did. The first coat went on with some streakiness thanks to my ever-annoying nail ridges, but the second coat evens up the coverage beautifully. Cleanup is easy. Taupey Tips dries naturally in very good time to a glossy finish. Topcoat will help to eliminate any lingering unevenness in the surface.

Photos show three coats of Taupey Tips over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Taupey Tips

A very pretty creamy neutral holo, no?

Sadly, Fuzzy does not share my affection for the YNBB variety of polishes. Apparently she finds them amorphous and nebbishy. “Neither here nor there” were her exact words. Well! At least she has a well-defined, if exclusionary, aesthetic.

love,
Liz

Monday, March 16, 2015

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics [Insert Emerald Pun Here]

Although the true name of this polish includes brackets -- [Insert Emerald Pun Here] -- I'll be omitting them in the body of this post for easier reading.

Insert Emerald Pun Here was released by new-to-me indie polish maker Carpe Noctem Cosmetics as part of the Always Greener collection, a cleverly-named series of four green polishes for spring and perfect for St. Patrick's Day. It's a vibrant medium-dark true jewel-toned emerald linear holo with a semi-translucent jelly base that allows light to permeate and set off its wonderful holo effects. As with creamy holos, the athletic prismatic display supplies the emerald base with a flair of gorgeous analogous greens in forest and oceanic hues edging a central blaze of deep cerulean blue with an underlying semi-metallic light olive flash. The lush nuanced coloring is further enhanced by a plump, juicy jelly finish. Delicious!

Application was dreamy. I love the shape of Carpe Noctem's polish bottles, a stylized teardrop with ergonomic flattening to the front and back, so sleek and acquiescent in the hand! The consistency of Insert Emerald Pun Here is fluid and smooth with none of the stickiness or gel-like qualities that can sometimes accompany a jelly formula. It has a smooth, easy flow over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation, as with most jellies, is buildable. Wearable opacity can be achieved in two coats, but I like three better for best visible nail line coverage, full bottle color and maximum benefit of the polish's squishy jelly nature. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with no pigment travel and no residual staining. Insert Emerald Pun Here dries naturally in good time to a glossy finish.

Photos show three coats of Insert Emerald Pun here over Seche Rebuild treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base ridge-filling basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite, complete with a few bubbles (as usual... sigh).

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics [Insert Emerald Pun Here]

Nice! The holo adds so much depth to this polish that you almost feel like you could jump in and swim around! Superb emerald coloring. I imagine Insert Emerald Pun Here would be sparkly and amazing in direct sun, which we're short of here today due to overcast skies and a forecast of rain. But even so, look at that display!

love,
Liz