Lacquer Slacker Liz: Crystal's Charity Lacquers

Showing posts with label Crystal's Charity Lacquers. Show all posts

Monday, May 29, 2017

Different Dimension Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass

Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass was released earlier this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as part of a trio of custom, limited edition lacquers created by Missi specially for Crystal's Charity Lacquers, with part of the proceeds going to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It is the third and final polish of this set.

This one is officially described as "a hot coral pink linear holo with added shimmers." The color is delicious. It's a lighter, almost pastel blend of pink and orange to produce a warm, creamy coral or congo pink, which bears superabundant baby pink shimmers that give it cool pink highlights and a pale pink sheen along the axis of light. Finely-milled holographic pigment adds a delicately-grained, dimensional visual texture to the look. The shimmers cause the linear flare to be slightly dispersed but also give it extra sparkle, with a predominating, dimensional, sparkling arc of pale gold that travels up and down the nail as you bend your fingers in the light.

Application was excellent. The consistency of Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass is fluid and creamy with a medium viscosity and a plush, smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail. The formulas for this trio are all consistently wonderful and extremely satisfying to work with. Pigmentation is very good, with a few areas of sheerness on the first coat building easily to completely even opacity with the second. Cleanup is fairly easy. The shimmers don't disperse over the skin as much as yesterday's polish, dreaMS, but they do like to stick to the nail a bit. Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the cool pink of the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass

After swatching the first polish of this trio, No MS'ing Around, I tentatively picked that one as my favorite. Well, it's been supplanted. Kicking Multiple Scleros-ass is my new favorite. My love for coral polishes usually confines itself to the brightest variations, but the soft, creamy color of this orange-tinged pink is just exquisite.

There's a certain suave, stylized feel to it as well that is also present in the other two polishes. It's almost a kind of nostalgic sensibility that's difficult to articulate but reminds me of the sunbathing ladies of my childhood, mothers of friends who would be all oiled up and laying out in the sun when I came over to play. Perhaps it is a little girl's fascination with the mystery and sophistication of women and their beauty rituals that is recalled, somehow, by the look of the polishes in this trio.

I don't know, it may be singular to my perception. But these are special lacquers, no doubt about it. If you managed to purchase them while they were available and haven't tried them yet, you're in for a treat!

love,
Liz

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Different Dimension dreaMS

Like No MS'ing Around, dreaMS was released earlier this month by Different Dimension as one of a trio of limited edition custom polishes for Crystal's Charity Lacquers, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This is the blue of the bunch, officially described as "a lightened teal blue linear holo with added shimmer," but it's not nearly as simple as it sounds. It is an extraordinarily shimmery shade, and the base color appears to me to be a silvery, slightly dusky pastel blue along the lines of light steel blue. Tiny gleaming microflake shimmers are a brighter, more cyanic blue, almost a turquoise, with some shifting pinkish/reddish interference that is largely unnoticeable on the nail, and give the polish an overall look that is more of a Columbia blue, a light azurey shade blanketed with shimmering electric blue sparks. The holographic effects lend a rich, finely-grained visual texture and create a slightly dispersed but very sparkly linear prismatic flare in the sun, where the overall color of the polish brightens considerably to a buoyant baby blue.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of dreaMS is fluid and smooth with a medium viscosity and a full-bodied, self-leveling glide over the nail, not quite as creamy as No MS'ing Around but equally user-friendly. Pigmentation is very good to excellent, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two thin coats. Cleanup is straightforward but not necessarily easy, especially if you tend to have swipage issues like I do. The shimmers, freed by acetone, disperse and settle, glistening happily, over the nail environs and are the very soul of intractability to chase down. dreaMS dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat doesn't appear to affect the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of dreaMS over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension dreaMS

A perfect blue holo for the warmer months, shimmery and fresh.

love,
Liz

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Different Dimension No MS'ing Around

No MS'ing Around was released this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as one of three limited edition custom polishes for Crystal's Charity Lacquers, a wonderful collaborative Facebook group that solicits specially created polishes from indie makers to benefit selected charities. Part of the proceeds from No MS'ing Around and its sister polishes is being donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. You can read more about Crystal's donation here.

Officially described as "a light mint green linear holo," the color of No MS'ing Around is a soft, sleek, slightly dusky pastel green with aspects of sage, sort of like a blue-leaning celadon or a greyed magic mint. It reminds me of the kind of color that you'd see featured in interior design, refined and sophisticated with a relaxing, serene sense to it and a certain stylized sylvan quality. It's remarkably intricate for a pastel shade, and tremendously flattering on the nail. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment gives it a delicately-grained, dimensional appearance and nuances the color with a hint of pale cerulean and hues of aero blue and light sea green. In the sun, there's a bright, sparkling linear prismatic flare featuring all of the rainbow colors that frames a glistening lick of silvery spring green and shades to an intensely creamy celadon at the sidewalls of the nail.

Application was dreamy. The consistency of No MS'ing around is fluid, light and buttery with a medium viscosity and a deliciously silky, even, self-leveling slip over the nail -- an excellent, user-friendly formula that is a amenable to thin or thicker coats as preference dictates. Pigmentation is very good, offering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. No MS'ing Around dries naturally in very good time to a beautiful glossy finish. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of No MS'ing Around over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension No MS'ing Around

This is a beautiful polish. It's ethereal, but very present, if you know what I mean, and deliciously creamy and sleek. I bought both of its sister polishes as well, a coral pink and a light blue, and while I'm hesitant to call favorites when I haven't tried the others, this graceful green will be mighty tough to beat!

love,
Liz

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Ever After Polish Heart Strings

Heart Strings was released in February this year by Ohio-based indie polish maker Ever After Polish as one of two limited edition custom polishes for Crystal's Charity Lacquers, a facebook group that solicits specially created polishes from indie makers to benefit selected charities. A portion of the profits from Heart Strings and its sister polish, You Aorta Know, was donated to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. It always feels good to be part of this kind of generosity!

Heart Strings is a beautiful medium-toned reddish pink linear holographic polish bearing abundant tiny flakes in metallic pink and silver. The color looks to me to land somewhere between cerise and French rose on the spectrum of reddish pinks, with a delicious creaminess to it that gives it a particularly graceful, genteel aspect,
enhanced by misty, holographically-nuanced hues of cherry blossom pink and lavender in bright ambient light. The pink and silver flakes gleam brightly as light travels over them and appear to stand out in relief from within the polish, created a lovely limpid depth to the look on the nail. An especially sparkly, fully linear prismatic display fires up in direct sun, with slender bands in every rainbow color surrounding a central lick of shimmering, semi-metallic pale pink.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Heart Strings is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium viscosity and a plush, velvety glide over the nail that is easy to manipulate with Ever After Polish's slightly bushy flattened-style brush. Self-leveling properties are excellent, as is pigmentation -- it comes close to being a one-coater! I used two medium coats for evenly opaque coverage. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, and this polish went on so easily that I had only a little of it to do. Heart Strings dries naturally in very good time to a smooth finish with a soft shine. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss, enhances the presence and effects of the flakies and does not interfere with the polish's holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of Heart Strings over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ever After Polish Heart Strings

This is a gorgeous little gem of a polish, I just love it! You don't usually see silver paired with pink, which makes this one very special for us silver lovers. The color is clean and vibrant but not too intense, an eminently wearable, flattering shade that sits prettily on the nail. It's like the nail polish equivalent of a happy hug from a child, full of honest, heartwarming sweetness.

Keeper!

xo,
Liz