Lacquer Slacker Liz: Ellagee

Showing posts with label Ellagee. Show all posts

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Ellagee Truly Scrumptious

Truly Scrumptious was created by Laura of Ellagee Polish especially for the February 2018 "Sugar Rush" edition of Polish Pickup. Described as "a scattered rosy pink holo with pink and iridescent flakes," the color is a light, delicate blend of pink and grey along the lines of queen pink or boto pink, with aspects of dusky mauve and a neutral, your-nails-but-better sensibility. Abundant holographic pigment gives it a silky, lustrous, finely-grained visual texture, nuances the base color with hints of champagne and silver pink and creates an exquisite prismatic bloom in pale, shimmering hues of azure, pink and gold in ambient light. My camera didn't really capture this, but across the surface of the polish, tiny scattered flakes glisten in nacreous shades of pale blue, lavender, baby pink and silver as light travels over them, adding a certain dewy quality to the look.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Truly Scrumptious is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Truly Scrumptious dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence of those gleaming little flakes and does not in any way interfere with the holographic properties of the polish.

Photos show two coats of Truly Scrumptious over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ellagee Truly Scrumptious

I love this. The luminous, washed, sea-shell color is soft and sleek on the nail with a clean, soothing kind of vibe that makes for a particularly elegant neutral look. I guess you could call it a palette cleanser -- it makes me feel like I've been to the day spa. Really lovely!

xo,
Liz

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Ellagee Nightspark

Like Heartstone, Nightspark was released this month by Texas-based indie polish maker Ellagee as part of a trio of custom, limited edition polishes for July 2017 created by Laura exclusively for members of the Hella Holo Customs Facebook group. This one is described as "a blurple linear holo with pink shimmer and multicolored iridescent flakes." The base color is a translucent darkish variation of denimy sapphire similar to liberty from the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names. Swimming within are beaucoup variously-shaped iridescent flakies, sized from tiny particles to relative large shardy flakes, which gleam brightly in rich, metallic jewel-toned hues as light hits them. Abundant finely-milled pink shimmers combine with the base color to give the polish a transparent royal purple glow in ambient light. The holographic properties come to the fore in the sun, creating a dazzling blanket of prismatic sparkle supplemented by brilliant jewel-toned sparks from the flakies.

Application was a deliberate, careful process. The consistency of Nightspark is fluid, full-bodied and somewhat bulky from the components, with a thicker viscosity to which I added polish thinner at the outset. By and large, the flakies go on smoothly and lay flat (I ended up with only one significant stickup), but some of them are quite sizeable, requiring a bit of care to position satisfactorily on the nail, and one or two were so disproportionately large that I quickly brushed them off altogether. Pigmentation is sheer by design, building to wearable opacity in three coats. I did my cleanup as I went along and had no issues. Nightspark dries naturally in good time to a shiny, textured finish, mostly smoothed by topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Nightspark over KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ellagee Nightspark

While the base color is an elegant and serene dark blue, the abundance of colorful flakies in concert with the pink shimmers and holographic pigment in this polish give it a certain sense of extravagance and a rich, ornamental quality that is much more complex in person than can be seen in a photo. In ambient light, the effect is kind of like looking at one of Monet's darker water lily paintings, an immersive waterscape of reflectivity and depth within which reside delightful splashes of color, disparate but entirely coherent to the scene.

love,
Liz

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Ellagee Heartstone

Heartstone was released this month by Texas-based indie polish maker Ellagee Luxury Artisan Nail Polish as one of three limited edition custom polishes for July 2017 created exclusively for the Hella Holo Customs (HHC) Facebook group. This polish is officially described as "a soft quartz pink scattered holo with aqua blue shimmer and iridescent microglitter." The base color is a delicate, slightly dusky desaturated pink with a silvery aspect and a shimmering, sandy visual texture, both of which make it difficult to pin down the exact shade. It's cooler than champagne pink and warmer than misty rose, with a vibe than leans more to ballerina on the ballerina/princess spectrum. Superabundant finely-milled blue shimmers create a pale silvery blue gleam along the axis of light, and tiny iridescent microglitters twinkle in nacreous hues as light travels over them. In direct sun there's a stunning warm prismatic flush enriched by extra sparkle from the microglitters and a central swath of bright blue spangles from the shimmers, shading to a sleek queen pink at the sidewalls of the nail.

Application was a delicate matter. The consistency of Heartstone is fluid, full-bodied and dense with components with a medium-to-thicker viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it had a fluent, self-leveling glide over the nail with a bit of tumbling on the part of the microglitters, and I found that a light, even touch works best to minimize the tumbling and keep the visual texture of the polish as smooth looking as possible. The shimmers do not show brushstrokes per se -- they are more like a medium with the potential to reflect tiny irregularities, such as a tumbled glitter or other unevenness, in the finish.

Pigmentation is somewhat sheer but bolstered by the components, producing evenly opaque coverage in two coats for shorties and three for longer nails. Cleanup is easy if you do it as you go along. Heartstone dries naturally in good time to a shiny finish with a very delicate discernible texture, easily and completely smoothed by topcoat, which also serves to accentuate the presence of the components.

Photos show three coats of Heartstone over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. They really don't do justice to the complexity of the polish, which is much more apparent in person. Also, the blue of the shimmers got a little lost in translation -- it, too, is much more apparent in person.

Ellagee Heartstone

The mix of components gives this polish a layered, complex sort of light play that you don't usually see in a pale, bordering-on-nude pink holo. The look is silvery and ethereal in ambient light, more robust and holographic in the sun. The delicate visual texture of the finish and the transformation of the shimmers from a silvery blue gleam to a mist of brilliant blue sparks are especially remarkable, adding a distinct indie flavor to the feel of the polish.

love,
Liz

Friday, June 2, 2017

Ellagee She Blinded Me With Science

She Blinded Me With Science was created by Laura of Texas-based indie polish maker Ellagee Luxury Artisan Nail Polish exclusively for the science-themed edition of Polish Pickup, released in May this year. Polish Pickup is a new, innovative take on the modern monthly polish box, releasing limited edition, custom, theme-inspired polishes by a variety of makers for four days beginning on the first Friday of each month on the Polish Pickup website. Each polish is available for individual purchase -- select only the polishes you want. Each month has a different theme, and thematic concepts for future months' polishes can be submitted and voted on at the website as well. Find out more here, or join the Polish Pickup Pack Facebook group.

She Blinded Me With Science is a true microglitter bomb, featuring a deep blue jelly base packed with bazillions of tiny microglitters in a rainbow of colors. In ambient light, the general impression is of a medium-darkish blue-grey along the lines of Payne's Grey, with hints of royal purple and stealthy turquoise sparks. The teeming microglitters give it an appealing, dimensional, finely-grained visual texture, and explode into a twinkling, multicolored blanket of sparkle in direct light.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of She Blinded Me With Science is fluid and dense with microglitters with a medium viscosity and a surprisingly light, fluent glide over the nail. The microglitters go on smoothly and evenly, and the polish went on very easily for me in medium coats from a moderately loaded brush. Coverage is provided by the microglitters, which do an excellent job, delivering even, wearable opacity in two coats. I added a third for the photos, and I think it consolidated the base color a little better than two. Cleanup is easy if you do it as you go along. She Blinded Me With Science dries naturally in good time to a flat, sandy finish that is easily smoothed by a generous layer of topcoat.

Photos show three coats of She Blinded Me With Science over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ellagee She Blinded Me With Science

It's true, I did buy this polish in part because of the name. "I can smell the chem-i-cals!" Oh hell to the yes (as my nephew says)! But the stealth of this microglitter bomb with its interesting, muted appearance that bursts into a field of brightly-colored sparks in direct light delights me to no end. So good!

She Blinded Me With Science was inspired by a brightly-colored image of a DNA molecule and named for Rosalind Franklin (1920-58), an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who was the first person EVER to document DNA's double-helix molecular structure in a photograph (Photo 51). Although other parts of her work were appreciated in her lifetime, her contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA were only largely recognized after her death.

An excellent tribute, Laura!

love,
Liz

Monday, April 27, 2015

Cult Nails Love at First Sight and Ellagee Poor Unfortunate Souls

Love at First Sight was released by boutique polish maker Cult Nails as part of the Dance All Night collection for early summer in May 2013. Described as a "bright pastel influenced purple," this is a creamy medium-light purple or floral lavender shade with strong pink overtones. It's right there where purple, lavender and lilac meet, just a hair more purple than the Crayola color wisteria. To me it has a certain subdued quality that keeps it in the soft bright category. The pastel influence is readily apparent and it places Love at First in a unique spot relative to other creamy purples. I have an abundance of creamy mid-toned grape purples, and this would hold up at the very light end of that spectrum, but it is fairly bold and bright compared to a true pastel lavender or lilac. Suffice to say I have nothing else quite like it in my stash.

Application was dreamy. The pastel influence does not extend to the formula, which is on point with Cult Nails' best. Love at First Sight has a fluid, creamy consistency with a perfectly balanced viscosity for painting, a buttery glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is excellent with the potential for one-coat coverage, but I used two to be sure of completely even opacity. It's unusual to find a color that is whitened, as this clearly is, with such even, streak-free coverage. Lovely! Cleanup is easy with a little bit of pigment travel but no residual staining. Love at First Sight dries naturally in good time to a glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Love at First Sight over treatment and basecoat with a bubbly topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

Cult Nails Love at First Sight

I thought that this would make a perfect base for an Ursula glitter manicure. Ursula is the main antagonist in Disney's 1989 animated fantasy film The Little Mermaid, and my generous polish bestie Marisa of Tiny Twinklings recently gifted me the two Ursula polishes from indie polish maker Ellagee's 2014 Villainous Holo-ween collection. The first of the two, The Importance of Body Language, I liked too well by itself to add the matching glitter topper and I'm glad I saved the latter for later because in the interim Love at First Sight arrived in the mail. My path was clear.

Ursula (source)

Poor Unfortunate Souls is the glitter topper from the Villainous Holo-ween Ursula duo, named for the song Ursula sings to Ariel to seduce her into trading her voice for the chance to become temporarily human. It's a gorgeous concoction of holographic turquoise hex glitters sized from micro to medium along with medium hex glitters in black and red. The turquoise holo glitters sparkle in dramatic flashes of sea green and bright blue, perfectly accompanied by the red and black.

I dabbed one generous coat of Poor Unfortunate Souls over the Love at First Sight manicure. Glitter payoff is excellent, with a goodly amount of glitter per brushful. The suspension base is thicker in consistency but not sticky, and the glitters disperse easily over the nail and settle down without any trouble, no tumbling or stickups and only a couple of free edge protrusions. Cleanup wasn't a problem but in my excitement I did leave a few sparklers on my nail environs. Well, either it's all right or it's too bad, as Fuzzy says. Poor Unfortunate Souls dries naturally in good time to a shiny finish with a little texture from the glitter. I added a coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food before my topcoat to smooth it out.

Photos show one coat of Poor Unfortunate Souls over the Love at First Sight manicure above, with a layer of Glitter Food followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Ellagee Poor Unfortunate Souls over Cult Nails Love at First Sight

I'm not usually one for glitter toppers but I love this one, the color are fantastic and I think it makes for a pretty awesome Ursula manicure over the light purple of Love at First Sight! Thanks, Marisa!

love,
Liz