Lacquer Slacker Liz: Grace-full Nail Polish

Showing posts with label Grace-full Nail Polish. Show all posts

Friday, June 8, 2018

Grace-full Nail Polish Angry Pixie

Angry Pixie was released towards the end of last month by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Faraway collection, seven lacquers inspired by The Faraway Tree, a series of popular novels for children by British author Enid Blyton (1897-1968).

Officially described as a red jelly with red metallic microflakes, the base color is a brilliant, saturated, medium-dark crimson that's warmed by the red microflake shimmers to more of a glowy fire engine red appearance. Those microflakes also give it a bit of that reflective, semi-metallic quality in ambient light, and create a twinkling, raspberry-colored sparkle along the axis of light in the sun.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Angry Pixie is fluid, light and smooth with a medium consistency and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail, a gorgeous, user-friendly formula that is just what I've learned to expect from the brand. Pigmentation is very good to excellent for a jelly and delivers completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with a bit of pigment travel as you might expect from a well-saturated red, and the microflakes do like to stick to the nail. Angry Pixie dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly satiny sort of finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss.

Photos show two coats of Angry Pixie over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Angry Pixie

Nothing seems to elicit my exaggerated covet response more powerfully than bright red nail polish. Honestly, I'm like Pavlov's dog for it. The MOMENT I came across the first swatches of this polish on Facebook, I went right to Grace-full's international site and ordered. It just arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to get it on my nails. I'm delighted to say that it is every bit as beautiful and intense as I hoped it would be, a fabulous, showy, bright red shimmer for all seasons and occasions (and perfect for the holidays -- never too early!). Love!

xo,
Liz

Friday, December 22, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Christmas Spirit

Like Midnight Clear and Santa Cutie, Christmas Spirit was released in November this year by Australian indie-polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Vintage Christmas collection. This microglitter bomb is described as a deep forest green base with bright green holographic microglitters, red microglitters and green shimmers. The jelly base is indeed a dark but vibrant forest green (almost a Kelly green sort of look) with a nicely balanced "primary" quality -- not too blue, not too yellow -- that gives it a great bold holiday vibe. It's packed with green holographic microglitters perfectly interspersed with red ones for a look that reminds me of a sparkly, stylized holly wreath. It's full of bright glittery sparkle in ambient light, with an added blanket of prismatic sparks in the sun.

Application was great! The consistency of Christmas Spirit is fluid and dense with microglitters, with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity and an easy, tractable, self-leveling flow over the nail that went on best for me in thin to medium coats from a moderately loaded brush. Wearably opaque coverage can be had in two to three coats depending on how you paint. I used three for most uniform depth of color in my photos. I did my cleanup as I went along because sticky glitters! Christmas Spirit dries naturally in very good time to a shiny, pebbly finish that needs a layer or two of good, thick topcoat to smooth it out. I used the combination of a dedicated glitter-smoother and quick-dry for a glossy, glitter-under-glass look.

Photos show three coats of Christmas Spirit over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat topped with a layer of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze and finished with Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Christmas Spirit

Merry Christmas!

I cannot get over how well-balanced this glitter mix is, because this polish does not look even the least bit muddy, either in the bottle or on the nail. Somehow the eye sees those tiny red microglitters with perfect clarity amidst all of that green. They are so cute! Also, I couldn't help but imagine this polish as a glittery gift wrap. Wouldn't that be awesome?

My significant other was shuffling down the hall in his bathrobe when he spotted Christmas Spirit on my nails. "St. Patrick would be proud," he said, examining my manicure. Hello?! Needless to say, he's not really big on Christmas -- but he does love green!

love,
Liz

Friday, December 15, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Santa Cutie

Like Midnight Clear, Santa Cutie was released in November this year by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Vintage Christmas collection. Described as a red jelly packed with teeny super holographic gold microglitters, the base color is a soft, cool-toned medium red along the lines of amaranth with ruby aspects that is warmed by the gold holographic microglitters, adding body to the color and giving it a kind of Indian red quality. The microglitters have an dainty, twinkling prismatic sparkle in ambient light and are downright dazzling in the sun, where they blanket the polish with brilliant sparks in every color of the rainbow.

Application was a pleasure. The consistency of Santa Cutie is fluid and dense with microglitters, with a medium viscosity and a fluent, smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail, an eminently-paintable formula that is easy to manipulate with Grace-full's compact, flattened-style brush. Coverage is provided largely by the microglitters, which do a good enough job to deliver wearable opacity in one medium coat (!), although you'll want two for richest expression of color. I did my cleanup as I went along to avoid sticky microglitters and had no issues. Santa Cutie dries naturally in good time to a flat, sandy-textured finish that is mostly smoothed by a layer of glitter-smoothing or gel-effect topcoat. I added a final layer of Seche Vite for a glossy, glitter-under-glass look.

Photos show two coats of Santa Cutie over treatment and basecoat topped with a layer of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze and a layer of Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Santa Cutie

I'm partial to microglitter bombs like this all year round but the irrepressible sparkle meshes especially joyfully with winter holiday preparations, I think. This polish, which my significant other persists in calling "Santa Cuticle," is just perfect for the season. The glitters are superfine, making for an easy application and a delicate but cheerful, mood-elevating twinkle, which I always appreciate.

xo,
Liz

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Midnight Clear

Midnight Clear was released early last month by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Vintage Christmas collection. Creator Theresa describes it as "a super dark midnight blue with holo flakes." For me, the color is a deep but clear and bold dark sapphire that is just like the night sky of my childhood imagination. Abundant tiny silver holographic flakies swim within, giving the polish a flecked appearance in ambient light. In direct light, the jelly formula allows light to penetrate and fire up those flakes, blanketing the look with tiny, twinkling prismatic sparks.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Midnight Clear is fluid and light with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good. Wearable opacity can be had in two coats, but with dark jellies like this I like three to guarantee the most uniform depth of color. Cleanup is straightforward with some pigment travel and a bit of trace staining, not all that noticeable in the larger scheme of things. Midnight Clear dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of Midnight Clear over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Midnight Clear

This polish gave me an earworm!

Theresa always includes a night sky polish in her Christmas collections, honoring childhood memories of searching the sky for Santa's sleigh with her father on Christmas Eve. I love that image, and look forward to these polishes every year. This fathomless dark blue with its starry silver flakes is absolutely beautiful, and I can see myself wearing it when I drive my Subaru full of gifts up to Charlottesville later this month.

love,
Liz

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Sparkle Siren

Sparkle Siren was released in May this year by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Super Polish Girls collection and is officially described as "a bright red jelly with holo flakes throughout." The color is a vivid, saturated, medium-dark variation of crimson with ruby aspects and an intensely vibrant quality that gives it a lush, bold presence on the nail. Superabundant small holographic flakies read in hues of silver, pink and bright red from within the base, with a noticeable traveling glow or bloom as light passes over them. The jelly formula allows plenty of light to penetrate, intensifying the both the base color and the glowy bloom of the flakes in the sun.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Sparkle Siren is fluid and light with the thin-to-medium viscosity that I love and a fluent, even, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a pleasure to finesse with Grace-full's sleekly compact, flattened-style brush, which I also love. Pigmentation is saturated but has a jelly's translucent nature, so while it will build to a wearable opacity in two medium coats, three are definitely best for maximizing the richness and intensity of the color. There's a bit of pigment travel with cleanup but it's quite manageable with only a hint of residual staining. Sparkle Siren dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. A glossy topcoat gives even more depth to the look.

Photos show three coats of Sparkle Siren over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Grace-full Nail Polish Sparkle Siren

Look no further for your special Christmas red! The intensity and vividness of the color with its glowing little flakes make for a particularly joyful and exuberant sensibility, an irresistible joie de vivre that will make your spirit sing. I absolutely adore this! I've amassed a bunch of Theresa's reds over the past couple of years but I think this one is my favorite of them all so far -- it's absolutely wonderful!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Grace-full Nail Polish Where You Lead

Where You Lead was released in May 2016 by Australian indie polish maker Grace-full Nail Polish as part of the Oy With The Poodles Already collection, a series of eight polishes inspired by a specific episode of Gilmore Girls. Based on the character of Loralei, the name of the polish comes from the show's theme song, "Where You Lead" by Carole King.

Described by creator Theresa as a "chromaflair multichrome that shifts from purple to pink to red and to orange," the most prominent color of Where You Lead is a regal medium-dark patriarch purple. At oblique angles to the light, it displays aspects of dark magenta before segueing into a rich flame color edged by deep firebrick. A beautiful sunset multichrome! It has the shimmering, streak-free, semi-metallic finish common to multichromes, with the most prominent shifts occurring along the axis of light.

Application was a little messy, no fault of the polish's -- it was a shaky hands, recovering from a cold kind of day. The consistency of Where You Lead is fluid, full-bodied and smooth with a slightly thicker viscosity to which I added polish thinner for a density better suited to my skills. Thinned, it had a lush, velvety, self-leveling glide over the nail with a little bit of pull to it. Pigmentation is sheerish on the first coat but builds easily to wearably opaque coverage with the second. I added a third for richest possible color and to maximize the colorshifting effects, and I think it did make a slight difference. Cleanup, thankfully, is easy. Where you lead dries naturally in good time to a smooth, ever-so-slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its best.

Photos show three coats of Where You Lead over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Please pardon the flaky nail surrounds. I must be dehydrated from this cold.

Grace-full Nail Polish Where You Lead

This sunset-colored, purple/pink/red/orange kind of spectrum is my favorite among multichromes. It reminds me of Elevation Polish Taylor Glacier and CrowsToes Indian Summer. The colors are so rich and evocative!

love,
Liz