Lacquer Slacker Liz: Illyrian Polish

Showing posts with label Illyrian Polish. Show all posts

Friday, November 10, 2017

Illyrian Polish Lock

Lock was released last month by Texas-based indie polish maker Illyrian Polish as part of the Oogie Boys Trio, a limited troika of lacquers by Illyrian, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer and CrowsToes that was inspired by and named for the threesome of Halloween Town trick-or-treaters from the 1993 American stop-motion animated musical/dark fantasy film The Nightmare Before Christmas who serve as villain Oogie Boogie's henchmen.

Described as a burgundy holo with red flecks, the color is a dark red-violet or wine shade with a dimensional, blackened quality. Fine holographic pigment particles dust the finish, and superabundant tiny red metallic flakes light up as light travels over them and add a certain semi-metallic quality to the look, which is rich and tapestried.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Lock is fluid and dense with a medium-to-thicker viscosity and an even, velvety, self-leveling glide over the nails. The red flakies go on beautifully, flat to the nail with out stacking, stickups or protrusions over the free edge. Pigmentation is very good and delivers even opacity and full, rich bottle color in two coats. Cleanup was surprisingly easy. Lock dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Illyrian Polish Lock

I love the richness and visual texture of this dark purpley-red, it feels absolutely perfect for this chilly, rainy November day. The gleaming red flakies are simply stunning, creating an almost glitter-like sparkle along the axis of light that adds to the interior illumination provided by the holo. There's a cozy plushness to the look that reminds me of velvet. A beautiful, very becoming polish!

xo,
Liz

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Illyrian Polish Blood of Unicorns

I have another lacquer from Texas-based indie polish maker Illyrian Polish for you today. It's Blood of Unicorns, released in 2015 and described as a dark candy red base with strong fuchsia/blue and red iridescent microflake shimmers. To my eye, the translucent jelly base is a deep, slightly murky red violet lying about halfway between flirt and wine. It's a purple-berry color, kind of like a plummy variation of jazzberry jam, with enough red in it to give it a rich, feminine look. Twinkling within are abundant fuchsia and blue microflakes shimmers as well as a modicum of iridescent red microflakes, which read as magenta and bright red through the base. The combined shimmer components add a delicate, transparent purplish glow to the polish in natural ambient light, and under incandescent light there's a beautiful bright reddish magenta flash.

Application was great! The consistency of Blood of Unicorns is fluid, full-bodied and smooth with a medium viscosity and plush, self-leveling glide over the nail. Pigmentation is very good, rendering evenly opaque coverage in two medium coats. Cleanup is straightforward with a tiny bit of trace staining. Blood of Unicorns dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish that shows a bit of jelly-ish squish after topcoat.

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

Illyrian Polish Blood of Unicorns

Red violet is one of my favorite colors for nails, so this is a win for me!

love,
Liz

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Illyrian Polish Cosmic Moment

Cosmic Moment was released earlier this summer by Texas-based indie polish maker Illyrian Polish as part of the Free Spirit collection. It's officially described as a "dark murky denim blue holo base with a subtle teal green to dark purple shift." To me, the base color is a dark, cloudy midnight blue, almost a Prussian blue but for a bit of jelly-ish translucence that makes it not quite so heavy and dense. It's an ideal platform for the superabundant green/violet color-shifting particulate shimmers to work their beetle-wing magic, shading the nail with pronounced shimmering swaths of foresty teal green and dark violet with an accompanying transparent purple sheen at various angles to the light. The holographic effects are responsive and athletic, combining with the shimmer colors to dimensionalize the look with hues of pine and bottle green, blackened violet and navy in ambient light.

Application was quite agreeable. The consistency of Cosmic Moment is fluid and dense with a medium viscosity and a smooth, oily glide over the nail. I doctored it with polish thinner to alleviate a bit of stickiness to the jelly formula and accomodate my slow, shaky painting practices. Pigmentation is sheerish and streaky on the first coat, but builds quickly to wearable opacity with the second. I added a third to maximize the shiftiness and holographic properties. Cleanup is easy. Cosmic Moment dries naturally in very good time to a smooth shiny finish. Topcoat enhances the presence and effects of the color-shifting shimmers.

Photos show three coats of Cosmic Moment over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Illyrian Polish Cosmic Moment

A mysterious, murky masterpiece of holo and raven's-wing color shift! The shifts, especially the green, are much more overtly visible in person. There's an aspect of foreboding to this look that reminds me of dark roily thunderclouds and the smell of ozone. Moody and enigmatic on the nail, it's the kind of shade a sorceress would wear. You look at it and think, whoa, there's some powerful hoo doo happening here!

love,
Liz

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Illyrian Polish Vampire Squid

Vampire Squid was released earlier this year by Texas-based indie polish maker Illyrian Polish as part of the Sea Monsters collection. Described as a deep cherry red jelly with red holo glitter, red shimmer and purple iridescence, the color is a deep saturated red-violet that is rich and vibrant despite being dark. Abundant bright red holographic glitters ignite within the base as they catch the light, accompanied by copious purple iridescent microflake shimmers and red shimmers that twinkle brightly in concert, producing a splendid dimensional "galaxy" look on the nail. Gorgeous!

Application was ok. The consistency of Vampire Squid is fluid and dense with components, with a thick viscosity to which I added several squirts of polish thinner at the outset. Thinned, it went on most easily in medium coats from a well-loaded brush, with a considerable amount of tumbling on the part of the components as well as protrusions over the free edge that I guided back onto the nail with a tip-wrapping swipe. No stickups, though! Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. I did most of my cleanup as I went along while the polish was still wet to avoid the hassle of trying to remove the glitters and shimmers that like to stick once it dries. Otherwise, very little pigment travel or residual staining.

Vampire Squid dries naturally in good time to a flat, textured finish. For a glossy "glitter under glass" look, I double topcoated using first a dedicated glitter-smoother, allowing it to partially dry before finishing up with a layer of Seche Vite.

Photos show two coats of Vampire Squid over KBShimmer Love You Strong time treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat, finished with a coat of Pretty Serious Plump Up the Volume followed by Seche Vite.

Illyrian Polish Vampire Squid

Love this look so much! The color and sparkle are divine! Or, as Fuzzy says, "Wicked!" I've been sitting here doing thumb curls under the lamp just to watch the sparkle. It's mesmerizing.

I wouldn't want to try and apply this without thinner on hand, and even though it's not the smoothest applying polish I think that the end result is worth any trouble it gives. I absolutely recommend using a dedicated glitter-smoothing/gel effect topcoat or double topcoating or whatever your strategy is for making a textured finish smooth and glossy, it really accentuates the polish's glamorous qualities.

love,
Liz

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Illyrian Polish Never Forget What You Are

Never Forget What You Are was released in January this year by Texas-based indie polish maker Illyrian Polish as part of the Winter is Coming collection, a series of polishes inspired by the epic fantasy drama series Game of Thrones. Creator Vanessa describes this polish as a teal linear holo with purple shimmer. It's an utterly stunning teal blue, deep and well-saturated and fantastically oceanic, a creme holo in which the abundant finely-milled holographic pigment serves to enrich the base with shimmering shades of ultramarine and cerulean spangled with tiny sparks of sea green. Microflake shimmers add complexity with sporadic, unexpected glints of royal purple and a stealthy violet glow in low light. In the sun there's a magnificent linear prismatic display with a central flame of bold ultramarine and cerulean edged by a sparkling band of electric blue and a corona of bright sparks in spring green and fiery orange, darkening to inky ambiguity at the edges of the nail.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Never Forget Who You Are is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium viscosity and a full-bodied, self-leveling flow over the nail. Pigmentation shows a little bit of sheerness on the first coat that quickly builds to fully opaque coverage with the second. A third coat will deliver even deeper, richer color and holographic effects, and that's what I used for this manicure. Cleanup is straightforward with a skosh of pigment travel as you might expect from such a shade but no residual staining to speak of. Never Forget What You Are dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth finish that has a soft shine. Topcoat does not appear to affect the holographic properties of this polish in any way.

Photos show three coats of Never Forget What You Are over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Illyrian Polish Never Forget What You Are

This polish is named for a quote by the character of Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Hayden Dinklage in the series. He says to Jon Snow:

Let me give you some advice bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.

So interesting that this dramatically beautiful, richly-hued polish is linked with Tyrion!

love,
Liz