Lacquer Slacker Liz: LynBDesigns

Saturday, May 12, 2018

LynBDesigns Bluetiful Day

Bluetiful Day was released in August 2017 by Michigan-based indie polish maker LynBDesigns as part of the MK Ultra Holos collection. It is officially described as a cerulean holo -- "blue with the perfect hint of green to remind of the sky at dusk."

The color in bright ambient light is a creamy, medium-toned variation of azure similar to celestial blue that is ever-so-gently silvered by ultrafine holographic pigment, which reads as silvery champagne within the base and gives the color a subtle effervescence. In lower and direct light, the silvered quality goes away and the color comes together in a way that is bolder and brighter, more like a Honolulu blue. There's a vestigial linear prismatic display in the sun, with subtle arcs of bright azure and spring green edged by scattered sparks of sunset pink.

Application was a tiny bit on the tetchy side for me, but perhaps I am just not used to the formula. The consistency of Bluetiful Day is fluid and quite full-bodied with a slightly thicker viscosity than I am comfortable with typically so I added enough polish thinner to get more of a thin-to-medium viscosity. It sets up rapidly and doesn't appreciate being messed with after a certain point, so went on best for me in generous coats from a well-loaded brush using as few strokes as possible. Pigmentation is very good. Some streakiness on the first coat evens out to a nice, wearable opacity with the second. Cleanup is easy. Bluetiful Day dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and does not appear to affect the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of Bluetiful Day over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

LynBDesigns Bluetiful Day

This is a beautiful, resonant medium blue with a summery feel to it, like the sky directly overhead on a warm, cloudless day, and I think it's bold enough to hold its own in the fall as well. I love the touch of holographic effervescence, it adds luminosity and a subtle dimensional effect to the look on the nail. Nice!

I picked up a couple of other polishes from this collection (which is chock-full of great colors btw) when I got this one, so if there's a learning curve to the application I reckon I'll have a chance to work through it as I review them. Other bloggers gave the formula top billing so it's definitely a personal issue here. If you happen to prefer a thicker-style formula, you will probably find this one most satisfactory.

love,
Liz

Friday, April 24, 2015

LynBDesigns Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book

Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book was released by Michigan-based indie polish maker LynBDesigns as part of the Dweam Wiffim A Dweam collection in February 2013. The inspiration for this collection is, of course, the 1987 American romantic comedy fantasy adventure film The Princess Bride. Wait Wait Wait is This a Kissing Book is a full-coverage flakie topper with a pink-tinted transparent suspension based loaded with superabundant irregularly-shaped metallic flakies in gold, pink and red as well infinitesimal magenta microglitters. Beautifully composed, it can be layered to great effect in one coat over a base color (spectacular over purple!) or alone over itself in multiple coats, which is how I chose to wear it. The overall effect when layered to opacity by itself is of a medium-light, soft, washed pinkish red with aspirations to coral flecked with softly gleaming dapples of red, gold, orange and pink. The teensy magenta microglitters add a grace note of sparkle and bit of a reflective magenta sheen to this intricate confection, which sits gracefully on the nail.

Application was great! The consistency of Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book is a little gel-like due to the suspension base and fluffy with flakies but surprisingly fluid never the less, with a smooth, easy flow over the nail. There was a bit of flakie tumbling, some free edge protrusions and a couple of stickups (mostly on the sidewalls) but the components disperse evenly and the polish self-levels very well to a remarkably smooth finish. Coverage is a function of the components, which are dense enough to provide mostly opaque, wearable coverage in three coats albeit with some sheerness on the tips. Cleanup is something you'll want to do as little as possible of with this polish. The golden flakies, especially, stick like limpets to whatever surface they hit, and the tiny magenta microglitters are a bear to remove with a cleanup brush. A proactive approach of as clean an application as possible is the way to go. Not my forte! And I have the random components sprinkled over my nail environs to prove it. Ah well! Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth shiny finish with a very slight discernible texture from the components. I opted for a matte topcoat to finish, the better to show off the gleaming flakies.

Photos show three coats of Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book over treatment and basecoat with a layer of OPI Matte Topcoat.

LynBDesigns Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book

LynBDesigns Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book, macro shot in the bottle

LynBDesigns Wait Wait Wait Is This a Kissing Book

This polish saw a two-plus-year stint on my wishlist before I picked it up only recently during one of Jenna's sales. It had been stuck in my head from the moment I first saw it swatched by Mishka of Accio Lacquer in February 2013... something about the gleaming pastiche of fiery analogous colors is just delicious and nigh irresistible to my eye. I'm very pleased to have it finally, it joins a couple of other similarly composed lacquers in my stash as the original holy grail, but there's a little bit of a disconnect between looking at it and actually wearing it. It's a bit more subtle on the nail than macro and bottle shots would lead you to believe -- the exquisite mini mosaic of the components doesn't have the same drama on my fingertips that I so love when I have it right up to my eyeball, and I'm thinking it might just be too soft and delicate to stand up to my pinkage....

I still love it's construction, though, and I still think it's a gorgeous polish, especially with a matte topcoat.

Speaking of drama, the Zoya Earth Day polish exchange and sale currently afoot always has such a momentous psychological impact on my nail polish doings. Am I the only one? I'm sure that little virtual Zoya shopping cart will be seeing a lot of action for the duration of the sale as I collect and cull way too many polishes for my own good in my quest to put together a reasonable purchase. I currently have fifteen in there right now, but there you go, that's way too many! I'm about ready to dump them all and start over with a more focused scope. Lather, rinse, repeat. Good times, bring a date!

love,
Liz