Lacquer Slacker Liz: Picture Polish

Showing posts with label Picture Polish. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Picture Polish Blossom

Like Cactus and Heaven, Blossom was released in March this year by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as part of the Spring Autumn 2018 collection. This is yet another Collaboration shade, created with Paulina of Paulina's Passions, according to her design. You can view her post about Blossom here.

Officially described as a "shifting soft baby pink to lilac" jelly with pink glass fleck shimmers and PP's signature mix of holographic flakes, the color is a cool-toned, pastel tint of pink that's similar to a desaturated version of Pantone's Fairy Tale, milky and delicate. It has gentle lilac undertones that seem to assert themselves more or less depending on viewing circumstances. Subtle, scattered flecks in an ever-so-slightly brighter tone of pink glisten as light travels over them, and fine holographic flakes sparkle in hues of silver, pale gold and pastel pink and azure in the sun.

Application was a pleasure. The consistency of Blossom is fluid, light and creamy with a medium consistency and a fluent, easy glide over the nail, a lovely formula that's really more of a crelly than a jelly and self-levels beautifully for a pastel. It is semi-translucent by design and a tiny bit of streakiness, mostly ridge-related, built steadily to evenly opaque coverage in three coats for me, although I think it's also beautiful at two with a touch of visible nail line. Cleanup is straightforward with a bit of stickiness on the part of the pink glass flecks. Blossom dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of Blossom over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Picture Polish Blossom

I haven't always been a fan of pastels, but this one really is so pretty and the formula exceptionally user-friendly. The cool, pale, milky pink is clean and graceful on the nail and not stark like I was expecting, a more subtle, grownup pastel shade that feels particularly flattering on the nail.

I picked this polish for today knowing that I will be wearing it for a while as Fuzzy is going in for knee replacement surgery tomorrow and I'll be staying with her in the hospital until they send her off to rehab at the end of the week. It's delicate and unobtrusive with a certain serene sensibility to it that I think will make it a good companion before and after the surgery, for me and maybe for Fuzzy as well.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Picture Polish Heaven

Like Cactus, Heaven was released in March this year by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as part of the Spring Autumn 2018 collection. It is also a Collaboration shade, created with CeasarShop.fi/Nail Polish Heaven, a Finnish online polish vendor.

Described as a soft lavender jelly bearing PP's signature mix of holographic flakes, the color is indeed a light, creamy lavender similar to the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names' lavender shade known as pale lavender or pale lilac, but it's definitely a cooler rather than a warmer shade. Abundant holographic flakes read as silver within the base, giving the polish a gently stippled appearance and veiling the look with pasteled prismatic sparks in the sun, most notably in pink, azure and pale gold.

Application was a pleasure. The consistency of Heaven is fluid, light and silky with a medium viscosity and a fluent, easy slip over the nail that self-levels beautifully. Pigmentation is sheerish on the first coat but builds to a wearable opacity with the second if using medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Heaven dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Picture Polish Heaven

I really like this polish. It's a perfect Goldilocks kind of lavender shade -- it has a slightly more robust and full-bodied presence than a pastel, but daintier and milkier than a floral lavender. The silvery holographic flecks give the look a delicate, graceful air on the nail. If you love lavender, you should have this!

love,
Liz

Friday, April 13, 2018

Picture Polish Cactus

Cactus was released last month by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as part of the Spring Autumn 2018 collection, a series of five new polishes and one re-release. Cactus is a new Collaboration shade. It was designed by Ziata of the Russian blog de briz. You can see Ziata's post about her polish here.

Officially described as a "khaki green" jelly with holographic flakes, the color is a mellow, creamy, medium-toned variation of yellow-green with a kiss of grey to it, like something along the lines of turtle green. It reminds me very much of French green clay. It's filled with Picture Polish's signature holographic flakes, which give it a finely flecked visual texture and read in shades of gold and silver within the base with a subtle golden prismatic bloom in ambient light. Bright direct light elicits a luminous flush of gold, orange and aquamarine sparks.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Cactus is fluid, light and silky with a thin-to-medium consistency and a fluent, smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail, a gorgeous formula that is a pleasure to manipulate with PP's flexible, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in two medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Cactus dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Picture Polish Cactus

I love this creamy, cosmopolitan yellow-green! There's just enough oomph to it to echo the green mist of young spring leaves that you see in the landscape about now here in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, but the earthy quality of the color makes it excellent for fall as well. It has a clean, glossy, chic sophistication on the nail that's like a well-tailored jacket -- it has that special "signature" kind of sensibility.

love,
Liz

Monday, February 26, 2018

Picture Polish Coral Reef

Coral Reef was released in 2009 by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish. Described as a "coral pink creme," it's part of the brand's Classic line. I was surprised to realize when I looked that this is my first creme from Picture Polish -- the polishes I have in my collection are all Collaboration, Holographic and Opulence shades.

Coral Reef kind of sits in between two other corally PP cremes, Watermelon and Sunset. More orange than the former, more pink than the latter, it's a bright, medium-light coral pink, an amalgamation of pink and orange that looks pretty well-balanced between the two -- similar to salmon or Congo pink. Clean and creamy on the nail, it has that lush, tropical, floral/fruity vibe and the buoyant cheerfulness that I love so much about coral nail polish.

Application was every bit as fantastic as you'd expect from Picture Polish. The consistency of Coral Reef is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, deliciously buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a delight to manipulate with PP's flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering fully opaque coverage in two to three coats depending on how you paint. I thought that I could still detect a hint of darkness around the nail line after two so I added a third, but if I weren't taking photos I'd happily wear it at two. Cleanup is easy. Coral Reef dries naturally in very good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show three coats of Coral Reef over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Picture Polish Coral Reef

Not sure there's much I can add to the photos -- it's just a beautiful, engaging, happy shade! Great for summer -- or dreaming about summer, as it may be, given that it's still February. We've been experiencing unusually warm temps here lately, and the deciduous magnolias, daffodils, honeysuckle bushes and spirea have enveloped the place in a fragrant cloud of the sweetest light lemony floral perfume you can imagine -- it's amazing! One of my favorite things about spring!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Picture Polish London

Like Kitty, London was released in December 2017 by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as a Collaboration shade. It was designed by Marine of the French blog Marine Loves Polish, inspired by her favorite place in her favorite city, London's Sky Garden and its 360° panoramic views of the city and its glass buildings. See her post about her polish here.

Marine describes this as "a bluish gray or grayish blue depending on the light, infused with scatter holo and opaque in two coats." The color is a light, translucent variation of blue-grey similar to cool grey, but lighter, milkier and more delicate. It seems to have a greater variety of holographic flakes and particles than other PP scattered holos, and more of them. They read as lemony gold within the base, and create an exquisite, dimensional prismatic flush of pale gold, lemon and peachy pink in ambient light. This flush broadens and intensifies in direct light, where the look is blanketed with scattered holographic sparkle in pasteled rainbow colors.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of London is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail, an excellent, user-friendly formula that goes on naturally in thin coats. Pigmentation is very good, opaque in two coats just as Marine says. Cleanup is easy. London dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Picture Polish London

I'm completely smitten with this understated, atmospheric pale grey and its delicate lemony sparkle. The color is beautifully balanced and really does seem to change with the kind of light in which it's viewed, sometimes appearing more reminiscent of a landscape enveloped in mist or fog and sometimes, especially in direct light, morphing ever so subtly to a muted, greyed-out sky blue or even periwinkle. It has a lovely, crafted simplicity on the nail, supremely graceful and almost dainty, a real pleasure to wear.

love,
Liz

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Picture Polish Rose

Rose was released in May 2016 by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish (PP) as one of five new polishes for that release. It's one of PP's Collaboration shades, designed by German nail artist and instagrammer Katherina, aka @cottonconey. You can read Katherina's instagram post about her polish here.

This is a cerise-colored scattered holo in the brand's signature style, using holographic microflakes. The color is a deep, cool, creamy shade of reddish pink with aspects of fuchsia rose. Its creaminess is similar to Pantone's Pink U, but the color is slightly warmer and brighter, more like dogwood rose. Tiny silvery holographic microflakes read as pale pink within the base in ambient light, and emit pinpoint sparks of pink and light red when the light hits them just right. In the sun, the polish is washed with the prettiest veil of delicate sparkle in hues of pink, light red, thistle and pale gold.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Rose is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is excellent, an easy one-coater although I used two like I always do. Cleanup is easy. Rose dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Picture Polish Rose

I adore this rich deep rosy pink! It's bold, but tempered by a certain generous, compassionate quality. Resonantly feminine. I know some people don't like pink, but I think every polish enthusiast needs a shade like this in their arsenal. A modern classic!

love,
Liz