Lacquer Slacker Liz: Powder Perfect

Showing posts with label Powder Perfect. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Powder Perfect Horus

Horus was released in late August this year by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection. Horus served many functions within the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, including god of the sky, war and hunting. He was most often depicted as a falcon, or as a man with a falcon's head.

Creator Jacinta describes Horus as a "dark maroon varnish with flickering red glitters and holographic particles" in a holo-twist formula, a dusky claret with purple overtones that is very like the color of venous blood. Infinitesimal microglitters read as bright red within the base and create a delicate twinkling effect as light travels over them with added prismatic sparkle from abundant holographic pigment. The microglitters and holographic effects combine to enrich the color, add depth and give the finish a finely-grained, dimensional appearance.

Application was great! The consistency of Horus is fluid, light and very smooth with a medium viscosity and a plush, self-leveling glide over the nail that is easy to manipulate with Powder Perfect's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in two medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Horus dries naturally in good time to a flat, slightly sandy texture that is completely smoothed by a single layer of topcoat.

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

Powder Perfect Horus

I was expecting more red, less purple in this color. Although my bottle is labeled Horus, I wonder whether I didn't actually get Heka? Mislabeling with indies is rare in my experience but not completely outside the realm of possibility. It's quite overcast here today, perhaps the dim light played a part in the look. In any case, it's a wonderful, rich color and very flattering on the nail.

This is the last of my purchases from the Egyptology Part 3 collection, the others being Saqqara, Scarab and Ra. My favorite of the four is Scarab, with the sparkly Saqqara a close second. All were beautifully formulated and a pleasure to work with. Well done!

love,
Liz

Friday, September 23, 2016

Powder Perfect Ra

Ra was released towards the end of August this year by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection. Inspired by the Ancient Egyptian sun god, it's officially described as a "silver based holo-twist lacquer with a golden hue." Holo-twist is a new glitter-holo hybrid formula designed by creator Jacinta for a dimensional, sparkling finish.

The color is one of those interesting sandy mixes that you get when you combine silver and gold -- I love this kind of polish for an industrial chic neutral, and this one has plenty of sparkle. The base is a light silvery grey that is swimming with tiny yellow gold holographic microglitters for an overall look that reminds me very much of raw linen, kind of a melange of khaki, cement and sand. Veiled by a net of bright prismatic sparks, it's a changeable hue, leaning warmer or cooler depending upon viewing circumstances, with a dimensional, finely-grained visual texture.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Ra is fluid, light and remarkably smooth for a glitter-laden polish, with a thin-to-medium viscosity and an easy, fluent slip over the nail. It is amenable to thin or thicker coats as preference dictates, and is a pleasure to finesse with Powder Perfect's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is sheer and buildable, reaching wearable opacity in two medium coats for shorter nails or three for longer ones. Cleanup releases a bevy of tiny microglitters to hide out in your sidewalls, but is otherwise trouble free. Ra dries naturally in good time to a flat, slightly sandy texture, smoothed to a glossy finish with a single layer of topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Ra over treatment and basecoat.

Powder Perfect Ra

Even thought this natural linen color is not the greatest with my skin tone, I still love it. It's a great neutral with cool visual texture and excellent sparkle, especially in direct light. It goes with everything, and looks particularly amazing with darker, saturated colors.

ttyl,
Liz

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Powder Perfect Scarab

Like Saqqara, Scarab was released last month by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection, an ongoing series of polishes inspired by Ancient Egypt. Scarab beetles were seen as a symbol of the heavenly cycle of day and night and of the idea of rebirth and regeneration. Amulets and impression seals made in the shape of scarabs were immensely popular in Ancient Eypt, and through their inscriptions and typology are an important source of information for archeologists and historians of the ancient world.

Scarab is officially described as a "darkened teal polish with shades of blue glitter and a holographic sparkle." Like Saqqara and the other polishes in this collection, it's a microglitter crossed with a holo for a dimensional, twinkling finish that creator Jacinta has dubbed "holo-twist." The color here is a beautiful, lush, medium-dark teal blue that immediately recalls Crayola'a blue-green (one of my favorites as a tween), although this is darker and richer. The holographic effects create dimensionality and a certain deliciously creamy quality in ambient light. Glimmering within are countless infinitesimal blue holographic microglitters reading as azure and aqua, giving the look that scintillating, starry twinkle that always reminds me of Old Hollywood glamour. The sky is heavily overcast and spitting rain here today, but I imagine intensified rainbow sparkle accompanied by scattered prismatic effects in the sun.

Application was just awesome. The consistency of Scarab is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a slick, self-leveling glide over the nail. Slight sheerness on the first coat builds quickly and easily to evenly opaque coverage with the second, very nice! There's a little bit of pigment travel during cleanup but overall it's an easy task, even with the microglitters. Scarab dries naturally in very good time to a flat finish with just the tiniest bit of a peach-fuzz sort of texture to it that becomes glassy smooth with topcoat. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic properties in any way.

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

Powder Perfect Scarab

I really love teal as a luxurious and exciting counterpoint to the warmer spectrum of fall shades we see around this time of year, especially blue-leaning teals like this one.

Gorgeous! And beautifully formulated too!

xo,
Liz

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Powder Perfect Saqqara

Saqqara was released toward the end of last month by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection, an ongoing series of polishes inspired by Ancient Egypt. This polish was named for the vast burial ground that served as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis.

Creator Jacinta describes Saqqara as a sunset orange polish filled with gold and silver ultraholo glitters in a holographic base. The base color is a medium-toned persimmon, a variation of red-orange with a pinkish aspect and a slightly muted quality due to a degree of built-in translucence. That translucence allows plenty of light to penetrate and ignite the polish's teeming infinitesimal gold and silver ultraholo microglitters, which enrich the color with a dense blanket of tiny twinkling pinpoint sparks in all kinds of analogous hues -- magenta, bittersweet, orange, pink, rose, flame -- as well as gold and silver. In the sun there is additional sparkle in all of the prismatic colors, and the holographic base generates a vestigial golden flare. There's also a reddish-pink semi-metallic underlay in the sun that transforms to a rich, intense orange under incandescent light.

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Saqqara is fluid, light and unexpectedly smooth for a glitter-laden polish, with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a nearly effortless self-leveling slip over the nail -- a very fluent, user-friendly formula that is a pleasure to work with. Microglitters provide a large part of the coverage and do so very well, with completely even opacity rendered in two medium coats. I added a third to see if it would change the look but I don't think that it made a significant difference. Acetone frees countless teensy microglitters to wander about the nail environs during cleanup, which was otherwise trouble-free. Saqqara dries naturally in very good time to a flat finish with just the slightest bit of texture from the microglitters, easily smoothed by a single layer of topcoat.

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

Powder Perfect Saqqara

This polish is incredibly photogenic! It appears quite red in these pics -- in person, the orange tones are stronger. A great polish for fall!

love,
Liz

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Powder Perfect King of Carven Stone

Like The Citadel, King of Carven Stone was released in May 2015 by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Inklings collection, a collaborative effort with Grace-full Nail Polish featuring polishes themed around the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. King of Carven Stone was inspired by Erebor, the dwarf kingdom within the Lonely Mountain. The name is taken from Tolkien's poem, "The King," written for the Men of Dale when Thorin returned to the Lonely Mountain.

This is a rich, medium-dark teal blue holographic polish bearing abundant variously-sized ultrachrome flakies that gleam in shades of blue, green and gold with occasional flashes of red and magenta (which I love!), giving the polish an ornate, bejeweled vibe that jibes beautifully with its inspiration. Finely milled holographic pigment produces nuanced hues of ultramarine, cerulean, sea foam and misty azure within the base. The prismatic display in direct sun is dazzlingly bright (much brighter than my photos show), an utterly brilliant, analogously-hued flare of ultramarine, azure and sea green with a shifting corona of tiny sparks in red and orange floating over an underlay of semi-metallic bottle green and shading to a deep teal blue around the edges of the nail.

Application was great! The consistency of King of Carven Stone is fluid, jelly-like and dense with flakies. It has a medium viscosity and a mostly smooth glide over the nail with a bit of texture to it from the flakies, some of which are fairly large. I had a few flakie stickups, which I gently patted down with my finger tip before topcoating. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two medium coats. I added a third for the photos. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, no trace staining at all as you might worry about with a deep teal -- hooray! King of Carven Stone dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with a bit of visual texture from flakies that rest at the surface of the polish. Topcoat pops the colors of those flakies and doesn't appear to inhibit the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show three coats of King of Carven Stone over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Powder Perfect King of Carven Stone

The ultrachrome flakies are less random and more cohesive in person than they appear in the photos -- they're gorgeous embedded within the colors generated by the holo pigment. Fuzzy practically purred over this polish, telling me that it reminded her of dupioni silk and calling it "luscious." I can only agree.

xo,
Liz