Lacquer Slacker Liz: Pretty & Polished

Showing posts with label Pretty & Polished. Show all posts

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Pretty & Polished My Sage Advice

Like Weather the Storm, My Sage Advice was released in September 2016 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Pretty & Polished as part of the Dusty Cremes collection, the origin of P&P's Dusty Cremes line of polishes. Officially described as a smoky sage with a blue lean, the color is a light, somewhat murky blue-green, a dusky, greyed cyanic shade along the lines of veiled celeste or a whitened cadet blue. As with all Dusty Cremes, it is formulated with a special large particle pigment, which reads as countless nanoscale grey flecks within the base, visible on close scrutiny, and gives the polish that signature dusty quality.

Mindful of my experience with Weather the Storm, I approached application cautiously. The consistency of My Sage Advice is fluid and creamy with a medium viscosity, thinner than Weather the Storm but still a bit dense for my preferences so I added polish thinner. Thinned, it had a smooth, even glide over the nail that went on best for me in medium to thicker coats from a generously loaded brush. Self-leveling properties are very good as is pigmentation, with evenly opaque coverage delivered in two coats. Cleanup is easy. My Sage Advice dries naturally in good time to a smooth, satiny sort of finish.

Photos show two coats of My Sage Advice over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Pretty & Polished My Sage Advice

One of my readers insightfully observed of Weather the Storm that it had a certain granite-like look, and I think My Sage Advice shares that same organic quality. It's a soft, creamy, muted color with a mellow elegance that is effortlessly pretty, and feels smooth and sleek on the nail. There's a robin's egg-esque vibe to it that is very spring-like! You could even forego topcoat and preserve the attractive satiny shine, which seems to suit the personality of the polish well. Nice!

love,
Liz

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Pretty & Polished Weather the Storm

Weather the Storm was released in September 2015 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Pretty & Polished as part of the Dusty Creme collection, a series of ten polishes formulated with special large particle pigment, the origin of P&P's dusty creme line. Officially described as a smoky blued grey and based on Pantone's Stormy Weather, the color is a creamy medium blue-grey that varies to appear more blue or more grey depending upon the light in which it's viewed. In the sun and bright ambient light, it's an air superiority blue, but in lower light the grey predominates and it resembles the appearance of Crayola's metallic shadow blue on a computer monitor. It's filled with tiny grey particles, visible on very close scrutiny and in direct sunlight, which give it a graceful dusky quality.

The consistency of Weather the Storm is fluid and dense with a medium-to-thicker viscosity and a full-bodied flow over the nail that went on best for me in generous coats from a well-loaded brush. It sets up quickly, and has that sort of "stick-to-itself" quality that I described the other day, where it seems to prefer sticking to the brush than flowing onto the nail, and likes a firm, brisk hand to push it where you want it to go. Self-leveling properties are very good, as is pigmentation, which tends to be a little patchy and uneven on the first coat but can be built to wearable opacity in two generous coats or three moderate ones. Cleanup is easy. Weather the Storm dries naturally in fairly good time to a slightly flat finish that looks best with a glossy topcoat, which will also smooth out any uneven areas.

Photos show three coats of Weather the Storm over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Pretty & Polished Weather the Storm

Although I found the formula a little difficult to work with, other reviewers had no issues at all, so YMMV.

Great color!

love,
Liz

Monday, March 6, 2017

Pretty & Polished Creme de la Creme

Creme de la Creme was released in September 2016 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Pretty & Polished (P&P) as part of the Fall 2016 collection. It's also part of P&P's signature line of Dusty Cremes, creme polishes formulated with special large particle pigment to give them a finely speckled or dusty appearance.

Officially described as a sandy off-white, Creme de la Creme is a creamy nude/beige/parchment sort of shade that appears to vary in appearance according to the wearer's skin tone. On me, it displays a bit of a pink lavender tint that reminds me of rose kaolin clay. Large particle pigment dusts the color with infinitesimal dark grey motes, giving it a gentle dusky cast. I'd say it's most like a cross between rose clay and desert sand with aspects of coffee white, an understated YNBB (Your Nails But Better) or palate cleanser kind of color with a smooth, sleek quality on the nail.

Application was great, especially for a white-based polish. The consistency of Creme de la Creme is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a smooth, easy glide over the nail that displays remarkably little streakiness and very good self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is sheerish and built gradually to full opacity at three thin-to-medium coats for me -- YMMV. Cleanup is easy. Creme de la Creme dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, satiny finish.

Photos show three coats of Creme de la Creme over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Pretty & Polished Creme de la Creme

I'm a big fan of YNBB polishes and I am totally digging Creme de la Creme. It's like character shoes for your nails -- graceful, elegant, sleek -- and makes my fingers feel especially lithe and purposeful, like they're going to get things done! The signature dustiness is very cool and adds a certain artisanal quality to the look that pleases me -- I like it when an artisanal polish looks the part!

love,
Liz