Lacquer Slacker Liz: Rainbow Honey

Showing posts with label Rainbow Honey. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Tessie was released by New Jersey-based indie polish maker Rainbow Honey as part of the Summer of 199X collection in June 2013. It's one of three shimmered cremes from this collection that I've been admiring from afar for some time, the others being Apple Kid and Mint Flavor. Creator Dee describes Tessie as a "dusty and shimmery periwinkle." For me, it kind of walks the line between a whitened cornflower and lavender, like a pastel blue-purple filled with what seems to me to be bright blue glass fleck shimmers that appear turquoise in comparison to the base. In the sun, it has a lavender look sprinkled with sparkle from the shimmers when the light hits them just right. In dim lighting and shade it goes into a more demure dusty periwinkle mode. While this is a softer shade, it's pleasingly colorful on the nail and the sweet sparkle of the glass flecks make it one of those polishes that becomes lovelier and more interesting the closer you get to it.

Application was ok. The consistency of Tessie is fluid and light with a nicely balanced viscosity for painting. While it self-levels well enough to hide my nail ridges in two coats, it also sets up and dries rather quickly, meaning that if you're like me and don't have the most even hand you can get a slightly lumpy look because the polish ceases to self-level once it sets up and starts to dry. Thank goodness for the smoothing powers of Seche Vite, which resolved this issue quite handily. Pigmentation is very good, with any sheerness in the first coat building easily to opacity with the second. Cleanup is mostly a matter of chasing down free-roaming glass flecks that are loosed upon the nail environs by acetone, no pigment travel to speak of. Tessie dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that loves a nice topcoat to pop the color of the glass flecks and add a glossy shine.

Photos show two coats of Tessie over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Rainbow Honey Tessie

Perhaps Tessie is more characteristic of a springtime color, but I quite like it as a soft bright for summer. It has a friendly, relaxed vibe and sits easily on the nail. I love the pretty glass flecks, which are more intense and sparkly than my photos show and set this polish apart from other lavender cremes. It's just unusual enough to make it feel special.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Rainbow Honey Gingered!

Gingered was released by indie polish maker Rainbow Honey as part of a five-polish Limited Edition December set for Holiday 2014. It is also available for purchase alone and is currently on sale at the Rainbow Honey shop. This is another of founder and chief designer Dee's luscious shimmer blends, a coppery orange melange of particulate shimmers sharing a suspension base with flake shimmers in gold and bright pink. The overall effect is of a softly scintillating bright coppery orange with a blush of melon to it and a gentle metallic glow. I had forgotten until I began applying this polish that it is gingerbread scented. At first the scent mixed with the volatile elements of the polish is quite sharp and peppery, but as it dries it softens and sweetens into a delicious gingerbread fragrance, so true that it made my mouth water. I've experienced scented polishes before, but nothing like this! While I wouldn't consider it overpowering, it is certainly effusive, with sillage enough that I would not recommend this polish for those with sensitivities to fragrance. Personally, I am really enjoying it!

Application was great. The consistency is fluid, soft and fluffy with components. It has a smooth, even flow over the nail with some tumbling of the flake shimmers, which eventually settle flat to the nail with no stick-ups. Any protrusions over the free edges are easily taken care of with a tip-wrapping swipe of Rainbow Honey's round, flexible brush. I used medium coats and had some pooling along the free edge, so I advise thinner coats. Completely opaque even coverage is achievable in two coats. Cleanup is surprisingly easy for a flake-laden polish. Gingered dries in good time to a smooth, soft finish. Topcoat seems to enhance the sparkle of the shimmers.

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

Rainbow Honey Gingered!

I was very attracted to this polish upon seeing my friend Marisa's swatches on her blog, Tiny Twinklings, and I'm happy to say that as lovely and shimmery and full of sunset colors as it is in photos, it's even better in person. I especially adore the pink flake shimmers -- they add a flattering wash of coolness to this fiery concoction that makes it eminently wearable on my pinkage. Hooray!

love,
Liz

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Rainbow Honey Fall in Love

Happy Valentine's Day! Roses, cupids and chocolates all around!

I picked up this polish a ways back specifically for today. Fall in Love was released by indie polish maker Rainbow Honey as part of the Summer Mixtape collection in July 2014. It's a medium-dark cerise or deep vivid reddish pink with crimson undertones bearing abundant iridescent electric blue shimmers. Designated a jelly, I thought it applied like a creme but it has enough of that jelly-ish translucence to allow light to get in there and ignite the shimmers, which glitter like crazy in direct sun throwing brilliant sparks of violet, blue and pink. Fall in Love shifts into near-neon hot pink mode in full sun but I love it best in indirect light where the rich, radiant cerise heart of the polish is in full bloom. It's an exquisite color, very floral, high-spirited and feminine and utterly perfect for Valentine's Day with all the best qualities of both red and pink.

Application was awesome. The consistency of Fall in Love is fluid, creamy and dense with a perfectly paintable balance of fluidity and viscosity. It has a silky smooth slip over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties -- at just one coat my nail ridges were completely camouflaged, which made me so happy I can't even tell you. Pigmentation is very good with great if slightly translucent coverage in one coat and completely even opacity and full bottle color at two. There was still a trace, a hint, a wee soupçon of visible nail line in certain lights, but not enough to be noticeable by anyone without a macro lens. Cleanup was fairly easy; the pigment does travel and I had one notable nail that ended up with a faint pink halo around the edges but it cleans up nicely as long as you don't flood your sidewall as I did with that particular nail. Fall in Love dries naturally to a shiny finish with a smidgen of visual texture from the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of Fall in Love over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite, sans bubbles hooray!

Rainbow Honey Fall in Love

This sort of deep vibrant pink is one of my personal favorites for nail polish because I find it incredibly flattering. It elongates my fingers and otherwise brings out the feminine qualities of my hands, which I normally find rather stout and squat. I adore this color, it's bright and joyful and makes my eyes happy without being too sharp. Fall in Love, especially, has a certain richness to its hue that is so generous and satisfying, it's like a promise of pleasure that you know will be kept.

Hope your Valentine's Day is just how you like it!

love,
Liz

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Rainbow Honey Cranberry Sangria

Cranberry Sangria was released by indie polish maker Rainbow Honey as a limited edition polish in November 2013. This is a deep berry red jelly with purple undertones bearing a gorgeous melange of irregularly-shaped flaky shimmers in pink, blue violet and yellow gold. I'm telling you, the shimmers in this polish are just delicious! They do have a tendency to sink if the bottle's been standing for a while, but a quick shake disperses them evenly throughout. The boysenberry base is translucent and allows light to penetrate and catch the jewel-like sparkle of the shimmers, adding depth and a romantic richness to the color. This polish has a dramatic, dressed-to-kill quality on the nail with a bit of edginess courtesy of the purple undertones.

Application was delightful. The consistency of Cranberry Sangria is fluid, light and smooth with absolutely no hint of stickiness. It has an easily-manipulated, silky, self-leveling flow over the nail and is amenable to thin or thicker coats. I'm completely smitten with how beautifully this polish applies. No stacking or protrusions from the flake shimmers, no dragging or patching or pooling. Pigmentation is excellent for a jelly and the formula applies so evenly that you could very well wear it as a translucent deep rose at one coat. Two coats are all that's needed for completely opaque coverage and full bottle color, although I used three for this manicure. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with no residual staining and no limpet-like behavior on the part of the shimmers. Could this polish be any more user-friendly? I don't see how. Cranberry Sangria dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat pops the shimmer colors.

Photos show three coats of Cranberry Sangria over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Please excuse the peelies on my left pinky, the dry heat in the car and house is getting to my skin.

Rainbow Honey Cranberry Sangria

I love this! It's not a typical berry-colored polish, it's got a little vampy mysterious sexy thing going on that jacks it up big time. Judging by the compliments it received while I was out and about today, it's quite the eye-catcher. There's something about it that invites closer scrutiny -- I suspect its the combination of the unusual color with it's resident sparkly shimmers peeking through.

From what I remember, Cranberry Sangria was still available from Rainbow Honey the last time I checked, but the shop is currently closed as new products are readied for February. I found mine on StorEnvy.com and there were several vendors there with bottles available. A search for Rainbow Honey Cranberry Sangria will bring them up.

love,
Liz