Lacquer Slacker Liz: The Color Box

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning

Like Manna's Majestic Masterpiece, Soul Within Me Burning was part of the April 2016 edition of The Color Box, a quarterly blogger-driven collaboration box that focuses on a single color for each release. The color for April 2016, the inaugural box, was purple. Today's polish was designed by Jen of xoxo, Jen in collaboration with Amy, owner and creative force behind New-Mexico based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers, and was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's famous and influential 1845 narrative poem "The Raven."

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Amy and Jen describe Soul Within Me Burning as a "deep vampy purple holo with coppery orange sparkle and shift." The base color is a rich, mysterious byzantium purple with aspects of mulberry, swimming with orange microflake shimmers that read as bright flashes of red-orange and vermilion within the base and create a cloudy, smoldering coppery orange underlay. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment together with the sparkling shimmers give this polish a twinkling aspect in ambient light, and in direct sun there's a slightly dispersed linear prismatic flare predominated by arcs of indigo and azure, spangled with brilliant orange and red sparks from the shimmers.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Soul Within Me Burning is fluid and full-bodied with a medium-to-thicker viscosity to which I added a squirt of polish thinner. Thinned, it has an easy glide over the nail with a bit of tumbling on the part of the microflake shimmers, but no stickups, stacking or protrusions over the free edge. It's a rather fast-drying polish that doesn't appreciate being overworked. Pigmentation is excellent, nearly a one-coater, delivering even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with some pigment travel and a skosh of residual staining. Soul Within Me Burning dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish with a bit of visual texture not discernible to the touch that is completely integrated with a glossy topcoat. Topcoat does not appear to interfere with the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of Soul Within Me Burning over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning

This tempestuous sparkler is an excellent homage to its inspiration and the poetic, poignant name suits it beautifully. If you've never read "The Raven" out loud, you should try it! The musicality of the meter intrinsically shapes a dramatic delivery, it's really fun!

I was sharing a couple of Roja Dove fragrance samples from Surrender to Chance (a veritable wonderland for perfume enthusiasts) with Fuzzy today when she caught sight of Soul Within Me Burning. "Purple is the new black!" she said happily, giving it her seal of approval. I know a polish enthusiast or two who would most certainly agree, eh Melissa? ;)

Soul Within Me Burning is now available for purchase in Literary Lacquers' etsy shop, or will be once the shop reopens after the 18th of August.

love,
Liz

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Manna's Majestic Masterpiece

Manna's Majestic Masterpiece was created by Georgia-based indie polish maker Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer (BEGL) in collaboration with Manna's Manis for inclusion in the April 2016 edition of The Color Box, and is now available for purchase as a stand-alone in BEGL's online shop. Officially described as a lilac creme/jelly hybrid packed with purple/purple iridescent and silver holographic microglitters, the color is a delicate tint of purple with a blue lean, a pale lavender shade with a built-in translucence to it. Abundant infinitesimal iridescent and holographic microglitters float within, producing an exquisite twinkle of pale prismatic sparks in direct and ambient light.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Manna's Majestic Masterpiece is fluid, smooth and slightly fluffy with a medium viscosity and a gentle, fluent flow over the nail. Pigmentation is sheer, especially on the first coat, but builds steadily to mostly opaque coverage in three coats. Because of the inherent translucence of the creme/jelly formula, a certain sheerness to the coverage is intentional and should not be overly weighed upon as a benchmark of opacity. Cleanup frees up a few microglitters to decorate the nail environs, but is fairly straightforward otherwise. Manna's Majestic Masterpiece dries naturally in good time to a sandy-textured finish from the microglitters, completely smoothed by a single layer of topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Manna's Majestic Masterpiece over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Manna's Majestic Masterpiece

Creator Julie has a such a tender touch with pale tints like this, I consider it a signature of hers. Manna's Majestic Masterpiece is delicate with a very clean and unmuddied quality that, combined with a formula that is translucent rather than white-based, results in a charmingly lucid, unambiguous representation of the color on the nail. It has a singular freshness and depth that belies its pastel aspect and makes it a perfect couch for the tiny sparkling microglitters to do their thing.

Sweet polish!

love,
Liz