Lacquer Slacker Liz: Tonic Polish

Showing posts with label Tonic Polish. Show all posts

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Tonic Polish The Best is Yet to Come

The Best is Yet to Come was created by Lindsey of Iowa-based indie polish maker Tonic Polish for limited release by Hella Handmade Creations in March this year, with a later, unlimited pre-order in May. It's described as "a denim blue with glowing copper shimmer, iridescent particles of different sizes that shift yellow and green, and scattered holo."

This polish is one of what I've come to think of as Lindsey's "deliciously ambiguous wonders." The base color is indeed a medium-dark blue along the lines of liberty from the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names, a denimy, lapis-like shade that's quite translucent -- the better to show off the components, which combine with it to give the color a complex, dusky appearance on the nail. Numerous variously-sized, color-shifting flakies ranging from tiny to medium-large gleam in shades of flame, gold, green and even magenta from within the base as light travels over them, while finely-milled copper shimmers create a prominent coppery-pink glow along the axis of light. Abundant holographic pigment adds depth, luminosity and a delicately-grained visual texture in ambient light. As you turn your nails toward your light source, the polish glows golden-green, and in the sun there's a sparkling scattered prismatic display that frames a bold, shimmering lick of copper.

Application was great! The consistency of The Best is Yet to Come is fluid and light with a medium viscosity and a fluent glide over the nail. There's an occasional bit of flakie jostling, but by and large they settle into place without issue. Pigmentation is very good. I was happy with two medium coats on my shorties, but longer nails or thinner coats may need three. Those flakies like to stick to the nail during cleanup, but it's pretty straightforward otherwise. The Best is Yet to Come dries naturally in good time to a slightly flat finish with a bit of mostly visual texture from surface-lying flakies. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and accentuates the presence and effects of the components.

Photos show two coats of The Best is Yet to Come over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish The Best is Yet to Come

This is a complex, moody puzzle of a polish full of magical components that offer surprise and delight with every flex of the fingers. My favorite part is the bold copper shimmer. It's positively luminous on the nail, tying in to the flame-colored flakies and contrasting beautifully with the stormy blue ambiguity of base. Outstanding visual texture and light play!

love,
Liz

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Tonic Polish Ambrosia

I'm back to nubs again. My left ring finger nail cracked down below the nail line, as is its wont, so I've taken all of them down. Sigh. On the plus side, all ten finger nails are now more or less the same length for the first time in ages.

Today I have another of Tonic's February 2018 releases for you, Ambrosia. Creator Lindsey designed Ambrosia as a sister polish to a personal favorite of hers, Emberlight, which was part of the Seasonal Indie Box this past fall. She describes it as a deep teal blue scattered holo with red/gold/green multichrome shimmers. It's a dusky dark blue color that you might also call a deep, shadowy cerulean or petrol. The multichrome shimmers combine with the base to give the polish a deliciously murky indigo-esque appearance on the nail, with a misty, shimmering patch of red-violet along the axis of light. The scattered prismatic sparkle in the sun is gorgeous, with a glistening swath of red-violet at the center of things that shifts through gold to a bold acid green as you turn your fingers into the light.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Ambrosia is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail, an excellent, user-friendly formula that is a pleasure to work with. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats on my shorties but you will probably want three on longer nails. Cleanup is easy. Ambrosia dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers.

Photos show two coasts of Ambrosia over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish Ambrosia

I love unusual, ambiguous dark blues and this one is a direct hit on that sweet spot. The depth and complexity of the color give it kind of a shy, furtive quality on the nail, but that's nicely leavened by the finely-grained visual texture, prismatic sparkle, and that shifting, dimensional red-violet patch, which adds boatloads of character. Stunning in the sun, much more so than my pictures show. I love this!

xo,
Liz

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Tonic Polish Marilyn

Creator Lindsey of Tonic Polish originally developed Marilyn, also known as Promo F17-2, as a special giveaway polish for Polish Con 2017 in Chicago last September, but has now made it available to all in Tonic's online shop.

Described as a "neon magenta with orange shimmer," the base color is a translucent but vivid, medium-dark cool pink with hints of purple, similar to Hollywood cerise. Superabundant, finely-milled orange shimmers read as fiery red-orange within the base and give the polish a luminous, silky visual texture. The dueling intensities of the cool base color and warm shimmers create a near-fluorescent, maraschino-esque effect similar to what you see in pink and red neons, and combine to produce a bold, saturated, glowing electric crimson appearance with aspects of coquelicot or poppy. Stunning!

Application was wonderful. The consistency of Marilyn is fluid, dense and smooth with a medium viscosity and a deliciously creamy, even, self-leveling glide over the nail. Pigmentation is sheerish on the first coat but builds to a wearably opaque coverage with two, although I think that three makes the most of the brilliant color. Cleanup is easy. Marilyn dries naturally in good time to a smooth, ever-so-slightly flat finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and has a sort of cohesive effect, smoothly incorporating the shimmers and accentuating the intensely vibrant, luminous appearance of the polish on the nail.

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

Tonic Polish Marilyn

There's a silky "creme rinse" quality to the shimmer effects that gives them a touch of old school resonance, a certain subtle pearliness that is part of the polish's luminosity and hearkens to a vintage kind of vibe, yet the look has an artisanal freshness that is totally modern. I dunno, difficult to describe but I am so digging it. A resplendent creation!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Tonic Polish Extra-ORD-inary

Extra-ORD-inary was originally released in September 2017 at Polish Con in Chicago by Iowa-based indie polish maker Tonic Polish as a limited edition, but creator Lindsey re-released it last month in the Tonic online shop. She describes it as "a super holographic steel grey with red-gold-green color shifting Aurora flecks."

The color is a medium-dark nickel or battleship grey with gunmetal aspects, luxuriously silvered by holographic pigment for a rich, dimensional look with a finely-grained visual texture. Powerfully holographic, it displays some sort of prismatic flare in almost all circumstances, most prominently a broad, misty flame of azure. Abundant color-shifting shimmers create a delicate, luminous coppery-pink swath along the axis of light with a shift to gold as you turn your fingers into the light and the occasional tiny flame-colored spark when light hits one of the flecks just right. Direct light engenders a brilliant linear holographic flare with a full retinue of rainbow colors that surrounds a lick of golden coppery pink and shades to gunmetal at the edges of the nail.

Application was delicious. The consistency of Extra-ORD-inary is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a pleasure to finesse with Tonic's flexible, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is straightforward (apologies for my not-so-great job of it). Extra-ORD-inary dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers and does not affect the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

Photos show two coats of Extra-ORD-inary over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish Extra-ORD-inary

Grey polishes, even holos, often have a somewhat reserved, formal quality but the color-shifting Aurora shimmers add a warm, friendly glow to this one that gives it a more personable air. It's sleek and elegant on the nail, sharing its beautiful prismatic and shimmer effects with the effortless grace of a congenial host, the kind of eminently-wearable polish that will complement any outfit or occasion, casual to formal, and reflect well on the wearer, which I love. A keeper!

xo,
Liz

Friday, February 16, 2018

Tonic Polish Deep Sea-crets

Like Endless Shrimp, Deep Sea-crets was released in May last year by Iowa-based indie polish maker Tonic Polish as part of the Spring 2017 collection. This polish is constructed similarly to Endless Shrimp and another polish in the collection, I Pink You Blew Me Off, with a creamy base, here in turquoise, filled with fine color-shifting shimmers. The base color is a milky, medium-light cyanic shade with, to my eye, a green lean, something like pearl mystic turquoise or verdigris. Superabundant, finely-milled shimmers in peachy-pink give it a silky, vitreous glow along the axis of light that reminds me of chiffon or milk glass, and shifts to pale yellow as you turn your fingers into the light. Delicious!

Application was equally delicious. The consistency of Deep Sea-crets is fluid and smooth with a medium viscosity and a super creamy, even, self-leveling glide over the nail. Often polishes with heavy shimmer like this can show brushstrokes, but this one shows practically none -- nice! Pigmentation is very good. Some sheerness on the first coat builds easily to wearably opaque coverage with the second. I could still detect some darker areas around my nail line, so I added a third for the photos but would happily wear it at two if I weren't taking pictures of it. Cleanup is easy. Deep Sea-crets dries naturally in good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to accentuate the presence and effects of the shimmers and look its very best.

Photos show three coats of Deep Sea-crets over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish Deep Sea-crets

My experience with Deep Sea-crets went a lot like Endless Shrimp, with initial apprehension soon giving way to admiration, even awe. Although I don't normally go for colors in the sea green family because I think that they make my fingers look dirty, the delicate, dimensional shimmer effects and wonderful, creamy formula of this polish won my heart. It's simply beautiful on the nail, smooth, silky and luminous, and it FEELS beautiful also, with a fetching, almost chatoyant quality like polished moonstone. Lovely!

love,
Liz

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Tonic Polish Poison Rose

Poison Rose was released in October 2016 by Iowa-based indie polish maker Tonic Polish as part of the Halloween collection. Officially described as "a sophisticated mauve-leaning blush pink with metallic pink shimmers and fine scattered holo," the color is a muted, creamy, medium to medium-dark pink similar to opera mauve, but richer, with aspects of rose clay and plum. Finely-milled metallic shimmers read as luminous steel pink within the base and shift to gold and then green at oblique angles. These shimmers create a dimensionalizing flush of steel pink along the axis of light that sparkles in direct light, where there's a slightly dispersed, delicate linear prismatic display, a shimmering, misty bloom of gradated rainbow colors that travels up and down the nail as you move your fingers.

Application was profoundly gratifying. The consistency of Poison Rose is fluid and creamy with a medium viscosity and an effortless, buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail, a superb, eminently-paintable formula that is an absolute pleasure to manipulate with Tonic's flexible, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, netting completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Poison Rose dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Tonic Polish Poison Rose

This polish gave me an almost completely clean manicure for the first time in forever, and I would love it for that reason alone but it's also got that rose clay quality that I love, which gives it a flattering, near-neutral sensibility on the nail. So wearable! Understated but complex, it's so much prettier than I usually think of for mauve, with the pink-to-gold shimmers adding a bit of youthful effervescence. A delicious indie take on a classic, timeless shade with an impeccable formula.

love,
Liz