Lacquer Slacker Liz: black

Showing posts with label black. Show all posts

Thursday, May 10, 2018

A-England Moth A Fairy

More Shakespeare's Fairies! Today's A-England is Moth A Fairy, described by the maker as a black hologram with additional iridescent glimmer. Black holos often have more of a very dark grey appearance, and so it is with Moth. The color reads as an anthracite or charcoal hue, liberally dusted with luminous holographic particles that create a broad greenish-gold flush along the center of the nail edged with shadowy hints of pink, gold and violet and shading gracefully to black at the edges. The holographic display in bright direct light is truly glorious, a mobile, gradated flare of sparkling prismatic color that sweeps around the nail as you move your fingers.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Moth is fluid, full-bodied and creamy with a medium viscosity and a luscious, even, self-leveling glide over the nail that is a pleasure to manipulate with the brand's flexible, paddle-style brush. Pigmentation is very good to excellent. Two coats nets completely even opacity. Cleanup is surprisingly easy, with no pigment travel or trace staining. Moth dries naturally in very good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Moth A Fairy over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

A-England Moth A Fairy

This darkling holo has the brightest, most sparkly prismatic color in the sun! Perhaps it's the darkness of the base that does it, making the rainbows amazingly bold in contrast. It has an elegant, dimensional presentation in ambient light outlined with those deep edges, very neat and sleek. A gorgeous A-England holo!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Painted Polish The Upside Down

How about some black and red for Valentine's Day?

The Upside Down was released in October 2016 by California-based indie polish maker Painted Polish as one-half of the Stranger Things Duo, two polishes inspired by the American science fiction/horror web television series Stranger Things. This is a black jelly filled with multi-sized bright red hex glitters. The base is well-pigmented for a jelly and pure licorice black. Bright red glitters have an eerie, ember-like glow within it, with an occasional red spark when the light hits a glitter just right.

Application was great! The consistency of The Upside Down is fluid and full-bodied with a thicker viscosity to which I added polish thinner at the outset. Thinned, it had a fluent, easily-controlled glide over the nail with some tumbling on the part of the glitters but no stacking or stickups. Glitter payoff is very good, as is pigmentation. Wearably opaque coverage can be had in two coats, although I added a third to ensure the non-appearance of my nail ridges. I did my cleanup as I went along and had no issues, but those glitters are sticky! The Upside Down dries naturally in very good time to a shiny, textured finish. I smoothed it out as best I could with a generous layer of glitter-smoothing topcoat followed by a layer of quick-dry.

Photos show three coats of The Upside Down over ÜNT Ready for Takeoff peelable basecoat with a topcoat of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze followed by a layer of Seche Vite.

Painted Polish The Upside Down

This could go either way, pro or con, you know? It works for those who like a little goth with their hearts and flowers, and it works, even better perhaps, for the cynical and romance-weary among us. I love Lexi's interpretation of the toxic, slimy, spore-filled atmosphere of the upside down in the show. Pitch black, with red sparks for danger!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Ever After Polish Playing With Fire

Playing With Fire was created by Rachel of Ohio-based indie polish maker Ever After Polish especially for the "Gem & Gemstones" January 2018 edition of Polish Pickup. Inspired the black opal, it has a black jelly base packed with orange, red and green color-shifting flakes as well as tiny blue holographic hex glitters and even tinier green microglitter squares.

This is a deeply cool lacquer! There are so many blue holographic glitters in there that the base, which is a translucent black, almost takes on a bit of a midnight blue/indigo vibe. The translucence of the base allows great light penetration, and all of the component colors are easily visible. Copious irregularly-shaped metallic flakies, which range in size from tiny to medium, gleam brightly as light travels over them, predominantly in variations of flame with bright green and gold being the rarest, surrounded by a galaxy of twinkling sparks in all kinds of blues from ultramarine to azure to deep turquoise.

Application was a little tetchy. The consistency of Playing With Fire is fluid and packed with components, with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, self-leveling flow over the nail. Component pay-off is excellent. You definitely feel the flakies as you apply, and I experienced tumbling with occasional stickups and attempted protrusions over the free edge. A light, careful touch will minimize this, and you can gently press any stickups down while the polish is tacky. Pigmentation is very good. Some sheerness on the first coat builds to wearable opacity with two, but I like the look at three better. Be sure to wrap your tips with every coat to avoid any sheerness there. With all of the potential for sticking components, I did my cleanup as I went along and had no issues. Playing With Fire dries naturally in good time to a shiny, gently textured finish that's mostly smoothed with topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Playing With Fire over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze.

Ever After Polish Playing With Fire

This is an awesome fantasy polish! The radiant black opal colors translate incredibly well and stand out beautifully in the black base, just like the real thing. The look of those flame-colored flakies with the bold blue sparks of the glitters just slays me -- so stunning! I thought the formula was excellent considering its component load, and any extra care needed during application is absolutely worth it for this amazing look. Here's the inspiration pic Rachel used for Playing With Fire:

Black opal cabochon

See what I mean? So cool!

Kiersten of The Busy Nails has the BEST photos of this polish -- you can see everything! Check them out here.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Different Dimension Basic Witch

Basic Witch was released at the beginning of this month by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as part of the Creepin' It Real Trio for Halloween 2017. Officially described as a "black linear holographic polish with added silver flakies and holographic microflakies," the color on the nail is a rich, robust onyx that is only very slightly silvered by abundant finely-milled holographic pigment. It has the delicately-grained visual texture common to holographic polishes, here further speckled by tiny silvery holographic microflakes and small, scattered silver flakies that gleam as light travels over them. There's an understated, slightly dispersed, dimensionalizing bloom of subdued prismatic color in ambient light with a subtle bronze cast to it. We're overcast and raining here today, but in photos I've seen this polish displays a bright, sparkly linear prismatic flare in the sun.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Basic Witch is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and an even, creamy, self-leveling glide over the nail. All of the flakies go on smoothly and lay flat, no stickups or protrusions. Pigmentation is very good, delivering completely even opacity and full, rich color in two coats. Cleanup is straightforward. Basic Witch dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not appear to inhibit the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of Basic Witch over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension Basic Witch

A beautiful black linear holo with added visual interest and light play from the flakies, which also give it a bit of twinkling prismatic sparkle in certain circumstances. The color retains it's rich blackness in spite of the holo pigment, not off-black or charcoal, and the formula is first-rate, a total pleasure to work with. The quality is exactly what I've learned to expect from this venerable indie brand, and I can only appreciate it all the more for being so very consistent. Love!

xo,
Liz

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Tonic Polish Uniporn over Cirque Memento Mori

More unicorn pee!

Uniporn was released last month by Iowa-based indie polish maker Tonic Polish as part of the Unicorn Pee collection, a series of six polishes, all but one of which featuring the magical, elusive red/green/gold colorshifting shimmer known in the online polish community as "unicorn pee." In Uniporn, these shimmers are suspended in a sheer red jelly base that can be worn either as a topper or layered over itself in three coats. Inspired by Alicia's swatches of Uniporn over black in her review of the collection on Delishious Nails, I decided to use it as a topper over Cirque's venerable Memento Mori, my go-to black creme.

Application was excellent (even though I made a mess with Memento Mori)! The consistency of Uniporn is fluid and light with a medium viscosity and a silky smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail, super easy to work with. The shimmers disperse evenly over the nail without any extra effort or visible brushstrokes, nice! I used two coats of Uniporn over one coat of Memento Mori to maximize the effects. Cleanup is easy. I didn't wait for it to dry before applying another coat or topcoat, so I can't speak to dry time on the nail, but going by a nail palette swatch it does dry to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of Uniporn over a one-coat base of Memento Mori with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Tonic Polish Uniporn over Cirque Memento Mori

OMG! I think this makes for, like, the world's most fantastic Halloween manicure! The effect is like a fiery cloud of bonfire sparks in the blackest of nights -- you can almost see the ghosts and goblins dancing! The shift spectrum ranges from scarlet through bright red-orange with coppery aspects through all kinds of autumnal oranges and ambers to a glowing green at extreme angles, all radiant and easily visible with simple shifts of the fingers or reorientation to your light source. It's is at its most spectacular in the sun, where the shimmers twinkle like mad with a glittery sparkle. Awesome!

love,
Liz