Lacquer Slacker Liz: bronze

Showing posts with label bronze. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

ILNP Sparks May Fly

Sparks May Fly was released in November by Nevada-based indie polish maker ILNP as part of the Holiday 2017 collection, and is described as a Dijon yellow holo with golden bronze shimmer. It's an unusual, complex dark goldenrod color, a brassy yellow-brown with aspects of curry, gingerbread, caramel and bronze, warm, rich and highly decorative. Superabundant golden microflake shimmers flood it with tons of bright yellow-gold sparkle and create a polished precious metal kind of vibe. In the sun, the gold sparkle is supplemented by a field of brilliant prismatic sparks. Dazzling!

Application was fabulous. The consistency of Sparks May Fly is fluid and full-bodied with a medium viscosity and a plush, self-leveling glide over the nail, an eminently-paintable formula that is a pleasure to manipulate with ILNP's flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup looses gold microflake shimmers to roam freely about the nail environs, but they aren't as sticky as some. Sparks May Fly dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show two coats of Sparks May Fly over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

ILNP Sparks May Fly

Some may be inclined to classify this as a "so ugly it's beautiful" kind of color. I beg to differ! It is unusual for nail polish, true, but so radiant, sumptuous and sparkly that it possesses an almost regal sensibility on the nail. I find it utterly stunning and profoundly glamorous, a gorgeous, unforgettable signature look! If you love chic, unusual colors, you simply must have this -- it will please you immensely!

love,
Liz

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Native War Paints Shift Change

Shift Change was released in June this year by Michigan-based indie polish maker Native War Paints as part of the Nifty Shifty collection, a series of six multichrome polishes with various combinations of glitters and flakies.

This polish is officially described as "a red/bronze/copper with chameleon iridescent glitter and gold holographic glitter in a red base." It's like a sparkling homage to fall leaf color! The base is basically sheer with a very light red tint in which is suspended the multichrome pigment along with copious tiny iridescent and holographic glitters. The shift spectrum runs a gamut of rich golden/bronzey brown through coppery russet with vermilion and flame highlights to orangey gold to chartreuse with a whisper of electric blue at the far end, with gradations along the way that make up a full fall arborescent range of color. The color you see most is a medium mahogany or sinopia, a smoldering reddish/coppery brown with aspects of rust and flame. The semi-metallic finish is studded with glitters, which throw out sparks in a rainbow of colors, most noticeably green, orange, red and gold.

Application was quite agreeable. The consistency of Shift Change is fluid and smooth with a thicker viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned to more of a medium viscosity, it had a light, fluent, self-leveling spread over the nail with a bit of glitter tumbling and occasional stacking, but even dispersal, only one minor stickup and no protrusions over the free edge. Pigmentation is sheer, building to wearably opaque coverage in three coats for me. Medium coats are the way to go with this one, as even as you can make them and tip-wrapping with each one to avoid any undue sheerness there. Cleanup is easy. The glitters stick to skin, but can be dislodged with a little extra care. Shift Change dries naturally in good time to a pebbly-textured, shiny finish, mostly smoothed by topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Shift Change over basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Native War Paints Shift Change

Eminently autumnal, no? It is especially dramatic in direct sun, where there's a brilliant mist of crimson particles along the axis of light and the base shades to a deep coffee color at the edges of the nail.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Top Shelf Lacquer Gittertini

For a person who professes not to buy polish box collections it sure seems like I've acquired quite a few of them over the past year. Sometimes I find myself attracted to the collection as a whole, but occasionally I'm so preternaturally fascinated by one of the polishes in particular that it tips me into buying the whole shebang. Such is the case with my latest box purchase, the January 2017 edition of Indies Outside the Box, a quarterly collaborative offering hosted by Karen of Lollipop Posse Lacquer and Amy of Top Shelf Lacquer, with two additional guest polish makers for each box. This particular edition features polishes from Pam of Girly Bits and Pam of Paint Box Polish.

The first polish from this box that I'll be showing you is Glittertini from Ohio-based polish maker Top Shelf Lacquer, a microglitter bomb bearing a mix of gold, bronze, purple and teal microglitters as well as silver holographic microglitters, all suspended in a clear base. On the nail, the general impression is of an utterly sparkle-iscious bronze metallic with gold and silver highlights. I don't usually care for gold glitters, but here they are softened by the bronze and silver and read as pale rather than yellow gold, a lovely and rather delicate effect. I love the charisma of the teal/turquoise and purple glitters, which stand out beautifully in this colorway and give it tons of Vegas-style glamor! And of course there is copious prismatic sparkle from those wonderful holographic microglitters, which pretty much takes over the look in the sun.

Application went very well. The consistency of Glittertini is fluid, full-bodied and smooth with a thicker viscosity to which I added polish thinner as is my habit with thicker polishes. Thinned to a medium viscosity, it had an easy glide over the nail, preferring a light touch for most evenly random glitter payoff, especially on the first coat. Coverage is excellent for a microglitter bomb, delivering a wearably opaque look in two medium coats. I added a thin third coat to minimize the appearance of my nail ridges, which were noticeable for some reason -- perhaps because of the added polish thinner -- and did my cleanup as I went along. Glittertini dries naturally in very good time to a shiny, textured finish that pretty much laughs at the surface-smoothing efforts of a single layer of topcoat. To get a glossy, glitter-under-glass look, I applied a layer of gel-effect topcoat followed by quick-dry.

Photos show three coats of Glittertini over UNT Ready for Takeoff peel-off basecoat topped with a layer of Pretty Serious Plum Up the Volume and a layer of Seche Vite.

Top Shelf Lacquer Gittertini

All of the polishes in Indies Outside the Box collections are based on inspiration photos selected by members of the Indies Outside the Box Fan-tastic Customs Facebook group. I find this inspired-by-a-photo approach to the creative process immensely appealing, and it's always exciting to see what polish makers come up with. The photo that inspired Glittertini is out of this world! Check it out:

Amy did an awesome job with this polish, no? It really hit the spot for me today!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

A-England The Beggar Maid

The Beggar Maid was released at the end of October this year by British boutique polish maker A-England as part of the Tennyson's Romance collection, a series of polishes inspired by the legend of King Cophetua's love for the beggar Penelophon as depicted by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Beggar Maid and Edward Burne-Jones' painting King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid.

Officially described as a warm grey holo, The Beggar Maid is a medium-dark bronzed hematite kind of color, a complex, protean variation of dim gray with aspects of beaver brown and silvery gunmetal and a shimmering semi-metallic finish. It appears to have some ultrafine green particulate shimmers in there as well, displaying a green sheen at certain angles and in certain kinds of light. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment creates a beautiful dimensional bloom in ambient light, subtly shaded and shaped by smoky hues of grey and brown: charcoal, taupe and antique bronze with hints of rose quartz. Direct light engenders the beautiful, misty holographic flush commonly seen in A-England's holos with a rose-tinted pale gold heart segueing seamlessly into a trailing corona of pinpoint prismatic sparks.

Application was stellar. The consistency of The Beggar Maid is fluid and full-bodied with a medium viscosity and a creamy, self-leveling glide over the nail. This and the other Tennyson's Romance polishes have all felt slightly more dense to me than I usually expect from the brand, a tiny bit less fluent, though not thick by any means. Pigmentation here is fantastic, with evenly opaque one-coat coverage. My first coat of any polish almost always needs some kind of fixing, so I used two coats for this manicure. Cleanup is easy. The Beggard Maid dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show two coat of The Beggar Maid over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

A-England The Beggar Maid

I'm not entirely satisfied with my photos. In person, there's more subtle coloring to the polish, flecks of copper and gold and a minkier, bronzier look overall. It's amazingly rich and varied, much more so than the photos show, the sort of luxurious, smoky, complex shade that Adina excells at creating and that is beloved by A-England aficionados everywhere.

It's also essentially a darker neutral that will go with just about anything from a fall or winter wardrobe, from white to black, jewel tones to earth tones, woolly heathers to leather. Eminently versatile, elegant and classy, it's a beauty!

love,
Liz

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Girly Bits The Shaft

The Shaft was released in August by Canadian indie polish maker Girly Bits as part of the 2015 What Really Happened in Vegas collection, a series of polishes based on humorous and memorable events that creator Pam and other polish makers and bloggers experienced during the week of CosmoProf North America Las Vegas this year. The name of this polish refers to a conversation overheard while riding the elevator in the enormous pyramidal Luxor Hotel.

Described as a "bronzey brown holo with a metallic finish, accented by beautiful bronze flakes," this is a light raw umber-based greyish brown, sort of a beaver brown, richer than taupe, with creeping violet overtones. Swimming with superabundant highly-reflective golden bronze flake shimmers that give it a scintillating sparkle, it has a finely-grained semi-metallic appearance on the nail. The holographic display in direct light is nothing short of magical. The bright, fully prismatic flair, its vivid bands of rainbow colors slightly dispersed and variegated by the glimmering flake shimmers, has the resplendent glowing tapestried richness of woven silk. Truly breathtaking!

Application was delicious. The consistency of The Shaft is fluid, light and dense with shimmers. With a creamy, self-leveling flow over the nail, it has a beautifully balanced viscosity for painting and a user-friendly formula that is amenable to thin or thicker coats and does not run or pool. Girly Bits' slightly bushy flattened flexible brush occasionally becomes splayed with shimmers, but closing the bottle and giving it a quick shake will restore it to relative sleekness. Pigmentation is very, very good with completely even opacity and full, rich color in two coats, although it's nearly opaque in one. Cleanup is a largely a matter of chasing down rogue shimmers dispersed by acetone, and I did a rather poor job of it as you will see by the sparkly bits here and there on my nail surrounds. (But I have to admit that some of those may be microglitters leftover from my removal of yesterday's polish... oops!) The shaft dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic properties of this polish in any way.

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

Girly Bits The Shaft

I included an inordinate quantity of sun shots here to try and convey just how fantastical The Shaft's holo propensities are, but looking at them now, none of them really do the job. In person, they are much richer and more colorful than my camera could capture. Of course nobody necessarily wants or can afford to stand around in the sun all day because of a nail polish, but don't be surprised if you find yourself seeking out the sunny spots of your daily environs to stretch out a glimmering-taloned hand and gaze at the wonders thereof. It does it's magic under bright artificial light as well, but sunlight is the ultimate provocateur of this polish's secret radiance.

It's a sleeper, for sure.

love,
Liz