Lacquer Slacker Liz: green

Showing posts with label green. Show all posts

Sunday, May 6, 2018

KBShimmer Keep Palm And Carry On

Keep Palm And Carry On was released in March 2017 by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Nauti By Nature collection, a series of twelve polishes designed around the theme of spring break in the Caribbean. Officially described as a yellow-leaning, palm-inspired green, the color is a well-saturated, medium-dark forest green with aspects of Kelly and shamrock that is bold and energetic on the nail. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment creates a subtle cerulean heart edged by nuances of fern, mantis and misty olive in ambient light. In the sun, there's a sparkling linear prismatic display predominated by azure and spring green with a trailing corona of orange and red sparks.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Keep Palm And Carry On is fluid and full-bodied with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity and a lush, creamy, self-leveling glide over the nail, an excellent, user-friendly formula. Pigmentation is very good, netting completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is surprisingly easy for such a saturated shade, with little to no pigment travel or trace staining. Keep Palm And Carry On dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly satiny shine. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic properties in any way.

Photos show two coats of Keep Palm And Carry On over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer Keep Palm And Carry On

Fabulous! This polish is intended to evoke the lush foliage of the islands and I'd say that it's pretty perfect in that respect. It's an intense, end-of-summer kind of green, like the collective greenery of trees, grass and flora after months of summer sun. The holographic effects are visible in some respect in almost every viewing circumstance, enriching and dimensionalizing the color on the nail and sparkling brightly in the sun.

love,
Liz

Friday, April 13, 2018

Picture Polish Cactus

Cactus was released last month by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as part of the Spring Autumn 2018 collection, a series of five new polishes and one re-release. Cactus is a new Collaboration shade. It was designed by Ziata of the Russian blog de briz. You can see Ziata's post about her polish here.

Officially described as a "khaki green" jelly with holographic flakes, the color is a mellow, creamy, medium-toned variation of yellow-green with a kiss of grey to it, like something along the lines of turtle green. It reminds me very much of French green clay. It's filled with Picture Polish's signature holographic flakes, which give it a finely flecked visual texture and read in shades of gold and silver within the base with a subtle golden prismatic bloom in ambient light. Bright direct light elicits a luminous flush of gold, orange and aquamarine sparks.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Cactus is fluid, light and silky with a thin-to-medium consistency and a fluent, smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail, a gorgeous formula that is a pleasure to manipulate with PP's flexible, flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in two medium coats. Cleanup is easy. Cactus dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

Picture Polish Cactus

I love this creamy, cosmopolitan yellow-green! There's just enough oomph to it to echo the green mist of young spring leaves that you see in the landscape about now here in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, but the earthy quality of the color makes it excellent for fall as well. It has a clean, glossy, chic sophistication on the nail that's like a well-tailored jacket -- it has that special "signature" kind of sensibility.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

ILNP Short Circuit

More from ILNP! Short Circuit, also part of the Spring 2018 collection and also an Ultra Metallic "Bright," is described as a "mind-numbingly radiant" yellow with subtle green undertones. It's a blast! The color is a metallic chartreuse yellow or traditional chartreuse, a greenish yellow with lemon-lime aspects that's composed of superabundant, highly-reflective, flat metallic particles in a transparent base. Bold and beaming on the nail, this will be a crazy-good alternative to neon yellow come summertime. The metallic color is softly reflective in the way of foil polishes, with a finely-grained, piecey visual texture, loads of scintillating sparkle and a lively, gleaming flash. It absolutely glows, even in low light.

Application was great! The consistency of Short Circuit is fluid and smooth with a medium consistency and a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail that is a pleasure to manipulate with the brand's flexible, flattened-style brush. Coverage is provided by the metallic bits, which seem slightly more plentiful and dense here than they did in Hi-Fi, delivering a wearably opaque look in two medium coats. I added a third for the photos. As with Hi-Fi, cleanup looses a legion of shiny, sticky metallic bits to ensconce themselves about the nail environs, adhering to skin and nail like little limpets. I recommend going for as clean a manicure as possible from the outset and doing any necessary cleanup very carefully while the polish is still wet. Short Circuit dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

ILNP Short Circuit

How about that?! The color can lean more to yellow or to a fresh, new-leaf green depending upon the kind of light in which it's viewed, and is brighter in person than it appears in the pics. It's definitely an in-your-face 24/7 sort of look, but I think that it's most striking in low light, where the burnished, show-stealing glow really ramps up the amperage.

love,
Liz

Saturday, March 17, 2018

ILNP Avalon

Avalon was just released released this month with the new Spring 2018 collection from Nevada-based indie polish maker ILNP. Officially described as a chartreuse holographic polish, the color is a light, bright, translucent yellow-green with aspects of lemon-lime and olivine, similar to pear. The mix of holographic components, sized from minute particles to tiny flakes, gives it a golden, reflective, semi-metallic quality on the nail with loads of sparkle -- never more so than in the sun where it's densely blanketed with scattered prismatic sparks and a somewhat dispersed linear flush that travels up and down the nail as you flex your fingers in the light.

Application was great! The consistency of Avalon is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is sheer and requires at least three coats for best opacity, even though it may look wearable at two in direct light. Cleanup is straightforward, with some scattering of holo flakies. Avalon dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, satiny finish. Topcoat does not in any way inhibit the holographic properties of this polish.

Photos show three coats of Avalon over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

ILNP Avalon

My pics really do not do justice to this polish -- it's an exceedingly spry yellow-green that's fresh and buoyant and perfect for spring! Much brighter in person than my photos show. While not classified as a metallic, it does have a shiny metallic sensibility on the nail that adds considerable pizzazz to the look.

love,
Liz

Friday, March 2, 2018

Pretty Jelly Sweet Trip to Honeydukes

Sweet Trip to Honeydukes was created by Liz of Illinois-based indie polish maker Pretty Jelly especially for the February 2018 "Sugar Rush" edition of Polish Pickup. This polish was inspired by the legendary wizarding sweets shop from the Harry Potter film series, and is described as "a deep mint green holographic with peach shimmer and hot pink sparkle."

The base color is a cool, translucent, medium-toned shade of Paris green. The degree of translucence creates luminosity and allows the color to be easily influenced by its components, giving it a certain malleable complexity on the nail. Holographic properties nuance the base with aspects of blue-green in ambient light. Abundant fine pink-to-gold color-shifting shimmers combine with it to give it a dusky quality, and create a swath of golden peachy-pink along the axis of light. Tiny, reflective bright pink microflakes emit a stealthy sparkle as light travels over them.

Application was buenísimo! The consistency of Sweet Trip to Honeydukes is fluid and full-bodied with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity that I added a bit of polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it had a fluent, even, self-leveling slip over the nail that was a pleasure to finesse with the brand's flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is sheerish. Three coats delivers full opacity and bottle color. Cleanup is easy. Sweet Trip to Honeydukes dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the components.

Photos show three coats of Sweet Trip to Honeydukes over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. It was heavily overcast and raining today when I took these and they are not as sharp as I would have liked them to be, my apologies. On the plus side, though, you can more easily traces of the sparkly pink microflakes when they're blurred.

Pretty Jelly Sweet Trip to Honeydukes

Everything about this polish speaks to the diversity, creativity and uniqueness of indie polish making -- it's literally a perfect example of what I love most about indie polish makers and their offerings. The resonant inspiration of Honeydukes is creatively rendered in the color and components, which combine to create a unique look that is beautiful in its own right, complex, unconventional and, above all, eminently wearable.