Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Unspeakably Desirable was released on 24 August this year by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers as a limited edition, numbered polish marking creator Amy's birthday. Officially described as "a bright coral mega glitter holo with copper, gold and rose microglitter," the name comes from a quote by Mark Twain, one of Amy's favorite authors:

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.

The color is a rich, medium-light orangey coral with a stealthy rosiness and aspects of terracotta, like something along the lines of a slightly muted tea rose. There's a certain creamy quality to it that reminds me of tomato soup when you make it with milk. Abundant holographic pigment gives it a glistening, tapestried dimensionality and nuances the base with hues of tomato and Congo pink in ambient light, dotted with tiny bright sparks in rose and coppery orange from the microglitters. In the sun there's a lush linear holographic flare, somewhat dispersed by the microglitters, framing a swath of frothy coral pink and shading to persimmon at the sidewalls of the nail, the whole blanketed with a net of bright prismatic sparks, most notably in gold, orange and green.

Application went well. The consistency of Unspeakably Desirable is fluid, dense and smooth with a medium-to-thicker viscosity that I added a little polish thinner to but should please those who prefer working with a slightly thicker polish. Thinned, it had an even, fluent glide over the nail. Self-leveling properties are very good as is pigmentation, netting evenly opaque coverage in two coats. I did my cleanup as I went along to avoid overly sticky glitters. Unspeakably Desirable dries naturally in very good time to a flat, slightly textured finish that wasn't entirely smoothed by Seche Vite so I added a layer of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze for a glassy finish.

Photos show two coats of Unspeakably Desirable over ÜNT Ready for Takeoff peel-off basecoat with a double topcoat of Seche Vite and Girly Bits Glitter Glaze.

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

Literary Lacquers Unspeakably Desirable

I usually think of coral as a summer color so I was surprised at how fall appropriate this polish feels on the nail, possibly because it pulls richly orange on my skin tone compared to the way it appears in other reviews that I've seen, where it seems much rosier. I love the generous sparkle of those microglitters, it adds a lighthearted, playful quality to look.

Like what you see? Unspeakably Desirable is still available in the Literary Lacquers etsy shop!

love,
Liz

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

The Happy Prince was released in February 2017 by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers. It's a collaborative custom polish created by Amy and designed by Jen Sky Walker of Musings of the Wife of a Jedi in honor of the blog's fifth anniversary. Since the 5-year anniversary gemstone is sapphire, Jen chose sapphire blue as the color. The name is taken from the 1888 children's short story "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde. 

Officially described as a "sparkling sapphire blue crelly with a subtle pink shimmer," the base is a semi-translucent medium-dark sapphire or dark cornflower hue with a certain silvery, smoky quality that I can't quite put my finger on and and a stealthy violet aspect that reminds me of Elizabeth Taylor's eyes. It is absolutely packed with components: pink shimmers and glass flecks, tiny iridescent pink flakies, silvery microflakes and infinitesimal holographic microglitters. In ambient light it has a luxe, tapestried look with a finely-grained visual texture, a subtle, transparent pink sheen and a vitreous luster liberally dusted with dainty twinkling sparks, interspersed with the occasional gleam of pink or turquoise or violet when the light hits a flakie just right. In the sun, the look is transformed by a dense blanket of delicate sparkle in every rainbow color, finer than a holo, as though it were made of crushed gemstones.

Application went well. The consistency of The Happy Prince is fluid, dense and slightly loamy with a thicker viscosity that I added several squirts of polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it had a plush glide over the nail with a bit of component tumbling that resulted in a few stickups, nothing major though. Pigmentation is very good, delivering wearable opacity in two liberal coats or three thinner ones. I did my cleanup as I went along and had no issues. I should note, though, that this polish is full of potentially sticky bits -- cuidado! The Happy Prince dries naturally in very good time to a textured finish, mostly smoothed by a dedicated glitter-smoothing or gel-effect topcoat, which accentuates the presence of the pink shimmers especially.

Photos show three coats of The Happy Prince over basecoat with a layer of Girly Bits Glitter Glaze followed by a layer of Seche Vite for extra gloss -- definitely worth the trouble. 

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Literary Lacquers The Happy Prince

Oh, this is such a gorgeous, classy polish, definitely a keeper! I'm afraid my photos don't do its complexity and character justice, and I don't think words can either. You have to see it in person. It's sleek and twinkly on the nail, quite glamorous actually, with a distinct artisanal, crafted quality that makes it profoundly gratifying to wear. The look really doesn't come together until you get topcoat on it, so if you have this polish and haven't tried it yet, or if you're contemplating getting it, have patience as you apply and do use a double topcoat, a glassy finish makes the most of this marvelous creation. 

love,
Liz

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Lettie's Ocean was released towards the end of June this year by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers. Creator Amy describes it as a "soft turquoise holo with holo sparkle." To my eye, the base color is similar to iceberg blue, a gentle, creamy, translucent medium-light variation of azure with a hint of silvery grey to it (more so in person than my photos show) and aspects of sky blue and denim. Abundant finely milled holographic pigment gives it a heathery look and creates dimensionalizing hues of cornflower, steel blue and misty jordy blue on the nail. Holographic microglitters dot the look with tiny silvery squares that emit a delicate prismatic twinkle as light travels over them. In the sun, the color brightens noticeably to more of a true sky blue shade, and there's a lovely linear holographic flare with a predominant arc of bright azure edged by a shimmering corona of mixed prismatic sparkle that frames a semi-metallic lick of pale silvery blue grey and deepens to a silver lake blue at the sidewalls of the nail. 

Application was fabulous. It's been a while since I've swatched one of Amy's creations and I see that she has changed her brush! It used to be round, but now it's flat, with a long flat stem that has a distinctly elegant feel as you wield it. I love it! The consistency of Lettie's Ocean is fluid, full-bodied and smooth with a medium-to-thicker consistency to which I added polish thinner at the outset. Thinned, it still retained a good bit of density but glided on evenly and easily and self-leveled like a dream. Pigmentation is very good, delivering full opacity in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Lettie's Ocean dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with a tiny bit of discernible texture from the microglitters, easily smoothed by topcoat. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties of the polish at all. 

Photos show two coats of Lettie's Ocean over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. A note about the color -- it's a little bit brighter in the ambient light photos than what my eye sees in person, where it has a duskier, more complex quality. The sun shots are about right.

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

This is a gorgeous polish! The gentle quality of the blue has a distinct Literary Lacquers feel to it as do the twinkling microglitters. It is light and graceful on the nail, very easy to wear casually but still feels special. LOVE! If you've never tried Literary Lacquers before, I recommend this one as an excellent introduction to the brand. Blue lovers take note, you might just need this lovely, elegant shade in your stash!

xo,
Liz

Literary Lacquers The Edge

The Edge was released in September this year by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers as a numbered, limited edition polish celebrating creator Amy's birthday. The name of this polish comes from a quote by one of her favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut.

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.
--from Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

Officially described as a royal purple linear holographic nail polish with iridescent flakies, the color here is a creamy medium violet, a floral lavender, brighter and more robust than what you might usually think of for lavender. Superabundant finely-milled holographic pigment makes it perfectly luminous on the nail, shaded and dimensionalized with nuanced hues of indigo, violet pink and misty bluebell with hints of red violet. Variously-sized and shaped iridescent flakies float within, visible as gleaming bits of pink and blue and pale sea green when the light hits them just right. In the sun, there's a glorious linear prismatic display predominated by azure and red that surrounds a central lick of silvery lilac. 

Application was lovely. The consistency of The Edge is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium viscosity and a luxurious, velvety glide over the nail with a bit of pull to it. It sets up fairly quickly, as I've experienced in the past with Amy's polishes, so appreciates a deft application with minimal overstroking. The flakies were by and large well-behaved; there were a couple of protrusions over the free edge, easily coaxed back onto the nail with a tip-wrapping swipe of the brush. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two medium coats. Cleanup is easy. The Edge dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish with a bit of visual texture from the flakies. Topcoat does not inhibit the holographic properties in any way.

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

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

Literary Lacquers The Edge

I am really loving this gorgeous color right now! Fall-release polishes tend to favor darker, denser purples that start to look far too similar to each other after a while, I think. This brilliant floral lavender is a radiant gem in that field, uncommon and precious. It's certainly bold enough for fall, and lightens the heart like a breath of crisp autumn air or the sight of a sugar maple with leaves aflame.

ttyl,
Liz