Painted Polish Blush Babe

Like Ruffles & Romance, Blush Babe was released earlier this month by California-based indie polish maker Painted Polish as part of the I Love Blush collection. Described as "a nude leaning blush ultra holo with added silver holographic glitters," this polish is like a sparkly, iridescent bronzer for your nails. 

The color is a complex, toasty tan-leaning nude, say equal parts tan and unbleached silk with champagne pink highlights, but it's so holographic and flashy that you don't really see an exact color -- more like an impression of a color. There's a prominent prismatic flush in misty hues of lavender, pink and palest azure edged with gold and a whisper-thin thread of red in ambient light, and a gleaming, highly-reflective pale coppery-gold underlay with a brilliant flash, the whole dotted with bright, twinkling prismatic sparks from the holographic glitters. Direct sun elicits a textbook linear prismatic flare featuring the full retinue of rainbow colors.

Application was fabulous. The consistency of Blush Babe is fluid, light and smooth with a thinner-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail that goes on naturally in thin coats from a moderately loaded brush. Pigmentation is sheerish on the first coat but will build to a wearable opacity in two with a medium second coat. I added a third for the photos. Cleanup is easy, even with the glitters. Blue Babe dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not interfere with the holographic properties of the polish in any way.

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

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

Painted Polish Blush Babe

This is really rather stunning! My skin tone is not the best showcase considering the native warmth of the color, but I love it anyway. Like I said, it reminds me of bronzer but for your nails, with a glamorous, beachy, bain-de-soleil kind of vibe and that delicious "toasted" quality that frames the prismatic effects. The prominence of the holo and all the sparkle and flash makes it really showy and eye-catching on the nail. Glorious!

xo,
Liz

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Ruffles & Romance was released just this past week by California-based indie polish maker Painted Polish as part of the I Love Blush collection, a series of five polishes in the blush/nude color genre, each with a different finish. Creator Lexi describes this one as "a creamy light blush subtle holo with silver holographic glitters and a reflective copper shimmer."

The color is indeed a deliciously creamy light blush nude, a shell pink blended with touches of grey and tan that fits nicely in the champagne pink/desert sand family. Holographic pigment gives it a delicately-grained, luminous quality on the nail and abundant finely-milled copper particulate shimmers gently warm the color, visible as a glistening, coppery-pink mist along the axis of light, while minute scattered holographic glitters emit dainty, twinkling sparks in the palest of prismatic shades. The component effects become more prominent in direct light, and there's even a shy hint of a linear flare.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Ruffles & Romance is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a silky, self-leveling slip over the nail that goes on remarkably evenly for a white-based shade. Pigmentation is very good. A bit of sheerness on the first coat builds easily to wearable opacity with the second. I added a third for the photos, but would happily wear it at two otherwise. Cleanup is straightforward with some stickiness on the part of the glitters. Ruffles & Romance dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers.

Photos show three coats of Ruffles & Romance over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Painted Polish Ruffles & Romance

Such a graceful polish, perfect for a bride! It has that smooth, clean, elegant character-shoe quality that I love that elongates the fingers and complements everything. The copper shimmers add a luxurious, cosmopolitan air that makes me think of the French riviera for some reason, and I adore the delicate sparkle. So pretty!

xo,
Liz

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

You're Brew-tiful was just released at the beginning of the month by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Holo-day collection for winter 2017. Described as a lightened brown linear holographic polish, the color is a desaturated café au lait shade, a cool, creamy pale brown heavily silvered with holographic pigment, which gives it a taupey aspect. Powerfully holographic, it displays some kind of flare even in very low light, misty arcs of pasteled, pearly prismatic hues that frame a gleaming lick of pale gold and shade to café au lait at the sidewalls of the nail. In the sun, there's a brilliant linear display in full-strength rainbow colors.

Application was great! The consistency of You're Brew-tiful is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and an effortless, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good, with a little bit of sheerness on the first coat building easily to evenly opaque coverage with the second. Cleanup is easy. You're Brew-tiful dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not in any way interfere with the holographic properties of the polish.

Photos show two coats of You're Brew-tiful over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

KBShimmer You're Brew-tiful

This has been a collection favorite with reviewers and I can see why! The pale, creamy brown combines with the silver holographic pigment to give the polish pale gold highlights and a neutral, almost nude quality. Adorned with its pasteled prismatic colors, it has a certain softness that you don't usually think of for linear holos, a sleek, ethereal look with a refined, sophisticated quality on the nail. Extremely flattering, it's a gentler, more organic alternative to pure silver or gold holos with an abundance of holographic magic that allows it to hold its own amid brighter holiday shades. Really lovely!

love,
Liz

Picture Polish Bardot

Bardot was released in 2015 by Australian boutique polish maker Picture Polish as an addition to PP's Opulence line. Officially described as a French baby pink scattered holographic polish, the color is a desaturated peachy pink nude, a milky, barely-there sort of shade along the lines of the traditional Japanese color shironeri, or unbleached silk. It has PP's traditional scattered holo formula with silvery holographic flakies, which seem to have a more moderate presence here than in other PP scattered holos, perhaps due to the creaminess of the color. But they do give the polish a subtly sparkling shimmer that lights up in delicate, pasteled prismatic hues as light travels over it. 

If you follow Chit Chat Nails, Bardot strikes me as a very Marta kind of color. 

Application was lovely. The consistency of Bardot is fluid, light and creamy with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky smooth slip over the nail. Self-leveling properties are very good for a white-based shade. Pigmentation is sheer -- translucent and a bit streaky on the first coat but building up and evening out with subsequent coats. I used three, but I suspect that with an even hand and the proper mojo some folks could achieve wearable opacity in two. Cleanup is easy. Bardot dries naturally in average time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat helped to smooth out lingering areas of unevenness.

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

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

Picture Polish Bardot

I think my camera skews the color a little cool. In person, there's more warmth to it. 

Picture Polish makes some lovely nudes and near nudes, some with holo and some without. Bardot's slightly peachy beige quality places it right on the line for me in terms of wearability --  almost a little too warm, but not quite. It's a beautiful, "character shoe" kind of shade, delicate, creamy and clean on the nail, making for a very tidy-looking manicure. It makes me want to try Grace, another soft pinky nude Opulence color with a greyer undertone than Bardot. If you'd like to see a side-by-side comparison of these two, Edina of Lakkomlakkom features exactly that in her review of Bardot, here. 

Picture Polish is available through their website and various international stockists. I usually purchase my Picture Polish from Color4Nails, but when I went to place my order recently, Firefox wouldn't let me on the site due to some kind of security issue. I've since discovered that Safari doesn't share Firefox's security scruples, but at the time I just decided to go ahead and buy directly from Picture Polish in Australia, ordering enough polish to take advantage of free international shipping. Incredibly enough, my package arrived in only TWO DAYS via DHL! How amazing is that?

xo,
Liz

ILNP Birthday Suit

Like After Party, Birthday Suit was released earlier this month by Nevada-based indie polish maker ILNP as part of the Summer 2017 collection. It's described as a cashmere pink holo with holographic flakies. The color is a tender, desaturated nude pink, slightly cool-leaning, with greige undertones that give it a creamy, clay-like sensibility. Superabundant holographic flakes add a fetching prismatic twinkle in ambient light and a blanket of rainbow sparks in the sun, where there's also a vestigial holographic flare, slightly dispersed by the flakes but present enough to travel up and down the nail as you flex your fingers in the light.

Application was fabulous. The consistency of Birthday Suit is fluid, light and smooth with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. Formulaic perfection! Pigmentation is slightly sheer, but will build to a wearably opaque look in two medium coats. I added a third for the photos and it did seem to give the color a bit more density and intensify its native creaminess, but this polish goes on so evenly you could easily wear it at one coat for an ethereal, sheer look. Cleanup is a bit of a bear because those holographic flakes stick to the nail like tiny prismatic limpets so you'll want to be precise with your lines from the get-go. Birthday Suit dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

ILNP Birthday Suit

I adore the graceful, your-nails-but-better look of pinkish nude holos to the point where I simply cannot get enough of them, ever, so you know I love love LOVE this polish! It may not be groundbreaking, but it is unreservedly gorgeous in every way, from the color to the formula to the holographic effects. The color is clean and delicate but deliciously creamy, angelic but grounded, and the prismatic sparkle is like a wink from Cupid!

If you're wondering, as I was, how this compares to Chleo, ILNP's blush nude holo from the 2016 Fall Neutrals collection, Edina of lakkomlakkom includes a photo of the two swatched side by side (she also includes Sweet Pea and Elle) in her review of the Summer 2017 collection, here. Birthday Suit is lighter in person, she says, and has bigger flakies in it. I suspect that it may be slightly more opaque as well.

love,
Liz