Lacquer Slacker Liz: taupe

Showing posts with label taupe. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Nine Zero S'more Holo

S'more Holo was released in September 2015 by Michigan-based indie polish maker Nine Zero Lacquer as part of the brand's inaugural Harvest Festival collection. Described simply as a taupe holographic polish, the color is a light, creamy variation of taupe that has a distinct lavender tinge on me although I've seen swatches on others where it didn't and looked more like a true grey-brown. Against my skin tone, it's kind of like a mix of lavender grey and a cool brown like beaver, with a soft, plush quality to it. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment gives it a luminous dimensionality in ambient light and creates a subtle golden semi-metallic underlay. In the sun, there's diaphanous, scattered prismatic display of tiny arching rainbow sparks predominated by azure.

Application was lovely. The consistency of S'more Holo is fluid, dense and very smooth with a medium-to-thicker viscosity that I added a bit of polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it had a luxuriously creamy, self-leveling glide over the nail that was a pleasure to work with. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. S'more Holo dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not seem to affect the holographic properties at all.

Photos show two coats of S'more Holo over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Nine Zero S'more Holo

This is one of those polishes that becomes more beautiful the closer you get to it. The holographic pigment particles add a delicate shimmer to the base color, which has a clean, graceful look on the nail.

Taupe tends to be a low-key, neutral color, perfect for professional settings where you need something neutral but want a look with a little more individuality than pale pink or nude. I love the elegance of taupe polish, and S'more Holo seems to have a kind of lilting, dulcet quality that maintains a nice sense of femininity. The prismatic effects are stealthy enough to fly under the radar, unless you're in direct sun. Very pretty!

love,
Liz

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Contrary Polish Meet Me Under the Marquee

Meet Me Under the Marquee was released at the beginning of February this year by Missouri-based indie polish maker Contrary Polish as one-half of the February Destination Duo with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Special Selection. Described as a taupe base with holographic flakes and colorshifting ultrachrome flakies, it is an earthy medium brownish grey, a nicely-balanced, mourning dove sort of shade that closely resembles the color known as cinerous. Abundant tiny holographic flakes give it a sandy visual texture and produce a blanket of prismatic sparkle in the sun. Scattered colorshifting ultrachrome flakies are mostly relatively small in size, but offer up gleaming flashes in metallic hues of red-violet, magenta, Kelly and spring green, gold and violet as light travels over them.

Application was a pleasure. The consistency of Meet Me Under the Marquee is fluid, light and smooth with a thin-to-medium consistency and an easy, fluent, self-leveling slip over the nail that is very easy to control and manipulate with Contrary's flattened, flexible brush. Component payoff is excellent, dispersing easily and randomly without stacking, stickups or protrusions over the free edge. Pigmentation is sheerish, but will deliver evenly opaque coverage in two thicker coats or three thinner ones. Cleanup is easy. Meet Me Under the Marquee dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show three coats of Meet Me Under the Marquee over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Contrary Polish Meet Me Under the Marquee

The inspiration photo for this particular Destination Duo was taken by Carrie (owner and creative force behind Contrary Polish) at the Sundance Film Festival.

Carrie used the color of the columns on the facade as a point of inspiration for Meet Me Under the Marquee, adding sparkle, texture and gleaming bits of color with her choice of components. The polish has an artisanal, somewhat rustic quality on the nail, organic but resonant and creamy -- I think that Robert Redford would approve! It really comes alive in the sun, where the sandy visual texture transforms into a glimmering, sparkling melange of radiant jewel-like hues.

love,
Liz

Thursday, January 12, 2017

KBShimmer Cubicle Pusher

Cubicle Pusher was released just last week by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Office Space collection. Officially described as a "muted holographic grape," the color is a medium milky taupey plummy sort of shade that's close to a mauve taupe. As Valesha of Peachy Polish says, "It's a bit bruisey, a bit gray, a bit brownish and a lot gorgeous." Exactly! A creamy elegant neutral that I'd say definitely resides in the taupe family, it has a creme holo's shimmery dimensional quality with a vestigial flare of prismatic effervescence in direct light.

Application was awesome. The consistency of Cubicle Pusher is fluid, light and creamy with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a maglev smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail that is a pleasure to manipulate with KBShimmer's slightly bushy flattened-style brush. Pigmentation is very good. A touch of sheerness to the first coat builds easily to completely even opaque coverage with the second. Cleanup is a breeze. Cubicle Pusher dries naturally in very good time to a gorgeous glossy finish.

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

KBShimmer Cubicle Pusher

This is such a classically understated, graceful color. If you're pale like me, the depth of tone gives it a gentle touch of modernity and from what I've seen in other reviews it is equally lovely on richer skin tones.

xo,
Liz

Monday, November 21, 2016

Different Dimension Celebration

Celebration was just released about a week and a half ago by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as part of the Homespun Holidays collection. Described as a "taupe holographic metallic polish with added shimmers, flakies and holographic microglitters," the base color is a pale, shimmery taupe grey that is filled with Missi's special mixed metals magic! Superabundant copper flakies give it a complex, heathery, cinerous look and a radiant coppery pink sheen with hints of violet. Folded into this look are shifting swaths of misty prismatic shimmer in pale blue and gold, dotted with tiny twinkling sparks from a sprinkling of holographic microglitters. Direct sun generates an extravagant, super sparkly linear flare: slender flame-shaped ribbons of bright prismatic color framing a central blaze of gleaming, semi-metallic coppery pink and shading to taupe grey around the edges of the nail.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Celebration is fluid, smooth and dense with a medium-to-thick viscosity to which I added a squirt of polish thinner at the outset. Thinned, it had a creamy, even, self-leveling glide over the nail with very good pigmentation, delivering completely opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy, but does free up various tiny components to ensconce themselves about the nail environs. Celebration dries naturally in good time to a slightly flat finish with a small amount of gentle texture from the glitters, easily smoothed by topcoat. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties in any way.

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

Different Dimension Celebration

I love greys and taupes on my nails so I had to have this stunning silvery/coppery taupe holo. The holographic effects are powerful and responsive in almost any kind of light, and mix beautifully with the copper flakies to produce a fantastic, rich, shimmery visual texture that is full of shifting colors. It has an ornate, kind of iridescent feel on the nail that reminds me of Louis IV somehow, yet with with the versitility of a neutral.

Excellent!

love,
Liz

Thursday, October 20, 2016

ILNP Central Station

Like Industrial Park, Central Station was released in mid-September this year by Nevada-based indie polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Neutrals subset of the Fall 2016 collection. These two were my picks from that group. In retrospect, I wish I'd purchased Chleo as well.

Central Station is officially described as a "soft brown neutral shade with a subtle grey undertone," and while that's exactly what it looks like in some viewing circumstances, in others it looks more like a true grey. Six of one, half dozen of the other? Perhaps. Mostly it reads as a light-to-medium, semi-translucent taupe grey with cinerous aspects, a gentle, unassuming neutral shade with soft hints of mauve and violet that's actually very well-balanced between cool and warm. It is packed with ILNP's signature mix of holographic components, variously-size flakies, particles and pigment, and the built-in translucence allows for maximum light penetration so that there's always a bit of prismatic sparkle to the look. Direct sun generates a loose (or tightly scattered) but very sparkly holographic flare.

Application was stellar. The consistency of Central Station is fluid, light and smooth with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a fluent, silky, self-leveling slip over the nail. ILNP makes one of my most favorite formulas out there, and this is a prime example of it. Pigmentation is sheer. Three medium coats will net reasonably opaque coverage and unless you're sporting shorties you'll need all three. Cleanup is easy but frees up all kinds of holographic particles to ensconce themselves about the nail environs and in the sidewalls. Central Station dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties at all.

Photos show three coats of Central Station over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

ILNP Central Station

A lovely neutral shade with lively holographic sparkle, I imagine this is wearable for a broad range of skintones. It's warmer and cozier than a true grey, which tends to have a more formal, reserved quality to it.

NPR: our current microwave went feet up the other day, much to Fuzzy's dismay. Warming her coffee in the microwave is de rigueur for her morning routine. John also was perturbed, he microwaves everything. Nothing is too hot for his asbestos mouth! I ordered a new one from Best Buy online and picked it up on my way home from Raleigh yesterday. This makes the fourth new microwave we've had in the twenty-plus years we've lived in this house, which is just sad if you ask me. When they were manufactured in Japan, those things had a much longer lifespan. These days, we're lucky to get two and a half years out of one of them. John says it's planned obsolescence. Imagine the landfill load simply from dead microwaves. Ugh!

ttfn,
Liz