Lacquer Slacker Liz: texture

Showing posts with label texture. Show all posts

Friday, December 12, 2014

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet

Turnip the Beet was released by indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Winter 2014 collection. This is one of three textured polishes from this collection, making KBShimmer's textured line a total of six counting the three from the Early Summer 2014 collection. Turnip the Beet (I can handle a pun but that one is a groaner!) has a medium bright fuchsia base bearing texture particles and multi-sized holographic glitters in red, magenta and purple. The natural finish has a sandy feel. There's a beautiful diffuse glow to the base color, with outstanding sparkle from the holo glitters, especially in direct light. Should you prefer a smoother finish, topcoat brightens and sharpens the colors of both the base and the glitters and gives this polish an intense disco-ball look in the sun. It's a fun polish and a great addition to this line.

Application was trouble-free. Turnip the Beet seemed especially thick to me at the outset so I added a boatload of polish thinner to it right away. My skills just don't mesh well with thick polishes. Thus thinned, it went on quite easily and smoothly, a little sheer on the first coat but quickly building to completely even opacity after two coats. Cleanup was surprisingly easy. I was sure that the smaller glitters especially would be difficult to remove from cuticles and skin but happily I was wrong. Turnip the Beet dries naturally in average time to a semi-matte, sandy finish. Until it's completely dry I found this polish to be vulnerable to dents and scrapes, which pushed up small sheets of polish from the nail. Luckily it is (ab)user friendly and I was able to gently tamp the lifted bits into place and patch areas that needed it with a bead of fresh polish.

Photos show two coats of Turnip the Beat over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat to show the natural finish.

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet, natural finish

I also tried Turnip the Beet in glossy mode. I used a surface-smoothing layer of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food and two coats of Seche Vite to get a glossy finish.

KBShimmer Turnip the Beet, with topcoat

The only other texture from KBShimmer that I have is She Twerks Out from the Early Summer 2014 collection and I liked that one as much in its natural textured finish as with a glossy topcoat. Turnip the Beet I'd say that I prefer glossy. I think that's because the jelly base in this one doesn't dry as matte as I would like to see, and I definitely prefer a textured polish finish to be as matte as possible.

Turnip the Beet looks fantastic glossy, I think. It's like having a bevy of Vegas showgirls on your finger tips! I don't do accent nails very much at all but this one would make a great accent to a nice rich berry-colored creme. Miami Beet from OPI springs immediately to mind, probably because it has "beet" in the name also. ;P Something like Deborah Lippmann Between the Sheets would work also, or even a purple! Or black!

I kind of wish I'd gotten the textured gold Dressed to Guild from the Winter 2014 collection also. It has some unexpected accent colors in it. But gold usually doesn't work very well with my coloring. I'm still tempted, though.

love,
Liz

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Zoya Beatrix

Beatrix was released by Zoya as part of its PixieDust collection for summer 2013. Like the two other orange PixieDusts I own, Dhara and Destiny, Beatrix has Zoya's "exclusive textured matte foil twinkle formula." The foil element is the only thing that differentiates these guys from the regular textured PixieDust look, in that not only do you have the madly sparkling glittery sugar crystal thing going on but it's going on over a metallic-like foil base that adds an addition reflective element to the mix. In my experience, these foil PixieDusts have more nuancing of the base color than the regular ones do. I'm very fond of both versions -- I find the regular versions more subtle and the foil more visually striking.

Beatrix is no exception. Zoya calls this a "tangerine metal[lic] sparkle," and I agree. As I contemplated my bottle of Beatrix while waiting for my treatment and basecoat to dry, I wondered whether I was truly up to the orange-yellow lacquer inside. I got about three nails into my manicure and realized that I had a big smile on my face. Once again, I am surprised and delighted by Zoya's composition and formula. Beatrix is a true unbloodied golden orange and yet it is surprisingly mellow in comparison with my other orange PixieDusts. The color reminds me of June daylillies.

Application-wise, Beatrix is very much in line with the rest of the PixieDust line. Thin coats with plenty of dry time between them produces the best looking results -- a dry sugary crystalline finish where the glittery elements ride on top of the polish with maximum sparkle. Of course, with the metallic element in there you also get an overall reflective effect from the base color as well, but it's not so strong as to detract from the texture. Just strong enough to nuance the color into lighter and deeper versions of itself depending upon the way light is hitting it. This foil effect is a bit less pronounced in Beatrix than in Dhara or Destiny, but Beatrix is no less gorgeous for that.

So, consistency is fluid but grainy and dense with texture particles that splay the brush a little. Pigmentation is ok, a tad sheer on the first coat but buildable. I could have lived with the opacity I got in two coats but did one more for the photos and I'm glad I did, the color is more vibrant at three. Beatrix dries naturally in fairly good time for thin coats to it's signature sandy textured finish.

Photos show three coats of Beatrix over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.

Zoya Beatrix

Like I said, for an orange I find this if not mellow then soothing somehow, perhaps because it is such a true clean fresh organic orange. So many orange polishes feel like they're trying too hard to be hazardous. Not this one. It is sweet and juicy! The color brightens up even more in full sun and sparkles like crazy, but I prefer it in indirect light and shade, with the glitters twinkling like sand on a beach and the metallic aspect gleaming softly along the axis of light.

love,
Liz

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Zoya Vespa

Like Nyx, Vespa was released by Zoya as part of it debut PixieDust collection for spring 2013. Zoya describes it as a mint, but I'd say it's more of a soft sagey grey green. It dries to the sugared matte finish that the PixieDusts are known for, and is beaucoup sparkly thanks to a prodigious amount of silvery microglitters. Michelle Mismas of the blog All Lacquered Up described it best when she wrote in her review that it reminded her of "the underside of a leaf kissed by silvery moonlight."

Application was great. The consistency of Vespa is similar to Nyx in that they are both sheer, and it applies similarly as well. The polish is fluid but easily controlled and flows smoothly onto the nail without running, although it will pool at the tip if you have too much polish on your brush when you wrap your tips (as I often do). Being sheer, coverage must be built in multiple coats. I used three for Vespa, the same as I did for Nyx. Cleanup was quick and easy as I had only a little to do but those silver microglitters tend to stick to the skin if polish is allowed to dry there so I recommend doing PixieDust cleanup as you go along instead of waiting til the end. Vespa surface dries fairly quickly with the bulk of the polish drying in slightly longer than average time to a twinkling sandy textured matte finish.

Photos show three coats of Vespa over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.

Zoya Vespa

I can see the case for this being a muted spring green and I think it's a great color for spring. It reminds me of when the deciduous trees first start leafing out, giving the landscape a faint mist of green. So pretty!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Zoya Nyx

Nyx was released by Zoya as part of its premier PixieDust collection early last year. Zoya describes it as "a perfect periwinkle with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula." In person, I'd say it's more of a pale grey blue, and it tends to pull very grey on me unless I'm wearing something blue. It definitely does have a sugared sparkle thanks to the texture particles and a superabundance of silver microglitters. This is one of my favorite PixieDusts for its cool, subtle color and beautiful twinkling finish.

Application was great but long. The PixieDusts in general take a longer time to dry completely than regular polish and Nyx is no exception. The consistency is fluid and sheer but applies easily and evenly over the nail. Because this is a somewhat sheer polish, it takes several coats to build up to opacity. I used three and even then in the sun I could see it wasn't quite as opaque as I thought it was.

Photos show three coats of Nyx over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.

Zoya Nyx

Like other PixieDust polishes from Zoya, Nyx is at its best in motion with the light catching it's tiny glitters, producing a wave of soft sparkle across the nail as it does so. I've received more compliments on this polish than any other I've worn, so that tells you that despite it's pale subtle coloring it gets noticed. It looks great with other soft colors, especially blue.

love,
Liz

a perfect periwinkle with a sugared sparkle, in the exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Nyx-ZP660.html#sthash.fVVFUj6H.dpuf