Lacquer Slacker Liz: topper

Showing posts with label topper. Show all posts

Friday, April 21, 2017

Blush Lacquers Batter Up!

Like I'm No Clown, Batter Up was released in August 2016 by Indiana-based indie polish maker Blush Lacquers as part of the 'Sychotic Squad collection.

Designed to be worn as a topper or on its own as you'll see here, it has a clear base in which are suspended about a bazillion of the teeniest, finest holographic glitters I've ever seen in black, gold and silver, along with beaucoup blue particulate shimmers in a medium azure hue. The shimmer color mixes with the black and metallic microglitters to give the polish the general appearance of a shadow blue with shimmering highlights of blue-grey, a stormy neutral sort of shade that with the abundance of sparkle is transformed to something much more dramatic and decorative. The prismatic sparkle is ubiquitous, twinkling like mad in even the lowest light and exploding into a field of pinpoint rainbow sparks in the sun.

The consistency of Batter Up is fluid and dense with components, with a thicker viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. It maintained a medium-to-thicker viscosity even so, but was easier for me to manipulate. I had some trouble getting it to go where I wanted it to, specifically to what I think of as the "shoulders" of my nails, those areas where the sidewall ends and free edge begins, an issue I often have with thicker polishes. Coverage is provided solely by the components, and I reached an opacity I was happy with in three coats without any undue bulkiness once the polish had dried down. Cleanup is a bear! Even though I did mine as I went along, those tiny microglitters like to scatter. Batter Up dries naturally in very good time to a flat, textured finish that honestly looks very like gravel until you get some topcoat on it. For a glassy smooth finish, I used a layer of gel-effect topcoat plus a layer of quick-dry.

Note to self: Try harder to remember not to cuddle the cat if you're fixing to apply nail polish.

Question: Am I the only one who laments the absence of a stainless steel mixing ball or two in a polish? I realize that they take up space that would otherwise be filled with polish, but I like using the sound of them to gauge the thickness of the contents. Also, when they aren't there, I never quite trust that added polish thinner is properly distributed throughout. Maybe its just me, but I do miss them when they aren't included... ok, I'm done now!

Photos show three coats of Batter Up over ÜNT peel-off basecoat topped with a layer of Pretty Serious Plump Up the Volume gel-effect topcoat and finished with a layer of Seche Vite. This manicure does not win any prizes for precision -- bear with me!

Blush Lacquers Batter Up!

Although it doesn't translate all that well to a still image, I find this look deeply cool in person. I'm always up for a sparklefest and this polish delivers in style -- love those tiny twinkling holographic microglitters and the speckled blue-grey color is awesome. I doubt I'd ever have an even enough hand to use this properly as a topper (although I suspect it would be interesting to try it over black or grey), but that's ok because I much prefer the look on its own. Fun polish!

love,
Liz

Saturday, March 18, 2017

ILNP The Magician over KBShimmer Right as Reign

The Magician was released this month by Nevada-based indie polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as a stand-alone limited edition polish in tandem with the Spring 2017 and Color Kissed Ultra Holos collections. It's a dedicated topper with a clear base in which is suspended the rare and special colorshifting pigment known as unicorn pee amongst nail polish enthusiasts. Creator Barbra says that when a cache of this no-longer-manufactured substance was discovered during a recent office move, she decided to create a limited edition topper with it. Thank you, Barbra!

Like many of you, I put in my pre-order for a bottle of The Magician with much anticipation and immediately turned my attention to selecting the base color to use with it. Darker colors are the logical choice to best bring out the magical shifting hues of red, orange and green, so black was an obvious contender. But even as I ordered I had in mind a deep blue-purple, specifically Right as Reign from KBShimmer. Described as a deep, bold purple with blue and indigo undertones, the color is a dark, sultry variation of violet that closely resembles the web color indigo in most lights, but in the sun brightens and becomes something much more overtly colorful, sort of like hybrid of resolution blue or navy with French violet.

The Magician is rather unprepossessing in the bottle. At least, is is to me! It's a translucent yellowy/beige-y/off-white color with a silky, creme rinse sort of visual texture and beaucoup sparkly particles shifting between what I think of as opal colors: red, orange, gold and green. Mostly they read as a bright red-orange, but you can see a bit of green in the bottle as well at certain angles in the sun.

It applies beautifully. The consistency is fluid and smooth with a medium viscosity and a fluent, silky-smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail that is amenable to thin or thicker coats as preference dictates and does not run or pool. The colorshifting particles disperse effortlessly and evenly and do not show brushstrokes. I think that under most circumstances, one coat is plenty to see the effects, but I used two for the photos as I wasn't sure how well I would be able to capture this pigment in action, an apprehension that as you will see turned out to be well-grounded. The Magician dries naturally in good time to a smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat seems to intensify the presence and effects of the particles.

Photos show two coats of The Magician over a base manicure of Right as Reign with a topcoat of Seche Vite. I was unable to capture the polish's full nature and range as it appears in person, so my pics are a disappointment in that respect and I apologize if, like me, you find them underwhelming. I harbor a mix of admiration and envy for those whose remarkable photos show all of its colors! But I also believe that there's a certain intimacy to the scope of this magical lacquer that does not lend itself readily to any still image.

ILNP The Magician over KBShimmer Right as Reign

In spite of my photos, I do love the look of this topper over the rich indigo color of Right as Reign. It reads mostly as a suspended, shimmering mist of red with a very subtle milky quality that I think serves to enhance its mystical, rarefied nature. At very oblique angles to your light source, you can also see orange, gold and finally green, but the red is just gorgeous and displays a beautiful sparkle in the sun.

Probably the most amazing photos of The Magician that I've seen so far are Sabrina's in her review on Nail Art Sakura, where she swatches it over black and purple. I expect we'll get to see many more pics as folks try it out over various colors and post their photos in ILNP's fan Facebook group, ILNP Lovers Anonymous. Not a member? Join! I've found it to be an active, enthusiastic, welcoming place and you get plenty of exposure to all things ILNP, especially exciting when new collections are released. Like now!

love,
Liz

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Darling Diva I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane over Cirque Memento Mori

I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane was released in February this year by Minnesota-based indie polish maker Darling Diva Polish as part of the Bad Pick Up Lines Part Deux collection for Valentine's 2017, a series of six toppers and one black creme that picks up from Carrie's Bad Pick Up Lines collection for Valentine's 2015. The names for Part Deux were solicited from the members of We're All Darling Divas, the brand's Facebook fan group, and I have to say that they really delivered the goods. So to speak!

This particular polish is one of four multichrome flakie toppers in the collection, with metallic colorshifting flakies that display a spectrum of reds, pinks, oranges, golds and yellows as well as holographic flakies, all suspended in a clear base. The shardy little multichrome flakes in bright, glowing, sunset colors punctuated by silvery holo flakes are too delicious for words, especially over black. Carrie says it reminds her of a monarch butterfly, and it really does! It's like a multichrome flakie version of CrowsToes' awesome glitter polish Shoot the Butterfly from 2013. I love it!

I used Cirque's rich black one-coat creme, Memento Mori, as my base color for this manicure. The consistency of I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane is fluid, light and smooth with a medium viscosity and a remarkably fluent, even, self-leveling glide over the nail. I had no difficulties whatsoever working with this beautifully-formulated lacquer and the component payoff is Goldilocks fabulous, neither too sparse nor too dense, and requires no special technique to disperse evenly over the nail without stacking, stickups or protrusions over the free edge. I applied one medium coat, and did my cleanup as I went along. I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show one coat of Memento More over treatment and basecoat topped with one coat of I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane and finished with a layer of Seche Vite.

Darling Diva I Want to Bang You Like a Screen Door in a Hurricane over Cirque Memento Mori

Eye candy! This is an awesome fantasy polish look, not for everyday perhaps but variety is the spice! I absolutely adore the colorway and the drama of the colors against the black. Those multichrome flakies gleam and shift in the most mesmerizing manner -- I can hardly take my eyes off of them long enough to type! In the sun, of course, you have the added brilliance of prismatic sparkle, but I like the look in ambient light best. Fantastic work, Carrie!

love,
Liz

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Different Dimension Blizzard over Zoya Natty

Blizzard was released just last month by Indiana-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as part of the Homespun Holidays collection. It's a glitter topper, a nice surprise as we don't see many polishes of this kind these days. As creator Missi says, it's meant to represent freshly fallen snow, with a clear suspension base bearing a mix of silver holographic glitters, iridescent microglitters and white glitters in various sizes.

As a base for Blizzard, I chose Zoya Natty, a dusky dark steel blue creme with grey overtones and aspirations to indigo, along the lines of dark blue-grey. I haven't used this polish in a long time but I do love it. It's an edgy color with a mellow twist, a softer, gentler stand-in for navy that has the chic glamour of a dark polish and the congenial bonhomie of a neutral. Years of storage in my big rack o' polishes has not affected it at all, it was in perfect condition, a fluid, creamy crelly formula with a thin-to-medium viscosity that slips on like satin lingerie, is opaque in two coats and dries naturally to a slick, glossy finish.

Over this I applied one coat of Blizzard, which went on beautifully. It has a fluid and remarkably smooth consistency for such a glitter-laden polish, with a medium viscosity and an easy, fluent glide over the nail. Glitter payoff is excellent and disperses evenly, no extra fussing required. You could certainly layer this over itself to true glitterbomb opacity, a la Alicia of De-Lish-ious Nails, if you wished, especially if you sponged it on as she did. Blizzard dries naturally in very good time to a textured finish. I used a glitter-smoothing layer of gel effect topcoat followed by a layer of quick-dry for a glossy, glitter-under-glass look.

Photos show one coat of Blizzard over a base manicure of Zoya Natty. I started with a coat of UNT Ready for Takeoff peel-off basecoat and finished with a topcoat of Pretty Serious Plump Up the Volume followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension Blizzard over Zoya Natty

I love this look, it reminds me of some kind of magical snow globe! I think it is at its most beautiful in indirect light where you can best see all of the glitters, as the holographic ones tend to have an overpowering prismatic sparkle in direct sun. I especially like the iridescent ones with their delicate glints of blue and purple. Of course, the white glitters make this polish. Over a dark base, it's like the nighttime snowfall of your imagination. You can almost hear the flakes pattering softly against your window.

love,
Liz