Electric Flame, Dost Thou Not Love Me?

If you'll recall from my Nail Mail post, I received several Hare polishes not too long ago. One of them was Electric Flame. I'd been looking forward to swatching this polish because of many photos I'd seen online where it looked magnificent, a creamy ethereal pale peachy orange jelly full of iridescent glitters that flashed pale blue, violet and pink. 

Electric Flame is part of a collection of polishes by Hare called The Illuminated Life. Nikole used bioluminescence as her inspiration for these polishes. Electric Flame was inspired by the electric flame scallop, a marine bivalve mollusk with vivid reddish orange mantle and tentacles, and a strip of bioluminescent tissue on the edge of its mantle that pulses with blue light.

electric flame scallop

Hare Polish Electric Flame, bottle shot

Seeing as Electric Flame is a jelly, I thought I'd better seek out proper underwear for it. I had absolutely nothing in my stash that even remotely resembled the base color, so I improvised. I applied a coat of Sation Strumming My Fingers, an off white creme. Then over that I applied a coat of another Sation, Of Corset I'll Call You, a sheer pale peachy pink. Using that as my base, I then applied three coats of Electric Flame.

Well that was an epic FAIL. The whiteness of Strumming My Fingers intensified the base color of Electric Flame to a neon melon color. Plus, Electric Flame dries really really fast. Unless you get the polish over the nail surface very quickly and smoothly, it begins to pull itself into globs. Now with my skills, you can guess how things turned out. I ended up with uneven blobby surfaces and way too much polish on my nails. *sad face* Needlesstosay, I took no photos.

Not to be deterred, however, I set about searching online for a properly pale peachy orangey color to use under Electric Flame. And I found two, ELF Coral Dream and Misa Peach Passion. I ordered them (no-buy? what is this "no-buy" you speak of?) and awaited their arrival.

When they got here, they looked like just what the doctor ordered. I was thrilled. I grabbed up a swatch wheel and Electric Flame and swatched them both.

ELF Coral Dream and Misa Peach Passion

ELF Coral Dream, Hare Polish Electric Flame, Misa Peach Passion

left: Electric Flame over ELF Coral Dream, right: Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

both lookin' good, no?

I decided to try ELF Coral Dream first. It was fairly easy to apply, but my nail ridges still showed through even after two coats. I went ahead and layered two coats of Electric Flame over hoping that this would camoflauge the ridges. DENIED! They still showed. Plus, Coral Dream turned out to be a little too dark and a little too vivid to allow Electric Flame to look like the bottle color. I took photos anyway, so you could see...

Hare Polish Electric Flame over ELF Coral Dream

Hare Polish Electric Flame over ELF Coral Dream

Hare Polish Electric Flame over ELF Coral Dream

So then it was time to give Misa Peach Passion a go. It applied easily and dried quickly. Two coats mostly covered the ridges, but they still showed a little bit. Here are pics of Peach Passion, two coats over basecoat with a topcoat of Orly Sec 'n Dry...

Misa Peach Passion

Misa Peach Passion

Misa Peach Passion

Misa Peach Passion, at the window...

Misa Peach Passion

Misa Peach Passion

Misa Peach Passion on my thumb, Hare Polish Electric Flame in the bottle

This looks like it should work, I thought. I persevered, applying two coats of Electric Flame as quickly and carefully as I could and making SURE the first one was dry before I applied the second. I finished with a nice thick topcoat of Seche Vite.

How did it turn out? You tell me...

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion on my nails, Electric Flame in the bottle

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion on my thumb, Electric Flame in the bottle

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion, at the window...

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

extreme close up whoa!

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

Hare Polish Electric Flame over Misa Peach Passion

My feelings here are twofold. First, peach is not my color. Second, the only way that Electric Flame will turn out the way I want it to look is to apply it by itself. Opacity is contraindicated. Translucence is essential to the look. If visible nail line and ridges are part of that look, so be it.

So my plan for the next time I wear this polish is to apply it alone. If I get the look I'm hoping for, I'll take pictures. If I don't... well, you may not even hear about it.

We're having a terrific thunderstorm here right now. The sky is all bruise-colored and the wind is whipping like an angry cat's tail. Cool! 

Are you playing nice with Fuzzy? Inquiring minds want to know!

love,
Aunt Liz

Above The Curve The Baby Blues

I have a wonderful light blue linear holo to show you in this post. It's called The Baby Blues and it's made by indie polish maker Above The Curve.

Above The Curve is a husband and wife polish-making team whose mission is to raise awareness about Shriner's Hospital for Children and Scoliosis. Scoliosis is a complex medical condition in which the patient's spine is curved from side to side. For every polish sold, Above The Curve donates $1 to Shriner's Hospital for Children, where the wife received treatment for scoliosis herself.

Creating nail polish is a labor of love and altruism for Above The Curve. You just can't help but applaud and want to support such efforts, no? They are careful formulators with a seeming knack for creating lovely and super-well-behaved lacquers. All three Above The Curve polishes that I own are apply beautifully, clean up easily and dry quickly. 

The Baby Blues is a pale silvery blue holo with a discreet linear flair. Although it's not the most flamboyant showy holo that ever rode into town, it's prismatic nature is pervasive and shows subtly almost all the time, in all kinds of lighting. It shows most strongly in direct sunlight, of course. At the time I photographed this manicure, we were having mostly clouds with intermittent periods where the sun managed to burn through the cloud cover. I think my photos show The Baby Blues maybe not at its most holographic but more as its typical self.

I used my regular base and topcoats by Seche for this mani. In some holo polishes the prismatic effect is diminished by topcoat and their makers advise against using it. I did not find this to be at all true for The Baby Blues.

Above the Curve The Baby Blues, bottle shot

Above the Curve The Baby Blues macro shot in the bottle -- prismatic flair is subtle but it's definitely present

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues, on my thumb and in the bottle

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues, macro shot on the nail -- beauty!

 I love and adore this sleek silky color, being a holo is icing on the cake

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

at the window lookin' glossy...

so prrrrretty my prrrrrecious, we loves it...

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues out the house y'all

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

so glossy! *air kiss to seche vite*

see what I mean about showing a bit of holo flair in almost all lights? this is deep shade on a cloudy day and there it is, almost like it's just below the surface...

¡olé!

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

And here are a few bonus pics I took when I wore this polish early in the spring...

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

Above the Curve The Baby Blues

My clean up skills have improved since then, no?

I adore this polish. Everything about it is wonderful and makes me feel good. I love the coolly elegant and sophisticated silvery blue, so soothing and graceful on the nail. I love the prismatic subtlety of it, which adds a feeling of heartfullness to wearing it like a marvelous secret that you keep for your own self. 

I also love the finish of it, which has a delicious tactile squishiness thing going on that translates through the topcoat. It reminds me of some of the state-of-the-art soft-touch polymers that car manufacturers use in high-end auto interiors. You just love to touch it.

The Baby Blues is one of the first indie polishes I bought for myself and the very first one I ever wore. I bought it after reading about the creator's own experience with scoliosis and her policy of donating a portion of her proceeds to Shriner's Hospital for Children. For those reasons and for all its other endearing qualities it's one of my very favorites in my collection.

It would also, I think, look simply lovely on YOU!

love,
Aunt Liz