Lacquer Slacker Liz

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Barielle Rachel Red

I love random swaps of polish. You never know what discoveries await when a big box o' polish arrives from a fellow polish enthusiast, as one did here recently courtesy of my favorite polish fairy, the delightful Marisa of Tiny Twinklings. Such a wonderful box, thank you so much my dear! I'm still sorting through all the goodies therein, but I squealed in delight when I came across today's polish, Rachel Red from Barielle. Oh this color! I knew it needed nail time ASAP!

I know that Rachel Red is part of Barielle's core line, but that's about all the provenance I can give you. It's officially described as a "fire engine red," and I agree. As I was applying it, I was like, oh hello there Zoya Janel dupe -- Janel being the deeper of the two reds that belong to Zoya's new Focus collection for fall 2015. But after studying images of Janel I'm waffling on that duplicate status. They're both medium-dark cool-leaning red cremes, but Rachel Red feels slightly cleaner and more blue-toned to me, with less of an autumnal demeanor. I love blue-based reds and Rachel Red is delicious. It's not what I think of as vampy, but it's definitely deep enough to mean business if you know what I saying. At the same time, the color is rich and saturated, with a certain vibrancy to it that allows it to access the vivacious, flirty aspect of feminine energy without relinquishing the sense of power and potency carried by all deep red polishes.

Application was luscious. What a nice formula! The consistency of Rachel Red is fluid, creamy and dense, with a silky glide over the nail and outstanding self-leveling properties. I'm not the biggest fan of Barielle's brush -- the bristles have always seemed a little stiff to me -- but this polish goes where you put it and stays there without running or pooling. Pigmentation is also outstanding; this beauty is a one-coater. I used a second coat to finesse some of my lines, but it made no difference to the opacity or the color. Cleanup, on the other hand, is a bear due to copious pigment travel the instant the polish comes in contact with acetone and the residual pinkish staining to skin and cuticles. The only thing to be done in such cases is to effect as clean a manicure as possible from the outset, a task make considerably easier with a superb formula like this one. Rachel Red dries naturally in good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

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

Barielle Rachel Red

Rachel Red is available singly for $8USD or as part of a $25USD five-pack of red polishes called Red Haute Mamas, which also includes Bold n' [sic, really...] Confident, Vivacious, Katalicious and Elle's Spell, a nice selection for you red lovers out there.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Different Dimension Absolute Zero

Like Retrograde, Absolute Zero was released at the beginning of this month by Ohio-based indie polish maker Different Dimension as part of this year's cosmological collection for fall, Cosmologically Speaking Part 2 (Deuxième Partie -- Regarde ça! French!), a series of complex linear holographic polishes with added shimmers, flakies and microglitters.

Absolute Zero is so poignantly beautiful it actually gave me the shivers as I was applying it. Missi describes the color as a nude/champagne, and so it is, but exquisite nuancing from the finely milled holographic pigment pushes it to a whole other level. It's kind of like if you took some lightened sandy shades of semi-metallic ecru, chamois and khaki, mixed those with palest blush tones in apricot and shell pink and silvery rose, threw in some crepuscular hues of violet and grey and then added crushed mother-of-pearl. It's a delicate luminous buff veiled in palest gold and gently shaded by ephemeral nacreous pinks, aquas and violets, with tiny glistening golden flakes and minute twinkling ultraholographic microglitters sprinkled throughout. Absolutely breathtaking. It reminds me of Princess Grace of Monaco. Direct sun elicits a blazing fully prismatic flare bounded by a slender floating rainbow of sparkling colors while a lick of semi-metallic pale coppery gold gleams from beneath.

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Absolute Zero is fluid, light and smooth with a creamy glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Well-behaved and user friendly in every way, it is easily manipulated with Different Dimension's flattened, somewhat bushy brush. Pigmentation is buildable. The opacity is wearable at two coats with the assistance of the polish's reflective semi-metallic properties, but I like it best at three thin coats for most fully opaque coverage. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with a tiny bit of stickiness on the part of the microglitters. Absolute Zero dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, glowing finish. Topcoat seems to soften the semi-metallic reflectivity just a bit, subtly shifting emphasis to the holographic effects.

Photos show three thin coats of Absolutely Zero over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Different Dimension Absolute Zero

After the opulent splendor of Retrograde, I confess having felt a little reserve towards my bottle of Absolute Zero at the outset. Then I applied it. Foolish mortal! If Retrograde has the kind of beauty that makes you want to run through the streets waving your arms and shouting, Absolute Zero is one that you deliver carefully on a gilded tray in hushed silence.

Purchase Absolute Zero or any of the many fabulous polishes in Different Dimension's big cartel shop before the end of the month and use discount code CPNA2015 for 30% off your total. The code expires on 31 August.

love,
Liz

Monday, August 24, 2015

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thanks for Using Me

Today's polish, Thanks for Using Me, is the last of the three polishes I have for you from the new Leave the Sun Behind Me collection by indie polish maker Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Leave the Sun Behind Me, a collection of neons inspired by director Wes Anderson's 2007 comedy-drama The Darjeeling Limited, is launching TODAY at 3:30pm EDT in creator Julie's big cartel shop.

Julie describes Thanks for Using Me as a "neon green (slightly darker than highlighter green) with a gold to green to blue shifting shimmer." It's a neon version of spring green, bright and lush and cooler than you'd expect, as if it has a touch of the luminous, translucent blue-green flesh of a lime in it. The glistening superabundant color-shifting shimmers are subtle (let's face it, most shimmers are going to be subtle in a neon) but quite visible upon close inspection and add noticeable dewiness and depth to the base color. They read mostly as gold, but shift to a dreamy, aquatic pool blue when viewed from a very oblique angle. I believe that this particular color shift is responsible in part for the blue lean of the polish under low incandescent light, where it reads as near-turquoise. I absolutely love the refreshing, springy quality of this green -- it reminds me of the sweet taste and smell of a tender grass stem.

Application was great! The consistency of Thanks for Using Me is fluid, creamy and light with a smooth flow over the nail and, once again, outstanding self-leveling properties for a neon. Like yesterday's Stop Involving Me, this polish possesses a certain degree of translucence that must be built to opacity and likes a light, floating touch for most even coverage. The first coat is sheerish and may appear streaky at first but give it a few moments and it magically evens itself out as it sets up. Two coats left me with a skosh of visible nail line, not a bad look for this fresh lively shade, and three coats delivered an opacity I was happy with. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Thanks for Using Me dries naturally in good time to a glowing, satiny finish. A glossy topcoat will smooth any unevenness in the color and enhances its fresh, dewy nature.

Photos show three coats of Thanks for Using Me over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Thanks for Using Me

The name of this polish comes from another of brother Jack's lines in The Darjeeling Limited, but this is not another Jack polish. To me, it's clearly inspired by the character to whom the line is addressed: Sweet Lime, whose real name is Rita, the beautiful Indian train attendant aboard the Darjeeling Limited. She is called Sweet Lime by the three brothers, the main characters in the film, because that's what she offers them once they are aboard the train. Sweet lime is the juice of the Palestine sweet lime, a species of citrus native to India. It is sweet and retains the flavor of lime when freshly pressed, but oxidizes rapidly and turns bitter in contact with air, so it must be drunk quickly. Jack is smitten with Rita and they hook up in short order, after which Jack says to her, "Thanks for using me." "You're welcome," she replies.

The Leave the Sun Behind Me collection will be available for purchase TODAY at 3:30pm EDT in BEGL's big cartel shop. Price for Thanks for Using Me will be $12USD full, $6USD mini. You can purchase the entire collection for $61.50USD full, $33USD mini plus shipping.

Links!

This polish was provided for my honest review.

love,
Liz