Lacquer Slacker Liz

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Colors by Llarowe Healing Waters

Healing Waters was released at the beginning of the month by Colorado-based indie polish maker Colors by Llarowe as part of The Journey collection. Creator Lee Anne describes this as a "bright blue jelly base with glowing holo flakes and shimmer." The color is a medium-dark but bright and very clean semi-transparent azure swimming with holographic flakes that give it a dimensional, stippled appearance. These magical flakes refract loads of light through the base, generating radiance as well as marvelous prismatic effects, more colorful than my photos show. An analogously-hued bloom in vibrant aquatic hues of azure, ultramarine, and aqua with sea green sparkles travels up and down the nail with the light and adds a sense of watery shimmering depth and dimensionality to the look, especially in the sun.

Application was most agreeable! The consistency of Healing Waters is fluid and light with a thin-to-medium viscosity and a smooth, self-leveling slip over the nail. It's a user-friendly formula that is amenable to thin or thicker coats and is easy to manipulate with CbL's flattened flexible brush. Pigmentation is great for a jelly-based lacquer, with evenly opaque coverage and rich color in two coats. Cleanup is easy. There's a little bit of pigment travel but practically no residual staining, hooray! Healing Waters dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, satiny finish. Topcoat enhances the presence and effects of the holographic flakes.

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

Colors by Llarowe Healing Waters

This blue has so much energy and charisma! It's a happy naiad look for your nails!

love,
Liz

Saturday, September 24, 2016

A-England Polovetsian Dances

Polovetsian Dances was released in June this year by British boutique polish maker A-England as part of the Russian Soul collection, a series of five polishes inspired by Russian music and dance. This one is described by creator Adina as a "deep intense purple enhanced by the luscious prismatic hologram finish." The color is a dark Spanish violet with an inky vibe and a molten, semi-metallic flash of royal purple. I know many folks see it as blackened, but to my eye it's simply luxuriously deep and vampy. Finely-milled holographic pigment gives it delicately-grained look in ambient light and a dusting of prismatic sparkle in the sun with an occasional prismatic bloom at certain angles.

Application was awesome! With polishes this dark I usually make quite a mess. Not so here! The consistency of Polovetsian Dances is fluid, creamy and dense with a medium-to-thick viscosity that I added polish thinner to at the outset. Thinned, it glides over the nail like heavy satin, with excellent self-leveling properties and a gracious, biddable formula that goes right where you put it and stays there. Pigmentation is outstanding, with completely opaque coverage in one coat. I added a second to finesse some lines and because I always use at least two coats with a holographic polish. Cleanup was surprisingly easy with a tiny bit of pigment travel but no residual staining to speak of. Polovetsian Dances dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

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

A-England Polovetsian Dances

Midnight violet! Looking at this polish is like sinking down into a pile of silk velvet. The sleek, glossy finish makes it a great after-dark polish, the kind that looks like wet lacquer when the light hits it. And you can still tell that it's violet in low and incandescent light, the color actually glows under the lamp. Love it!

ttyl,

Liz

Friday, September 23, 2016

Powder Perfect Ra

Ra was released towards the end of August this year by Australian indie polish maker Powder Perfect as part of the Egyptology Part 3 collection. Inspired by the Ancient Egyptian sun god, it's officially described as a "silver based holo-twist lacquer with a golden hue." Holo-twist is a new glitter-holo hybrid formula designed by creator Jacinta for a dimensional, sparkling finish.

The color is one of those interesting sandy mixes that you get when you combine silver and gold -- I love this kind of polish for an industrial chic neutral, and this one has plenty of sparkle. The base is a light silvery grey that is swimming with tiny yellow gold holographic microglitters for an overall look that reminds me very much of raw linen, kind of a melange of khaki, cement and sand. Veiled by a net of bright prismatic sparks, it's a changeable hue, leaning warmer or cooler depending upon viewing circumstances, with a dimensional, finely-grained visual texture.

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Ra is fluid, light and remarkably smooth for a glitter-laden polish, with a thin-to-medium viscosity and an easy, fluent slip over the nail. It is amenable to thin or thicker coats as preference dictates, and is a pleasure to finesse with Powder Perfect's round flexible brush. Pigmentation is sheer and buildable, reaching wearable opacity in two medium coats for shorter nails or three for longer ones. Cleanup releases a bevy of tiny microglitters to hide out in your sidewalls, but is otherwise trouble free. Ra dries naturally in good time to a flat, slightly sandy texture, smoothed to a glossy finish with a single layer of topcoat.

Photos show three coats of Ra over treatment and basecoat.

Powder Perfect Ra

Even thought this natural linen color is not the greatest with my skin tone, I still love it. It's a great neutral with cool visual texture and excellent sparkle, especially in direct light. It goes with everything, and looks particularly amazing with darker, saturated colors.

ttyl,
Liz