Lacquer Slacker Liz

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Lollipop Posse Lacquer Lock the Doors Tight

Karen of Ohio-based indie nail polish maker Lollipop Posse Lacquer has just released a sequel to her fabulous Christmas Kiki collection, my favorite holiday set from 2016! The new series, Kiki Vol. 2, featuring four shimmery colors in the same velvety matte finish as their predecessors, released on 14 April. I got all four and will be sharing them here beginning today with Lock the Doors Tight.

This is described as "a vibrant, grass green matte shade that is filled with shifting shimmer and on-tone green and gold micro flakies." The color is a bright, cool medium shade of green with a certain luminosity to it, the way that a polished piece of gemstone jade is luminous. It's not quite as weighty as a jade green, though, a little cleaner and brighter, more like an emerald or a Paris green. The luminous color is intensified by the microflake shimmers and the velvety matte/satin suede finish, which has a remarkable sense of being both organic and grounded and utterly luxurious.

Application was great! The consistency of Lock the Doors Tight is fluid, smooth and almost creamy, with a medium viscosity and a fluent, easy glide over the nail. Like most mattes, it sets up quickly and overworking will cause unevenness to the finish so it appreciates a deft hand using as few brushstrokes as possible. Self-leveling properties are very good as is pigmentation. Wearable opacity can be had in two coats, maybe three if you have a strongly demarcated smile line or ridges that need camouflaging. Cleanup is easy. Lock the Doors Tight dries naturally in good time to a smooth, matte finish. Subsequent coats take longer to dry and are very vulnerable to dings and marring until they dry completely. Cuidado!

Photos show three coats of Lock the Doors Tight over basecoat, no topcoat.

Lollipop Posse Lacquer Lock the Doors Tight

As with the Christmas Kiki polishes, the names of the Kiki Vol. 2 polishes come from lyrics of the 2012 song "Let's Have a Kiki" by the band Scissor Sisters.

This bright happy green was surprisingly difficult for my camera to capture for some reason, and the color in the photos has a washed out appearance compared to the polish in person, where it is more saturated and vibrant. The microflake shimmers are mainly noticeable upon close inspection but do create a soft cyanic glow along the axis of light at arm's length.

love,
Liz

Sunday, April 23, 2017

KBShimmer Got It Sandaled

Got It Sandaled was released in March this year by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Nauti by Nature collection. Described as a deepened lavender with pinky violet shimmers, the color is a medium creamy floral lavender or amethyst with a slight blue lean and a certain dusky quality, a cloudy, soulful color that's kind of like a shadowy tropical indigo. Swimming within are abundant fine pink shimmers, which glow in a pink lavender hue through the base and give the polish a luminous transparent pink sheen. They brighten considerably in the sun, emerging from within the cloudy base as a plume of glistening pink particles along the axis of light.

Application was great! The consistency of Got It Sandaled is fluid and creamy with a medium viscosity and a plush, fluent glide over the nail that self-levels like a dream. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Got It Sandaled dries naturally in good time to a smooth, slightly flat finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers.

Photos show two coats of Got It Sandaled over KBShimmer Love You Strong Time treatment and KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

KBShimmer Got It Sandaled

Though not as showy as some of the other polishes in the Nauti by Nature collection, I love this creamy, cloudy variation of violet with its glowing purpley-pink shimmers. Elegant and super flattering on the nail, it is a fantastic alternative to brighter shades and pastels for spring, and resonates beautifully with the seasonal purple colorway of wisteria, iris and azaleas. Very nice!

love,
Liz

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Like Radioactive Love and Girls Night Out, Mintastic was released in March this year by French boutique polish maker Il Était Un Vernis as part of the Juice Bar collection. It is described as a milky mint green enhanced by gold shimmers and silver microparticles, and wow, it's like, the prettiest, pearliest minty pastel EVER! To my eye, the base color is actually a silvery light cyan. Abundant glistening microflake shimmers in gold cast a greenish hue through the base, giving the polish a minty appearance that is similar to the way aero blue looks on a computer screen, but with a more delicate, silvery quality. I suspect that the silver microparticles are holographic, as they light up in a subtle, dainty pre-dawn flush of pale gold and pink at certain angles to the light. There's a delicate visual texture to this polish, a lustrous, finely-grained aspect that reminds me of silk chiffon. It's a remarkable effect, a completely updated, modern take on the pearly frosts of yesteryear.

Application was pure bliss. The consistency of Mintastic is fluid, light and super smooth with a medium viscosity and a buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that goes right where you want it to and stays there, just superb! Pigmentation is very good. Evenly opaque coverage can be had in two coats, although three may be better at camouflaging ridges if you use very thin coats. Cleanup is easy. Mintastic dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show two coats of Mintastic over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. The polish color skews slightly to blue in these -- in person, there's a touch more green to it.

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Mintastic, indeed! This is just so beautiful! Luminous and shimmering on the nail, the color is very clean and fresh and there's an unobtrusive semi-metallic aspect that adds a certain silky sleekness to the look. Holy moly. Bé and Stéphanie have completely outdone themselves.

Minty polish enthusiasts out there (you know who you are!), you would absolutely adore this, it is unique among mints! I order directly from the brand's big cartel shop -- shipping to the US has always turned out to be less than the international shipping charge added in the shop, with overages promptly refunded to my paypal account. Totally doable! And while you're at it, you can pick up another polish or two or three (you won't be disappointed with anything from Il Était Un Vernis) to make the shipping even more reasonable.

love,
Liz