Lacquer Slacker Liz

Monday, August 3, 2015

Pretty Serious Blood of Knossos

Like The Crimson Pearl and Ichi Hanami, Blood of Knossos was released at the end of June this year by Australian indie polish maker Pretty Serious Cosmetics as part of the second installment of creator Kaz's ongoing Naileontology collection, a series of polishes based on discontinued and vintage lacquers.

Blood of Knossos is a medium-dark well-saturated olive green bearing superabundant ultrafine golden particulate shimmers (creme rinse shimmers!), which give it a satiny glowing semi-metallic look and, in the sun, a golden green flash with delicate scintillating sparkle across the nail. The color is particularly rich and mossy, with aspects of bottle green and superb dimensionality. Full-bodied, sumptuous and classy as hell, it's fabulous!

Application was awesome. All of the Naileontology polishes I've tried have wonderful formulas and Blood of Knossos is no exception. The consistency is fluid, creamy and dense with a smooth, buttery glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. This is a user-friendly polish that is amenable to thin or thicker coats, shows minimal brushstrokes and is easily manipulated with Pretty Serious' round flexible brush. Pigmentation is also excellent, with complete opacity and nail ridge camouflage achievable in one coat, although I used two for this manicure. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with very little pigment travel for such a well-pigmented color and no residual staining. Blood of Knossos dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Blood of Knossos over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Pretty Serious Blood of Knossos

Brilliant! If ever a green polish was red carpet worthy, it's got to be Blood of Knossos. Wouldn't it be sensational to see this dark glowing beauty appear amongst the parade of barely distinguishable nudes, reds and metallics? It reminds me of Helena Bonham Carter.

Kaz did a brilliant job with this latest installment of Naileontology. Even though I have no clue about the heritage or basis of any of these newly released polishes, the colors and formulas are all exceptional and so easy to love. I can't pick a favorite. Well, maybe I can. The Crimson Pearl. That is one stunning polish! I love knowing that there will be more Naileontology polishes in the future. It feels like when you go to do the laundry and find those tightly folded $20s that you'd pretty much forgotten about in a pants pocket. That happy influx of potential. Win some, win some more!

love,
Liz

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Wanna Fall in Love Tonight

Like Bound to the City Life, Wanna Fall in Love Tonight was originally released by indie polish maker Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer as part of the Spark in the Dark collection in January this year and just recently re-released for pre-order as part of the Fan Favorites collection at the end of June/beginning of July. This is a vibrant medium orchid purple bearing superabundant ultrafine red particulate shimmers. People, this polish is definitely purple shimmer royalty! I believe that the base is slightly more of a violet, but the shimmers with their intense golden red glow turn the polish into a lush radiant orchid shade with that beautiful much-sought-after lit-from-within look. The brilliant luminous orchid color deepens to a violet around the edges, giving the polish a profoundly dimensional appearance in all lights, even in very dim light and shade, which I never would have guessed from looking at it in the bottle. The silky resplendence of that inner glow is simply extraordinary -- I can't think of any other purple like it.

Application was a little tricky for my slow, shaky hands. This is a fast-drying polish and doesn't like to be messed with. The consistency is very nice, fluid, smooth and dense with a silky glide over the nail, but it surface dries almost instantaneously, so application is best done as evenly as possible with deft, swift hands. Obviously, not mine. Pigmentation is excellent, and if you have the mojo, you can achieve completely even opacity in one coat. I had trouble with unevenness when I applied this polish, and the shimmers did show brushstrokes as you'll see in the photos. But if you're smoother and quicker than I am, and most people are, you won't have the same difficulty. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Wanna Fall in Love Tonight dries naturally in very good time to a satiny matte finish, which loves a good topcoat to make the most of the beautiful effects of the shimmers. Topcoat also helps to even things up and minimize the presence of any brushstrokes.

Photos show two coats of Wanna Fall in Love Tonight over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a slightly bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Wanna Fall in Love Tonight

Gorgeous! Even my subpar application doesn't diminish the splendor of this polish! If you want to see what Wanna Fall in Love Tonight gets up to in direct light, I recommend taking a look at the fantastic photos in the reviews on Boom Shaka Lacquer and Royal Milk Tea.

The profusion of ultrafine shimmers in this polish gives it a slightly vintage feel, but the way they create the brilliant orchid color within the violet base is totally contemporary and represents the kind of thoughtful polish composition that I love about indie makers.

The Fan Favorites collection is currently listed for general purchase in BEGL's big cartel shop, so purple lovers, take note! This is definitely one you'll want for your collection!

love,

Liz

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Pretty Serious Ichi Hanami

Ichi Hanami was released by Australian indie polish maker Pretty Serious Cosmetics at the end of June this year -- part of the second batch of polishes from creator Kaz's ongoing Naileontology collection, a series of polishes based on discontinued and vintage lacquers.

This polish has a brilliant medium rosy pink/near magenta base swimming with tiny silver microflake shimmers. The shimmers create a finely-grained flecky foil finish, which I adore. It's positively luminous on the nail, with a reflective semi-metallic glow that gives the polish an ornamental gift-wrap-ribbon look. The raspberry pink is very bright, intense and assertive with loads of vivacious feminine charm and a certain festive quality that's quite dressy and perfect for a special occasion.

Application was a pleasure -- Ichi Hanami has a superb formula. The consistency is fluid, smooth and dense with a silky glide over the nail and very good self-leveling properties. It likes to go on in thin to medium coats and is easy to manipulate with Pretty Serious' round flexible brush. Pigmentation is outstanding with opaque coverage in one coat. I added a second coat to finesse some of my edges, but it made no difference to the look of the polish. Cleanup is mostly a matter of minimizing pigment travel and chasing down the silver shimmers, which disperse across the skin at the touch of acetone. Ichi Hanami dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish.

Photos show two coats of Ichi Hanami over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Pretty Serious Ichi Hanami

The only drawback to foily polishes is that they have a tendency to show nailbed irregularities, and you can see my ridges slightly under Ichi Hanami. But really, this color is so spectacular that I'm probably the only one who notices and even so I'm not all that bothered by it.

This polish is definitely one for year-round wear. I can see pink lovers wearing this as a great alternative to red for the holidays, it has the mojo for it for sure. If you love pink polish, you need this! No really, you do!

love,

Liz