Lacquer Slacker Liz

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Menthol Nights was released for pre-order last month by Connecticut-based indie polish maker Octopus Party Nail Lacquer (OPNL) as part of the Winter 2015 collection. I'm so glad that Dave, owner and creative force behind OPNL, is doing pre-orders for his polishes -- it makes them much easier to acquire, provided you don't miss the pre-order window! Stay on top of OPNL doings by joining The Octosquad on Facebook!

Officially described as a deep spruce linear holo, Menthol Nights has a carefully blackened emerald jelly base bearing an abundance of finely-milled, high-quality holographic pigment. The blackened emerald base reads as a rich deep blue-leaning green from the darker-toned spectrum of the spring green family that includes jungle, sea, pine and skobeloff greens as well as teal. The nature of the holographic properties is such that the base is nuanced by all of these hues in indirect and low light with a lavish sparkling aspect provided by the holo particles themselves. The translucent jelly base allows plenty of light to penetrate and illuminate its colors. Direct sun generates a breathtaking linear prismatic flare with a central lick of gleaming semi-metallic sea green framed by a flame-shaped sparkling band of co-mingled indigo and dazzling cerulean blue, edged by a brilliant ribbon of bright spring green and a slender shifting corona of sparks in yellow, orange and red before shading to a deep foresty green at the edges of the nail. Spectacular!

Application was fantastic. The consistency of Menthol Nights is fluid, smooth and surprisingly light, with an even, near-effortless slip over the nail and outstanding self-leveling properties. This is a user-friendly formula that prefers application in thin to medium coats and is seemingly impervious to various user folderol. An unfortunate incident resulted in my nicking a small patch of freshly applied polish off of one nail, but a careful repair job using a small bead of polish on the tip of the brush melted smoothly into place, leaving no trace behind. Huzzah! Pigmentation is excellent for a jelly-based lacquer, with completely even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is easy and straightforward, with remarkably little pigment travel or residual staining. Menthol Nights dries naturally in very good time to a silky smooth, shiny finish. Topcoat does not appear to interfere in any way with the holographic properties of this polish.

Photos show two coats of Menthol Nights over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Menthol Nights

Dave writes that this polish was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor's Bulgari emeralds. I totally get this! Taylor's personal jewelry collection, renowned as one of the best in the world, was of superlative quality and no particular ensemble more so than her stunning emerald parure, purchased for her piece by piece by Richard Burton from the Bulgari store in Rome during and after the filming of the 1963 cinematic opus Cleopatra.

The centerpiece of Taylor's emerald parure: Bulgari necklace in platinum with 16 octagonal step-cut Colombian and Zimbabwe emeralds plus the 23.44ct emerald pendant element. The pendant is actually a detachable brooch, purchased for her by Richard Burton as an engagement gift in 1962. It was the only piece of jewelry she wore for their wedding in 1964. Burton later returned to Bulgari and purchased the necklace. This piece, along with teardrop earrings, a bracelet and a ring made up Taylor's celebrated emerald ensemble, which she wore all over the world, including to the Academy Awards when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in the 1967 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf and during her introduction to Queen Elizabeth II in 1976. (source)

Iconic portrait of Elizabeth Taylor wearing her Bulgari emeralds, taken by the celebrated artist Helmut Newton in 1989 in Los Angeles. (source)

Taylor's collection of jewels, including the emerald parure, was auctioned by Christie's over two days in 2011 for $137.2 million USD, setting a new world record for a single-owner sale in what Christie's called "the sale of the century."

Reading about Elizabeth Taylor's emeralds and her incomparable jewelry legacy only further endeared Menthol Nights to me -- if I was impressed by it before, I was over the moon for it afterward! What a fantastic tribute to a woman who set the benchmark for how to wear such impressive, large, hugely valuable jewels with grace and panache.

Well done, Dave. Well done, indeed.

love,
Liz

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Pahlish The Word of Bagheera

The Word of Bagheera was released in July 2015 by Arkansas-based indie polish maker Pahlish as part of the Jungle Book Trio, a mini collection inspired by the 1967 Disney animated film The Jungle Book. It's named after a quote from the character of Bagheera, the wry and avuncular black panther who rescues the abandoned infant "man-cub" Mowgli and serves as his guardian in the Indian jungle.

Described as a deep violet linear holo with bright purple sparks, this is a well-saturated blackened indigo creme holo that is packed with finely-milled, high-quality holographic pigment, giving the color the capacity to shift between a more violet Persian indigo and an imperial blue depending on the circumstances in which it's viewed. As you'd imagine, the creamy base is serially nuanced with all sorts of shifting indigo-type shades in violet and dark blue, producing a quiet dimensionality and richness that I associate with the characteristics of fine heavy silk fabric. Direct sun generates a sparkling, perfectly prismatic linear flare floating over a central semi-metallic flash of blackened violet sparsely decorated with glistening flecks of bright purple, shading to near-black at the edges of the nail.

Application was lovely. The consistency of The Word of Bagheera is fluid, creamy and dense with a plush glide over the nail that has a bit of pull to it. This polish is quite quick to set up and surface dry, so dawdling over application is not appreciated -- it went on most easily for me in medium coats from a well-loaded brush. Self-leveling properties are excellent and pigmentation is very good with even, opaque coverage in two coats. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with moderate pigment travel and a bit of residual staining. The Word of Bagheera dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, mostly shiny finish that looks its best with a glossy topcoat.

Photos show two coats of The Word of Bagheera over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Apologies for the scruffy nail surrounds and poor cleanup!

Pahlish The Word of Bagheera

I had some trouble trying to capture the changing faces of this moody, elegant shade. It didn't help that the sun was in and out of the clouds on this cool January day, sometimes flooding my "lightbox" bathroom (where I take my photos most of the time) with intense, direct sun through the skylight, sometimes weak sun, just enough to cast shadows and trigger the polish's prismatic display, sometimes just the bright natural light afforded by an overcast sky (my personal preference for photographing nail polish). Complicating the matter even more thoroughly is the fact that I only know the features of this new Sony RX100 M2 well enough to make a lot of mistakes trying to utilize them.

Suffice to say that bright natural light of any sort seems to bring out the blue in The Word of Bagheera, with the blackened violet preferring to reveal itself in low and artificial light. In that sense, I guess, it's almost the perfect kind of indigo, hovering between blue and violet with a foot in each camp. It's a handsome polish, and despite its moody qualities there's an urbanity and graceful, reserved sense to it that I really like. Very flattering and easy to wear.

hasta,
Liz

Monday, January 4, 2016

Top Shelf Lacquer Strawberry Sangria

Strawberry Sangria was released by Ohio-based indie polish maker Top Shelf Lacquer as part of the Holo'd Sangrias collection in August 2015. Creator Amy describes this as a "linear and scattered holo in a ruby jelly base." The color is absolutely delightful, a brilliant medium-dark ruby red -- which by nature has a strong pink vibe -- that is so bright and vibrant and pretty that you just want to pinch its cheek and give it a hug. The translucent jelly base bears a judicious quantity of tiny holographic microglitters, just the right amount to produce a sweet scattered sprinkling of pinpoint sparkles in bright prismatic hues with red predominating. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment nuances the ruby base color with glowing swaths of indigo, and in direct sun there's a lovely flame-shaped flare of the same radiant indigo trimmed with a sparkling corona of bright red that floats over a gleaming semi-metallic flash of magenta before shading to a full-bodied crimson at the edges of the nail. Fabulous!

Application was equally fabulous. The consistency of Strawberry Sangria is fluid, light and smooth, with a remarkably even, self-leveling glide over the nail. It possesses an eminently hospitable formula that is amenable to thin or thicker coats, is easily manipulated with Top Shelf's flattened flexible brush and goes right where you put it and stays there with no evidence of the gumminess or patchy opacity that can sometimes accompany jelly-based lacquers. Pigmentation is outstanding for a jelly, delivering even, wearable coverage in a single medium coat, although you'll want two for fullest opacity and bottle color and to make the most of the polish's holographic properties. Cleanup is easy and straightforward with minimal pigment travel and no residual staining to speak of. Strawberry Sangria dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, ever-so-slightly flat finish that wants a glossy topcoat to look its very best. The holographic effects do not appear to be inhibited by topcoat in any way.

Photos show two coats of Strawberry Sangria over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Top Shelf Lacquer Strawberry Sangria

So much excellent polish-making craftsmanship in this wonderful lacquer! Superb formula and application, tasteful sparkle, prismatic display, radiant feminine color -- you could ask for nothing more! Well, you could ask but don't be surprised if I, for one, question your sanity. Unless you are simply averse to an effervescent, vivacious, high-spirited, altogether lovely ruby red. And even then!

Lovers of red polish, take note! You want this one, it's a keeper. For sure. And actually, the entire Holo'd Sangrias collection is on sale right now, $52.50 for five full 15ml polishes and $34 for the 8ml "polish shot" size -- check it out!

toodles,
Liz