Lacquer Slacker Liz

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Indigo Bananas Dark Side of the Maroon

Dark Side of the Maroon was released last month by California-based indie polish maker Indigo Bananas as part of the inaugural Crème à la Mode box, a quarterly box collection of creme polishes from four indie polish makers. Described as a berry-maroon on the Crème à la Mode website, this is a dark rich boysenberry color, like a Tyrian purple with hints of red. It is vampy-deep, but retains its red-violet nature in dim light and doesn't look black. To me, this polish has an arcane, seductive feel on the nail that speaks of spell-casting and other magical powers, the sort of shade a dark enchantress would wear.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Dark Side of the Maroon is fluid, light and very smooth, with an effortless silky glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is buildable. There's a degree of crelly-like translucence to this polish, so very even coats are necessary for most uniform coverage. Wearable opacity is achievable in two coats, but I used three for this manicure to get the most consistent coverage I could for the photos. Cleanup was surprisingly easy considering the deep coloring, with just a little pigment travel and a skosh of residual staining. I am always supremely relieved when dark colors don't run rampant at the touch of acetone. Dark Side of the Maroon dries naturally in very good time to shade that's slightly darker than it looks in the bottle and a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show three coats of Dark Side of the Maroon over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Indigo Bananas Dark Side of the Maroon

While I was editing these photos (which, incidentally, show the color as brighter than it appears in person), I got in a big argument with myself about exactly what shade of berry best represented the color, boysenberry, mulberry or dark raspberry. Basically, they're all deep purpled shades of red-violet, and it's difficult to articulate the differences between them because they do overlap. I settled on boysenberry, but I'm not entirely comfortable with that. What about burgundy?

Perhaps I should let creator Andrea have the last word. Berry-maroon it is!

love,
Liz

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Literary Lacquers Bluestocking Romance

Bluestocking Romance was released last month by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers as part of the inaugural Crème à la Mode box, a quarterly box collection of creme polishes from four indie polish makers. Creator Amy bills this as a navy. One of the characteristics of navy is that, if you're a stickler, it is very, very dark. It's the darkest blue can get without being black. So a true navy, if you're a stickler, will tend to look black on the nail in low light and shade.

Well I shall now eat my words because Amy has proved that a navy polish can be done maintaining its other qualities such as the incorporation of grey and a tiny bit of green to the color but lightening the value, so that the color is visibly blue in all circumstances. I'd call Bluestocking Romance a true medium-dark navy blue. There's an appropriate duskiness to it along with that hint of green that produces the rich, full-bodied sort of coloring you want in a navy. In low light, it's just splendid. The color is deep and classic without ever relinquishing its blue-ness. Bright light mellows it to a shade akin to a Yale blue with a noticeable creamy quality.

Application was great. The consistency of Bluestocking Romance is fluid, creamy and dense with a bit of pull to it. It seems to prefer application in thinner coats and sets up very quickly. Self-leveling properties are very good as long as you don't use too thick a coat, as then it tends to set up before all of the polish can level out. Pigmentation is outstanding -- this is a true one-coat wonder. I used two to even up a few areas of a thicker first coat. Cleanup is amazingly easy for such dark, well-pigmented color, with almost no pigment travel or residual staining. Bluestocking Romance dries naturally in very good time to a glossy finish. Topcoat helps to further even out the surface.

Photos show two coats of Bluestocking Romance over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Literary Lacquers Bluestocking Romance

Bluestocking Romance is already available for purchase in Amy's etsy shop!

love,
Liz

Monday, September 21, 2015

Digital Nails Tauping Mechanism

Tauping Mechanism was released last month by Texas-based indie polish maker Digital Nails as part of the inaugural Crème à la Mode box, a quarterly box collection of creme polishes from four indie polish makers. Creator Raphaelle describes this as a perfect neutral, and I'm inclined to agree. It's actually more of a grey than a taupe, but let's not mess with the wonderful homonymic pun in the name. The color is a pale putty or cement grey, very nearly achromatic. Some would call this a palate cleanser, but I prefer to think of it as industrial chic. It has an exceptionally creamy, sleek presence on the nail that is graceful and understated as well as uber professional. It looks like it's ready to get things done!

Application was dreamy. The consistency of Tauping Mechanism is fluid, very creamy and dense. It is thick in a good, well-put-together way, drapes itself over the nail like heavy silk and self-levels remarkably well for a polish with so much white in it. As such, it likes a very even hand and as few strokes as possible. I used medium to thicker coats with a generously loaded brush, which worked out pretty well. Pigmentation is excellent -- opaque in one coat! Of course I added a second to ensure the non-appearance of my nail ridges and to fill in a defect left when I extracted an incredibly long fiber (reminded me of that tapeworm from a certain episode of House) from a semi-wet nail. That nail actually took one more coat, for a total of three, to even up the surface, so this is not the most forgiving formula when it comes to that kind of stuff. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Tauping Mechanism dries naturally in good time to a beautiful glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Tauping Mechanism over Pretty Serious Rock On treatment and Pretty Serious All Your Base basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Apologies for the slightly shredded cuticle on my right ring finger.

Digital Nails Tauping Mechanism

I always crave putty-colored polishes, the creamy neutral coloring is so clean and efficient-looking. This one is about as perfect as it can be and entirely suited for year-round wear. For what is basically a tinted white, the opacity and formula in general are amazing. I hope that Raph makes more of such tints for future Crème à la Mode boxes.

While the inaugural box is all sold out, each of the makers that contribute to it now has the option of offering their polish for sale in their respective online shop. Perhaps we shall see them again as part of future collections from these brands.

love,
Liz