Indie-Licious Review: Literary Lacquers part II

Hello!

Today I have the second half (well, really, the last third) of my Literary Lacquers review. While I felt that the holiday polishes really needed to be presented together, I think these two polishes, when considered along with yesterday's review, continue to show the range and versatility of her line. She has developed stunning holos, duochromes, and shimmers--and today you'll see that the line has diversity across different types of glitters as well. The glitter I showed yesterday was a mix of hexes in a clear base, meant to be worn as a topper. Today I'll show you a very different sort of glitter topper, and a glitter meant to stand on its own. :)

First up is Love-In-Idleness, named after the flower in A Midsummer Night's Dream that, when turned into a love potion, wreaks havoc and hilarity. This is such a light, fairy-like polish, it certainly looks like it could have been made from the essence of such a flower! It's a purple-based glitter that is very subtly tinted--you'd have to work hard to wear it alone. It contains hex glitters, square glitters and little bar hairs--they are much tinier and more delicate than typical bar glitter--in shades of blue and purple. It comes in two versions, one with large purple hex glitters, and one without. This is the one without, and I am showing it over Topshop Hypnotic, a silver-grey polish with a purple-blue shift:

Literary Lacquers Love-In-Idleness

Literary Lacquers Love-In-Idleness

The purple that you see here comes mostly from the topcoat, as the undies are a silvery-grey. This is three thin coats over one coat of Hypnotic, and while you wouldn't get enough color from the polish to wear it alone, it does build nicely over a base. I love these little 'hair' bar glitters, they give the polish extra shine and texture, without any of the hassle of regular bar glitter. And because of the gentle color in the base, I can see this being a very versatile topper for a range of bases. The formula was a joy to work with.

And finally, I'll end with a very different polish, one that satisfies my darker side! It's called Lucy, after the character Lucy Westenra from Bram Stoker's Dracula. I have an affinity for Lucy (the character), because to me, Dracula and vampires have always been a complex allegory for society's attitudes towards sex, and Lucy's change from maiden to lustful vampire is a very interesting part of that...hmm...maybe I shared to much? Wait, what was I saying? Oh yes, nail polish!

Lucy is a black-based polish with small red glitters, larger red glitter squares, and pewter-silver hexes. I already have two red-glitter-in-black-base polishes, but still I bought this one, and let me tell you why. First, the silver glitters give this a different type of sparkle and feel; it makes it more complex and fun. Second, the square glitters add to the texture, again making this more complex and sophisticated than typical polishes in this category. Finally, the coverage is excellent and well-proportioned; with other glitters I have like this, by the time you get enough coverage, the glitters have taken over and you can't see anything else in between. This polish is very different in that respect:

Literary Lacquers Lucy

Literary Lacquers Lucy

Literary Lacquers Lucy

Isn't this just awesomely vampirish? Admittedly, I'm crazy for anything to do with vampires or halloween, but this is just gorgeous, even if you aren't into that kind of thing. This is two medium coats, topped with Seche Vite. Application was surprisingly problem-free; this type of thick glitter normally can be a bit of a headache. I didn't have to do any special clean-up or damage control at all.

I hope I've convinced you to take a look at Literary Lacquers. Over the last couple of months I've tried out a lot of different Indie polishes, and I've liked some a lot, some just okay, and a couple have really stood out to me. Literary Lacquers is one of the stand-outs. I am impressed with the range of polish types she makes, and with the consistent high-quality of every one that I tried. I guarantee you'll be seeing more of her polishes on my blog.

You can find these beauties and many others in her Etsy shop, by clicking here. Her full-sized polishes are $10, competitive with other indie brands. She has three new collections planned in the coming months; you can find more details about those collections in the first half of my review, which you can find here if you missed it. :)

As always, thanks for looking!

Xoxox,
M.

(Lucy was purchased with my own money. Love-In-Idleness was sent for an honest review.)