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Hello!
I promised I'd be back with more
Literary Lacquers polishes (you can
see the first three I reviewed here), and hold on to your nails because we're gonna take a look at some amazing holos! Literary Lacquers has a way with holos--plain holos, glittery holos, holos with flakies...all gorgeous, all the time.
Let's start with the super-gorgeous Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, which is inspired by a cocktail from
Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Not just any cocktail, mind you--the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is, according to The Hitchhike'rs Guide, it's the best cocktail in the universe, and its effect is "Is like having your brains smashed in with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick." Sounds like a good time to me...
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is possibly my favorite book depending on the day, and is always in the top 5. It's the first in a series and it follows the increasingly bizarre adventures of Arthur Dent, a man who manages to survive the destruction of the Earth (which was blown up to make was for a hyper-space bypass). The books are some of the wittiest and funniest you'll ever read, and they'll take you on an intrepid exploration of the galaxy from the destruction of the earth all the way to the end of the universe. If you haven't read these books, go do so right now--you won't regret it.
Literary Lacquers Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is a turquoise-leaning bright teal linear holographic polish with just a spray of holographicglitters that make me think of ice cubes floating in a drink:
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| Literary Lacquers Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster |
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| Literary Lacquers Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster |
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| Literary Lacquers Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster |
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| Literary Lacquers Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster |
This is two coats of easy-as-pie application and excellent formula--you can see a little bit of VNL here, but that was only under the direct light--otherwise it wasn't noticeable.
This polish landed in my hands right when the San Jose Sharks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and I couldn't help notice how close this is to the main team color, teal--if you're a turquoise fan or a teal fan, you're gonna love this polish.And look at those glitters--they're like little glowing underwater jellyfish swimming around amid the stunning linear flash. Gorgeous.
Next we have a polish inspired by a
Hayao Miyazaki film, Porco Rosso. I haven't seen this one myself, but
according to Wikipedia, it's about "an Italian World War I ex-fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing "air pirates" in the Adriatic Sea. However, an unusual curse has transformed him into an anthropomorphic pig...he is now known to the world as 'Porco Rosso', Italian for 'Red Pig.'" That sounds fun and strange enough to be pretty awesome, so I'm going to have to check it out!
Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso is described as a brick-red linear holographic polish with gold and taupe flakies; to my eyes, I'd call if more of a raspberry red, but it's definitely a linear holographic with the most amazing subtle gold and taupe flakies:
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| Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso |
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| Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso |
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| Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso |
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| Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso |
A shot in semi-shade so you can see the flakies better:
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| Literary Lacquers Porco Rosso |
This is two coats with excellent application and formula--smooth as silk. I love how the flakies peek out and complement the colors in the linear flash. It's like wearing the most beautiful purple-red bougainvillea bush on your nails as it's lit up by the setting sun...the rich color and flash of fire makes me think of long summer evenings after relaxing summer days. Stunning.
The next polish is inspired by another favorite of mine,
The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe. The Raven is a haunting poem about a man who's visited by a raven as he's nodding off in his study one night; he is mourning the loss of his love, Lenore, and sees the raven's arrival as an omen. He questions the bird, trying to divine if he'll be reunited with his love--the raven replies 'Nevermore'.
Even if you're not a fan of poetry, this is worth a read--it's accessible, it's creepy, and the rhythm is catchy and compelling. If you have a spare minute some midnight dreary, give it a read.
Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning, a vampy deep purple linear holo with strong red and blue fire, comes from one of the lines from the poem, and fits the theme and feel of the poem perfectly:
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
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| Literary Lacquers Soul Within Me Burning |
This is two effortless coats with flawless formula--and how gorgeous is that!! I love all these polishes, but this is my favorite by far. It's blackberries and goth and vampires and dark spooky nights, it's royalty and magic all rolled into one bottle. In short--it's breathtaking.
The last polish is inspired by
Delta of Venus, by Anais Nin, and comes from Amy's The Good Parts collection, which celebrates erotic fiction through the centuries.
Delta of Venus is a collection of short erotic stories originally written for a private collector. The polish is inspired by
Mathilde, a short story about a woman who is unsatisfied with her love life and move to Peru to find, erm, adventure.
Literary Lacquers More Like Fire Than Light is taken from a description of Mathilde as she examines herself in a mirror, and reflects on her type of sensuality. It's a burnt-orange linear holo with a moderate red-gold flash:
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| Literary Lacquers More Like Fire And Light |
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| Literary Lacquers More Like Fire And Light |
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| Literary Lacquers More Like Fire And Light |
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| Literary Lacquers More Like Fire And Light |
This is three coats with gorgeous application and formula. This polish looks like it's lit from within, even though the sun has not been cooperating with me so I wasn't able to get a good outside shot--this would certainly have a stronger flash if I'd been able to get one. Regardless, this polish looks both like fire AND light--you can see even in these shots the red and the gold that comes out in the holo flash, and how the light is scattered throughout the entire nail. I love how this flirts with the line of rust and copper, but also can go toward the yellower side of orange in certain lights. I don't know if this is the glow Mathilde gave off, but I'd be proud to have the power this polish has.
You can find all of these and so many other gorgeous polishes in the
Literary Lacquers store; you can also follow
Literary Lacquers on Facebook, or track all the awesome polishes via the
Literary Lacquers Instagram account.
Happy polishing!
M.
