Good Night Unto You All: An Honest Puck by Literary Lacquers

"If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended-

That you have but slumbered here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme, 

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend.

If you pardon, we will mend.

And, as I am an honest Puck, 

If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends ere long.

Else the Puck a liar call, 

So good night, unto you all.

Today is, sadly, the last Literary Lacquer that I have to show you :( (Check out Jealous Oberon and Love in Idleness!) BUT- I saved my absolute favorite for last!

Literary Lacquers' An Honest Puck. Three coats, no undies. Topped with Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural sunlight. 

Amy from Literary Lacquers describes An Honest Puck as "bronzy-brown at its base and is loaded with gold, copper and bronze sparkle and dusted with elfin green glitters. . . The large hex glitters in this polish do have a slight curl to them, with the curl face down on the nail they are still smooth." An Honest Puck is also available WITHOUT the larger green hex glitters for those who either do not like larger glitters, or do not want to manipulate glitter.

I absolutely love the base on this polish! The multi-metallic micro glitters really combine to create an interesting base, and then the green just pops! I can't even . . . I just don't have words. This is a beautiful fall color, combining the last green of summer with the dead (but not dull) brown of winter. I think it would be an excellent spring color as well! I know everyone wants pastels and brights come springtime, but this would be a perfect transitional polish. Early March maybe. Yeah, everything is still dead (at least it is in Wisconsin!), but there is the hope of Spring, and of new green growth. It's multi-seasonal!

The Etsy description does warn that the larger glitters tend to curl (as seen with Love In Idleness- which was still quite workable), but I really didn't have any problem with curling in this polish. The glitter came out smooth and laid flat for me. If there was any curling, it was slight enough that I didn't even notice it. I had to fish a little bit for the larger bits, but that's pretty standard for larger glitters. 

I used three coats here, and the base was completely opaque. This could probably be layered over another color, but I wouldn't recommend it. My three coats gave complete saturation of micro glitters on the nail, and I think that effect would be lost by doing one coat over a similar color. 

If you haven't tried Literary Lacquers yet, I can't urge you strongly enough to do so! They can be browsed (and purchased from!) on Etsy. Tons of great swatches on Facebook, too! Plus, then you get updates in your newsfeed.

Support your indies, ladies!
Cheers,

-Liz-

*This product was provided to me for an honest review.

Purple with Love's Wound: Love in Idleness by Literary Lacquers

"It fell upon a little western flower, 

Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound.

And maidens call it "love-in-idleness."

Fetch me that flower. The herb I showed thee once.

The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid

Will make a man or woman madly dote

Upon the next live creature that it sees."

Today's polish is another beauty by Literary Lacquers, Love in Idleness. Amy describes it as: "a very complex polish, with a light purple base; jam packed with fairy magic and iridescent glitters of many shapes and size, purple square glitter and some large purple hexes. . . The large hex glitters in this polish do have a slight curl to them, with the curl face down on the nail they are still smooth."

This polish is also available in a version without the large purple hex, but I didn't have any trouble getting the glitter to lay flat, and I think they definitely add to the overall appeal of this polish!

Three coats of Love in Idleness, topped with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural, though overcast, lighting.

I had such an incredibly difficult time photographing this polish! Between the purple (which is notorious for not photographing properly) and the punch of iridescent glitter (seriously, there is soo much iridescent glitter! Micro glitter, small hexes, tiny bars . . .), my camera just wanted to give up on me! The photos are fairly color-accurate. The base color is an almost dusty, grape jelly like color, and it shifts a bit due to the iridescence. So. Pretty.

Great shot of all the iridescence.

Aside from the pictures, I had little trouble with this polish. Yes the large hexes have a very slight curl to them, and they required a little bit of fishing (or setting the bottle upside down). If you're not interested in manipulating your glitter, this polish IS available in a version without the large purple hexes: look for "Love-In-Idleness (no hex)". But I think the manipulation is well worth the (small amount) of effort. I painted on my first two coats, brushing any large hexes that came out back into the bottle. Before I painted my third coat, I let the bottle sit upside down for a few minutes to bring the larger hexes to the top. Then I painted on the third coat, inspecting the brush for large hexes, which I placed, as advised, curved side down. Topped with Gelous and SV, the polish was glassy smooth. While I haven't tried the "without hex" version, I really do recommend this one, if you have the patience to play with your glitter a bit! 

Love in Idleness is pretty sheer, but very buildable. With three coats, I did not see any VNL, and I prefer to wear sheer polishes this way, in multiple coats, to showcase their true beauty. But this one would also make a beautiful layering polish. The iridescence would really pop over a dark color, and the purple shimmer would really bring to life any boring purple in your stash. 

My third, and favorite, Literary Lacquers review will post on Sunday. I've been so impressed with each of these polishes. Color + Glitter polishes are easily my favorite indie category, just for the sake of ease, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE polishes with a background story or some geeky inspiration. I strongly urge you to check out Literary Lacquers on Etsy and Facebook, then come back Sunday to see my absolute favorite of the bunch! 

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

*This product was provided to me for an honest review.

I Have Forsworn His Bed and Company: Jealous Oberon by Literary Lacquer

Oberon: Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania. 

Titania: What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence; I have forsworn his bed and company.

Oberon: Tarry, rash wanton! Am I not thy lord?

A Midsummer Night's Dream is my absolute favorite Shakespear show. I love the fairies, and the forest in moonlight, and the witty bickering that goes on between Titania and Oberon, Queen and King of the Fae. 

Enter Literary Lacquers, with a 7 polish line based off of a Midsummer Night's Dream! I have three of those to show you over the next week or so (scattered between the many Nail Art Challenges I have lined up!), and the first is Jealous Oberon. 

I love that there is a full ingredient label! Amy from Literary Lacquers describes Jealous Oberon as "champagne gold with holographic gold squares throughout." But honestly, this polish is far more complex than that. The base is a gold shimmer, there are micro gold glitters that are not quite holographic, but almost sparkle like they are, plus larger holographic squares which, apart from flashing rainbow colors when the light hits, appear to be either gold or silver depending on how the light doesn't hit it. (Does that make sense? Sometimes they seem gold, sometimes they seem silver, sometimes the holo out.)

This is three coats of Jealous Oberon alone, topped with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural sunlight. 

You all know by now that I love a good story while polish shopping, and Jealous Oberon doesn't disappoint!  There is a "twin" to this polish, Proud Titania, that is silver with holo diamonds. She (Amy) had intended to call the silver "Ill Met By Moonlight" but Jealous Oberon kept getting into her head and insisting that he have his own polish! Thus this gold beauty was born. But then Proud Titania demanded a polish of her own, so Ill Met By Moonlight was renamed, and you have the royal gold and silver metallic duo named for the Fae Court Royalty: Jealous Oberon and Proud Titania!

Closeup to show the individual micro glitters.

Blurred to show holo and sparkle.

This is actually my least favorite of the three Literary Lacquers that I have to show, and I still love it! I don't wear gold at all, jewelry wise, because I don't feel that it flatters my skin tone, but Jealous Oberon is a nice pale and not-too-yellow gold that would make it complimentary for all complexions. Application was a dream: it spread nicely, and the squares flowed freely, and lay completely flat (squares have a higher than average tendency to curling- these did not, at all). This is sheer enough to wear over another color, if you so desire, but was completely opaque in three coats. Any VNL you think you see in those photos is a result of the sun shining directly on the free edge of my nails: it was not at all visible in person! 

Finally: I have to say that Jealous Oberon is almost obscenely blingy! Between the color, the holo and the sparkle, this is NOT a neutral polish by any means. I definitely see holiday manis featuring this color!

Check out Literary Lacquers on Etsy. Full sized bottles run $10. There is the full Midsummer collection, as well as a few Dracula polishes! Be sure to stop by and Like Literary Lacquers on Facebook too, and quick! There is a coupon code valid through 10/31!

Support your indies, ladies!
Cheers,

-Liz-

*This product was provided to me for an honest review.