Compliments of the season, lovelies!Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas with good food and great company.
On the nail front, the Christmas mood was elevated when I received these resplendent polishes from Glam Polish via Mei Mei Signatures for review. Glam Polish is an indie nail polish label, handmixed in Australia. The shades and effect are perfect for this season. The review packs came in pairs, tucked in pretty purple organza gift pouches - 4 of the 6 polishes in the Fantasia Flakies Series.
Warning: Photo-heavy post ahead.
Fantasia Flakies
| fantəˈziːə |
"A thing composed of a mixture of different forms or styles; early 18th century: from Italian, 'fantasy', from Latin phantasia" - Oxford Dictionaries
This collection features 6 multichrome flakie top coats. Previous flakies that colour-shift were translucent and most definitely need a base color. These are more metallic and glittery in nature. They are also more intense and jewel-toned in color. Like the title of the collection suggests, the names of these polishes reflect the astro-fantasy nature of the collection.
The ones not included in this review are Arcana Dark and Harmony Wind.
Here's a closer look at the individual beauties.
Dreamscape
"A compound word made up of the stems dream and landscape meaning a fantasy world or an abstract/oneiric land." - Wikipedia
I am totally in love with this one and could not resist but to try this on first. It's mainly bronze-y gold-to-green shifting base with strong dashes of magenta and some blue flakes thrown in. The combination is a fantasy in a bottle.
In a single coat, over base-coated bare nails:
A good mix of larger flakies are interspersed between smaller shards, and a nice, even amount got onto the nails in one coat. The formula is easy to work with as well. This is consistent with all the other 3 polishes ahead.
Close-up:
Even without a base colour, the colours from the flakies pops. I love how it, on its own, looks like shattered stained glass.
I like experimenting how they fair full-on without a base color. Here's how they look (from left to right) in 1, 2, 3 and 4 coats (without topcoat):
3 coats give a pretty decent coverage. But if one is obsessed about not having any bare nails showing, even 4 coats will not help.
The flakies lay flat and smooth on the nails. However, at 4 coats, it did get slightly bumpy, possibly from the overload of clear suspension base these flakies come in.
In 4 full-on coats, with topcoat:
Love this for Christmas! The highlights show the green shift, the midtones, gold and the shadowed areas is where the magenta flakies play.
Moving on to...
Comet Storm
"Comet Storm is a level 100 mage talent. It is granted to Frost mages choosing
. Comet Storm calls down a series of 7 icy comets on and around the target, each of which does (41.25% of Spell power) Frost damage, split between all enemies within 4 yards of its impact point." - Gamepedia
Made up of predominantly purple flakies, this one shifts to green and blue, with sprinkles of blue, green and magenta flakes in the mix.
The name references to a World of Warcraft (and Magic: The Gathering) spell, and a comet storm also refers to a bunch of suicidal comets that shoot themselves toward the sun (scratches head, but moves along).
1 coat over bare base-coated nails:
It is very similar to Dreamscape formula and coverage-wise. However, the main colour, purple, steals the thunder in this mix.
Close-up;
In this shot, the green-gold shift is more evident. Also, love the large blue flake/ shard on the nail line!
A comparison of 1 to 4 coats of Comet Storm, without topcoat:
As with Dreamscape, 3 coats provide a pretty lush coverage, but the nail line is still visible. WIth 4 coats, some bare nail is still visible, but is too thick to continue with another layer of the polish.
4 full coats, with topcoat:
The shift is more obvious on the index nail (left), though the overall mix of flakie colours look pretty magical.
Close-up:
Again, a macro shot shows the color shift better. This one looks like coloured gems piled onto each other.
I received these 2 shades first, and I could not resist a flakie gradient with them.
The top is Comet Storm, while tips down is layered with Dreamscape.
On to the next...
Star Shadow
All references lead to an RPG game or a Japanese manga animation series. But more importantly, this multi-chrome polish features a teal blue dominant shade that shifts to purple and, in certain lighting, green-gold. It also has blue, magenta and gold flake shards in the mix.
1 coat over bare base-coated nails:
The formula and coverage remains consistent with the earlier two. It is like a blue mirror to Comet Storm.
Close-up:
A comparison of 1 to 4 coats of Star Shadow, without topcoat:
Again, the coverage of each coat is similar to the first two.
And in 4 full-on coats, topcoated:
The teal-blue/ green shades and shifts dominate the look of this polish on the nails in most angles.
Close-up:
Even in the macro shot, the purple shift is extremely subtle. Majority of the area shows the teal-blue green shifts.
And lastly...
Eternity Dragon
Like with Star Shadow, any reference I tried locating leads to Dragon Eternity, a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game).
Eternity Dragon is mad eup of predominantly bronze-gold to gold-green shifting flakies, with tiny bits of bronze, magenta and blue flakes.
1 coat over bare base-coated nails:
With a single coat, the color shifts are barely visible, as the gold overpowers. But I don't mind, really. It is such a rich, opulent tone.
Close-up:
In the light, it looks so luxurious, with the subtlest hint of green shift.
Comparison of 1 to 4 coats, without topcoat:
Needless to mention, the formula and coverage is consistent with its counterparts in this review. Notice the large piece of flake on the pinky (far right). Love!
In 4 full-on coats, with topcoat:
And a close-up:
Of the 4, Eternity Dragon shows the least color shift, though the color intensity and brightness is a notch above (ie. need sunglasses).
And because this came with Star Shadow, I had to do a gradient:
I love that these shades together look dragon-inspired.
As these are meant as overcoats, I layered 1 coat of each over a stark black crème; a-england Camelot, finished with topcoat.
From left:
♥ Eternity Dragon
♥ Dreamscape
♥ Star Shadow
♥ Comet Storm
Final Thoughts
The formula for all of these is a breeze to work with, as long as one does not apply too thick a layer to try to get as much coverage in the least amount of coats *guilty*. It is rather good to know that these polishes get off the nails with less hassle than glitter polishes. The shades and sparkles are luxe, but my hands-down favorite is Dreamscape.
Here's a parting shot with all 4 multichrome flakies on the nails, in somewhat of an irregular gradient:
Individual polishes from the Fantasia Flakies Series are available from Glam Polish or Mei Mei's Signatures at USD10.00 and SGD18.50 each respectively.
For updates, news and releases, stalk them on their respective social media platforms:
Glam Polish
Artisan nail lacquer from Australia. Ships within Australia and to USA.
♥ Store: glampolish.com.au
♥ Facebook: www.facebook.com/GlamPolish
♥ Twitter: @glampolish
♥ Instagram: @glampolish_
Mei Mei's Signatures
Singapore-based online store for the widest range of nail polishes and related products. Ships internationally.
♥ Store: meimeisignatures.com
♥ Facebook: www,facebook.com/meimeisignatures
♥ Twitter; @meimeisi
♥ Instagram: @meimeisignatures
Till the next post, enjoy the season of sparkles!
To Leave a Comment: I've noted that OnSugar's Comment feature has caused a few readers frustration by not accepting their input. While OnSugar works on rectifying it, I did a trial and error and found that comments don't get red-taped if you enter your information in the "Name" field without any space, ie. "ALacqueredAffair" instead of "A Lacquered Affair". I hope this works. As much as I want to, OnSugar doesn't allow the disabling of Captcha.
Disclaimer: Products were sent for review. However, all opinions expressed are my own, and will always be.
