Orly Shockwave

Shockwave was released by Orly as part of its Electronica collection for fall 2012. It's a dark royal blue creme/jelly hybrid. Royal blue is a member of the azure or sky blue color family, and it's characteristically both bright and dark. Shockwave is a true royal blue and will not be mistaken for navy even in low light, nor does it have any green leanings that would incline it toward teal.

Application was a little disappointing. The consistency is very fluid almost to the point of runniness, with enough of a jelly's sheerness to it to cause a few interesting issues. My first coat was thin and streaky. This is a polish that likes to go on in medium to thick coats, and will pull patches at the cuticle otherwise. I still had a few patches after a second, thicker coat, so I went on and did a third. I was apprehensive that thicker coats might lead to pooling along the edges, but luckily it didn't and I was happy with the way this manicure turned out in the end. Shockwave is fairly forgiving and allows restrokes and repairs provided there is enough polish on the brush. Surprisingly, I had no problems with bubbling even with the thicker coats. Shockwave dries naturally in fairly good time to a bit darker that bottle color and a beautiful glossy finish. 

Clean up brush note: sadly, my new ELF cleanup brush began losing bristles today. Apparently regular dips into acetone were too much for whatever bonding agent held the bristles inside the ferrule. Sigh. So I am back with my sturdy if less-than-perfect angled liner for clean up. At least I now know that a filbert shaped brush works the best for me, and I plan to visit an artist's supply and find one.

Photos show three coats of Shockwave over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl to ensure drying of all the layers and protect against smudging and dents.

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave, plus bonus Chi hair!

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Orly Shockwave

Checking over my collection, it seems that Shockwave is my only true royal blue polish. *shock* I have other dark blues, but all nuance themselves into other color families. While I like the color of Shockwave, I didn't particularly care for how it applied so I'm going to set out to find another royal blue that applies better and has perhaps more of a true creme formula. I've heard that China Glaze First Mate is a good one. I'm dying to try out some Mentality polishes, Brute among others.

Do you have any suggestions for a royal blue candidate? I'm all ears!

love,
Liz