ILNP Summer Crush

Summer Crush was released by boutique polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Summer 2015 collection at the beginning of this month. This is a light-to-medium toned bright Floridian pink creme/jelly hybrid with a sprinkling of holographic flakes. The color has a certain degree of warmth to it as well as a creamy quality that makes me want to call it a slightly more saturated version of Baker-Miller pink. The holographic flakes are of a smaller size but still large enough to throw out shimmery constellations of bright prismatic sparks in direct and bright indirect light, giving the polish a sweet, girly sparkle. Described on the ILNP website as a neon, Summer Crush isn't as starkly fluorescent as some, but the color has a tropical vibe and there's a glowing, buoyant lightheartedness to it that is sunny and playful. 

Application was great! The consistency of Summer Crush is fluid and light with an easy, self-leveling flow over the nail. Like the other polishes I've worked with from this collection, it's quite user-friendly, amenable to thin or thicker coats and easily manipulated with ILNP's flattened flexible brush. As a creme/jelly hybrid it is translucent but not to the point that I'd call it sheer. The coverage is even and non-streaky, and builds to opacity in two to three coats depending upon nail length and contrast of the free edge. There's a bit of translucence at two coats that actually suits the character of the polish quite well, but my nails have staining that requires a bit more coverage so I used three. Cleanup is easy and straightforward. Summer Crush dries naturally in good time to a slightly flat finish that loves a good glossy topcoat to look its best. 

Photos show three coats of Summer Crush over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

ILNP Summer Crush

There's an intensely floral aspect to the delicate warmth of Summer Crush that reminds me of hot house flowers. I was in a wedding once where the bridesmaids wore this incredible shade of rich tealy cerulean blue and carried hot house flowers: birds of paradise and ginger lilies and orchids with waxy greenery. Brilliant! The bride and groom's first dance was Sam Cooke's You Send Me, and I cried. It was perfect. At least, it looked perfect. Later I found out that the groom was practically delirious with a fever of 103°. When you're in your twenties you can get away with stuff that'll surely kill you later in life.

Torch ginger lilies, Etlingera elatior (source)

This the last of my ILNP Summer 2015 polishes, which has me a little verklempt. Standouts for me were Mega (X), Paper Route, Closure and 1Up. I think. Oh heck, they're all wonderful with consistently excellent formulas and I've enjoyed wearing every one of them. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

love,
Liz