Monday, November 23, 2015

Lucky 13 Oh, What A Lovely Day!

Oh What A Lovely Day was released by Washington state-based indie polish maker Lucky 13 Lacquer as part of the Fury Road collection, a series of polishes inspired by the May 2015 American/Australian dystopian action film Fury Road, the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise. I saw the collection impeccably swatched by Amy McG of Polish Etc.  (love her nails and swatches so much!) earlier this month and Oh What A Lovely Day immediately provoked my exaggerated covet response. Before you can say "Oh, snap!" I was checking out of creator Kyoti's webshop with it in my cart.

This polish is a full-coverage microflakie bomb, with a clear suspension base bearing boatloads of tiny metallic microflake shimmers in flame, orange and yellow. The overall look is of a bright coppery orange with a finely-grained gleaming metallic/foily finish that displays a scintillating sparkle as the light plays over it plus some striking flame-colored shading in lower light. I wanted to save this one for Thanksgiving day but all of those fiery metallic microflakies were singing their siren song and I just couldn't wait!

I was a bit trepidatious about working with this polish, mindful that cleanup (of which I generally need quite a bit) had the potential to result in microflakes scattered hither and yon across my nail environs. And as it turned out, I did have a few free-ranging microflakes, but the polish itself was fairly easy to work with. It has a slightly thick consistency and is densely packed with flakes. Once I added a bit of polish thinner, however, it became quite compliant with an easy, even spread over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties, as most polishes of this type do. Lucky 13's round, flexible brush can become a bit splayed by flakes, but closing up the bottle and giving it a quick shake will take care of that. 

Coverage was fantastic! In the listing for Oh What A Lovely Day, Kyoti anticipated full coverage in three to four coats, but I found it to be evenly opaque after only two. Cleanup... well, you can imagine. Not difficult, but potentially tedious if you make a mess and is best done as you go along while the polish is still wet. Oh What A Lovely Day dries naturally in fairly good time to a smooth finish, but is quite tender and vulnerable to marring before it dries so get that quick-dry topcoat on there asap. 

Photos show two coats of Oh What A Lovely Day over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day


Lucky 13 Lacquer Oh What A Lovely Day

My family doesn't always do turkey for Thanksgiving (sea bass and lobster are some past stand-ins), but when we do, as we will this Thursday, we have a traditional accompaniment called sweet potato baskets. Take some oranges, cut them in half and remove the flesh (in past years we have actually cut them onto little baskets complete with handles, but it's easier and more economical to half them). Then mix cooked and mashed sweet potatoes with some juice from the oranges, butter, seasoning and perhaps a glug of bourbon or rum if so inclined. Spoon the mixture into the empty orange halves, top with mini marshmallows and heat in the oven until the marshmallows are melty and lightly browned. Yummy!

Anyway, this lovely polish brings to mind those bright sweet potato baskets. I love both its color and the finish, which though metallic is kinder to irregular nail beds than a straight up metallic and much more interesting in my opinion.

Whether planning to host Thanksgiving or attend a celebratory gathering elsewhere, I hope you have a safe, happy, tasty and, if possible, peaceful day on Thursday. I have a lot to be thankful for, including YOU, my wonderful indulgent readers! I'm so grateful that you're out there, reading these posts and sharing my enthusiasm. 

love,
Liz

2 comments: