Tuesday, October 4, 2016

ILNP Clever Girl

Clever Girl was released for preorder the 16th of last month by Nevada-based indie polish maker I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) as part of the Fall 2016 collection, and is available now in their online shop. 

Creator Barbra describes this polish as a delicate bluish grey with a blue-green lean and added holographic microflakes as well as pink and red shimmers with a gold shift. To my eye, the color is a translucent ash grey with a very gentle tint of sky blue. In ambient light it reads as a veiled celeste, a muted, slightly murky cloud-like shade. The built-in translucence creates depth and gives the polish a becoming limpid quality, a nice dimensional effect that reminds me of looking into a tidal pool for some reason. It also permits plenty of light to penetrate and play off of the holographic microflakes and peachy pink shimmers, producing a loose net of pinpoint prismatic sparks over a subtle internal pinkish glow. The blue tones are much more apparent in the sun, and the shimmers really come in to their own, countless tiny glistening motes in red, pink and pale gold with a scintillating sparkle. Between ambient and direct light, it's almost like wearing two different polishes.

Application was lovely. The consistency of Clever Girl is fluid and super smooth with a medium viscosity and a fabulous, fluent, self-leveling glide over the nail. Amenable to thin or thicker coats, it is a pleasure to finesse with INLP's flattened, flexible brush. Pigmentation is sheer but even, wearable with a touch of visible nail line at two coats and mostly opaque in three. Cleanup is fairly straightforward, although those color-shifting shimmers like to stick around. Clever Girl dries naturally in very good time to a gorgeous glossy finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of the shimmers. Nice!

Photos show three coats of Clever Girl over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl


ILNP Clever Girl

Of all the polishes in ILNP's Fall 2016 collection, this is the one I was most interested in. The translucence of the formula with its scattering of holographic microflakes and red particulate shimmers reminds me a little of the structure and composition of Daisy Jane. Here, of course, the shimmers contrast with the base color, and do so quite beautifully. I don't think my coloring showcases Clever Girl very well, but it's a unique look and it's well done. 

love,
Liz

2 comments:

  1. This is an interesting polish. I quite like it!

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    1. This one really grew on me as I wore it. In most lights, the shimmer shift to gold is the most apparent, which complements the faded, translucent blue in a very elegant way. It's a lovely, graceful look.

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