Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Hula Do You Love was released in August 2016 by Texas-based indie polish maker Cupcake Polish as part of the Luau collection, a series of six polishes inspired by the islands of Hawaii. Described as an orange-leaning red linear holographic polish with heavy gold shimmer, the color is a brilliant, fiery medium-toned variation of vermilion packed with gold microflake shimmers that read as bright orange through the base, giving it a flashy red-orange aspect with a a gleaming, flecked, foily finish. Abundant finely-milled holographic pigment adds dimension and complexity to the look, generating a red-violet heart surrounded by shimmering hues of crimson, scarlet and bittersweet in ambient light. In direct sun there's a dazzling linear prismatic display, slightly dispersed by the microflake shimmers but super sparkly because of them as well.

Application was great! I gathered from other reviews that Hula Do You Love is a bit of a stainer, so I began with a double layer of basecoat. The consistency of the polish is fluid and smooth with a medium viscosity and a light, fluent, self-leveling slip over the nail. Pigmentation is very good, delivering evenly opaque coverage and full bottle color in two coats. Cleanup frees clouds of tiny golden microflake shimmers to roam about the nail environs and ensconce themselves in the sidewalls, along with a bit of pigment travel and residual staining -- suffice to say, you'll want to do as little of it as possible. Hula Do You Love dries naturally in good time to a smooth, gleaming finish. Topcoat accentuates the presence and effects of both the shimmers and holographic pigment, and really brings out the red of the base color. 

Photos show two coats of Hula Do You Love over treatment and double basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. The holographic effects pretty much hijacked the camera in these pics. In person, the finish is more reflective and semi-metallic than holographic.

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

Cupcake Polish Hula Do You Love?

This is pretty spectacular! The blazing color is magnificent, and the reflective, metallic microflake shimmers combine with the color-generating properties of the holo to create a certain chromatic and textural intricacy to the look of the polish on the nail that is greater than the sum of its parts. Rich, shimmering swaths of color emerge and recede from the gleaming semi-metallic finish. The effect is luxurious and complex, a real showstopper!

love,
Liz 

ps. The dog wanted out before I'd gotten Seche Vite on this manicure, which always freaks me out because hey, wet polish! Sure enough, I mangled the polish on one nail badly enough for a do over. Since I didn't want to wait for a double layer of topcoat to dry, I only applied one. Upon removal this morning, guess which nailbed had staining? That's right! The other nails, which had the double basecoat (KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy), showed no staining at all. There you go.