Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Lettie's Ocean was released towards the end of June this year by New Mexico-based indie polish maker Literary Lacquers. Creator Amy describes it as a "soft turquoise holo with holo sparkle." To my eye, the base color is similar to iceberg blue, a gentle, creamy, translucent medium-light variation of azure with a hint of silvery grey to it (more so in person than my photos show) and aspects of sky blue and denim. Abundant finely milled holographic pigment gives it a heathery look and creates dimensionalizing hues of cornflower, steel blue and misty jordy blue on the nail. Holographic microglitters dot the look with tiny silvery squares that emit a delicate prismatic twinkle as light travels over them. In the sun, the color brightens noticeably to more of a true sky blue shade, and there's a lovely linear holographic flare with a predominant arc of bright azure edged by a shimmering corona of mixed prismatic sparkle that frames a semi-metallic lick of pale silvery blue grey and deepens to a silver lake blue at the sidewalls of the nail. 

Application was fabulous. It's been a while since I've swatched one of Amy's creations and I see that she has changed her brush! It used to be round, but now it's flat, with a long flat stem that has a distinctly elegant feel as you wield it. I love it! The consistency of Lettie's Ocean is fluid, full-bodied and smooth with a medium-to-thicker consistency to which I added polish thinner at the outset. Thinned, it still retained a good bit of density but glided on evenly and easily and self-leveled like a dream. Pigmentation is very good, delivering full opacity in two coats. Cleanup is easy. Lettie's Ocean dries naturally in very good time to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with a tiny bit of discernible texture from the microglitters, easily smoothed by topcoat. Topcoat does not affect the holographic properties of the polish at all. 

Photos show two coats of Lettie's Ocean over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. A note about the color -- it's a little bit brighter in the ambient light photos than what my eye sees in person, where it has a duskier, more complex quality. The sun shots are about right.

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

Literary Lacquers Lettie's Ocean

This is a gorgeous polish! The gentle quality of the blue has a distinct Literary Lacquers feel to it as do the twinkling microglitters. It is light and graceful on the nail, very easy to wear casually but still feels special. LOVE! If you've never tried Literary Lacquers before, I recommend this one as an excellent introduction to the brand. Blue lovers take note, you might just need this lovely, elegant shade in your stash!

xo,
Liz