Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Like From Darkness Comes Light, So Sweet And So Cold was released in January this year by Michigan-based indie polish maker Great Lakes Lacquer exclusively for members of the Hella Handmade Creations (HHC -- formerly Hella Holo Customs) Facebook group. Creator Mariah describes this one as "a light lilac based linear holographic boldened by holo micro flake and brightened with blue, purple, aqua, and green shimmer."

To my eye, the color here is more of a creamy, translucent, light-to-medium periwinkle gently underpinned by lavender. It's packed with a mix of metallic microflake shimmers in the colors of iridescence -- azure, purple, aqua, green -- that gleam within the base as light travels over them. Azure is the most prominent of these, and creates a glistening sky blue sheen along the axis of light. Abundant silvery holo flakes give the polish a delicately-flecked visual texture and light up in scattered, pasteled prismatic sparks in direct light, where there's a stealthy hint of a linear flare, mostly dispersed by the components.

Application was great! The consistency of So Sweet And So Cold is fluid, light and slightly fluffy with a medium-to-slightly-thicker viscosity and a smooth, self-leveling glide over the nail that went on best for me in medium coats. Pigmentation is somewhat sheer on the first coat, building to wearable opacity in two to three coats depending on how you paint. Cleanup is straightforward. So Sweet And So Cold dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, mostly shiny finish. Topcoat adds a becoming gloss and highlights the presence of the microflake shimmers.

Photos show three coats of So Sweet And So Cold over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

Great Lakes Lacquer So Sweet And So Cold

The shimmers in this polish are easily visible on close scrutiny and add an unexpected artisanal touch that is both ephemeral and a little exotic. I love the periwinkle color for spring, especially with the additional oomph of the components. The holographic sparkle in the sun is so pretty -- reminds me of Easter!

love,
Liz