Lilypad Lacquer: "Mixed Metals", "Great Things Ahead", & "Lemony" !!!

Thunderstorms rolling through Montana have made the sun a fickle and precious presence these past couple days, so whenever some sunshine breaks through the clouds I've gone tearing outside like a maniacal sparklefiend to capture the sparkle on my nails.  My yellow labs, May and Freyja, have found this to be highly entertaining, thinking it to be a great chase game, and so there is much excitement every time I take a swatch.  They are not alone in their enthusiasm; I have been dying to share these wonderful polishes with you all week!  Lilypad Lacquer, a five-free nail polish line that is handmixed in Australia, is one of my favorite new brands this summer (new to me, anyway).  Maybe these sun-worshipping colors will tease the sun out again :)

  

Mixed Metals {Soft Metals Collection}

"Mixed Metals" is a scintillating mélange of fine metallic flakes in yellow gold, white gold, and copper.  Imagine a goldsmith swept up their fragments of precious metals, melted them down into a shimmering molten concoction with which to plate your nails, and then a fire fairy came along and blasted you with sparkle power.  You would then have "Mixed Metals".  It has this elemental feel to it that I love, like the primal quality of a raw gemstone.  This polish is so strikingly metallic that it actually transfixed one of the engineers at my office, like for two days he could not get over how gold my nails were; and let me clarify that these are mountain men engineers, who notice next to nothing if it is not big game or beer we're talking about, so I rule this one a huge win for "Mixed Metals".  This is three coats, and two days of wear, so you can see it did pretty well save for the chip on my index finger.  This was a slower drier for me, so I'd maybe get your quick dry drops out for this one.  I'll say this, though: it's worth the wait!

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals"

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals" [shade]

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals" [electric light]

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals"

When I first saw "Mixed Metals" I immediately thought of Zoya "Ziv", which also has a mix of golds and bronze flecks, though quick comparison shows that they are quite distinct in tone and formula.  "Mixed Metals" has warm copper undertones, while "Ziv" is a cool olive-toned gold.  "Ziv" has a mix of flakes & metallic shimmer and a fantastic quick-drying formula that is opaque in one-two coats, whereas "Mixed Metals" is comprised of small metallic flakes in a clear base, and needs two-three coats for full intensity.  I found "Mixed Metals" to be much more flattering on my skintone, but golds are quite person-specific; I know many people consider "Ziv" to be the perfect gold!

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals" {index & ring} vs. Zoya "Ziv" {middle & pinkie}

Lilypad Lacquer "Mixed Metals" {index & ring} vs. Zoya "Ziv" {middle & pinkie}

Meet my excellent and very helpful assistants.  If you have yellow labs with butterscotch ears, you might need "Mixed Metals" because as you can see it is a decent match!  The glamorous one posing nicely, if aloofly, is little miss May.  The derpy one licking my hand is Freyja :)

Great Things Ahead {Positive Affirmation Collection}

There's gold, but then there's THIS gold, and those two things are not the same at all.  "Great Things Ahead" is the purest yellow gold shattered into a thousand sparkling metallic and holographic glitters.  Perhaps it is the forward momentum suggested in the same, but this polish speaks of exploration and irrepressible optimism to me.  I don't know where I got steampunk from this polish, but all I can see when I look at it is an aeronaut in a hot air balloon, streaking over an industrial skyline towards better horizons.  If you're familiar His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass), then you know that I'm talking about Lee Scoresby!  The flying house and the"Spirit of Exploration!" from Up work, too.  Get your balloon ready, because you'll want to see new worlds with this on your fingers :)  This polish could work as a dense glitter topper after one coat, but the magic happens when it hits full intensity at three.

 Wanderlust in a bottle, here with a map of my beloved Copenhagen.  Incidentally, see the number 4 directly to the right?  That is the Rundetaarn, or Round Tower, built by King Christian IV for the study of astronomy, and I lived a half block away from it while I studied in Denmark <3

Lilypad Lacquer "Great Things Ahead"

Lilypad Lacquer "Great Things Ahead" [shade]

Lilypad Lacquer "Great Things Ahead" [electric light]

Lilypad Lacquer "Great Things Ahead" [shade]

Lilypad Lacquer "Great Things Ahead"

 

Lemony {Spring Sorbet Collection}

My bestie Grace and I may live a thousand miles apart now, but we have this strange telepathic connection in that our likes and dislikes seem to evolve together; it's like our friendship is actively defying distance by making us more and more the same person as we are separated by time and space.  For example: recently we have each become obsessed by a particular color for the year, starting January-February, then around August we will find out that those colors are somehow magically the same!!  This year's color happens to be coral, but last year we were all about *yellow*, so naturally I was drawn to this polish.

"Lemony" has a smooth lemon meringue base, kissed with key lime, that sparkles with holographic and finely-flaked golden shimmers.  The shimmers showcase differently depending on the light source (holographic in the sun and gold in the shade), so that unlike holos that can become dull indoors, "Lemony" can adapt to the conditions and thus is always beautiful.  This formula is a dream, even and smooth, a real gem among yellows; if the tips of my nails didn't have such a high white contrast, two coats would have been adequate.  These swatches are three coats.  There is a distinct lemongrass tone to this one, especially inside, and while I don't know if it's the most flattering hue on me, I don't care; I think it makes for an adventurous and eclectic burst of color that is perfect for the transition from late summer to early autumn.

Lilypad Lacquer "Lemony"

Lilypad Lacquer "Lemony" [shade]

Lilypad Lacquer "Lemony" [electric light]

Lilypad Lacquer "Lemony"

What do you think?!  Are you loving sun colors for August?  I highly recommend checking out Lilypad Lacquer, they have an amazing range of colors and finishes, and are available at Llarowe out of the United States {http://www.llarowe.com/shop-all/lilypad-lacquer.html?p=1}, Nail Polish Canada {http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/products/playful-by-lilypad-lacquer.html}, and Lilypad Lacquer out of Australia, though the shop is currently closed {https://www.etsy.com/shop/LilypadLacquer}.  You might also visit Lilypad Lacquer on Facebook: {https://www.facebook.com/lilypadlacquer}.  I bought these polishes from Llarowe- **"Lemony" is currently on sale!!**- and if you haven't experience Llarowe already you should go take a look.  In addition to having high-quality and unique polishes from all over the world, they have really outstanding customer service :)  Lilypad Lacquer retails for $13 USD, but several are on sale now for $10 so get over there!!