Lacquer Lundi

Did you know that the most expensive bottle of nail polish ever made retails for $250? In 2005, a collaboration between Allure Magazine, Johnson Matthey, Platinum Guild International (PGI) and Essie Cosmetics produced a sheer polish laced with platinum dust, under the exclusive brand 'I Do.' To get your hands on the one and only special edition bottle (shown to the left*), which has a platinum lid and base, add another $54 750 to the asking price. Yikes!

For some other if-you-have-to-ask-you-can't-afford-it products, check out this link.

* I borrowed the bottle image from Platinum Today (Johnson Matthey).


Now to the pretties:

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Sonic Bloom
- purchased at Zehrs (chain grocery store) for $5.99 CDN

This is one single coat of Sonic Bloom - yep, one single coat. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to mess around waiting for polish to dry. Sally Hansen Inst-Dri to the rescue. I applied Sally Hansen Insta-Dri base coat, then one coat of Sonic Bloom (no top coat - no time for it - I was literally running out the door) and my manicure was completely dry and dent-proof within five minutes. Talk about super duper lightning fast! Between the dense pigmentation of the polish and the extra wide brush (which admittedly does take some practice and patience to master), this polish is the answer for women with hectic lives. I love this polish so much that I own it in 11 of the 24 colours offered.

This polish is a gorgeous dark pinkish red colour that seems very 1950s to me. If I had the matching lipstick, I could really rock this look (check out the 1950 Avon ad halfway down the page on the right hand side of this cool website).




Color Club - Fashion Addict
- purchased from Head2Toe Beauty for $2.50 US

Ever since I discovered holographic polishes, I have been smitten with them. The play of shifting colours is positively mesmerizing. I simply cannot stop staring at my nails when I'm sporting a fabulous holo! I must look like a complete flake when I'm out walking the dog, entranced by my own hands!

Fashion Addict is from Color Club's Catwalk Queen Collection for Spring 2009.

In artificial light, Fashion Addict is a shimmering lavender tinged silver. But, take it outdoors into natural light and it comes alive with all the colours of the rainbow. It is truly stunning.

The formula of this polish is excellent. It is so highly coloured that it could be a one-coater with careful application - however, I used two coats to make it fully opaque on all nails. It slides on easily, dries quickly and it wore well for the day that I had it on (I had planned on wearing it longer, but I split a nail that had to be repaired, so off came the polish).

If only they made fabric like this - I would make a full length gown and wander around looking like an alien space princess - then I'd really get some strange looks when I was at the park with the dog!




China Glaze - Tickle My Triangle
- purchased from Head2Toe Beauty for $3.29 US

This is another holographic polish - I just bought a bunch of them (addicted much?) last week so they will be making Lacquer Lundi appearances over the next while.

This polish is from China Glaze's exceptional Kaleidoscope Collection (which is apparently being discontinued, so if you want 'em, get 'em while you can).

Tickle My Triangle (am I the only one that giggles like an immature 12 year old when I read that name?) is a gorgeous hot purpley-pink base full of light reflecting holographic glitter. Like Fashion Addict above, it is quite pretty indoors, but in full sun is where it earns its keep.

The consistency and application of this polish was flawless, with two coats making it fully opaque. It should be noted that although I do use a base coat with holos, I do not use a top coat. Unfortunately, I find that the top coat lessens the holographic effect of the polish, so I skip it.

Even without a top coat, it wore quite well for the two days that I had it on. Considering I was using my hands a lot to sew during those two days, there was not an unreasonable amount of tip wear. I find sewing is quite rough on polish - between the constant handling of fabric and all the pinning (I am constantly jabbing my nails when I pin together my fabrics - I never noticed it until I started wearing polish all the time), nail polish can get quite a workout.

As you can see, I went a little nuts with the pictures, but I am in love with this polish and I don't even really like pink!