puck_nc

A sky blue crème, touched with a strange hope, and given depth by an inexplicable, profound sorrow. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I tried almost all the blues from Crimson Peak, looking for that elusive UNC Carolina blue. In the bottle: This one strikes me as close to what I think of as Carolina Panther blue - originally it hearkened toward teal. Sky blue with a definite tilt toward green. One coat: Not enough for full coverage. A very opaque, kind of muddy green. Two coats: Much better, although this one perhaps could use three coats. Still very greenish for a sky blue on me. Verdict: Not sure whether I'll keep this one or not. Between it and Lullaby and Moth Shadow, it's just not quite as pretty a shade to me.

The enigmatic blue of a starless night, the moon a cold sliver on the horizon. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I was trying most of the blues and tossed this one in as well. In the bottle: A bit more inky than a royal blue. One coat: It probably takes either two coats or a very practiced hand. The blue holds true to the bottle to me. Two coats: Excellent coverage and now darker than in the bottle, tilting toward navy. Verdict: I need to take this one out for a full test drive before I decide. The formula is lovely but I'm not quite sure about the shade of blue.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: As I was going through the Crimson Peak selection, I tried almost all the variations of blue offered. I hoped one of these might be close enough to UNC Carolina Blue for game day wear. In the bottle: A rich cerulean blue, tilting toward violet just a bit. One coat: This one definitely needs two coats. The first round is a very opaque and pale purple. Two coats: The color is firmed up, nicely and smoothly. Verdict: It's a bit too purple for what I was hoping for, but is an interesting light purple-blue. I may hang onto it.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I usually do silver shimmer, but thought I'd try the gold as well. In the bottle: Liquid gold dust. One coat: One coat gives plenty of coverage, adding a golden sparkle to your fingertips. Two coats: A second coat makes the shimmer a little thicker, maybe. Verdict: Keeper, but I'm more likely to get a backup bottle of the silver.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: Red and bronze sounded like a cool combo. In the bottle: Rich, deep and velvety red. One coat: As ShowOrchid said, one coat might be enough if you've a practiced hand. It's as advertised - brick red with a golden metallic shine. Two coats: More of the same. Verdict: This one is startlingly lovely. It's not a shade of red I normally wear, but I can see adding it to the rotation.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: It sounded promising as a layering polish or a very subtle, understated one. In the bottle: White and faintly shimmering. If anyone remembers the shade of Hell's Belle, imagine it without the pink. One coat: Definitely all you need to get the shimmery nude impression. I was clumsy and had a streak of white in my one-coat photo in the Claw Polish thread. Two coats: Shimmery cream-white and still rather opaque: Verdict: I don't think my idea of layering will work with this one. if I could do as good of a job as PrinceofcatS in applying, I might wear it on occasion. Not sure that I can - it streaked very easily. I might get a manicurist to try.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: Sparkly blues are a favorite of mine. In the bottle: A shimmery royal/sapphire blue One coat: Almost enough. A deep blue, but less gun-metal than Temple of Dreams, shot through with silver glitter. Two coats: Firms up the coating nicely. Verdict: I think I will wind up using this one a lot. A lovely shade of blue.

A pumpkin orange crème! Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: If one asks for a pumpkin orange, one tries the pumpkin orange when it appears. In the Bottle: A subtle orange, more toward the brown side than the red. Looks very pumpkin-y. One coat: Like the other creme polish, Devil's Night, this one seemed watery on application. This one I would definitely recommend two coats. Two coats: Super-easy to apply. It pops a bit more on the nail than it did in the bottle. Verdict: Between the two orange shades, I like this one better. I'm not quite sure if I'll wear it enough to justify keeping it, though.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: When Puddin' asked us what we wanted in a Weenie nail polish, one of my suggestions was something like Fires of Love or Unseelie but in Halloween pumpkin orange. I don't remember offhand if I suggested calling it PSE, but this absolutely works in the picture on the website. In the Bottle: An orange glitterbomb shot with reds and greens and golds and silvers. Fireworks in a bottle! One coat: Someone more expert that I could probably make this more even, but it's a nice almost nude layer with glitter in it. Looks like it would layer well. Two coats: Almost exactly like in the bottle, except you can now see the bits of blue or black glitter as well as the shinier ones. It is a rough surface, though, so a top coat is warranted. Verdict: If I can't land another bottle this year, I will plead and beg Puddin' to bring it back next year. Because I will wear this a lot.

An unearthly oil-slick holographic polish with dark and spectral multichrome elements. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: In the photo it looked like it might be the closest to another indie nail polish that I found on Etsy: black with rainbow glitter. In the Bottle: A gorgeous prism of colors shimmering in black. One coat: A very pale opaque black with neat pastel glitter. I'm digging the pinks and pale blues and pale greens. Two coats: Now it's dark - a slightly purple-black - and smooth and the glitter is more of a full rainbow. The picture seems to only show a silvery glitter - it's definitely a full spectrum as the description says. Verdict: I'm gonna need another bottle or two of this one. THIS is the kind of black nail polish I adore.

Origin: Frimp in an order Initial Thoughts: Had to do a search on the Lab site when the forum's search failed me, but I finally found that it's an apple scent with both fruit and blossom. As a rule I do better with the blossom than the fruit, but I love a number of apple-y scents that the Lab has. In the Vial: APPLE! And yes, very sweet and candy-like. It's also chilly to my nose, but that may be me equating the woodsy notes to winter outdoors. Wet: I think the apple blossom must come first, because it's now more of a sweet floral than sweet candy. But I like it quite a bit. Drydown: The impression of fresh apple emerges and cuts the sweet some, but it's still a very, very sweet scent. Verdict: I think I like it. Might be worth getting a bottle.

Origin: partial bottle gifted to me with a forum purchase Initial Thoughts: I don't play the roulette of Chaos Theory with perfumes because there are so many notes that go bad on me. With the Orientals, the amping potential of amber and benzoin on me was too great to risk. This one is bottle #247, which mentions orange blossom and a little musk and citrus notes. In the Bottle: I see what the previous poster meant about fresh and warm at the same time. There is floral in here, something bright and greenish and it makes my nose sting just a touch. I also get the citrus. But there is also a soft dark foundation to it. Wet: Definitely a musk, as the note comes charging in to amp. But it's not a very dark musk, as it's not devouring everything else in its path. I still get the citrus impression and the floral, which seems to be a white one. Drydown: Definitely not a dark musk. This is on the lighter side of the spectrum. The floral has settled in to stay and for all the world it smells like a lemony magnolia on top of the musk. I love magnolia. Verdict: Chaos may have smiled upon me today. This is definitely something I could wear and I think I'm going to hang onto it for a while.

Origin: Decant circle Initial Thoughts: I love a good apple cider recipe and how it smells. I tried last year's Autumn Cider, which decided to be orange cider rather than apple. Maybe this year it will be more apple-like and less boozy. In the Vial: Definitely an apple presence this time. It reminds me a little of my favorite version of Harvest Moon (2005) with a bottle of sweet red wine dumped in. Wet: The wine-like note leaps out first and now it's quite like the scent of a favorite mulled wine recipe my family uses with super-sweet muscadine grapes. There's some airy apple behind that. Drydown: The spices come out and the apple warms up. The wine scent is now in the background, adding sweetness to the whole thing. Verdict: This is the cider scent for me. Must now budget to see whether I can get a bottle or not.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: I like my Halloween apples covered in red sticky glaze. I know the Lab can do some amazing candy/sugar scents. Let's see what happens. In the Vial: In-your-face sweet apple. The sweet reminds me of strawberry candy. And now I want some Lifesavers. Wet: Not quite as strawberry, but still very much candied fruit. I'm getting much more candied than apple right now. Drydown: Things balance out to a sugary apple with an incredibly lovely almost citrusy undertone. Surprisingly mellow. Verdict: I like it very much. Whether I get a bottle will depend on things like available funds.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: Apple can be good. I tend to do well with the fruit blossoms over the actual fruit, so I was curious about blackcurrant bud. I love clove and vanilla. I'm hoping for a sweet version of a clove apple. In the Vial: Like many other reviewers have noted, the first impression is of a very tart Granny Smith apple. On second sniff I get a hint of dusky spice and a tad of vanilla. Wet: A Granny Smith apple, but with a pleasant aromatic something in the background. Drydown: Yay, clove! Lots of clove! And it's sweet and there's the apple, and I also get a bit of the earthiness that the last reviewer mentioned. I'm quite liking having the impression of patchouli in this scent, since I can't wear real patchouli due to amping. Verdict: I think this is a winner! I want a bottle in time for Christmas, because this clove-vanilla-apple makes me think of the holiday season. And please can we have more things with clove and vanilla in them?

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: I love coconut. I love tiare. I quite like apple. I have no objection to fig. In the Bottle: APPLE! A very tart fresh apple. A second sniff gives a hint of sweetness in the background and says that this will not be a single-note apple. Wet: The coconut jumps out quickly to mute the strongest level of apple. Drydown: The fig and tiare emerge and help create a sweet tropical apple. But there is a trace of plasticky to the whole thing on my skin. Verdict: Unsure. Overall I love it, but that bit of plastic is highly annoying.

Origin: Decant circle Initial Thoughts: Normally rose stays my hand, as does blood. But when one is doing a decant circle and a scent has carnation and vanilla cream and something interesting like red clover, one dares. In the Vial: Wow, that's different. It's light and airy. My mind is going to ginger and peach and...ah. The cubeb, for which my only other context so far is Peach, White Ginger, and Cubeb hair gloss from the post. But yes, to my nose it's ginger - maybe the carnation spice? - citrusy/fruity - and the faintest hint of floral. Wet: Still strongly airy-fruit-floral, but I'm beginning to find the carnation. What I'm not getting is the rose, which is a good thing since rose goes icky on me. I suppose the spiciness could be the blood note, maybe. Drydown: I got distracted and let this one sit for a good while before sniffing again. Whatever other stages it went through, it is now almost pure single-note carnation on me. I can live with that. Verdict: Keeping the decant and maybe getting a bottle.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: This is full of delightful possibilities, from the pumpkin to the vanilla. Had to try it. In the Vial: Pumpkin absolutely dripping with sweet, sweet honey. The smokiness of the vanilla bean comes out as a breath of dark spicy goodness. Wet: YUM. Sweet dark creamy pumpkin, but minus the sense of "baked" that one often finds associated with pumpkin scents. Drydown: It actually gets darker and sweeter! That smoky vanilla is back, but it's all subtle. No sense of burning or overly cooked at all. Verdict: This is a winner. I will be getting a bottle of this before Weenies go away.

Origin: Decant from a circle Initial Thoughts: Strawberries, vanilla and peppermint are all good. I wasn't quite sure about the cotton candy, but I figured it was worth at least trying a decant. In the Vial: Holy cow! In-your-face strawberries & cream candy! Sweet enough to cause a cavity with one whiff! Wet: The mint shoots out and possibly the cotton candy, but they turn a creamy strawberry candy into a dessert of fresh strawberries in a sugar glaze with fresh mint sprigs. The 180 is very interesting. Drydown: It's candy-ing up again but not so intensely sweet this time. But something is hovering around the edges of going plasticky and artificial. Verdict: The decant may see some service in a scent locket because it's just that joyful, but I'm not sure I'll wear it on my skin with that looming threat of artificial.

Origin: Bottle ordered from the Lab through a decant-circle add-on Initial Thoughts: An explosion of flowers dusted in sugar? Gimme nooooooow! In the bottle: (Actually sniffing from the tissue I had to use to dry off the bottle - it chose to share in transit.) Explosion is right. It's bright and fizzy and effervescent with an interesting balance between sweetness and bubbly-sharp. The florals are kind of all smashed together - repeated sniffs suggest some jasmine and the potential for rose. I hope it's not the latter - after I started looking at reviews that mentioned rose or violet I started worrying, because those two really hate my skin. And I want to love this one both for the scent description and the story behind it. Wet: Uh oh. That was a sharp left turn into something that smelled strongly of chemical lemon, of all things. Luckily that faded fast, although it's still quite lemon at the moment. Drydown: Okay, it's starting to come together as more floral and more sugary. I think I'm smelling jasmine through that persistent impression of lemon. What floral might go lemony on a person? Magnolia? Further Drydown: Okay, the sugar slowly builds and creates a candyish undertone. I also get a trace of the spiciness that others have mentioned. What I don't get, thank all the gods above, is any whiff of stinky collards (rose) or acrid stank (violet). If those are present, they are either in such small amounts or so well balanced against other notes that I'm not suffering my usual yuck of faulty skin chemistry. Verdict: Definitely keeping this. It's cheerful and vibrant and something I will wear a lot.

GLITTER-SHOT CRÈME Crushed starlight, lost forever in the blue-black. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: This was the one I hesitated on the longest as I don't often wear black nail polish and I already have an "Event Horizon" polish from an Etsy vendor that is black with rainbow glitter. But I finally tossed one in. In the Bottle: Inky black with a subtle silver glitter to it. One coat: Depending on how skillfully one can apply a very thin coat, it's smoky black and almost opaque with a subtle glitter pattern. Two coats: Shiny black. The glitter remains a subtle pattern to the polish rather than being super glittery. Verdict: I may find a better home for this one. I need to decide how often I'm actually going to go with black polish.

FOIL Star-dappled darkness. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I basically went for all the nail polishes that included references to stars in their descriptions. I have a weakness. In the Bottle: Slate blue and glitter. One coat: Actually more green than blue to my eye, but very, very glittery. Two coats: (picture above) Now it's more blue and full of shimmer. But it goes navy, almost black without light. Verdict: I'm not quite certain about this. I think I would have wanted a slightly richer, more inky or velvety blue. We'll see if it grows on me.

METALLIC PEARL An indolent, sultry shade of red. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: There are enough times that I want a good rich red on my nails that it was worth trying this. In the Bottle: A gorgeous sleekly metallic red - think the paint on a Porsche. One coat: Even and creamy and cherry-apple red. Two coats: Not much difference here. Verdict: Win! I will say that in person it's a little darker and richer than the photo shows. But it's definitely an emphatic red for anyone looking for a good one.

Glittering starry musk dotted with crystalline vanilla, benzoin, violet leaf, Italian bergamot, white honeysuckle, water lettuce, and grief-touched crushed carrot seed. Initial thoughts: The musk sounded promisingly light so as not to amp. I adore honeysuckle in any variety. Vanilla is good. The rest is something of a crapshoot. In the vial: I can definitely smell the musk and, I believe, the bergamot. There’s something herby-citrusy going on. My precious honeysuckle is buried deep, if there at all. The impression is of a classic and sophisticated perfume. Wet: That’s a lot of bergamot. My impression now is of leafy watery lemon. We’ll see if the usual amping of the musk brings out any of the sweeter notes. Drydown: Yep, there’s the musk, right on cue. While the amp isn’t overpowering to the degree that a really dark musk would be on me, it is cutting off the bergamot at the knees. Now I’m getting some of the vanilla and perhaps the benzoin and the scent is a much warmer one than before. The honeysuckle is a supporting player at best, but the violet leaf isn’t behaving like skanky violet does on me and the carrot seen and lettuce are not being overly herby. Verdict: Not a bad scent on me but not one I’m in love with.

HOLOGRAPHIC CRÈME WITH MULTICHROME FLAKE Soothing lilac, speckled with the remnants of dark dreams. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: It was between this one and Oneiroi as far as trying to find another polish like my favorite Hell's Belle from the old Claw Polishes. In the Bottle: A lovely pale purple swimming with iridescent glitter and shot through with bigger bits of blue glitter. One coat: An opaque, shimmery pink with bits of blue dancing in it. Two coats: Tilts over to the palest of purples and sparkles with glitter and blue. Verdict: I think this is a great color. It's quiet enough for work but not at all boring.