It's very cold here today and we are expecting snow tomorrow so I thought I'd post a mani which has been sitting in the file since before Christmas. It's not my favourite but it's good enough to get a mention I think....
When Hare's Illuminated Life collection came out I absolutely adored it. I knew I wanted them all and the only one I managed to pick up at first was Medusa Luminosa. As per Hare's description this polish was 'named for the Pelagia noctiluca jelly fish, aka "the sea's light in the night," aka the Mauve Stinger... aka Medusa Luminosa (in Italian). Bioluminescent light is given off by the Medusa Luminosa in flashes as it is stimulated by turbulence in the water." What a beautiful description and how enchanting!
Medusa Luminosa is described as a bright purple jelly with gold glass flecks, pink microglitter and glowing blue hexes. In short it is beautiful and it really glows.
For this mani I wore it alone and attempted to use 3 thin coats and there is when we ran into trouble...... I couldn't do thin coats because this stuff is thick. I mean really thick. By the 2nd coat I had already added about 10 drops of thinner. I don't say this often but I hated working with this polish so much I ended up hating the result and I promptly took the other 3 off my wishlist.
Now, I hear you ask was it a defective bottle? Possibly yes, however I have heard others say a similar thing. I didn't chase it up with Hare and maybe I should have as it is such a beautiful polish. When I look at these photo's I am reminded of that sticky, glue like formula because I can see that I couldn't get as close to the cuticles as normal. I also hate my nubs in this photo too, and it was before my light box, I remember I literally ran outside in my lunchbreak and stood in the freezing cold to take these pictures with people looking at me like I was a total weirdo. Oh, how I'm glad those days are over!
Anyway, if you are happy to work with a very tricky formula in order to get beauty then this may be the polish for you, it really is beautiful.
After a day of this mani I decided to practise my stamping and I was willing it to snow so I had to use BM plate 323. I am still in the very early learning curve with stamping and to get better at it is one of my main mani goals of the year. I used Barry M Silver foil for this stamping and I think it came out ok.
I used the BM 323 plate for the snowflakes:
I bought it because my nails are very curvy which seems to make me have to press extra hard when stamping the images, hence I usually end up with blurred images. This XL stamper is supposed to be more squishy and soft to counteract that problem. When I received it it looked like it does above and I've been using it but not found it much help because it is so far deep into the plastic casing. Well, I can't believe I'm so dumb! I saw a post yesterday on Adventures in Stamping about this very subject and apparently you can pull the rubber stamping bit out and fit a washer under it to prevent it from being pushed inside. Who knew it wasn't supposed to be like that! Here it what it is supposed to look like:
I haven't fitted the washer yet but it worked so much better just being pulled out, of course!!!! Duhhhh. My other revelation of the day is to use lint free wipes to clean the stamper and mistakes on my nails, I usually end up with bits of cotton wool stuck to my fingers and in my polish. How lovely! Well, baby steps it is for me with stamping, but I think those 2 things will help me so much more. There'll be no stopping me now!
x
Your stamping looks pretty good to me. What a shame about the formula, it's such a pretty colour:(
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks Cris Cross. The formula was absolutely awful and I agree, such a shame :-(
Deletethis looks beautiful on you still. i actually used bury the hatchetfish for my manicure today. i think i used about 15 drops of thinner and it was still almost too thick. pretty sure i'm not going to buy another hare polish after this last batch and the issue that everyone seems to have had. which is a shame, she makes some beautiful polishes, but i'll spend my money on something else that isn't such a pain in the ass from the first brush stroke lol
ReplyDeleteOh Dawn, don't let it put you off Hare, they do amazing polish, it's just this collection with the terrible formulas I think. Try one of their glitters, they can be a little thicker than normal but they are easy to apply and absolutely stunning.
DeleteI had the exact same problem with Bury the Hatchetfish. I think I used up almost 1/5 of my bottle on ONE manicure because I kept having to remove bad application ... it was my very first indie polish too, what a nightmare! I got King of Carat Flowers and Cosmo Blossoms since and the formula on those are just fine. I think it's just the Illuminated Life that has issues..
Deletei do have some of her others, i haven't gotten around to wearing them yet though. i think i'll wait to see other reviews first instead of rushing to buy the first batch like i did this time ;) they are very unique polishes and i love the colors of what i own.
DeleteYes, I really think this collection needs a reformulation to be honest. It's creul to taunt us like that - such pretty polish and such nightmare application!!
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