Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II

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As I'm sure we're all quite well aware, I'm a super sucker for Clarins 230-type shifty shimmer, and holy octopus did this pigment explode in popularity this year.  Not only did we get tons of toppers, but also more than a few really creative base colors to showcase the shift, and even a couple of long-lost fan favorites brought back for another round!

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
indoor, bright CF lighting
Alpenglow was a limited edition release back when Dreamland was called Smitten Polish.  She re-released it on a limited basis this year for the Dreamland Lacquer FB fan group, so pics here are the version labeled Alpenglow II. 

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
window-filtered early morning daylight
The name Alpenglow is utterly perfect for this polish - an alpine evergreen with a warm glow.  The base starts out as a distinctly yellowy green jelly that then becomes deeper and magically less yellow with each coat.  Smooth and even at 2 coats, it looked good enough to stop... but that 3rd coat deepened the color further to the rich promise of the bottle and brought the overall tone closer to pine green.  Though we all want to preserve the magic of 230-type shimmer, the base color is so unique and really makes this polish pop, so I absolutely dis-recommend the use of undies. 

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
outdoor, overcast daylight
Ok, let us all just gaze upon the magic shift in low light above.  That warm, coppery-brown tint on the straight-on view curling up to the flaming emerald at the edges?  Totally there in real life, not at all a camera trick.  Gorgeous.  In fact, let's take another look at those green flames:

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
window-filtered bright sunlight
YES.

Ahem.  I've stamped here using Born Pretty gold stamping polish and Pretty Serious Santa's Sunburn to make a holiday gift-wrapping ribbon design.  The wavy ribbons are from a Born Pretty French tip plate, BP-X20, while the bow is from MoYou London Geek 13 plate.

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
outdoor, bright sunlight
I love that above pic - you get flashes of smoldering embers in copper-red, bronze, and green - the whole spectrum of color that's easily visible with this shimmer in this particular polish.   While the green flash does overwhelm the base color to give an emerald look at angles, the red flash doesn't do the same, and just sparks up the pretty/ugly tint of the pine green. 

Dreamland Lacquer Alpenglow II
outdoor, bright sunlight
Rating:  5 out of 5 stars.  This color is utterly unique in my stash, the formula was super nice to work with, and it wore decently for a jelly with just subtle edgewear after a couple days.

Where to buy:  stalk destashes & blog sales to grab a bottle of this unusual color... or else find a swampy, pine green jelly and add a few coats of 230-type topper and hope for the best.

~Michelle

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