Baroness X Wildfire

~~* Press Sample *~~

I was all aflutter when the wizard behind Baroness X asked me to swatch her latest custom for The X Army Facebook group, and was even more aflutter when I opened the package to find this beauty (and her holo sister) inside!

indoor, bright CF lighting

Awwww yessssss.

Wildfire is described as "double UP in a tinted base with matching UP flakies," and that seems dead accurate to my eyes.  I'm wearing just one layer here over a plain slate-teal crème (Essie's Go Overboard), which was plenty to show off the shifty goodness.  I was also in love enough with the smoky sky blue bottle color to want to show how it did on its own, so my accent nail is one layer of Wildfire, then stamping an octopus motif from MoYou London's Animal 01 plate with Go Overboard, then one more coat of Wildfire.  I'm wearing a single layer of topcoat over everything.

window-filtered overcast daylight

In lower light, the flakies are super prominent and *pop* in that light-catching way that iridescent flakies do.  Lower light over this dark color also shows off the dense concentration of the Clarins 230-type shifty shimmer, with plenty of sparks in a single coat.

outdoor, cloudy sunlight

In full, bright sunlight, this was blinding... so of course, as soon as I noticed how amazing it looked, heavy clouds rolled in and produced nothing but rain for days and historic flooding in parts of the east coast.  I loved this combo enough to wear it for days, so the quest for accurate pics wasn't exactly a burden, but take note that it gets way flashier than the above partial sun pic shows.

indoor, incandescent lighting

In most direct lighting, I got the above or below look of flaming red embers floating over a cool-toned deep base - there's a reason that black, blue, and purple are long-standing faves for "unicorn pee" toppers, and this saturated slate is no exception.

window-filtered daylight

It's not at all plain-Jane by itself, though, and I actually really liked the glowing shimmer over an otherwise nude nail. 

indoor, bright CF lighting

But of course while those ruby embers are lovely in their smolder, my heart starts to speed up a notch when the bronze-gold starts to spark in angled light ...

indoor, window-filtered bright sunlight

And then *BAM* that emerald that makes me love this stuff always & forever.

indoor, window-filtered bright sunlight.  also, DEAD.

Most fascinatingly, though, was the discovery that bright sunlight or other perfect circumstances weren't at all necessary to have Wildfire show her best.  In fact, the most amazing shift I saw the whole time I wore this beauty?  Routine, everyday, standard government-issue office fluorescent lighting.  I mean, look at the red-to-green shift on every nail including the nekkid one!

no, seriously.  office.  fluorescents.  

Yup, amazing.  And I haven't mentioned the flakies enough - they're very much there shifting right in time with the UP, they disperse nicely across the nail without the need to push them into place, and they were utterly smooth under a single layer of topcoat.

indoor, bright CF lighting

Where to buy:  Wildfire is an exclusive custom for the X Army Facebook group; you must be a member to purchase at the Baroness X shop.  The launch is June 16th at noon PT (3pm ET), and everyone is limited to one bottle of each type.. because Wildfire comes in both a straight-up UP version, plus one with a light scattering of holo dust.  I'll be sharing the holo version in a separate post in a few days.  Full size bottles of this magic will be $21 for either type.  If minis tickle your fancy (and why wouldn't they?  The brushes on these minis are full-size and gave me zero grief), there will be a separate launch of the mini-size duo June 30th at $25 for the pair.  

~Michelle