This week is cold and snowy AF, so while winter designs are thematically appropriate this time of the year, I'm kinda suffering and can't reasonably reach for snowflake stamping plates and stuff like that. When searching through my spreadsheet for other worn but not photographed/blogged polishes for this here reload series, though, I did find the most impossibly appropriately named pair ever.
 |
| indoor, CF lighting |
ILNP released Absolute Zero as a gift with purchase if you bought a certain number of their 2013 Fall collection polishes, and Winter was from a 2016 winter trio, and those are the frostiest polish names I have bar none.
 |
| window-filtered bright afternoon sunlight |
Winter is a slightly greyed white - the closest I have in my stash to a "true" white linear holographic, this phenomenon being notoriously difficult for makers to achieve since holo pigment is itself grey. Ultimately, I feel that stark whites have an unfortunate resemblance to whiteout, while the barely grey tinge here actually softens it up nicely, so I prefer this look.
 |
| indoor, bright CF lighting |
Absolute Zero is a very deep navy blue with a subtle duochrome shift to royal purple. It appears to be shimmer plus a light dusting of holo sparkle in a deep charcoal base rather than a saturated blue base. This is nice because it doesn't stain cuticle skin like a dark blue normally would, making cleanup a snap, but when worn alone it's not as opaque as you'd expect for a color this dark.
 |
| outdoor, bright sunlight |
After painting a very thin coat of Winter on all my nails, I added a second quite thick coat, then dragged droplets of Absolute Zero through using a small, firm nail art brush to make frozen flames. I've seen this done with multiple colors, but I absolutely love the way this came out with the high contrast of just the two! The first thin coat is essential - since it's completely dry by the time you start working on the flames, you won't scratch through down to bare nail if you use firm pressure while creating the flames. The second thick coat is also essential - since it's still liquid, the flames "float" in it, like when making a blobbicure, and the final result is nice and smooth with no bald patches.
 |
| indoor, bright CF lighting |
Rating: Winter is a really nice 4 out of 5 stars. Its no-fuss formula (opacity in 2 coats is pretty great for a white polish!) and subtle holo sparkle make it a super base for nail art, though it's plain enough in lower lighting that I doubt I'd ever wear this one solo. The first time I wore Absolute Zero, it wore very quickly; I didn't have issues this time around, but since I didn't apply it here in a "standard" way, I'm not going to rate it.
Where to buy: Both of these were LEs, though Winter has re-appeared in Enchanted's store before. Keep an eye out on blog sales & destashes to find either of these two.
~Michelle
Comments
Post a Comment