Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick

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As per my usual, after one or two or a few rich bright colors, I gotta go with a palate cleanser of some type of neutral just to change things up a bit.

Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
indoor, CF lighting
Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick is one of those polishes where the name is 100% accurate.  This is a soft, somewhat sheer grey with a subtle pearlescence due to the scattered holo finish.

Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
outdoor, overcast daylight
I'm thinking the "first pick" part of the color name is from the generous helping of gold metallic contrasting shimmer - the whole is a lovely neutral jewel that's both cool and warm for those of us that like to wear both silver and gold.

Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
outdoor, cloudy daylight
I'm wearing 3 coats here, which leaves a light translucency at this point.  While I don't have a super opaque free edge, I love ethereal not-quite-sheer looks of this type, so I don't find the opacity to be a fault.

Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
outdoor, indirect daylight
Unfortunately for me, Lacquester has gone to the wide, flat brush type that so many people really prefer.  These are way too broad for my pinky nails, and turning the brush on its short edge doesn't work since the bristles just fan out and cover everything anyway.  As much as these drive me bonkers, I can't ever remember to order the narrower brushes that many makers offer, so it's kinda my own fault in the end.  For this go-round, the brush was slightly wonky to boot, with a few squirrely threads waving off in different directions.  I thoroughly cleaned off the brush and got out a trusty pair of embroidery scissors to see if we could fix all this up.  After trimming the bent bristles from one side and trimming down about 30% from the other side, the brush was shaped more like my preference and worked great.  I will absolutely be doing that again!

Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
bright afternoon sunlight
Lacquester Pearl Grey First Pick
indoor, bright CF lighting
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars for this sparkly soft neutral.  I had no issues with formula or wear time, and it's a lovely color.

Where to buy:  Since I'm in the US, I typically get Lacquester polishes from their stockist Color 4 Nails.

~Michelle

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