Jessica Street Swagger + Ethereal The Dark Mark

Halloween is over, but I'm apparently not done with being vampy & mysterious... 

indoor, CF lighting

This mani started with 2 layers of Jessica Street Swagger, a deep, every so slightly brick-leaning, truly dried-blood red crelly.  The last time I wore this, I got away with a single coat, but this time around I painted much thinner layers and needed more like one-and-a-half.  It's still got a dead perfect formula that dries to a very nice shine on its own - it's polishes like this that teach me why there are folks that choose to wear unadorned crèmes and crellies on the regular.  

outdoor, afternoon daylight

Punching up my plain red, I've added a single heavy layer of Ethereal The Dark Mark, a very dense aurora shimmer topper in a barely grey base.  The end result is a sexy blackened scarlet with subtle shine and shimmer indoors, that explodes into color-shifting fire when I stepped out into the sun.  

outdoor, bright afternoon daylight

Because oh yes indeedy, the best aurora type shimmers get a witchfire green flash that's very close to what Clarins 230 type shimmers are capable of.  

outdoor, shady daylight

In lower lighting, this was a low-key sexy vampy deep dark red with subtle shimmer - nothing at all to be sad about, even when the POW! DRAMA! of the shimmer isn't visible.  

indoor, bright CF lighting

Typically, these red-to-green shifty colors are layered over cool colors - black or blue or royal purple - to amp up both ends of the red-to-green shimmer.   Wearing it over a red base somewhat masks the ruby fire on the other end, especially in lower light, but the shift is still very much there, a la OPI La Boheme.

outdoor, shady daylight

I'd planned to use this combo as a stamping base, or change it up mid-week, but nooooope!  Jessica did me the favor of wearing like iron - a truly unusual feat since very dark polishes tend to show edgewear quickly - and I had no chipping or visible wear for 5 days.  

outdoor, shady daylight

indoor, bright CF lighting

Rating:  I've worn both of these polishes before, and both got 4 stars then, and same thing now.  Love them both, definite keepers!

Where to buy:  I believe Jessica polishes can be found at beauty supplies and some high-end drugstores, and Street Swagger is well worth seeking out.  Ethereal tends to release her stuff as large batch one-and-done, so dig deep in blog sales & destashes to snap up a bottle of The Dark Mark. 

~Michelle