Ethereal Lacquer Silver Crystal

 I keep asking myself "how on earth could something so beautiful be locked away untried in the stash for so long?" when I pull out an older yet inexplicably unloved polish... and then something like this leaps out of the package and straight onto my nails because OOH SHINY.

outdoor, shady daylight

Ethereal Lacquer is easily the most accurately named brand out there, with these beautifully otherworldly shimmer polishes being her distinctive house style.  

outdoor, bright daylight

Silver Crystal is not even slightly silver, but is most certainly crystalline, tilting from gold to green to aqua to pink.  It's a clear base with very fine-milled iridescent shimmer particle of a sort that several brands have released lately.  Most folks are either showing this over white to get a faery-worthy pearlesence, or of course over black to make the shifty shimmer really pop, but the density of the shimmer had me wanting to try this on its own.

window-filtered direct daylight

I'm showing 2 smooth and easy coats over my usual slightly milky base coat, plus one of my usual topcoat.  In all lighting, the shimmer is absolutely on fire, bright and sparkly, not even a little bit shy.

outdoor, bright afternoon daylight

The above photo shows how sheer it can be in particular lighting - at one coat, this would be a subtle wash of iridescent sparkle, but I think you'd need 4 to get anywhere near visual opacity. 

outdoor, shady daylight

Rating:  a luminous 4 out of 5 stars.  The clear base and overall sheer effect means cleanup is nearly zero - this would be a great option for a quick swipe on the nails and out the door if you needed a polished look in a hurry.  The shimmer does add enough milky haze to the base that I don't think it's going to be a true topper that looks great over anything, but would look incredible over any dusty or pastel color.

Where to buy:  direct from Ethereal, or try one of her stockists.

~Michelle