Cirque Paradox

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It's been a bit rainy & dreary out, and that's the ideal time for a duochrome... and the poor weather meant I had all the time in the world with no plans so plenty of time to play with a magnetic!

indoor, bright CF lighting

Cirque released their Illusion collection late last year - a whole batch of duochromatic magnetic shimmers, all in a jelly base.  Most magnetics are in thickly opaque bases, so you don't end up with see-thru patches after you've moved the shimmer, but this is an utterly unique look!  I couldn't help myself and bought four of them. 

outdooor, bright daylight

Paradox is a luscious plum wine jelly that is exactly as sheer as any true jelly - I needed to use 3 coats to get to the color saturation you see here.

indoor, bright CF lighting - bottle is magnetized

Compare the above shot to the top pic of the bottle to see how much difference the shimmer creates, and to see just how inky-rich Paradox's base is on its own.  

outdoor, bright daylight

And that shimmer is absolutely incredible.  This is a true duochrome, flipping from electric blue to magenta without any shifts between.  When in direct light, the icy blue makes the base appear a warm wine by contrast, and at angled light, the hot magenta cools the base tone a lot.  

indoor, bright CF lighting

The jelly formula was smooth and easy to work with, and while I know some people swear by magnetizing each and every layer of polish, pfffft who has time for that?  I applied the first 2 coats, did some cleanup to let things dry, then magnetized only on the 3rd/final layer and again on the topcoat.  There's still a bit of shimmer visible from the layers underneath, but most all of it pulled to my bar magnet. 

indoor, window-filtered daylight

And with that trusty straight bar magnet and the right moderate lighting, I got that awesome two-lined effect that really only happens with duochrome magnetics.  And that jelly shine!  YASSS!!

indoor, CF lighting

indoor, window-filtered daylight

Rating:  Paradox is a knockout 5 out of 5 stars.  Easy to work with, instantly reactive, and as per usual these photos are taken with actual wear, most of them >48h after I painted, so the magnetic lines created in this polish only soften out a little once fully cured.  This was a real "OMG I can't stop staring at my hands" sort of polish.  And yes, on top of all of that, this wore amazingly well for a jelly and for a dark color, with only minimal edgewear 5-6 days later.

Where to buy:  direct from Cirque.

~Michelle 

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