My latest Nerd Lacquer trio

Harlow & Co got a new shipment of Nerd Lacquer polish last week. When it comes to funky glitter polishes, I am a weak, weak person, so I ordered a couple! Unfortunately I only managed to get two into my cart before they sold out, but Katie from Harlow & Co was kind enough to include a sample bottle of a third polish with my order!

Onto the swatches.

First is Cyance Friction - CYANCE FRICTION is a super bright cyan/teal with copper shimmer, large and medium copper hexagonal glitter, medium turquoise square glitter, and a gorgeous pink-violet flash. Opaque in two coats, and unarguably fabulous. Cyance Friction exists because Michael Shermer is so freaking awesome.


In the sun:


And a picture in the shade, to show the purple shimmer from another angle:


This polish was a little hard to apply because of the amount of large chunky glitter. It was very pigmented, and the rich teal base with that lovely purple shine is just awesome. It doesn't need a ton of glitter taming, but I did use a coat of Gelous before I put on my topcoat for some extra smoothing. I really like this!

Next up is Shiny, inspired by one of my favourite shows of all-time, Firefly. SHINY is a clear sky blue with sapphire shift, silver and white microglitter, ultrafine opalescent blue glitter, multiple sizes of silver hex glitter, plus medium square white and silver glitter. It's spacey, it's cool, it's synonymous with "fine," and it's very shiny indeed. Quite opaque in two coats, and surprisingly smooth with a single layer of top coat.



I didn't bother with the Gelous on this one as it was pretty smooth overall. Can you see the sapphire shimmer in there? I tried my best to capture it, but it's very subtle! This polish is beautiful, so icy blue with SO MUCH SHINE. It really is shiny, in all the best ways. It's jam packed with tons of silver glitter, and that sapphire shimmer just makes it for me.

Last but not least is a Harlow&Co exclusive: Han Shot First. HAN SHOT FIRST is a deep dusty teal with giant gold square glitter, medium square turquoise glitter, gold small and micro, smallish holo hex. FAB.



Check out the crazy glitter in this one! Holo glitter, huge square gold glitter, shimmer, and more all packed into that gorgeous base. This may be my favourite of the bunch! Easy to apply, even with that huge gold stuff in there. The holo doesn't come out to play quite as much as I'd like, but that's ok, it's definitely there and shows up like crazy in bright light. I used one coat of Gelous under my topcoat for this one.

I had a little trouble getting the larger glitter out at first in these polishes, but then I had a lightbulb moment, stuck the bottles upside down overnight, and tried applying again this morning - success! I actually had trouble with TOO MUCH of the big glitter rather than not getting any.

Overall I'm pretty happy with this small haul of Nerd Lacquers. If you haven't had a chance to try them yet, start stalking the Etsy shop and Harlow & Co for updates - it's worth it.

Nerd Lacquer - a quartet of awesome

I finally had the time and sunlight to properly swatch my small collection of Nerd Lacquer polishes. While I've been wearing these off and on since I got them, I haven't been able to take any decent pictures, which is frustrating! But I've finally got them :)

First up is a revisit, Entirely Unlike Tea, a semi sheer pinky nude with tiny silver glitter, and just a touch of larger round glitter. The texture was a bit watery and extremely sheer on the first coat, but covered nicely on the second. At three it became almost opaque, but it had just the slightest visible nail line in bright light, not enough for a fourth coat though.

(the full review was already posted here)



And now for something completely different, It's Just a Flesh Wound. "A fierce black base with small and medium black, red, and copper hexagonal glitter, plus black and charcoal microglitter and big silver hex glitter."

The bottle:



Three coats:



 I didn't get much of the big silver hex glitter, but I got a TON of the red and copper! This is the second time I've worn this, and it's a ton of fun to look at. Warning: this polish drinks topcoat! Expect 2-3 coats of topcoat before it's nice and smooth.

This applies nicely, with minimal streaking. It's fairly opaque at two coats, but I added a third to see if I could get some of the bigger glitter on my nails. Sadly, I failed, but I'll keep trying!

Next up is Don't Blink. "a stone grey creme with silver and charcoal glitter, silver microglitter, and big silver hex glitter."

The bottle:



Three coats:



I had a hard time applying this one - I think it may be from the brush in the small bottle. It was quite thick and goopy, but oh the colour! It's a beautiful polish. The grey base colour has a fair bit of lavender to it, and the glitter is just gorgeous. It's quite smooth when it's finally applied, and a single coat of topcoat is enough for a glassy finish.

Last but certainly not least is Event Horizon. "a blackened teal with small and medium blue and turquoise hexagonal glitter, silver and iridescent glitter, plus bright blue microglitter, and generously spiked with fine and ultrafine holographic sparkles"

The bottle:



Three coats, indoors:



Sunlight:



Angled:



Extreme close up:



It was SO TOUGH to capture this polish on the camera! The holographic glitter sparkles like mad in the sun, but was impossible to photograph, hence the extra pictures. You can see a bit of the holo effect on the last three, but nowhere near as intense as it looks in person.

This was my favourite of the bunch. Opaque in two coats, easy to apply, and simply stunning. I put one coat of Seche Vite on top, and it could have used a second for a proper glass finish, but I was happy with it as it was.

Overall I really like the Nerd Lacquer polishes I have. I see myself wearing all of these frequently, but especially Entirely Unlike Tea and Event Horizon. And I'll be ordering more!

I bought my Nerd Lacquers from Harlow & Co, but they can also be purchased at her Etsy shop.

Nerd Lacquer - Entirely Unlike Tea

This is my first time trying Nerd Lacquer. I picked up a few from Harlow & Co just before New Years and I was sooo excited to try them! I had about 15 new polishes to try, but this one stood out for its subtly gorgeous colour.

This is Entirely Unlike Tea - a semi sheer pinky nude with tiny silver glitter, and just a touch of larger round glitter. It has a bit of a pearlescent quality in the finish, but it's super subtle.

The texture was a bit watery and extremely sheer on the first coat, but covered nicely on the second. At three it became almost opaque, but it had just the slightest visible nail line in bright light, not enough for a fourth coat though.

This picture was just taken at my office, hence the Sharpie as opposed to a polish bottle. Three coats, topped with Seche Vite. It was a bit less shiny on its own so a topcoat is recommended if you want that glassy finish. The glitter itself lays very flat and was completely covered with one coat of Seche Vite - a thinner top coat would probably get the same result.



I kind of wish there was a bit more of the larger glitter, just enough to see a few more pieces on each nail like I have here on my little finger, but that's about all the negative I can say about this beautiful polish.

I love how delicate and lovely this is, but still with a glitter kick to it so it's not your bog-standard pinky nude polish. I couldn't capture this on film no matter how hard I tried, but I did notice it looks pinker if I tipped my nails almost flat in one direction, and more nude in the opposite direction, almost a duochrome effect, but barely there.