Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Literary Lacquer: Ultimate Outlaw Collection [1]


The Ultimate Outlaw: Polish inspired by literary outlaws and rebels, created by Literary Lacquers.
In this collection, there are eight polishes and I'm sharing three of them today but will be reviewing the other five as well. I was pretty excited when I opened the package and saw that all three of my favorite colors were part of this collection, so I swatched them first!

These polishes have some really great inspirations so I've included those along with Amy's comments in the quote blocks, my comments are outside those blocks.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we— Of many far wiser than we— And neither the angels in Heaven above Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Edgar Allan Poe is the father of the modern horror genre and Annabel Lee is the last poem he completed before his death. Annabel Lee represents one of Poe’s favorite themes, the death of a young, beautiful woman. Poe’s fascination with love, death and insanity permeates all his works; his version of horror is a psychological one. His enduring popularity owes a great deal to his image as a tortured soul who married his teenaged cousin and after losing her to consumption, spent the rest of his short life drowning his sorrows in brandy and opium, before dying penniless at the age of 40.

Annabel Lee is a sparkle packed grey crelly which is sheer enough to wear over a color - imagine the possibilities!
I chose Zoya Dove, a near perfect shade match to show off the base color of Annabel Lee. I wore one coat in the photos, but if you want even more sparkle go for two! Speaking of sparkles, this has iridescent, holographic and opalescent ones!

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Annabel Lee
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Annabel Lee
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Annabel Lee

I received almost all the Vivid Lacquer stamping plates for Christmas and I was inspired by the poem to create nail art with them! I chose black and white to signify death and life and I chose the heart pattern to signify the love he describes.



It was all unknown to me then, as I sat on that white bench on the day I finished my hike. Everything except the fact that I didn't have to know. That is was enough to trust that what I'd done was true. To understand its meaning without yet being able to say precisely what it was, like all those lines from The Dream of a Common Language that had run through my nights and days. To believe that I didn't need to reach with my bare hands anymore. To know that seeing the fish beneath the surface of the water was enough. That it was everything. It was my life - like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was, to let it be

Wild is Cheryl Strayed's first-person memoir of her 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail through California and Oregon to the border of Washington State. After Cheryl’s mother died, she was on a downward spiral - heroin and one night stands which led to the destruction of her marriage. After her divorce, with very little left to lose, she decided to embark on a challenging hike despite having very little experience. She hoped to save her own life as she explored the wilderness. The book is jam packed with truth and vivid description, from the importance of the right footwear to how to accept grief without allowing it to obliterate us. This book literally made me laugh and cry, sometimes in the same paragraph.

Mysterious Irrevocable Sacred is perfection. is flawless. is best. and awesome. in a bottle. on the nail. in any light. formula. irresistible. gahhh!!
Yep - this is how my brain was thinking with the first stroke of the brush. I couldn't form sentences or complete thoughts; I was speechless. If you love this shade of polish, you neeeeeeeeeeeed to have a bottle, because its all that and a bag of chips!
LA Salzy, a nail friend of mine, had a custom created by Amy from LL and this polish is based on that custom of hers - a deep blurple holo with blue and purple glass fleck.
Please don't lick the screen...unless you really really want to! I wore two coats for opacity.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Mysterious Irrevocable Sacred
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Mysterious Irrevocable Sacred
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Mysterious Irrevocable Sacred

I remembered a couple of other polishes that Amy had made that I was gaga over like this one and they both go perfectly with M.I.S. and also go with the story. Moons meaning a new day is ahead or to reach for the stars and the blackened glitter gradient rising up the nail to signify that dark place of the past and how she rose out of it. First I layered Goodnight Moon over the entire nail and next, the free edge is covered in Camille Sepharial D'Artigo and gently brushed upward to create a slight glitter gradient.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - Mysterious Irrevocable Sacred

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-20th century America on a quest for meaning and belonging in a changing world. It is a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation that was inspired by jazz, poetry, and drug experiences. It rejected the societal norms of the time and ushered in a new concept of personal freedom and the ideals of the Beat Generation and their longing to find meaning in life.

The Mad Ones is a beautiful mint green holo and its a morpher depending on the lighting. In full sunlight it is more of a creamy mint and in warm lighting it leans lime! The photos were shot under lamps indoors and the color is close to how it looks in full sun, but not quite as pastel. Definitely one of those polishes that people want to grab your hand to study a bit closer! I used two coats and topcoat for the swatches.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - The Mad Ones
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - The Mad Ones
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - The Mad Ones

More stamping! I'm having fun learning how to use those plates and this was the first time I got all the stamps how I wanted on the first try! I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. :) I chose the fireworks stamp from plate VL015 and a golden polish because of this line: "yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." I shot both a gloss and mattified image to show more detail.
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - The Mad Ones

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquer - The Mad Ones

I hope you've had fun reading the quote snippets and learning a bit about the authors with me. I don't read books, so I found this all very interesting!
The entire Ultimate Outlaw collection launches March 26 at 10am CDT at Literary Lacquer's Etsy Shop. You can follow Literary Lacquer on Facebook too!

xoxo, Jen signature

8 comments

  1. What pretty shades and swatches! I love the nail art you did with them too.

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    1. Thank you so much Lisa! Thank you for the encouragement with nail art!

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  2. M.I.S. is crazy good. Great swatches Jen. Always a joy looking at your manis/pics ☼

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    1. Ain't it tho? And thank you for the compliments!

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  3. M.I.S - what a beauty! Probably the loveliest blue holo I've ever seen. And the sublime gray Annabel Lee - with your stamping to compliment it. Then the charming minty The Mad Ones! The stamping on it mattified - superb! (This from someone who normally doesn't care much for matte.) Fabulous posting, manis, and photos - thank you for it all!

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting! You've made my heart happy! <3

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  4. MIS is insane, isnt it? I definitely had a reaction when I applied it!

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