Hi Goddesses
Today I have swatches for you from the stunning new Portlandia Collection by one of my fave indie sellers, Black Cat Lacquer. So lovely are they, that I even like the green! Uh huh.
Now, being British, I have absolutely no idea what Portlandia is, but luckily Accio Lacquer does. Also, her swatches are amazeballs, so check her post HERE.
Why would I do that? Why would I start a post telling you to go elsewhere? Well ... these 5 polishes take you through a little journey, and the journey is called Crumpet Gets Better With Her New Lighting Set Up. I am slightly disappointed with 2 of the sets of photos, and almost reswatched them, but I thought the more interesting post might be to show you how nobody gets perfect photos *just like that*, whilst also giving you access to (somebody else's) perfect photos. Ready ?
So let's start with the green, a green so pretty even I like it. I also love the name - We Can Pickle That! Lol. I also love pickles, or as we call them in the UK, gherkins.
WCPT is a lovely soft mint jelly that also leans aqua. I layered mine over CG Re-Fresh Mint, but I've also seen it layered beautifully over CG For Audrey, or built to opacity on its own.
I love the teeny black squares (obviously) but it's the sudden splash of pink glitter that makes my heart go boom-buddy-boom. Super fresh, super summery.
Then we have The Dream of the 90s Is Alive, an off-white jelly with similar glitter to WCPT. I layered mine over KIKO 329 Pale Grey, but again, you can layer this one to reach a more jellylike opacity.
Again, this is a predominantly black glitter, but comes to life with all the rainbow hexes scattered throughout.
All of these polishes also have a hefty dose of shimmer added to them, and you can see it sitting sweetly on top of this one like magical icing sugar.
So, those 2 are the ones where I am not totally happy with the photos. They were taken a few days into my new lighting set-up, and you can tell the light isn't directed perfectly, and some of the shots are not as sharp as I would like them. The next set of photos is the middle photo session, and now we're starting to get there.
Put A Bird On It is a sweet, sweet blue, perfect for spring. This is SO light, so airy, so gorgeous - it's pure dreaminess.
Again this is jellyish. I chose to wear it on its own on the thumb (4 coats) and over Barry M Blue Moon on the 4 fingers. This is fairylike confection, and the pastel glitters are just divine.
My only disappointment with this polish is that I couldn't get more glitters out. This package had the longest EVER transatlantic crossing, and as a result some of the glitters stuck to the inside of my bottle, and I just can't shake, rattle or roll them free. Other swatches show this more as somewhere between my 2 versions. Either way, it's stunning.
And then we get to the 2 polishes where the photos, finally, are on another level - they're crisp, they're well lit and they're dramatic (well, I think so!).
Women & Women First is a cute baby pink polish which I layered over OPI Sparrow Me The Drama. Basically, it's Sticks and Stones in a pink jelly base.
The clash of the baby pink and the biker black is just sooooo cute - I love it, and usually this polish would be far too cute for me to wear!
You can also see the shimmer really strongly in this one. Really pretty.
And finally, by favourite of them all - Sanitation Twins. Although I love *all the polishes* that Sabrina makes, I think her real forte is glitter toppers rather than glitter soups, and ST is just - gah! brilliant!
I layered ST over OPI Planks A Lot to keep the pastel feel of the collection. I really love the glitter mix in this one, especially the red squares.
You can also see in this set of pics that the old hand poses have given way to a new set of hand poses - purely because the lighting set up didn't serve the old ones :(
So, all in all, I really do love these. They are perfect for Spring, yet with a dark side. I love the congruence of the collection, that they mostly share a black based glitter mix, and I love that that mix contains teeny tiny squares!
BCL polishes are always a pleasure to wear. They apply easily, and I usually wear 1 and a bit coats, with the "bit" coming from a few strategic dabs where I want to place a bit more glitter.
My favourite is probably Sanitation Twins, but you've got to hand it to the person who can make a green I want to keep lol.
I have a few more BCL posts coming up - I just can't enough of Sabrina's polishes. You can visit her Etsy store here, and her Facebook page here.
These polishes were sent to me for an honest review.
Enjoy - I hope you love them as much as I do!
xx