Tag Archives: photochromic

Swatch Sunday: Del Sol’s Spike

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Hello, reader! Do you guys like solar polishes? I’m a ’90s kid, and I’m an easy sell for anything that changes color. I bought a few Del Sol polishes when I was on vacation a few years ago because I could not resist. I blame mood rings. This is Spike; I’m wearing three coats of Spike with one coat of Seche Vive top coat.

Spike is a frosty mint green polish that turns a cool mauve when exposed to direct sunlight. Application was good; the product consistency was on the thin side, but was still easy to apply. The first coat was sheer and I needed all three to achieve full opacity. Because it’s so frosty, brush-strokes are pretty apparent. It takes a while to effect the color change, probably a good five minutes or so. The polish dries with a glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

How fun is this polish! Honestly, I’d hoped the purple it changed to in the sun would have been a bit brighter; it’s a little too on the SFW side for me. The green it starts out as is very pretty; sometimes it seems more silver than green, but it’s always icy and shimmery and cool (pun?) to look at.

One thing you’ll notice is that this post has a ton of photos, and I apologize. I wanted to show the polish in both states, and to treat both states as two different polishes. They really could be; if I didn’t know it was a solar polish, I’d assume they were. The following set of photos were taken in direct sunlight.

Like I said, I wish the purple was brighter and/or darker. It’s a pretty unique shade as-is, but I just wanted more from it, especially when you see its actual color compared to the label.

One thing I wish I’d been able to capture was the polish in transition. As I mentioned, the change took some time to occur, and my camera takes such high-quality video that my computer can’t handle editing it. Also my phone camera doesn’t work. I think I got a decent shot of the bottle hovering between colors.

I don’t see Spike listed on Del Sol’s site, but other polishes are available there as well as in their stores.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Del Sol’s Pretty in Pink

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I am so excited about today’s Swatch Sunday! When I was on vacation last year, I happened upon the Del Sol store in Savannah, Georgia, and I bought a few of these fun polishes that change color in the sunlight. I’m so excited to finally feature one of them on the blog. This one is called Pretty in Pink; I’m wearing three coats of it with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Pretty in Pink is a pearly white polish with a strong pink flash. In the sun, it turns a deep rose. It’s rather sheer; you can easily still see my nail line, and you can see some brush strokes, but I really like this at three coats. Application was okay; the consistency of the lacquer was pretty nice, but the square brush cap didn’t sit well in my hand and was hard to use some of the time. Drying time was about average, and was glossy when dried. The photochromic change did take a little while to occur, but it does occur, even with a top coat.

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I love this polish! Indoors, it’s demure and soft, but in the sunlight, it’s bold and summery. Wearing this polish in the middle of January is a ton of fun. I mean, I’m already dying for summer to be here right now; thinking about how much fun this polish will be to wear by the pool or at the beach is making me even more impatient.

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Here are the sunlight photos! These were actually taken the day after the first set, because there wasn’t enough sunlight the same day to get these photos. Unfortunately, there is some tip wear because of that, and I do apologize. As I mentioned, it takes a couple of seconds for the UV light to effect the change, but it does happen. I admit I was skeptical at first when it didn’t change immediately like a thermal might, but I was surprised when it did. It’s such a subtle change that I didn’t notice it happening until it was finished.

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I have a few more Del Sol polishes, and I can’t wait to try them out! I only got four because I was “exercising restraint”, but they had a ton of different colors and glitter toppers. I really want to buy a few new bottles, because I don’t know if my summer will be complete without them.

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So, yeah. Can it be summer now?

News: Wacie Nail Co. for Depression Awareness

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This is so exciting, guys! There is now a Wacie Nail Company polish you can actually buy. Yes! Julie, the owner of Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, is holding a huge charity auction, with dozens of rare, hard to find, and one of a kind polishes up for grabs. One of these is the first-ever Wacie Nail Company polish to actually leave my house. Blue Skies Ahead is a silver linear holo with rainbow flakies that turns blue in sunlight and glows in the dark. Yeah, it does all that! I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Indoors, this polish is already really pretty. In the studio, the holo effect isn’t too obvious, but the rainbow flakies shine nicely. Then, when you go outside, this happens:

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Did you see that? I had to make a gif, just to prove that it actually happens. It’s a subtle change, but it does change. Then, when you’re in the dark, this happens:

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Crazy, right? It’s amazing! This polish glows really brightly in the dark, and glows blue rather than yellow or green. It only takes a few seconds to charge it up, and it glows for a very long time.

There is only one bottle of Blue Skies Ahead available, at it’s up for auction. All of the proceeds of this auction benefit I Need A LightHouse, an organization that raises awareness of depression and suicide prevention education. This is a cause that means a great deal to me, and I really hope you’ll help Julie and me raise lots of money for it. You can find Blue Skies Ahead and the rest of the auction here. Thank you so much.