*Disclosure: PR samples- I received these polishes free of charge in exchange for photography.*

Release: 7 January 2020

A duo available only during January 2020 inspired by underwater life.

Neon Bubbles

This polish was so difficult to photograph. Colors appeared so radically different between my editing screen and my phone that I quit in frustration the first time I tried swatching this polish. I don’t know if this polish is appearing properly on your screen, and this uncertainty is almost driving me crazy.

The base of this polish is a blue-leaning blurple.

It is definitely blue-purple, but it also definitely leans blue.

It looks like my swatches lean very purple compared to other swatches, but I want to say that the base is definitely NOT plain blue.

Regardless of this ridiculous-to-photograph base color, it is definitely this glitter mix that is the highlight of this polish. For this kind of polish, I always shake it up a bit before use. I did not have to do significant fishing for glitter. The polish will look alarmingly sheer on the first coat, but be patient– use thin (and as even as you can) coats, and you will be left with a perfectly squishy appearance that also masks your nail line after three coats. I added two coats of top coat for a smooth finish. Underwater perfection.

Lionfish

I think Neon Bubbles sensed my photographic frustration… and whispered it to Lionfish. Not only did the base color of this polish refuse to behave for the camera, the glitter color also decided to go rogue. I tried to tame them with post-processing, but again they appeared so radically different on my different screens. It was also while editing these photos that I discovered the “Enhanced Color” option on my phone. So now the photos look different not only on my editing monitor vs. my cell phone, but also on the two possible display modes of my cell phone! You cannot imagine my despair.

So the base color here is a magenta. It is saturated, but it is NOT neon. If it appears neon-ish, that is wrong. It almost has a subdued quality in real life that is a very welcome pairing with the normally-vivacious magenta shade.

And those iridescent glitters. They are BLUE. On my cell phone they are appearing horrific shades of pink/purple that almost match the base color. This is WRONG. The glitters are most certainly a distinct iridescent blue that strikingly stands out from the base magenta.

Thankfully the formula was perfect. From the bottle, you might assume this is a mandatory three-coater. And it could be, if you do thin coats and are a glitter fiend. But you could absolutely get away with two coats and go on enjoying this MAGENTA polish with BLUE iridescent glitter.

I had a good long nap after photographing these two. Thankfully now we can just enjoy these polishes for the wild glitter extravaganzas they are. Neon Bubbles is so much fun and embodies the name perfectly, and Lionfish is a fantastically-opaque iridescent glitter dream.

Available at Femme Fatale’s site: https://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/