I follow a number of nail bloggers, and a few weeks ago they were all giving us sneak peeks of the new nail polishes from indie brands that would be available online during the March 2020 Polish Pick Up. I found a gorgeous red jelly with lots of glitters and flakies that I intended to buy as a treat for being at home all the time.
Somehow when I went to the PPU website, I decided that I haven’t been wearing red polishes much and that glitter can be a pain to take off my nails. Instead, I allowed myself to be taken in by yet another pink-mauve neutral. Since I already own about a bazillion polishes in variations of that shade, there had to be a good reason for why I would buy another one. Well, the one that caught my eye was advertised as having gold glitter in the formula. It looked really pretty on the nails of the blogger who was modeling it. (It’s no longer on the website, so I can’t show you the photo that drew me in.)
So I bought Scofflaw Nail Varnish in the shade Leda and the Swan. To be honest, the fact that the shade was called Leda and the Swan was another reason that I was swayed to buy it. For years, in my New York apartment I had a framed print of a watercolor version of the myth of Leda who was seduced (a nice way to say it) by Zeus/Jupiter who had transformed himself into the body of a beautiful and seemingly harmless swan. I can’t find my painting now. But in looking for it unsuccessfully online (there are about a billion versions of Leda and the Swan), I found two that caught my interest. When you have extra time on your hands, it’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole on the internet.
There was a black and white photograph of a beautiful Leda and the Swan by Tony Robert-Fleury in watercolor and graphite. I actually like the black and white photo better than the watercolor, so that’s what I’m showing you above. While investigating it, I came upon a website that claimed to be auctioning a very beat up oil on board version that I think may have been a fake.
Next, I came upon another version of Leda and the Swan in pastels by Hungarian artist Hugo Poll.
Since neither one was dated, I am guessing that Poll did a copy of the Robert-Fleury version since Poll lived later and the poses of the two figures are exactly the same, though the style (and the background) is different. I prefer the more elegant Robert-Fleury whose Leda appears to be made of alabaster that seemed to be strongly influenced by Ingres nudes to the clunkier, more impressionistic Poll pastel.
Anyway, sorry for the art history diversion. That was one of the things I studied as an undergraduate, and I probably should have gone to graduate school in art history instead of psychology, but it’s too late now.
Back to the nail polish. When you look at the bottle in good light, you can definitely see the streaks of gold suspended in the mauve polish.
Sadly, on my nails, you can’t see gold or those deep red flakes at all. You just see some dark spots of no particular color.
Unless I am in super strong light, the polish on my nails looks pretty much just like all my other pink-mauve cream polishes. So disappointing because the mauve-gold combo would have been lovely if it had stood out more.
This was the first time I have ever bought a polish from the indie brand, Scofflaw. I loved the wide brush that made application very easy. (Although the brush is out of focus, you don’t see any gold flakes on the brush, do you?)
The formula looked awfully thin and streaky after the first coat. However, with two coats, it covered completely. The polish dried very quickly.
I applied Leda and the Swan over Morgan Taylor REACT Base Coat and finished it off with a new bottle of Glisten & Glow Top Coat that I always wanted to try and I also purchased during the Polish Pick Up. The top coat went on easily and dried in the blink of an eye!
I had been wearing Leda and the Swan for 6 days before I got any chips at all – which was pretty amazing since I worked in my garden a little and I have been washing my hands a lot! On day 6, I got only 2 small chips that are not noticeable and strangely the polish on my left hand pinkie peeled off all in one piece. No tip wear which amazed me. I am not going to complain about getting 5+ days of perfect wear. I don’t know if it was the Scofflaw polish or the Glisten & Glow Top coat or the combination of the two that lasted so well, but I’ll take it.
If you’re in the market for a new super fast drying topcoat, I definitely recommend Glisten & Glow Top Coat. Plus it costs only $6.99.
Perhaps in the future I will try another Scofflaw polish because I love the wide brush and the formula seems promising. But I will definitely either stick with a plain cream or jelly or choose a glitter polish that appears to have a greater contrast with the base shade.
Did you get anything during PPU? Have you ever used Scofflaw polish? Do you like the Glisten & Glow Top Coat?
Thank you for the art history diversion! I love that it is called Leda and the Swan! It is a very pretty polish!
Lola Seicento recently posted…SPACE NK 20% OFF FLASH SALE
Thank you, Helen! I think you and Jeff were the only ones who appreciated my art history “lecture”, lol. Leda and the Swan is a lovely cream background shade, but the gold flecks are hidden beneath the polish. Ugh
You have to be careful with suspension polishes because sometimes what is suspended doesn’t always get caught in the formula on the brush. It looks gorgeous in the bottle and there are ways to apply it for it to look beautiful on the nails (one of those triangle makeup sponges) but someone using just the included brush isn’t going to get that look most of the time. I personally find it annoying when this happens which is why I usually try to stick to just cremes or brands that I know, know how to do suspensions (i.e. Night Owl Lacquer).
ALL that being said, I do think this is a gorgeous color and for someone who doesn’t have a lot of this shade it would be a good addition.
Cassie Tucker recently posted…DIY Home Manicure
Thank you, Cassie, for this information. When I removed the Scofflaw polish, the gold flecks were there underneath the cream polish. Hard to remove them and impossible to see them. I will stick to major brands in the future
Those hues of pinks make my hands look weirdly red so I avoid them. Thanks for the swatch!
Courtney recently posted…March Low Buy Results and Personal Life Update
Sadly I’m often disappointed in the polishes I buy from PPU. The nail bloggers do such a beautiful job and they have the right lighting. The polishes often fall flat when I wear them. The good news is that every one I’ve bought (lots!) has been a quality product. Another sad is that the polish I wanted from Supermoon for last month was returned to the company so none of us got it. I hope that it’s available on her own website though.
MarciaF recently posted…No salon, no problem! Shelter in place with temporary root color sprays
Oh, good to know, Marcia. I was falling for another polish from Scofflaw that looks beautiful in the photos, but I will pass. I hope you find the Supermoon polish you’re after.