Review: Above the Curve Chronicles of Narnia-Inspired Collection

Good evening, dear readers!  I have a confession to make: I have never seen the Chronicles of Narnia movies!  I have read the books that inspired them, but I still have yet to see the films.  I'm a firm believer that books are always better than the movie,  but Ben Barnes, the actor that plays Prince Caspian, is rather cute so I might have to make an exception.  And to my husband who NEVER reads my blog posts, if this is the one you decide that you have to read: I love you, and you will always be the man of my dreams!  <3

I was really excited to be selected to review these polishes by Above the Curve Nail Polish (ATC), an indie nail polish brand created and operated by a fun husband and wife duo.  They've always been very pleasant to interact with, but I am even more thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them because of their mission to rise awareness for Shriners Hospitals for Children and scoliosis.  For every bottle you purchase, $1 is donated to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.  It is a wonderful cause, and their mission speaks volumes about this team as people.  I am including a link below to the Shriners Hospitals, so please check it out when you have a moment.   Now, let's go check out some polish!

Aslan (sun and shade)

Aslan is a lovely golden holographic polish inspired by The Great Lion, and I used two coats of colour without any top coat for these photos.  While it looks beautiful, I have to admit Aslan gave me some trouble.  The first issue I had was even though the formula didn't seem too thick at all in the bottle or on the brush, it thickened up and started drying a little too quickly on me.  I had some problems where part of the polish was dry before I could finish with a single coat on a nail, and it started dragging.  Also, if you look closely at my middle nail or near the cuticle of my ring finger, you can see dark golden yellow pieces of "sand" on them.  I suspect that these grains are actually little bits of pigment that did not fully suspend in the polish.  They aren't quite so noticeable when you look at my nails outdoors in full sunlight, but it's noticeable when indoors or in the shade.  These photos were taken the second time I swatched this polish.  The first time around, I had the dragging issue and noticed the particles.  At first I thought I had random glitters in the bottle so I smudged the nails even more when I tried to remove them, but these particles were present both times I swatched from my bottle.

Caspian

Caspian is a gorgeous dark green polish with silver hex glitters, and it was inspired by Prince Caspian's armour.  I was in love with this colour before it even arrived, and ATC definitely nailed it on the head with their inspiration!  I used two coats of polish for this photo.  Unfortunately, Caspian also applied strangely on me.  I had a similar problem with it seemingly drying too quickly on me and dragging, and it did not apply evenly.  In a single brush stroke, some colour was deposited thinner in some areas than others in spite of even pressure of the brush on the nail.  The second coat of colour filled in the areas that were thin and needed more colour, but overall the polish finish (not the wet polish itself) seemed lumpy and off somehow.  I have to admit I was very disappointed with it as I was a little crazy about the colour when I first saw it.

Jadis

Jadis was inspired by The White Witch, and wow, is she stunning!  Jadis is a sheer polish, so it needs to be painted over something if you don't want any visible nail line.  I used two coats of Zoya Kristen as the base and then used 1+ coats of Jadis.  There was no digging necessary to retrieve any of the glitters, but occasionally the brush would come out of the bottle with more glitters than others.  The blue moon-shaped holographic glitters are a little sparse, but I didn't need to dig or hunt for the one on my middle finger, and it placed easily enough on the nail.  I did add one coat of top coat over this polish combination, and it smoothed it out nicely.

Final Thoughts

I had some issues with two of the three polishes from this collection, and to be honest, I'm not really sure what happened with them.  I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that I live in Arizona and a warmer climate, or if they just don't play nicely with me because I kick out a lot of heat.  I am seriously a walking furnace, so I think that may be part of the problem.  Whatever the case, I am happy to report that the Above the Curve team have been contacted, and not only are they aware of the problems I am having, they are going to be investigating them further.  I know that this set was sent out to other bloggers for review and I am the only one reporting any issues, so I'm inclined to believe the issue has something to do with me.  Yay, me?  I truly hope they're able to figure out what is going on as these polishes are stunning!      

Links

Big cartel shop

Etsy shop
Facebook page
Shriners Hospitals for Children

Until next time, dear readers, stay good!  Santa is watching you.  ;)

XOXO, Jen