Blaze: Lemon Zest to Mango Chile

Helloooooo world!! We've survived our exams! Yay!

If you have been following us on twitter, you would have already known about some nail mails that I've received over the past few weeks. I simply can't wait to try them on! Unfortunately, the weather in Singapore is not exactly cooperating now. It has been raining cats and dogs for the whole day almost everyday! Sigh.

Anyway, on to today's polish! We've received this polish for quite some time now and I've just managed to snap a few pictures before the sun starting playing hide and seek with me.

And because today's polish is so fun, both Jayo and I shall be doing a review each. So sorry for the picture spam! =D

If you've not heard of it already, Blaze is a relatively new line of 3-free polish that changes color upon exposure to UV rays / sunlight. Yes, you heard it right. Another color-changing polish! I've always had a soft spot for these polishes - whether duochrome or otherwise. Two completely different colors on a nail! How cool is that? Ok. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that UV rays are great. But since we can't really escape from it, why not make full use of it right? ;p
And this one seems perfect for the sunny island of Singapore! Apparently, it works in all seasons as long as there are UV rays but I can't really vouch for that.

So here's Lemon Zest in the shade...

Sorry if the pic looks a little dull. I had to close the windows because, as will be evident in the next few photos, some UV rays were coming into my room. ><

A few seconds after opening the window...

See how the color darkens even without direct sunlight?

And Mango Chile pops out under direct sunlight!

Here you can see the color fading back to yellow again.

Here's a comparison:

Lemon Zest is a pearly yellow with slight orange undertone while Mango Chile is a dark orange closer to the browns. I was quite surprised by Lemon Zest because I must admit I've not really seen many pearly yellows. Being a fan of darker colors, I was initially a little doubtful about wearing overly bright colors but I was quite happy that both colors are bright without being over the top (read: neon, fluorescent, etc).

The color change was really fast - it took only about a few seconds! The polish is also very sensitive. Although I am not too sure whether it really works in all seasons, you definitely don't need strong direct sunlight so don't worry too much about getting an unwanted tan just to enjoy the Mango Chile.

The formula is quite good but the polish is very sheer. It took me about 4 thin coats to reach opacity. Other than that, it was a smooth application. The brush was also easy to control. Although the swatches are done without a top coat, it is definitely top-coat safe unless you are using some UV-blocking ones.

So what do you think? Cool eh? :D
Overall, I think this color will be perfect for a fun day at the beach. Definitely an eye-catcher! Just imagine how impressed your friends would be after seeing the color change as you move from the sun to the shade! One bonus? It functions as a UV indicator so you know when to slap on some sunblock! ;p

xoxo,
mich

------
Review by Jayo

The sun finally stopped playing hide-and-seek with me, over at the central area of supposedly sunny Singapore! So I finally got to swatch this happy colour! Most of what I wanted to say has already been said above, and I cannot put it in any better way, so I shall just let pictures (and the captions under each picture) do the talking! =) Enjoy!

Blaze! Can you see the orange tinge on top and the (original) yellow colour at the bottom?

Just like what the label says: "Changes color in the sun!" And yes, it really does change in seconds!

This is what it looks like with just one layer.

This is two layers of Blaze!

Preliminary exposure to the sun through the window. Shall go to the pool..

At the pool! There was an almost immediate change from cheerful yellow to ultra-happy orange!!

Some parts of the nails are not as directly exposed to the sunlight as others as you move around under the sun. You can see that those parts would be more yellow, and the parts directly exposed to sunlight are very orange. Doesn't everyone love the colour of a beautiful sunset? Here are the shades of orange and yellow right at your fingertips (quite literally!)!!

Another shot to capture the shimmer..

Pretty right?!

It looks as if my nails are smiling at me =))

Close-ups! Here's a picture which I managed to capture the coral orangey-pink side of the polish. And I so do love coral colours!!

Final close-up shot! This colour is great for a sunny day outdoors ;)

And finally, here's a video to show the very quick transition, from all angles! Pardon the background laughter, which came from the happy people at the pool.. Or maybe it does add to the bright and cheery nature of this polish! =DD

xoxo,
Jayo


Good news for Singaporeans (finally, something available in Singapore!), Blaze is available at Mei Mei's Signatures for $15.90 each. Fret not, she ships international too.
If I am not wrong, she's also having a year end sales with 15% off for selected items!


*product was sent for review*