Hello hello hellooooo!!
I'm excited for this post. Can you tell?!?!? This post is a year overdue but it's here nonetheless. It may get a bit wordy but it's just me fawning all over this polish.
Today I'm reviewing a precious baby. She wasn't on the lemming list but just had to be mine. She was first released a year ago and first pictures released were nothing short of magic in a bottle and I was ready to wage all out war if necessary to get one of my own.
CIRQUE COLORS HALCYON (if I could make this flash the colour of the polish I would)!!
This polish has got to be the Goddess of the Cirque line of colours.
Cirque Colors was created by Annie Pham and is a New York based
beauty brand which specializes in creating
3-free polish. The polishes are all
mixed by hand in small batches and also poured by hand. This means that
there may be slight variations in each batch but still the same amazing
polish and colours. So that's a little history on the brand. Back to the
business at hand.
Lemme just borrow Cirque's description here. This polish is
"a highly reflective rose gold lacquer made with pure silver-coated micro-flakes". The reflectiveness is no joke.
My description: this is a special occasion, pick me up when you feeling down, run off the road cuz yuh starin at yuh nails kinda colour. This is ALL you need in life!!!
This is a true rose gold and I loved it off the bat unlike Models Own
Chrome Rose
(reviewed here) which I was on the fence about for a bit.
Two different finishes/formulas but both perfect for special occasions
or if you just want a fancy nail.
I used two coats to achieve opacity but you could use one if you wanted to and with the amount of refection going on no one would notice any naked patches. The formula was perfection like all Cirque colours...went on smooth like buttah. The consistency of the polish was also on point as usual. The flakes aren't a pain, they lie flat on the nail and don't hang off the nail edge. This thing is jam packed with flakes which makes it tremendously difficult to tell if it's a clear based packed with rose gold goodness or a coloured base with the flakes. Whatever it is, know that it works and you need it in your life!!!
Clean-up on this polish was easy-peasy. I thought it would've been a pain given the finish but I was sooooo wrong. If you just soak a cotton pad in acetone and place in on the nail for a minute or so, with one swipe everything is gone. Now that's my method 'cuz I don't do the rubbing thing. I think if you rub though the flakes may get everywhere.
Halcyon was first released as a limited edition polish and Annie's bringing it back this year as part of the Holiday 2016 collection. The collection will be released on November 16th but there's a giveaway going on right now and the entire Holiday 2016 collection is up for grabs. After that I'm not sure how much longer it will be
available so head on over to Cirque and see if you can get your hands on
a bottle.
All in all this polish is gorgeous no matter what kind of light you're in, daylight, night light, flash light, twilight, it is just gorgeous. Annie girl you outdid yourself with this one!!
P.S. I don't know Annie Pham (but credit should be given where it's due) and this was purchased by me.
I've personally been making a conscious effort to purchase polishes which are 3-free, 5-free, vegan and haven't been tested on animals where ever possible. This is also another plus of purchasing from indie brands. Most of their polishes are made in someone's house or a small scale operation and the focus is purely on creating a great products people will love but are better than the mainstream products and the other reality is that several of the chemicals larger companies use may not readily be available to smaller producers.
So that's it for my rave on Halcyon. Make sure you get it on November 16th or a back-up if you've got it already. It's 13USD and it's the best 13USD you'll ever spend.
Until next time!
