Belle Glamour - Lagoon swatch

I need to get this off my chest. I love thermal polishes. I can stare at them for hours, and I can always provide visible evidence that my hands are icy cold, or more rarely warm. Plus, I have very short nail beds and a lot of free hanging nail, which means I tend to get the French tip look most of the time. Finally, I am in love with the science of thermal polishes - you can read here how Lab Muffin explains how they work.

This week I wore a thermal from a UK indie brand, Belle Glamour. It's a gorgeous blue shimmer that shifts from a light blue to a deeper sky blue.

Belle Glamour Lagoon - warm and cold state

Both colours are really pretty, and as I love blue, it's right up my alley. Unfortunately, despite my normally thermal-friendly nails, I was not able to catch the colour transition - it seems like it's taking place at a temperature lower than my free hanging nail, and that it's a gradual rather than on/off process.

Belle Glamour Lagoon - three coats, warm state

As you can see, in the warm state the polish looks somewhat patchy - and that's with the three generous coats I applied. It feels like the thermal pigment spheres are quite big in this polish, and don't achieve good opacity easily. Next time I might use undies that are similar to the warm state shade.

Belle Glamour Lagoon - three coats, warm state

As you can see, Lagoon is very sparkly - it shimmers with a few lovely shades of blue, and the layering gives it amazing depth.

Belle Glamour Lagoon - three coats, cool state

The cold colour for Lagoon is a deep sky/sea blue - very intense and saturated. The image was taken after dunking my hand in cold water, so there are still some droplets here and there! I was also able to reach this state when going out for a walk in the cold, or even spending a lot of time at my desk next to large window (cold!), so you won't need to use iced water for the effect.

Belle Glamour Lagoon - three coats, cool state

As you can see, the cold state looks less patchy that the warm - and is also very sparkly. I really loved the colour, and I found myself being oddly happy when my fingers were cold :D

The application for this polish was weird, but manageable. It's very thick, and you can feel that it's packed with shimmer and pigment particles. The first coat is a bit tricky, but the next ones stick very well to the gritty finish the first one leaves. It doesn't flood the cuticles, and it dries pretty fast. The finish on Lagoon alone is very gritty, so a generous layer of top coat is needed to bring out the full sparkle. The gritty texture makes itself known during removal - use the foil method if you can.

Overall, it's a really beautiful polish, sparkly and shifting between two gorgeous blue shades. While it's not as 'shifty' as my other thermals, I love it nonetheless.