Daphine Polish His Dark Materials Collection

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Hey there!  Today I have an upcoming Daphine Polish collection to share with you based on the His Dark Materials trilogy of books by Phillip Pullman.  I actually read these books a few years ago (photographic proof at the end of this post) so I was excited to hear about a collection based on them.  Sadly my brain likes to forget books as soon as I finish them so I only have a vague recollection of the stories but I do remember enjoying them.  To quote Joanne's summary "they tell the coming-of-age adventures of Lyra Belacqua, an ordinary orphan from Oxford who turns out to be the most important person in not just her universe, but in all universes."

I think this is going to be the most polishes I've ever shown in one post so bear with me....

I'll start by saying all of these swatches were three thin coats without top coat.  As for formula, it wasn't problematic at all.  Even with all the shimmers in this collection, they didn't show brush strokes (with the exception of Silvertongue but even with that one, they were minimal).  I'll write my description of the colour first and Joanne's description before the macro photo.  Now let's get to the colours!  

Dust - A light yellow shimmer.  I can't quite find the words to describe this yellow.  It's not so bright as to call it sunshine yellow.  It's too light and pretty to be mustard yellow.  It's just a lovely pale yellow.  I generally don't love yellows but this was one of my favourites.  I remember loving the idea of "dust" in these books as well.  

"A light yellow-gold shimmer with a touch of scattered holographic effect.  Dust is a metaphysical particle invisible to the human eye. Many of the adult characters in His Dark Materials have spent their lives researching and chasing Dust, trying to learn more about this mysterious particle, whether it be to harness its power or destroy it."

Gyptian Longboat - A lavender purple with such a strong shimmer effect.  The tiny green flakies are most prominent but there's also a golden shimmer to this polish.

"A dusty purple with gold and green micro-flakie shimmer, like sun and moss glistening in murky waters. It is inspired by Ma Costa, the leader of a gyptian family, who was Lyra’s nurse as an infant. She and other gypitans have been  secretly watching out for Lyra on behalf of the king of the gyptians, John Faa. The gyptians are a nomadic people, living in longboats. They call the Fens of East Anglia home, but travel around Brytain through canals and rivers, making their livelihoods through trade."

Silvertongue - A metallic silver with subtle holographic sparkle.  This isn't a bright silver but isn't dark enough to be called pewter either.  This one does show some brush strokes but they weren't nearly as visible in real life.  

"This silver-blue polish with scattered holo is inspired by Lyra Belacqua, called Lyra Silvertongue by Iorek Byrnison. As The Golden Compass opens we meet Lyra, a somewhat uncouth girl raised at Jordan College in Oxford by scholars and servants, allowed to run wild in the streets and on the rooftops. She is brave and full of fight, willing to go off into the wild North to save her friend Roger from the Gobblers."

Sky Armor - This one is another favourite of mine.  Sky Armor is a shimmery pale blue with darker blue flakes.  I absolutely love this one.  It looks like winter to me but it's pretty enough that I'd wear it year long.

"A sky blue shimmering base with blue micro-flakies is inspired by Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear. First encountered in Trollesund, Lyra helps him recover his armor, which was taken from him by the people of the town. Iorek pledges himself to Lyra’s cause and becomes her champion. Lyra’s wits help Iorek defeat the usurper king Iofur Raknison and become king of the bears."

Cloud Pine - A soft brown shimmer with very visible purple and green microflakies (though Joanne describes them as glitter below).  This one appears to have brush strokes in my photos but I didn't notice them in real life at all.  

"A taupe light brown shimmer with blue, green, and purple iridescent glitters. Inspired by Serafina Pekkala, the queen of the witch clan, cloud pine is a type of magical tree used by witches to fly. Once the lover of gyptian Farder Coram, Serafina Pekkala allies her clan with the gyptians on their mission to rescue the children from Bolvangar. She rescues Lyra and Roger from the fight at Bolvangar and carries them to safety in Lee Scoresby’s balloon."

Texas Aeronaut - This one is my absolute fave.  Joanne describes it as a red-leaning orange but I would call it an orange-leaning red (semantics, haha!).  The golden shimmer in this one is mind-blowing.  Again, any brush strokes weren't visible in real life (damn my macro lens for showing everything too clearly).  

"A red-leaning orange with strong gold micro-flakie shimmer, inspired by Lee Scoresby. A New Dane from the country of Texas, Lee Scoresby is an aeronaut hired by the gyptians in Trollesund on their expedition to the North to rescue the children kidnapped by the Gobblers. He becomes fiercely loyal to Lyra, continuing in her cause even after they are separated on Svalbard."

Knife Bearer - I would describe this as a black jelly with scattered holographic particles with a strong red sheen to it.  Joanne describes it as a blackened olive but the olive tones didn't really translate onto my nails.  But look at that red shimmer.  It's strong enough that it gave this polish a dark eggplant purple look when I wore it. 

"A blackened olive green jelly with strong red shimmer and a touch of scattered holographic effect inspired by Will Parry. He is first introduced in the second book of the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, a quiet and serious twelve year old boy who has learned over the years how to make himself unnoticeable in order to take care of his mentally ill mother. He discovers a window into another world, Cittàgazze’s world, and there meets Lyra and  becomes the bearer of the subtle knife."

Cittàgazze - This is the glitter topper of this collection.  It is chock full of glitter off all different shapes and sizes - circles (I still adore circle glitter), squares, hexes, micro glitter...everything!  And almost all colours too!  This is one coat over Dust, applied with no dabbing whatsoever.  

"Loosely translated from Italian, Cittàgazze means “City of the Magpies.” This glitter topper in a clear base is inspired by the city of Cittàgazze in The Subtle Knife and the colors of the Italian Mediterranean. With more than 15 different colors, it sparkles enough to attract any glitter-loving magpie!"

Here's a macro bottle shot so you can really see everything that's going on in there.

Overall, I think this collection definitely does the books justice.  These aren't colours that I would expect to be released in the summer months but I will definitely be grabbing these when I am tired of getting blinded by neons or need something a little more subtle and grown up.  

If you're interested in these, they will be released on Friday, June 6th, 2014 from Daphine Polish's Etsy shop.  

You can follow Daphine Polish through her various social media sites listed below to check out these and previous collections.  

Etsy Shop: www.daphinepolish.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/daphinepolish

Instagram: www.instagram.com/daphinepolish

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/daphinepolish

Twitter: www.twitter.com/daphinepolish

And finally, as promised, here's a picture of me reading The Golden Compass circa 2009.  I'm not sure how this photo got snapped of me without me noticing.  This is where you will usually find me at our cabin...sitting by the fire pit (usually without actual fire) with a book (I'm a nerd).  You can see I really dress up at the lake.  I like to think of my lake look as "homeless chic", haha!    

'Til next time...