Hits Speciallita Hula

This week I am wearing Hits Speciallita Hula, a Brazilian polish that I bought through the U.S. Stockist, llarowe.com.  I bought it on sale for $5, and then the price went even lower, to $4, and now they are sold out on llarowe.com, but ninjapolish.com has them for $6.50.

Hula is a very vivid red-orange polish with golden-orange flakies.  It reminded me of mercurochrome in the bottle, but once I applied it, it reminded me of my all-time favorite polish from something like 25 years ago:  Revlon Dragon Lady Red.  The Revlon was a creme, though, with no flakies.  Still, it's the closest I've come to Dragon Lady Red ever.  I wish I could find an old bottle of Dragon Lady Red.  I wish Revlon had not discontinued it or that they would bring it back, but for now I'm feeling a strong urge to buy a back-up bottle of Hula because it makes me so happy to look at it.  I tell myself that I don't finish bottles of polish anymore unless they're top coat or base coat, and I tell myself that there are at least six more manicures in the little bottle of Hula.  But, I may just succumb to the urge and buy a back-up bottle at some point anyway.

In the first pictures below, I have a coat of Sally Hansen Age Correct Growth (discontinued), three coats of Hula, and three coats of Seche Vite.  I took those pictures yesterday, on the third day of having the manicure.  In today's picture with the bottle (fourth day of the manicure), I have an additional coat of Seche Vite and a coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat on top of that.  I add top coat every day to my manicure.  I use a little extra Seche Vite when I use flakie polishes because I want a smooth texture.  Hula was smooth and shiny without top coat, though.  It was relatively easy to apply, and I like the long, thin brush.  There was no dragging, no bald spots, and no flooding.  However, cleanup was not easy.  Trying to clean up this polish with a brush and acetone is like trying to clean up water paints with a brush and water.  The polish just dilutes and goes everywhere.  There was no staining, though.  Just tricky cleanup.  The old cotton and orange stick are better removal tools here than the brush.  There were some flakies on my skin here and there after cleanup, but they went away after a day or so.  The polish dried pretty quickly.  The wear is O.K.  It's a thin paint, but it hasn't chipped.  I did have significant shrinkage on the first day, though, and some tip wear, too.  Today (fourth day), I patched up the tips with a little polish and added more top coat.  There is still visible nail line in some lighting.  I wonder what the polish would look like with a creme underneath in a similar color.  Dragon Lady Red would have been perfect.  ;-)  The flakies here are sandwiched nicely and add depth and interest to the manicure.

Sunlight, Day Three.  Significant tip wear and shrinkage on tips.  

Sunlight, Day Three.  Love the orange flash in the sun!

Indirect sunlight.  Day Three.

Sunlight.  Day Three.  You can see the orange flash beginning on the left edge of the nails.

Sunlight.  Day Three.  You can see the flakies that create the orange flash.

Sunlight.  Day Three.  Love that golden orange flash.

Sunlight.  Day Three.

Office Lighting.  Day Three.

Office Lighting.  Day Three.

Office, with flash.  Day Three.

Yesterday, late afternoon sun.  Day Three.  You can see how in direct sunlight you get the orange flash and it's redder in indirect sunlight.

Yesterday, late afternoon sun.

Yesterday, late afternoon sun.

Yesterday, late afternoon sun.

Today, indoor lighting.  Day Four.  I patched up the worn and shrunken tips.

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