The Phalanges Files: Cult Nails Living Water

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cult Nails Living Water

Today, I've got on Living Water, from Cult Nails. And I apologize in advance for any random copper sparklies that you see...somehow, bits of my eyeshadow ended up in the pictures. I have no idea how or why. -_____-

Living Water is a blackened and murky blue jelly base with lots of small sky blue and emerald green square glitter.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I love Living Water...it's such a beautiful and unique color. It was conceived by Tierney, from Tier's Thoughts, and her inspiration was phosphorescence in the ocean, which completely comes across in this polish. The base is really dark blue, to the point where it reads black most of the time, much like ocean water at night. And the glitter isn't the kind that sparkles, rather, it glows and flashes from the depths of the base. It looks better in low light than it does in sunlight, which is a tad bit disappointing, given the fact that spring is just around the corner. But when cold and dark weather returns, I'll definitely be reaching for Living Water again. I wouldn't call it a must have color for everyone, but it's surely something special. If you like glitter and/or blue polish, and don't mind the price, I do recommend picking it up. And you also get to support another nail blogger's dream, which is nice.

Living Water also boasts an excellent formula. It was super easy to apply, with no dragging, streaking, or other such things. It also had the perfect pigmentation, only needing two coats to achieve full opacity and depth. However, it dried really matte and gritty, so it will definitely need lots of topcoat. I went with a layer of Gelous, a layer of China Glaze stinky stuff, and then a layer of Seche Vite, because the stinky stuff wasn't shiny enough. So also make sure to use a high quality topcoat, because Living Water didn't give me the polish nirvana that I was looking for until I busted out the SV.

ETA: Ooh, I forgot to mention that Living Water is a pricey polish. It's $10, and while I personally can see the price reflected in the color and the quality of the polish, that's still mad money for a bottle of nail polish. So think before you buy, kay?

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day! ^_^

Comments (22)

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Tierney · 734 weeks ago

:D
This made me smile.
My recent post Cult Nails Living Water

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

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Lena · 734 weeks ago

It dried matte? A matte with a nice formula? Lol, what a find :P

I'm sort of over the whole matte trend myself but clearly it glossed right up after you applied topcoat so it's worth a look! Pretty.
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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Lol, but the matte-ness was an accident!
I don't think anyone's supposed to wear it matte...I don't think anyone would want to, actually. It looked ooglay that way. .__.

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scandalous · 734 weeks ago

your photos of this polish are awesome! I'm loving this polish so much. From the photos it looks like everything I hoped Under the Stars would be but wasn;t

1 reply · active 734 weeks ago

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Thanks!
And LOL, I thought the same thing when I put it on!
They're really different, but I kept think that if UtS looked more like Living Water, it would have been like 10x better.
Haa, great minds. :D

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Savvy · 734 weeks ago

Thanks for this review. I considered purchasing, but I think I'm going to pass on this one. Did you buy any others from Cult Nails?

1 reply · active 734 weeks ago

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Ahhh naturally.
You know I can't control myself + I had to make the shipping worth it. :(
I got My Kind of Cool-Aid too.

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loodie 40p · 734 weeks ago

I agree with Scandalous ... some of the best pictures I have seen for this one. Too bad its pretty expensive :(
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1 reply · active 734 weeks ago

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Thanks!!
And I knowww, omg.
I forgot to mention that in the review, but yeah...$10 is steep. That's part of why I won't call it a must-have.
For me, it was worth the money, but I think for other people, it won't be, unless they have a thing for this type of polish.
Thank you for reminding me, btw...I'm gonna go back and put that in.

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Rachael · 734 weeks ago

This looks gorgeous, i'll definitely be giving it a go!
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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Ahh it freaks me out when people say that.
I worry that they will buy it, not like it, and then be mad at me. It's kind of irrational, but still, I worry.

If you do pick it up, I really do hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. :D

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varnishvixen 43p · 734 weeks ago

These are the best photos I've seen of living water, yet. I'm saving up to make a Cult Nails purchase!
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1 reply · active 734 weeks ago

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

You guys are making me blush, lol.
And I hope you love whatever you get!!
I must admit that I've been eyeing that red jelly, which would probably look fantastic on you.

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maisenzasmalto 107p · 734 weeks ago

I love it in your pictures but I'm not really fond of blues...But I love darks polishes and I hoped it was black actually. Unfortunately these polishes are not that affordable, especially if you have to make them take an airplane or two to get them... :$
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3 replies · active 734 weeks ago

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Chaosbutterfly 88p · 734 weeks ago

Yep, I know the feeling.
I'm the same way with like oranges and yellows, and lots of browns. Pretty in pictures, but not for me thanks, lol.

And of course you're right, that the price point is a problem, especially for international girls. But I think that the fledgling and smaller companies tend to charge more for their polishes, because they are trying to turn a profit and it's hard in the beginning.
Hopefully, as Cult picks up momentum, she'll have more promotions and sales to make the colors more affordable.

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maisenzasmalto · 734 weeks ago

I know that and really think that Maria did a great thing, following her dreams and starting her own company! It' s just that shipping expenses will make a single polish cost quite high so I couldn't buy them with a light heart (for the same reason so far I didn't buy any Illamasqua polishes, for instance).