Here is a new Etsy polish shop that has a special niche. Otaku Polish. Her polishes are inspired by her favorite anime characters. This first collection is inspired by Asuka Langley Soryu (Shikinami) from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Pictured above is a project that works to incorporate anime and the Otaku Polish inspired by that character. My friend Mystique (yep that her real name) helped me out with the drawing and painting of Asuka, because she happens to have just the talent I was looking for. Then we added the touch of Asuka holding the bottle of polish. The actual Otaku Polish is utilized to "fill the bottles" Mystique used pencil to sketch out the character and then mixed acrylic paints until she had just the right colors. Outlines were done with permanent marker.
Now on to the swatches:
"The Fiery Redhead - The first in the Asuka line from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, embodying short-tempered fiery-redhead Asuka Langely Soryu (Shikinami) herself. The Fiery Redhead has a red and copper microglitter base with beautiful medium red and copper hex glitter throughout, accented with medium cornflower blue hex glitter, and finished with great gold and pale blue flakies."
My thoughts:
Pictured is 2 coats layered over Zoya Dea, the glitter is very dense and covers easily enough. I like the mix of red and copper micro glitter. The extra dash of blue is nice, but as you can see it's very subtle. I don't know where the "gold and pale blue flakies are," what I see is large, pale gold, irregular, shredded glitter pieces. Those were tricker to "fish" out of the bottle and required some placement if you wanted it to show up on the nail.
Next up is:
"The Yellow Dress - The second in the Asuka line from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, embodying the famous yellow dress Asuka so loves. The Yellow Dress has a pale chamois yellow microglitter base, with sheer shimmery frosty medium white hex glitter throughout. The polish is accented with lovely cornflower blue and soft carnation pink medium hex glitter, and iridescent gold and pale blue flakies. To finish it off, an explosion of gorgeous big holographic gold hex and square glitter, for that extra wow factor." 
My thoughts:
This is my favorite of the bunch! It's just so dainty and pretty. Here is 2 coats layered over China Glaze Second-hand Silk. It's got a soft gold microglitter with pops of bright teal and purple. I do see some larger sheer white hex pieces, but they tend to blend into your base polish color. I don't see any flakies here. A few small shredded pieces maybe. I really like the end effect. It made me think of an antique Disney Princess Jasmine. :)
Next up:
"Big Red Doll - The third in the Asuka line from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, embodying the slightly malicious, strikingly red Evangelion that Asuka pilots, attempts to dominate, and eventually reconciles with. Big Red Doll has a bright red microglitter base, with red medium hex glitter throughout. The polish is accented with a heavy dose of striking black and white matte diamond glitter, and finished off with a sprinkling of green medium hex glitter."
My thoughts:
Here I layered 2 coats over China Glaze Sunset Sail. I don't think my base polish choice is helping this one much, I really don't care for the way it looks. I wish I had paired it over a deeper orange or perhaps a red. But this at least shows off the glitter composition. I feel like her description is spot on, and the diamond glitters really add an interesting touch. The OCD side of me wants to perfectly line them up and not have them so randomly placed on the nail. :(
Next up is:
"Basic Thermodynamics - The fourth in the Asuka line from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, embodying Asuka's swimsuit featured in the infamous pool scene. Shinji needed some help with his physics, and she was only happy to oblige... Basic Thermodynamics has a medium red hex glitter mixed in with big white hex glitter, producing an awesome almost dot-like effect. This polish would be great on it's own or as a top coat - the possibilities are endless!"
My thoughts:
This is 2 coats layered over Sinful Colors Rain Storm. I really like the simple combination of medium red glitter and large white hexes. This is my second favorite of the entire collection. The glitter is a bit finicky in that you have to "tell" it where you want it to go, it doesn't flow evenly. But that always seems to be a problem with glitter tocoats. Nothing that a little patience can't solve.
Otaku Polish is for sale on Etsy for $5 per mini bottle, or $18 for the set of all 4. All of her nail polish is cruelty-free, 3-free, and handmade with love. Each mini bottles holds 7ml of nail polish. Each comes wrapped and gift-ready in the collection box. (See the photos on her Etsy page, the box adds a special touch.)
Thank you to Ilze for providing these polishes for review.
