Know Your Nail Polish: Cadillacquer

An obscenely long time ago (okay, earlier this year, but still several months) the wonderful Stashy asked if I could do a blog post on Cadillacquer. I think I might have gushed about Cadillacquer a bit in my Valentine’s Day polish post and, at every chance I get, I make sure people know that they are my favorite indie polish maker. But, until today, I have never dedicated a blog post to them. To be honest, they deserve more than this mere blog post. Give Cadillacquer all the awards and statues, buildings, and airports named after them. Seriously. Madeleine is one of the hardest workers in the polish world and some of the color combos that come from her brain are so unexpected but jaw-droppingly beautiful. Not to mention the formulas. I dare you to find a Cadillacquer polish that is difficult to work with. I own two full collections and so far, not a dud in any of them! Cadillacquer also somehow manages to make me like polishes and colors I would not normally go for, like taupes and corals.

I know it sounds like I’m sucking up or something, but I’m not. Words in the English language, or any language, are not sufficient to convey my love for theses beauties. To give you a little taste of what is to love about Cadillacquer, I decided to go through my two collections (Eat the Rude and Dreams and Dust) and categorize the polishes by finish. From there, I narrowed it down to a polish per collection for each finish category I came up with! Please know that these are NOT categories that Cadillacquer assigns to their polishes, they are a result of my own observations. I even put the names in apostrophes to emphasize that those are just names I made up. Please, sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea, and enjoy. Maybe not the tea because you might end up spitting it all over your computer when you see the beauty of these polishes.

All of my swatches are over Zoya Get Even base coat and topped with Seche Vite.

Cadillacquer A Dragon Is Not A Slave, 2 coats

The first category is “color-shifting” polish. Basically, a duochrome but even prettier because it has that Cadillacquer magic of a soft linear holo.

Cadillacquer A Dragon Is Not A Slave, 2 coats

This beauty, from the Dreams and Dust collection, is grey with a very strong shifty shimmer. I see it as red/purple but there could be more going on there. This fits the name SO WELL and is super unique in my collection. I love a good grey, and this one is stormy and intense while also being dusty and wearable.

Cadillacquer Kissed By Fire, 3 coats; The Beast From The Sea, 3 coats

The next category I have are the “flakie crellies.” These are, you guessed it, crelly bases packed with delicate flakies. Kissed By Fire, on my index and middle, is from the Dreams and Dust collection and features a bright, cherry red base with gold flakes. The Beast From The Sea, on my ring and pinky, is from the Eat the Rude collection and is a teal blue filled with green flakes. Both of these cover perfectly at two coats, but I think throwing on a third will give you more depth and sparkle.  I have worn The Beast From The Sea at two and three coats before and both give slightly different, but still gorgeous, looks. Other polishes I own in this category are A Rare Gift and His Broken Heart from the Eat the Rude collection.

Cadillacquer Wolf Trap, 2 coats; Valar Morghulis, 2 coats

Here we have one of my favorite finishes, the “holo flakie crellies.” These polishes are bases with a fine, linear holographic dusting and flakies for an extra dimension. Some in this finish have flakies that are a similar color to the base, others have contrasting-colored flakies. Both polishes I picked have flakies that match the base. Way to show off Cadillacquer’s range and depth, Ashley, way to go.

Cadillacquer Wolf Trap, 2 coats; Valar Morghulis, 2 coats

Wolf Trap, on my index and middle, is from the Eat the Rude collection and is a darker green with holo and green flakies. Valar Morghulis, on my ring and pinky, is from the Dreams and Dust collection. It is a brighter, pink-toned purple with flakies in a similar hue. Both polishes are easy two-coaters, with very smooth application. The formula really does not lean thick or thin, a perfect middle consistency. Other polishes I have in this category are Dreams and Dust from the Dreams and Dust collection (shocking, I know) and Imago, Memory Palace, My End And My Beginning, Ravenstag, This Is My Design, and Winston from the Eat the Rude collection.

Cadillacquer Where The King Goes, The Realm Follows, 3 coats; Footsteps Fleeing Into Silence, 3 coats

Now we have my other favorite Cadillacquer finish, the “glitter crellies.” These are a milkier crelly base with chunkier glitters. You can apply these easily with two coats, but I like to use three thinner coats to build and layer up the glitters. They look cooler that way to me, but do what makes you happy! On my index and middle is Where The King Goes, The Realm Follows from the Dreams and Dust collection. It is a turquoise with multiple sizes of gold glitters, an amazingly beautiful combination of colors that I have never seen done this way. I like this finish so much because few other polish makers have something comparable; I think I have actually seen more mainstream brands with finishes like this, but not the color combos from Madeleine’s beautiful mind. Footsteps Fleeing Into Silence is from the Eat the Rude collection and sitting pretty on my ring and pinky. It is a sky blue base filled with multiple sizes of metallic purple glitters. I love how this one looks layered; the glitters in the bottom layers look more mattified because of the base so it appears that there are both matte and metallic glitters in the polish.  Other polishes I have in this finish are Embrace the Madness from the Eat the Rude collection and The Night Is Dark And Full of Terrors and Wear It Like Armour from the Dreams and Dust collection.

Cadillacquer Nothing Burns Like The Cold, 2 coats

Finally, the last category I have is “holo shimmer.” I actually only have one polish in this finish, but it is essentially the holo flakie crellies, but with a strong finer shimmer/flash instead of flakies!

Cadillacquer Nothing Burns Like The Cold, 2 coats

Nothing Burns Like The Cold is from the Dreams and Dust collection. It is an icy blue holo with green shimmer throughout. The shimmer is defnintely more apparent in the flash photo. I just needed two, smooth coats, excellent for a polish this light in hue. The flash of color is noticeable but delicate, even with the holo. I think that’s why I like Cadillacquer holos so much: they are obviously holo but they aren’t on fire and in your face, which is not a look I always want on my nails.

I hope this gives you a good taste of Cadillacquer’s polishes. Obviously I only have two collections and at least four more on my wish list (The Petrichor, Lakodom, Valhalla, Banshee, No Matter What…). They are beautiful and unique, but there are also a lot of wearable shades.  A lot of these polishes have a subtle grace that will leave you constantly sneaking peaks at your lovely nails throughout the day. They are worth every penny, though they are not cheap (around $13.50-$14 in USD). But hey, at least they are full-sized at .5oz so you’ll get to enjoy these beauties for years.

Have you tried Cadillacquer? What indie polish maker has impressed you most?

xx, Ashley

Please visit Cadillacquer on their website here to find out more about their collections and where you can buy them in your country! Also, check out their Instagram for drooling and wishlist building.

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