Bronze Ablaze is one of those shades that's a little difficult to describe. It's a metallic brassy-bronze-brown with flecks of micro-shimmer that are only really visible in the sunlight. At certain angles the shade gives off a greenish-gold pearl. A shade that I find is definitely unique and looks a little more "high end" than it really is. It's only around for a limited time as it's a part of their Fall 2011 release.
If you're familiar with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish range (the Insta-Dri top coat is a favorite of mine!) the wand is very large and flat, as is the brush. It's a bit similar to the Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Polish wand, but a little larger. For those of you with very short nails, it may be troublesome painting your nails with such a large wand, but for those of you with long nails, it makes things much easier.
I can't tell you how excited I was with this polish. I deemed it my fall favorite and anticipated purchasing a back-up. It's just such a pretty shade and I mostly wear neutrals, khaki green and tan - so this pretty much matches with everything in my wardrobe. The wear time is pretty good - almost a full week. Now, the downside with this polish is the terrible formula. It's a little on the thick side, so it's fairly opaque with one coat. It does dry semi-quickly, but after the second coat, it didn't dry as quick. With any nail polish, I always wait around 3-4 minutes and apply my Seche Vite Top Coat and within 30 seconds they are dry to the touch. But not with this polish. Several minutes after I applied my Seche Vite, my nails felt almost sticky to the touch - causing a few faint fingerprints on a couple of nails. Also, I got a few nicks on my nails. If that wasn't bad enough little bubbles started to appear. Fantastic!
So my problem probably was that I applied too heavy of a second coat, but I find it hard to avoid because of the thick formula and huge brush. I will try to be patient with this polish because I really do love it. I don't think the photo does this shade justice.. you should check it out at your local drugstore.
What's your favorite Fall nail polish? I know Summer isn't even over yet, but Fall is my favorite season and I already started wearing my vampy polishes a little early.