Couldn’t get enough of the a-ma-zing packaging for MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection? Yeah, me neither… so I thought I’d bring you another shamelessly covet-worthy post on the collection’s other nail lacquer, MAC Shimmerfish, for you to drool over! [Polish geek side-note: the third lacquer from MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection, Neptune, was not released in Hong Kong.]
Shimmerfish is a super shimmery (surprise!) silver with teeny-tiny flecks of light copper also swimming in the mix. It has the same kind of mottled glittery foil finish (a la Chanel Graphite, OPI Warm & Fozzie and Butter London Wallis) that is absolutely my favourite kind of complex molten metallic; in fact, it reminds me of OPI’s Designer De-Better, which was from the same Muppets Collection as Warm & Fozzie – check out my friend Eugenia’s swatches of that here for comparison.
Just like the sun sparking on ocean waves, Shimmerfish totally dazzles when the light hits it – resulting in brightly glistening flashes of silver at your fingertips. But those coppery flecks keep things equally awesome in the shadows too, delivering a coolly complex shade that you just can’t quite put your finger on – is it a silvery bronze… a bronzy silver… a rusty rose-gold… a champagne-taupe… or some equally intriguing new shade that doesn’t even have a name invented for it yet?
Shimmerfish is a bit of a strange bird to apply (mixed non-mammal metaphors alert); the polish feels rather thin and almost too dry, meaning it seems to “set” almost instantly on the nail in a slightly patchy way, although an easy two coats does the trick in terms of opacity. Fittingly for a metallic polish, it’s a steely sort of character too – euphemism for being a total bitch to clean off – although the plus side of this is that it doesn’t chip easily either.
I’m not as smitten with Shimmerfish as I am with Submerged but given I didn’t snap up OPI’s Designer De-Better at the time, I’m still happy that I netted it for my collection. Factor in that gorgeous packaging (yep, I totally won’t be throwing away the box for this one… future appearance on hoarding tv shows beckons) and this is one catch of the day you may well end up falling for… hook, line and sinker!
Looks good with: keep on swimming, keep on swimming
Drying time: 2 mins
Coats required: 2
Chips: +5 days
MAC Shimmerfish nail lacquer, Summer 2014 Alluring Aquatic Collection, $120
See all MAC locations in Hong Kong here
Through The Looking Glass 
Thank you for the shout-out, my friend! I didn’t pick up Shimmerfish for all the reasons you mentioned, but I cannot deny how drop-dead stunning it is! Lovely swatches, too!
No probs, always happy to try and send a few more readers to your awesome blog – and thank you!
Love Mac. All their limited edition stuff gets sold out SO quickly though *SOB*
Tell me about it… have to stake out the counters on launch day! But then one time I did that, and they didn’t have all the items yet – can’t win!
Oh. So that’s the reason why I did not see any MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection in shops here in Hong Kong. Thanks for saying that it was not released in here. I will not roam around and go crazy looking for this. lol. Anyway, I think Shimmerfish is better than the Neptune. I like how my nails totally dazzle when the light hits it (as you mentioned in here). I wore that shimmerfish last month when I attended a thanksgiving party and believe me, it went well with my white blazer. I think this shade will also look good on mini black dress (Not sure who is that celebrity that wore that outfit before).
Hey Ariette
Glad you enjoyed the review… but think you might have misunderstood! MAC’s Alluring Aquatics Collection WAS released in Hong Kong back in June 2014, but the Neptune (a bronzey-gold colour) nail polish was not. However, the collection was limited edition so is no longer available in stores anymore.
You can see my review of the other nail polish from the collection, Submerged, here: https://rachttlg.com/2014/06/20/mac-submerged-nail-polish-alluring-aquatic/
Oh. Ok. Thanks for informing me Rach. I have read your review in Submerged. Thanks. =) I’m not that good in applying nail polish that’s why most of the time, I ask my sister or the attendant at Flawless HK to apply them for me. Haha.
Haha! One of my favourite place for manis in Hong Kong is The Nail Library – they have so many shades and brands available and their girls are amazing at doing intricate nail art designs too. You can check out my review of them here; they also have another branch called The Loft on Cochrane Street by the escalators that I’ll be reviewing soon so stay tuned!