Indigo Bananas Klein Trink Wasser

I have another Indigo Bananas polish for you guys tonight!  This time, we're going to take a look at a gorgeous bright blue creme called Klein Trink Wasser.  Here are a few more questions and answers from my interview of Indigo Banana's creator, Andrea.

4) What was your inspiration for your brand name? 

Indigo (blue-purple, the electric indigo color not the traditional plant dye) is one of my favorite colors and I had been searching for a way to integrate that into a brand name, ideally with something memorable or funny - and barring that, a terrible pun.  I ran into an interesting article in early June '12, about how bananas glow bright electric indigo under UV light if they're ripe, and it really all clicked then.  Bananas glow indigo, and indies go bananas*. A double (triple?) entendre and a terrible pun? Sign me up. *In terms of both the occasional indie drama that surfaces and people going nuts for certain indie polishes, causing a shortage for that brand etc.

5) How did you become interested in creating your own polish line?

It just happened slowly over time, actually. I had been making top coats for friends & people I knew, and then I started collecting every pigment and glitter that I could get my hands on and making so many polishes in my free time that I started running out of room in my multiple helmers. That, combined with knowing a lot of people that had started or were already running polish shops, gave me confidence - both in the polishes I made (all of which I would wear & have tested and often revised for months) and the business side of things.  

I seriously love the fact that I can trust Andrea to adequately test her polishes for a long time before selling them.  Furthermore, you can tell how much love she puts into her creations.  It makes me happy when indie brands really take the time to make sure their work product is perfect before selling it to the general public.

Color: Bright blue leaning neon or violet-tinged blue in bright lights or certain angles.  It is a polish from the core collection is based off of the song Kein Trink Wasser by the Orbitals, found here.

This is pre-top coat.

Finish: Matte – flat almost rubbbery finish, no shine.

The finish is much flatter than this.  Unfortunately, I got some lotion and cuticle oil on it, which ruined the effect.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: High – opaque at one coat!  I used two for the photos, though, for more even coverage.

Refrigerator light box!  This is the truest to color of all of my pics for indoor lighting.  The rest are true to color for full sun.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.  As I said above, the handle on the cap of the mini bottle makes application a little more tricky, so you still need to be careful when applying.

Top coated.

Overall Ease of Application: Difficult – applies with some dragging and balding.  Spreads well with manipulation.  Requires quick work to get a smooth result.  This is not a bad thing, though, which I will discuss below.  You have to be very quick when applying Klein because it dries so swiftly.  If you aren't fast enough or you don't get enough polish on the brush, you could cause clumping or balding if you go back over a section of the nail that has already been polished.  As long as you get enough polish on the brush and move quickly, you won't have any problems with application.

Stampability: Stamps well with great image transfer.  Here, I've done just a quick stamp test on a paper plate.  I tried three stamps, and they all came out vivid with perfect image transfer!

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: Klein reminds me of Revlon Royal, but without the annoying application problems that comes with Revlons.  The color is close, but even brighter and more vivid, which is probably because it's not a crelly.  Klein is actually quite the chameleon, though, as it looks extremely bright and neon in full sun and darker, more vampy in lower light.  The application is tricky for the first two nails or so, but once you figure out how quickly it dries as well as how much polish you need on your brush to make sure you don't drag, you'll be totally fine.  I wouldn't count this as a negative, either, because the effect you get at the end is simply stunning.  Also, the high pigmentation makes this polish ideal for stamping!  I will say, though, that it does stain a little if you flood your cuticles.  That's because the polish is so highly pigmented that it does stain when you apply it.  When you take it off, make sure you let your remover sit on the nail for about 30-45 seconds, then swipe it off in one direction.  Don't rub side to side.  This will help you keep the polish off your skin so it won't stain.  If you do get it on your cuticles, I found that using my Sally Hansen cuticle remover (the blue gel) worked perfectly to remove that last little bit of staining.  Also, I'd like to clarify, when I say staining, I mean only of the skin, not the nail itself.  Overall, I was really pleased with this polish.  It's so pigmented that it requires only a few coats, it stamps beautifully, it dries quickly, and it is so amazingly vibrant that I can't keep my eyes off of my fingers!

You can purchase Klein Trink Wasser from Indigo Banana's Etsy shop.  Follow Andrea at her blog and on Facebook for news and updates.

What's your favorite bright royal blue?