Breast Cancer Awareness Box 2023
Press Samples, affiliate links used
Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness box. This is the 6th year the box has been running and it is my third year of being a swatcher for this box. I have a total of 24 polishes, 3 non-nail polish items, and a special trio of polishes.
If you are new, each year Chrissy from Hearts & Promises gets together with a bunch of indie makers to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. A portion of each item sold will go to that charity group.
The BCA box goes on sale this Sunday, September 3rd at 12PM Eastern time for a week long sale period on HeartsAndPromises.com. As always, more sale information can be found at the end of the post.
Live Swatch Video
The Breast Cancer Awareness Box is an annual charity box hosted by Hearts & Promises.
All Mixed Up Lacquers – Strength Within
Description: a berry base with intense green/blue/purple shifting shimmer
No Cap
Strength Within um wow? The shimmer in here is STRONG. I was seeing a green/aqua/blue/purple color shift. There are some brush strokes in the shimmer most of them disappear as the polish dries down.
No surprise to anyone (I hope) but the base is fairly sheer so will need to build it up to gain opacity. Coverage is even so this will be a 2-3 coater depending on how you feel about VNL.
My photos show Strength Within in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. The third coat deepened the base color slightly.
All Mixed Up Lacquers
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty-Free
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Anchor & Heart Lacquer – Shine On Through
Description: a medium gray crelly base with rose gold/copper/pink shifting shimmer, silver reflective glitter, and various shades of pink glitter in small and medium sizes
No Cap
Shine On Through I love this twist on a “pink polish”! The base was on the thicker side, which isn’t too surprising given the amount of glitter.
In the official description, this is listed as having silver reflective glitter. I found in person, I was seeing pink reflective glitter. I found the reflects to not be a super in your face reflective glitter but more subtle twinkles. You do get some texture from all of the glitters so 1-2 coats of top coat will be needed to smooth everything out.
This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on application style and personal preference. In thin coats, this will be a three coater. With thicker coats, this should be opaque in two.
My photos show Shine On Through in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will of course be on the more difficult side if you opt to scrub this one off.
Anchor & Heart Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Beaux Reves Lacquer – Hopeful Heart
Description: a coral leaning pink-berry with green-magenta shifting shimmer
No Cap
Hopeful Heart is a beautiful coral leaning pinky red shade. If you have warmer undertones like me, this will likely lean very reddish coral.
The shimmer gives it a ethereal glowy look to the nail. While it is a little bit sheer on the first coat, I really liked coverage in only two coats. I do think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on your own personal preference.
There is a delicate holographic sparkle on top of the glowy gold to a pinky purple color shift. The holo flakes do not dry down textured.
My photos show Hopeful Heart in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Beaux Reves Lacquer
12ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Facebook Group | Instagram
Colores de Carol – Thrive In Pink
Description: A berry pink crelly with Aurora shimmer, Mermaid flakes, holo flakes and black mini shreds
No Cap
Thrive In Pink There are some big ol flakies in this one that made me very happy.
The base was on the thicker side but still easy to work with. All of the flakies spread out evenly without giving off any texture.
This is sheer enough on the first coat that I think it could be used as a topper. I found I liked coverage best in 3 coats but it’s passable in two.
My photos show Thrive In Pink in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be pretty messy but not overly difficult.
Colores de Carol Wax Melts
Scent Description: Citrus, Bergamot, Sandalwood, Apple, Marigold, Jasmine, Vanilla, Musk.
Price: $5 Cap: 50
These wax melts are super cute! The fragrance on them is very strong! I found I am not really a fan of the bergamot and musk in them though. If you like that kind of scent profile, this set will be for you!
Colores De Carol
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Crystal Knockout – You’re The Star
Description: a bright pink with matte blue and aqua glitters, including dots and stars
No Cap
You’re The Star if you have spent any amount of time on this blog, you likely know that glitter crellies are one of my favorite nail polish finishes. Throw in some star glitters? Yeah, instant love.
This polish had a fantastic formula but it was on the thicker side, largely due to the huge amount of glitters in the base. Apply this polish in thinner coats and you won’t have any issues.
The bright AF neon PANK base is eye searingly bright. All of the glitters spread out evenly and the star glitters come out easily without needing to do any fishing. I did notice that got out a lot more starts initially so they do seem to sink a little bit. If you want to get the most stars out, hold the bottle upside down between coats.
My photos show You’re The Star in 2 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. This does dry down textured and dull so you will want a few coats of top coat to smooth everything out.
Crystal Knockout
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Cupcake Polish – Eff Cancer
Description: A magenta nail polish with red to orange to gold aurora shimmer
No Cap
Eff Cancer had a fantastic but just like the other shimmers, this one needs to be built up to really get the opacity going.
This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on your personal preference. To my eye the shimmer looked more of a pink to gold than a red to gold shift. The shimmer doesn’t show any brush strokes.
My photos show Eff Cancer in 3 coats plus glossy. Removal will be easy but fairly messy.
Cupcake Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
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Envy Lacquer – Fighter
Description: a micro glitter polish with pink and gold glitter and pink to gold micro flakies.
Cap: 100
Fighter had a good but very thick formulation. This has the wet sand level of thickness and application that some reflective glitter polishes have.
After my first coat, I opted to add a little squirt of thinner into my bottle just to get it more liquidy. That worked perfectly for me. I did give the brand a heads-up on that issue so it shouldn’t be an issue for customer bottles.
Imagine the surprise I had reading the official description and not seeing a single mention of the reflective glitter! I found this to 100% be a reflective glitter polish!
The reflective glitters in this polish are SO sparkly! Even in my room lighting, I could see them twinkle. In typical reflective glitter fashion, they do dry down very textured. A glitter smoothing top coat coat paired with a quick dry top coat gave me a good smooth finish.
My photos show Fighter in 2 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Do NOT scrub this polish off, use the soak off method or a peel off base coat for the easiest removal.
Envy Lacquer
5 Free
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Great Lakes Lacquer – Strength Untold
Description: a vivid fuschia shimmer with shifts of orange, gold, and green
Cap: None
Strength Untold is full of sparkly color shifty shimmer goodness. Both formula and application were perfect. It is on the sheerer side so you will need to build it up to gain opacity
The shimmer seems to be a larger particle size, so it has a sparkly look to it. I saw all of the color shifts with the exception of the green.
My photos show Strength Untold in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be fairly easy but a bit messy.
Great Lakes Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
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Hearts & Promises – Attitude Is Everything
Description: a lilac holo base with pink shimmer and pink chrome flakies
Cap: None
Attitude Is Everything is a delicate pinky purple aka lilac crelly base with a delicate holographic flakie combo.
Unsurprisingly for a shade this light, it was fairly streaky and uneven on the first coat. For the most part the unevenness and streaks even out on the second coat. I still had a few that I thought would look back in photos so I opted to go in for a third coat.
The holographic gives the polish a pretty sparkly. I have a feeling in direct sunlight this will look amazing.
My photos show Attitude Is Everything in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal.
Hearts & Promises
15ml, 5 Free
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Hula Moon Nail Lacquer – Lean On Me
Description: A bright eye catching pink polish with shimmer that shifts that shifts copper to gold to blue shifting shimmer
Cap: 100
Lean On Me is a bright AF neon PANK! This immediately made me think of neon Barbie pink.
The base was slightly on the thicker side but the kind of thickness that adds to opacity and self levels nicely. I didn’t pick up any color shifts from the shimmer. Overall the shimmer gave the polish a very electric/metallic look.
My photos show Lean On Me in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and I didn’t have any issues with staining.
Hula Moon
15ml
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Jen & Berries – Surely You Chest
Description: a bubblegum pink with red-orange-gold shifty shimmer and holographic flakes
Cap: 200 bottles
Surely You Chest gives you so much holographic sparkle but also a beautiful shimmer!
The shimmer is just as strong as the holographic effect. The holo flakies do not dry down textured and the shimmer gives the polish a almost metallic look on the nail.
The base starts off sheer but builds up nicely in 2-3 coats. If you are less picky than me, this covers well in 2 coats. I just found that I could see a little bit too much of my nail to not add a third.
My photo show Surel You Chest in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy but messy removal.
Jen & Berries
12.5ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Leesha’s Lacquer – Confianza
Description: a silver holographic micro glitter based polish with pink micro holographic glitter and pink glitters in multiple hex shapes and sizes
Cap: 150
Confianza is another BOOM holographic. On the first coat, the polish is fairly sheer so this has some topper possibilities.
The glitters all spread out evenly and easily. There are *a lot* of glitters in this polish. I did notice that the larger hexes do seem to sink a little bit so make sure to give the polish a really good shake before applying.
My photos show Confianza in 3 coats plus a thick coat of glossy top coat. For longer term wear you might benefit from a second coat of top coat to smooth out the glitters.
Leesha’s Lacquer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Luna Lacquer – Breasts! They Need Your Support
Description: a pink with blue hue shimmer and holo glitters
Cap: 100
Breasts! They Need Your Support first I love the name of this polish. Second, it is also beautiful!
The base is more on the crelly side and slightly on the thicker side. I found it seems to dry down a little sheerer than it applies so it will be a 2-3 coater.
On the second coat, I had some noticely dark spots on the nail so I added a third. As I mentioned, it dries sheerer than it applies so while at first I thought I reach full opacity as the polish dries I was able to see a little bit of VNL.
My photos show Breasts! They Need Your Support in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Luna Wax
Scent Description: Watermelon, citrus, mint & basil
Price: $8.25
As a fruity scent love, I loved the fragrance on this wax! The main scent is watermelon and then you get the a little bit of herbal from the basil. I don’t like mint scented anything and I wasn’t able to pick up the mint in this.
Luna Lab Creations
12ml
Website | Instagram | Facebook Group
LynB Designs – The Breast Is Yet To Come
Description: magenta base with pink to orange shifting magnetic pull, pink to purple shifting micro flakies, and holo micro flakies
Cap: 100
The Breast Is Yet To Come had a fantastic formula. I always love this brand’s magnetic polishes.
The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. It does start off a little bit sheer so you will want to build it up to reach full opacity. I found the coverage to be perfect in two coats.
I like to have my magnetics be opaque before I magnetize them so I swatched this one in 2 coats and then used the third coat as the layer to magnetize. I found it magnetized easily with my ring magnet.
While this isn’t the most color shifty magnetic, the magnetic effect is beautiful nonetheless. I mainly saw a pink to a darker pink color shift. The flakies give you a beautiful sparkle.
My photos show The Breast Is Yet To Come in 3 coats plus glossy top coat, both magnetized and unmagnetized. Nothing in here will dry down textured and removal won’t be overly difficult just messy.
LynB Designs
15ml, 5 Free & Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Monarch Lacquer – Pink Out
Description: a bright pink with pink-orange shifting shimmer
No Cap
Pink Out is another gorgeous but sheer shifty shimmer polish. The shimmer seems to largely be the thing that gives the polish opacity so you will need to build it up to reach opacity.
The shimmer doesn’t show brush strokes but it isn’t a sparkly shimmer either. It gives the polish an almost metallic look.
My photos show Pink Out in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal but a little messy.
Monarch Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Group
Music City Beauty – Fight Song
Description:a pastel multichrome with multichrome shimmer shifting through pink/gold/green
Cap: 100
Fight Song had a fantastic formula. In my notes, I wrote this one down as being the palest of pale pinks in a crelly base with a delicate pink to gold shimmer.
This is another one of the polishes where I was surprised by the official description as I wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at the polish in person.
Since this is such a pale color, it was a little streaky, especially on the first coat. The streaks do even themselves out.
My swatches show Fight Song in two coats but I did have a few dark spots on my nails that I didn’t see until I was going over my footage so I’ll call this a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Nailed It – Fearless
Description: A taffy pink base with an indigo aurora and holo flakies.
Cap: 200
Fearless had a fantastic but slightly thicker formula. I’m sure you aren’t surprised but this is a sheer polish that needs to be built up.
Coverage is overall very even so if you don’t mind obvious VNL, it’s passable in two coats or you can use it as a topper. This is another shimmer polish that has a vaguely metallic look to it.
My photos show Fearless in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Nailed It!
15ml, 5 free
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Night Owl Lacquer – Hope Is Powerful
Description: a wine tinted base with rose gold holographic micro glitters and vibrant pink/peach/gold shifting shimmer.
Cap: None
Hope Is Powerful the glitters in this polish were so sparkly! It is a sheer polish so you will need to build it up to reach full opacity but it is worth it!
The glitters in this polish are very tiny so they do not dry down super textured. They are also VERY holographic. I actually got to wear this one for a little over 24 hours and didn’t find the glitters to be top coat hungry.
My photos show Hope Is Powerful in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be on the more difficult side due to the amount of glitters, use the soak off method or a peel off base coat for the easiest removal.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Paradox Polish – 13 Years Cancer Free
Description: a coral to Rose gold pink base with a silver magnetic, gold and rose gold flakes and iridescent and holo flakes.
Cap: None
13 Years Cancer Free is one of those magnetic polishes that will look drastically different once you apply the magnetic to your nail.
The base was slightly on the thicker side but that thickness makes it a solid one coat wonder. I did swatch this one in two coats for my swatch photos.
Formula and application were perfect. I found the magnetic effect magnetized easily for me and didn’t disperse quickly.
My photos show 13 Years Cancer Free in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal won’t be overly difficult but it will be messy.
Paradox Polish and Soap Company
15ml, 8 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
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Ribbits Stickits Waterslide Decals
Price: $7 Cap: 100
I love the waterslide decals from this brand. They make doing complicated nail art super easy for someone who lacks drawing abilities!
For my base, I used 2 coats of Essie’s Sugar Daddy and 1 coat of Holo Taco‘s Gold Flakie Taco.
Ribbits Stickits
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Rogue Lacquer – Tougher Together
Description: An orchid purple with strong pink shimmer and holo flake prism finish
Cap: None
Tougher Together the shimmer in this polish is so strong! You do see some brush strokes when wet but they disappear as the polish dries down.
I didnt have any issues with formula and application. The flakies all spread out evenly without any texture and were super holographic.
My photos show Tougher Together in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. You will want top coat as this polish dries flat.
Rogue Lacquer
5 Free, Cruelty Free & Vegan
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Sassy Pants Polish – Ring The Bell
Description: a bright magenta polish with blue shimmer, light pink holographic glitter and magenta holographic shreds
Cap: 150
Ring The Bell I just love how the glitters add to this metallic-ish shimmer base! I was a little concerned that they would look super textured paired with the shimmer but thankfully they do not.
Coverage is very even and much better than I expected. This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. I did have some slight VNL in 3 coats.
My photos show Ring The Bell in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. The glitters will give you some trouble on removal if you opt to scrub the polish off.
Sassy Pants Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
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Sassy Sauce Polish – Focus On The Fight!!!
Description: A bright bubblegum pink with a strong blue shimmer and glowy blue micro flakes
Cap: 500
Focus On The Fight!!! had a fantastic formula. This had fantastic coverage on the first coat but it wasn’t quite a one coater.
The shimmer and flakies are on the more delicate side. Not so delicate that I would dub it a “blink and you miss it” shimmer but more of a glow from within delicate. It gives the overall polish a more electric/metallic look.
My photos show Focus On The Fight!!! in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Sassy Sauce Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
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Sweet & Sour Lacquer – Remission Rocks
Description: A flamingo pink crelly with matte pink hexes and squares in various sizes, micro holo flakes, and back flakes
Cap: None
Remission Rocks had a fantastic formula. Not gonna lie, I was really happy that Darlene opted to do a glitter crelly for this release. There was a distinct lack of glitter overall for the box haha.
Both the formula and application were perfect. The base was slightly on the thicker side but what I would expect from a glitter crelly. You get out a ton of glitters without needing to do anything special. If you are like me and want to have all of the glitters, you’ll likely want to go in for three coats. The base covers well in only two though.
No surprise to anyone, the glitters do dry down with some texture. Pairing this polish with a glitter smoothing top coat and a quick dry top coat will give you the smoothest finish.
My photos show Remission Rocks in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Removal will be on the difficult side due to the glitters, use the soak off method!
Sweet & Sour Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Use my affiliate code ‘SWEETNICOLE10‘ to save 10% on S&S website orders
Zombie Claw Polish – Zombies Ate My Boobies
Description: a bubblegum base that glows in the dark loaded with blue-green-pink shimmer
Cap: 200
Zombies Ate My Boobies had a fantastic but sheerer formula which really helps with that ridiculously strong shimmer to really glow.
The shimmer is a more sparkly shimmer so you do not get any brush strokes. It does have that almost rubbery kinda feel that glow in the dark polishes have so you will want top coat to smooth everything out.
I was able to charge the GITD pigment easily using a black light flashlight.
My photos show Zombies Ate My Boobies in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal won’t be overly difficult but it sure will be messy.
Zombie Claw Polish
10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
These next few polishes are a part of the Ovarian Cancer trio. They go on sale at the same time as the main box and will go towards a GoFundMe page.
Hearts & Promises – Braver, Stronger & Smarter
Description: TBD
Cap: TBD
Braver, Stronger & Smarter the base color on this polish is everything! It’s more jelly-leaning so you will need to build it up for opacity.
I thought for sure this was going to stain me but thankfully I didn’t experience any staining. Make sure to wear a base coat anyway!
The coverage was really fantastic with this one. Other than a little bit of VNL it was nearly opaque in 2 coats. The holographic base really gives you a ton of rainbow action. The flakies all spread out evenly without giving off texture but you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
My photos show Braver, Stronger & Smarter in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be fairly easy.
Hearts & Promises – Fight Of Her Life
Description: TBD
Cap: TBD
Fight Of Her Life had a wonderful formula. It has more of a crelly-like base so depending on your personal preference this will be a 2-3 coater.
The metallic flakies all spread out evenly but do give off some texture. I found a few of them poke up a little bit off of the nail. Not so textured that I felt the need to add a second coat of top coat but for personal wear I likely would add another layer of top coat.
I really liked how this one looked on me in two coats but I could see a slight bit of my nail between the flakies.
My photos show Fight For Her Life in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Thflakies will make removal pretty messy but not nearly as hard to remove as a glitter.
Hearts & Promises – Overcome Through Courage
Description: TBD
Cap:TBD
Overcome Through Courage is another more crelly-like formulation. You have a delicate shimmer and what I believe are turquoise flakies/glitters.
The polish itself was on the thicker side but I found the application easy. I originally thought this was opaque on me in two coats but looking at my photos I can see quite a few dark spots. So I think this will likely be a 3 coater.
My photos show Overcome Through Courage in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove.
Hearts & Promises
15ml, 5 Free
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Price List
- Full box $325 (has a cap of 25 boxes)
- Polish Only box $275 (has a cap of 25 boxes)
- Individual Polishes $13
- Stamper/polish/scraper set $33
- Colores de Carol Wax $5
- Luna Wax $8.25
- Waterslide decals $7
- Soap $10
Breast Cancer Awareness Box
Website | Facebook Group | Instagram
Sale Information
The 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness box goes on sale this Sunday September 3rd at 1PM Eastern time on HeartsAndPromises.com. Each item will be available individually as well as in box sets.
$1 from each polish sold and 10% from each non-nail polish item sold will be going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. For more information on this box, do check out the BCA Box Facebook Group.
At the time of posting, I do not have much information on the Ovarian Cancer trio other than a portion of profits will be going to his GoFundMe page.
WELCOME!
