Polish Pickup December 2020 ‘Everything Is FINE’

Hi everyone! Sorry this blog post is going up late. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, we were having some internet issues for a few days so I couldn’t get photos uploaded. I was already running late before the internet issues so that was icing on the cake. Anyway, today I have some products that will be available during the December Polish Pickup! The theme for December is Everything Is FINE which sums up how things have been going around here lately. The December PPU shop opens this Friday at 11am Eastern time. I will have more sale details at the end of this post.

In case you are new, Polish Pickup is a monthly collaboration of indie polish and other handmade product makers based on a chosen theme. There’s a new theme with new products each month from dozens of makers. Items are available the first Friday – Monday of each month for pre-order. All items are shipped together, for one flat rate price of $3 (U.S. orders). Canadian shipping starts at $6 USD on the main site and international shipping is also available from the sister site.

Disclaimer: I was sent these products as PR in exchange for photographs and an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. My photos were taken indoors with daylight/LED bulbs and outdoors in natural light. I used the KB Shimmer glossy top coat and the Glisten & Glow matte top coat for each photo.

All Mixed Up Lacquers – Happy Little Dumpster Fire

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Inspiration: Teal dumpster with a Christmas tree on fire in it
Description: A solar/thermal polish shifting from teal (warm) to black (cold) and from teal to a purple berry shade and from black to a deep purple when in sunlight or uv light. Loaded with crystal color shifting flakes to look like specks of fire. 
Price: $13.50 for 15ml Cap: 150 US / 10 UK

Happy Little Dumpster Fire This was my first time trying a polish that is bought a solar AND a thermal. To say I had fun with this is an understatement! This had a great formula that wasn’t thick or thin. I didn’t have any application issues. The thermal aspect changed as I was applying it. I will also note that I found that the solar effect didn’t disappear as quickly as other solars that I have tried. I found this a little sheer in 2 coats so I used 3 coats for my photos. 

Note: I used my UV/LED gel lamp to get the indoor solar photos. For the photos that show the teal, purples, and black, I found that you will only see all of them at once when you come from daylight and the solar colors are fading. Indoors, unless you have way better natural lighting than I do, you will only see the teal and black.

All Mixed Up Lacquers
5 free, cruelty free
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Color Spectrum Polish – I’m Flipping Over 2020

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Inspiration: Backflip failure meme
Description: A fun thermal that transitions from navy to purple to pink, loaded with bubblegum pink microflakies and a mix of iridescent flakies that shift from purple to blue to green to gold to pink.
Price: $12 for 13ml Cap: 75 US / 5 UK

I’m Flipping Over 2020 had a great formula. It wasn’t too thick or too thin and almost felt a little jelly like. The different type of flakies give this a really cool depth, espescially since this applies/feels/look like a jelly formula. My hands were pretty cold the day I was swatching this so I didn’t see the pink shade until I broke out my hairdryer (that’s how I get warm state photos). In the warm state there will be some VNL. This was just a tad bit uneven in some spots in 2 coats so I used 3 coats for my photos. I think that might have been an application error on my part though. Pro tip: Don’t be like me and watch movies that you know make you cry when you’re swatching. You will make a mess.

Color Spectrum Polish will also have a lip balm available for this month. I reviewed the balm in a different scent in this blog post.

Color Spectrum Polish
7 free, vegan & cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group

Fancy Gloss – Just Be Happy

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Inspiration: Inspirational quote
Description: Violet (cold) to bright pink (warm) packed with pink/green/copper/gold flakes and copper/pink/green shimmer Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 500 US / 30 UK

Just Be Happy is extremely bright and my camera was freaking out! It’s not listed as a neon, but with the level of brightness with this polish, it’s basically a neon. The formula was great, it leaned on the thicker side of normal but not so thick it caused application issues. This is jam packed with flakies! I wasn’t really seeing a green shift in the flakies on my nails. In my notes, I wrote the flakies were “pinky, orangey and peachy”. This will be opaque in 2-3 coats depending on your application. I had nails that looked fine in 2 but one nail needed a third coat.

Note: My photos that show both the warm and cold state together (excluding the second photo as I was trying to showcase the flakies in that one) are the most color accurate. My camera had the hardest time with this when I was trying to get just the warm and just the cold states.  

Fancy Gloss
10 free, vegan & cruelty-free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group

Heather’s Hues – Chiccy Nuggies

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Inspiration: Baby Yoda Memes
Description: a black to colorless thermal packed with a strong red-gold-green shimmer and a touch of holo sparkle
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 150 US / 20 UK

Chiccy Nuggies had a great formula. Not too thick or too thin. No application issues. The shimmer is the star of the show here! I was seeing all of the color shifts earily at my desk. This is on the sheer side in the warm state so there will be some VNL. I also found that the cold state can vary from a black to a medium grey depending on how cold your nails are. I think it is sheer enough that it could be used as a topper. I used 3 coats for my photos.

Heather’s Hues will also have a 2oz jar of WiTS (aka my favorite lotion in the world) available this month. Totally unrelated but Baby Yoda memes were one of my favorite things this year.

Heather’s Hues
5 free, vegan & cruelty free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP

Kb Shimmer – Cats & Pajamas

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Inspiration: Staying home in pajamas with pets
Description:  A blue-leaning gray crelly base is flecked with glowing holo flakes. Color-shifting flakes shift between fuchsia, pink and orange.
Price: $10 for 15ml No cap

Cats & Pajamas has a great formula and applied really smoothly. My eyes were picking up 3 different types of flakies. One is a color shifting flakie, the second an antique gold or maybe copper colored flakie and then a smaller holographic flakie. At my desk I was mainly seeing the fuchsia and pink color shifts with orange at extreme angles. Love how the flakies look paired with this base color! I used 3 coats for my photos. I didn’t notice any texture of using top coat. This polish will come in a matte black box.

KB Shimmer
5 free, cruelty free & vegan
website | instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group

KB Shimmer Cozy At Home Sugar Scrub

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Description: At first, the scent is sweet, and I get a hint of vanilla, but then deeper notes of tonka bean start to come through.  Rich and complex, subtle floral notes from vanilla and jasmine add depth, while a very subtle hint of patchouli anchors this intoxicating blend. 
Ingredients: Contains: Sucrose, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Emulsifying Wax NF, Stearic Acid, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Fragrance, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol, Mica
Price: $10 for 9.5oz No Cap

KB Shimmer will also have their amazing sugar scrub available during this month. This is my favorite scrub for pedicures, body exfoliating and I also use it before swatching. I love this stuff and always keep extra jars handy. I believe I currently have 4 unopened jars in my fridge plus opened jars in each bathroom. When you use this scrub, the scent doesn’t linger for too long so you can use other scented products afterward. I’d say it’s the more gritty of my collection of scrubs. 

The scent this month has a lot of fragrance notes to sniff through. What my nose picks up first is a floral scent, and then something sweet (not sickly sweet!) and also something rich fragrance. It’s a really pleasant fragrance. I tend to lean towards really sweet/bakery scents and the floral notes in this is a nice change for me. I actually got my fiance to sniff this one (he doesn’t like scented products *sigh*) and he said he was picking up “floral with some kind of sweetness”.

KB Shimmer
5 free, cruelty free & vegan
website | instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group

Paint It Pretty Polish – Longest March Break EVER!!

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Inspiration: the longest March Break in history
Description: a black tinted jelly packed with iridescent shifting flakes and holographic microflakes
Price: $12 for 15ml Cap: 90US / 10UK

Longest March Break EVER! had a great formula. It was very sheer on the first coat but it built up really well so I didn’t have any VNL. This could be used as a topper. I actually wore this in 1 coat on my thumbnail for a few days. The flakies are absolutely gorgeous in this base and very color shifty. The colors I was seeing in the iridescent flakies were pink, orange, yellow and green at extreme angles. I didn’t have any texture after applying top coat. I used 3 coats for my photos. 

Paint It Pretty
5 free, vegan & cruelty free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | facebook group

Twisting Nether Lacquer – Gamers Are Never Alone

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Inspiration: Introverted gamers in quarantine
Description: Black base with iridescent multichrome shimmer, silver holo micro flakes and shreds and holo sparkle 
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 120 US / 20 UK

Gamers Are Never Alone had a nice formula. I had some application issues where my brush kept picking up the previous layers of polish despite waiting until each coat was fully dry. After I noticed it, I was more careful in my application and used as few brush strokes as possible which solved the issue. The multichrome shimmer is really pretty! The colors I was seeing were blue, shades of purple, red, and a bit of reddish orange at extreme angles. I ended up wearing this one for a day after swatching (that’s a long time for me these days) and found what I saw on my nails just walking around the house was like a blackened purple (similar to the outdoor photo). Super pretty in person and in normal lighting. I used 3 coats for my photos.

Note: I mentioned this issue to Kasi (maker of the brand) and as far as I know, that issue was only my bottle. Also, this brand recently changed their bottles! The cap and brush seem to still be the same.

TWISTING NETHER LACQUER
5 free, vegan & CRUELTY free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP

Sale Information

These items will be available on the Polish Pickup website starting December 4th at 11AM Eastern time until Monday November 7th at 11:59PM and on the Polish Pickup sister site December 3rd at 4pm BST until November 6th at 4pm BST. Orders to the same name/address are automatically combined and shipping on multiple orders refunded. As of October 2020, there are upgraded shipping options within the US. Details on shipping charges can be found here. Items purchased during the sale period are a pre-order and generally ship 3-4 weeks after the sale period is over.

Both sites are open for wishlisting and I believe cart preloading opened yesterday. There are WAY more items available than just what I have shown today. Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear what everyone plans on getting in the comment section! Also be sure to follow me over on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages!

Polish Pickup
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Facebook Group | Chat/BST Group

A note on thermals…

I want to add that thermal polishes do have a shelf life (generally at least 6-12 months) on how long they will change colors for. My oldest thermals that still change color are over 2 years old. To get the most out of a thermal (all nail polish really) you’ll want to store them in a cool, dark place. I store my thermals with my other nail polish in the Ikea helmers. Once a thermal no longer changes color (aka dies), you can still wear them! The thermals that I own that have died, all stayed in the warm state but it’s not guaranteed to stay in the warm.