Today’s blog post is for the February Hella Handmade Creations! I thought last month HHC was my favorite as far as releases go but this month’s is really something! Alter Ego is joining the HHC shop for the first time this month AND on top of that, the HHC shop is having another overpour sale! I will have all of the sale details at the end of this post. I have live swatches up for these polishes on my YouTube Channel.
Hella Handmade Creations is a monthly indie polish collaboration. Makers each pick their own theme and make a series of polishes based on that theme. Each month brands have a new polish, that is exclusive to the Hella Handmade Creations website.
Live Swatch Video
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. I used the KB Shimmer Clearly On Top glossy top coat, Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber (for glitter polishes) and the Glisten & Glow Matte top coat for my photos.
Alter Ego – Sorbonne Bearded Iris
Theme: Bearded Irises
Description: holo black, holo red & holo yellow microglitters
Price: $10 17ml Cap: No Cap
Sorbonne Bearded Iris has a really great formula. The glitters in this are very small so this didn’t feel thick or gritty at all. They actually applied surprisingly smoothly and didn’t give off much texture. I will note that this dries surprisingly fast but not so fast that I had issues with application. My photos show it in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat.
I would call this a full coverage microglitter but there is just the *tiniest* bit of visible space between the glitters. I think this would be good over black for a 100% opaque look or even other base colors to use it as a topper. Cynthia (owner/maker of Alter Ego) included a beautiful photo of the Sorbonne Bearded Iris and I just want to say, that is one beautiful flower. I am really looking forward to her future releases in this series.
Alter Ego
17ml, 5 free, Vegan & cruelty free
website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Ghost Bros
Theme: Ghost Adventures
Description: a sheer mauvey pink full of orange to green shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: None
Ghost Bros had a great formula. It applied really nicely on the nail. This shimmer is very strong! It’s really gorgeous. The colors I was seeing in person were a yellow (maybe gold?) and orange. I didn’t really see the green color shift while I swatched this. I see it in the bottle so it probably appear at extreme angles.
I used 3 coats for my photos. I really love pink polishes with shimmer in this color. This will give some VNL at certain angles if you have a noticeable free edge. For a sheer polish, it was like 90% opaque.
Please excuse my nails for this swatch. I tried something different with my enhancements and… it didn’t work LOL.
Bees knees lacquer
15ml, 5 free
website | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Color Spectrum Polish – Liar!
Theme: Legally Blonde
Description: a chocolatey brown creme with copper shimmers, purple to pink ucc flakies, and purple to blue to green shifting iridescent flakies.
Price: $12 for 13ml Cap: 100 bottles
Liar! had a great formula. It wasn’t too thick or too thin and it applied really nicely. The flakies spread out great on their own without needing to be placed. I just love this shade of brown paired with the shimmer and flakies! This polish is very opaque if I didn’t have clear extensions on, this would have been a 2 coater. I used 3 coats for my photos. No issues on removal and nothing in here dries textured.
I found that on me, the shade of brown could lean a little on the reddish brown side but this is a true milk chocolate brown. This is slightly similar to Baby Got Back from the Twerk collection. I’ll have a comparison of the two at the end of this post. They’re not dupes by any means though.
Color Spectrum Polish
7 free, vegan & cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Fancy Gloss – Be Who You Are on the Inside
Theme: Disney Princesses
Description: a brown (cold) to gold (warm) with gold flakes and red/orange/green/gold flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100 bottles
Be Who You Are on the Inside had a great formula that wasn’t too thick or too thin. This polish has such a beautiful color that I just loved! The brown in the cold state is a caramel color and the warm state is a tannish gold that pairs really well with the flakies. I used 3 coats for my photos.
This color is very unique in my opinion for a thermal. I own quite a few thermals and none have these colors. Removal was easy with the soak off method and acetone. The flakies did seem to want to stick to my fingers. Nothing in here dries down textured.
Fancy Gloss
10 free, vegan & cruelty-free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Everybody Breaks
Theme: A Handmaid’s Tale
Description: a black to red multichrome filled with a red-gold-silver magnetic multichrome and holo.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 80 bottles
Everybody Breaks had a fantastic formula. It wasn’t too thick or too thin and applied really nicely. I am so obsessed with this multichrome pigment and I am extra obsessed with this polish! The magnetic pigment pairs so well with this multichrome. The holographic element is small enough that it doesn’t distract from the other elements and gives this a really beautiful sparkle. I used 2 coats for full opacity and used a third coat for the magnetic effect.
Unmagnetized, this will look like a bronzey brown polish similar to the matte state color. Nothing in here is difficult to remove and nothing dries textured.
Also completely unrelated to anything, this polish really screams Fire Nation (from the Avatar The Last Airbender world) to me. I’m not sure if that’s because I was reading the newest Avatar Kyoshi book (which I recommend for fans of both shows) the day I was swatching this or what but this is a perfect polish for the Fire Nation.
Heather’s Hues
5 free, vegan & cruelty free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP
Sale Info
The Hella Handmade Creations store opens on 14th of every month at 12:01am Eastern Time and closes on the 21st at 11:59pm HST (4:59AM Eastern time on the 22nd). All items sold are on a pre-order basis and won’t ship until around 4 weeks after the sale period.
Starting in February, there will be overpours from previous months available in the Returning Polishes section of the website. Overpours are very limited. Multiple orders to the same name and address are combined and shipping overages refunded. Shipping price is based on weight. Shipping is available internationally and there is a Facebook group for international group buys.
HELLA HANDMADE CREATIONS
WEBSITE |International Group Buy | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP | CHAT FACEBOOK GROUP
Comparisons
Color Spectrum Polish Baby Got Back Vs Liar!
Liar! is comparable but not a dupe to Baby Got Back from the TWERK collection (reviewed here). They’re both browns with copper shimmer and flakies. However, Liar is a creme formula and BGB is a jelly. BGB had little color shifting glitters in it and the flakies shifted to different colors. If you liked Baby Got Back, you will really like Liar! BGB is still available on the Color Spectrum website and Etsy pages.
A note on thermals…
I want to note that thermal polishes do have a shelf life (generally at least 6-12 months) on how long they will change colors for. My oldest thermal that still transitions is from 2018. 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. As far as I know there is no way to make a thermal die in a specific state.