Hello friends! Today’s blog post is for the June Hella Handmade Creations! This is my biggest month for HHC so far so I will so I skip any excess chatter and get right in to the post.
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
Alter Ego – My Tall Bearded Iris
Theme: Bearded Irises
Description: yellow base with white shimmer
Price: $10 Cap: None
My Tall Bearded Iris Had a really nice formula and applied like a jelly polish. The shimmer is very sparkly and makes the yellow base really glow. It doesn’t show brush strokes through the shimmer at all.
I think it will be a solid three coater on most people. You can get away with two coats if you don’t mind very obvious visible nail line. In 3 coats, your nail line is better hidden but still visible at some angles. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove and I didn’t have any staining.
For anyone curious, I compared this one to Brite Puppy (June Polish Pickup) in my companions video over on Youtube.
Alter Ego Body Care Products
17ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Feel the Vibrations
Theme: Ghost Adventures
Description: a soft gray with glowy orange to green shimmer and loaded with holo flakes
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: NONE
Feel the Vibrations had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin. It applied very nicely and evenly. I found that the shimmer was just slightly brush strokey but holo flakies largely distract from the brush strokes. The shimmer was very glowy in person and I was seeing both of the described colors.
This was very opaque I think most people will probably be good in 2 coats. I had some slight transparency on my tips so I went in for a third coat. Nothing in here dried down textured or will be difficult to remove.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Color Spectrum – I Object!
Theme: Legally Blonde (final polish in this series)
Description: a topper with neon pink, lime green and royal blue dots glitters, along with green, purple, and blue glass glitters, and a hefty amount of blue-purple iridescent glitters
Price: $11 for 13ml Cap: 100 bottles
I Object! Had a good formula. It was a slightly on the thicker side but it did stay where I put it so I didn’t have any formula related application issues. The glitters spread out pretty good on their own but I did dab some in to place.
This isn’t my favorite type of brush to use with toppers as I find that I have to do a lot of swipes to cover my entire nail. I don’t have this issue applying with my short hand so I think that’s just a long nail having “issue”.
I swatched this 1 thicker coat over Heather’s Hues Shadow, Olive Ave Polish Rhododendron, Zombie Claw Drunken Watermelon, 3 coats on its own and Olive Ave Polish Roo. To get the most glitters on the nail, I’d recommend holding the bottle upside down and swishing the brush in the bottle before applying.
Removal will be difficult from all of those glitters. This didn’t dry super textured, I only needed 1 coat of top coat to smooth it out.
Note: I had a lot of bubbles with this polish. It was VERY humid the day I was swatching this.
This is the final polish in Legally blonde theme! Since I swatched all of them, I decided to make a collage. Kinda chuckling at how all of these are at different nail lengths. You can find all of the posts for these in my Hella Handmade Creations tag from February of 2021 – June 2021.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Fancy Gloss – I’m Not A Glitch!
Theme: Princess series (final polish in this series)
Description: Dark grey (cold) to teal (warm) with blue/green/teal/copper/gold/red/pink/purple clear flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100
I’m Not A Glitch! had a great formula. I didn’t have any formula or application issues with this polish. The flakies spread out evenly and easily on their own without any texture. The cold state is a darker end of a medium grey and the warm state a bright aqua leaning teal. It very much reminds me of
This had pretty good coverage into coats. I think shorter nails will probably be good in two coats. I used three coats as I had a tiny bit of transparency on my tips. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove.
And also because I have swatched a few of the polishes from this theme, I made a collage of it. I believe I am missing a few of the polishes from this theme so this wasn’t everything. My reviews for these can be found in either my Hella Handmade Creations tag or my Fancy Gloss tag.
Fancy Gloss
15ml, 10 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – You’re Contraband
Theme: The Handmaid’s Tale
Description: a black base filled with a gold-green-blue shimmer, gold holo, gold hex glitters, holo gold shreds and gold-silver multichrome flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: None
You’re Contraband had a really great formula. It was slightly on the thicker side but it was very easy to work with. The glitters/flakies all spread out evenly and easily on their own without needing to do anything special. The black base has an almost hint of green to it from (I assume) the shimmer. It’s definitely a black but it feels like it has a hint of green.
I think this will be a two coater on pretty much everyone. It has really good coverage. Nothing in here is dries down super textured one called top coat should smooth it out nicely
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
LynB Designs – Je Suis Prest
Theme: Outlander series (final polish)
Description: a blackened plum based multichrome with purple to gold to green to pink shifts and holo flakies
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 250 bottles
Je Suis Prest had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. It was on the sheer side so you will want to build up opacity. This is a VERY color shifty polish! I was seeing all of the described colors in person.
The multichrome did show some brush strokes when this was dry but I found that I had to search for them. I used 3 coats for my photos. I also swatched this in 1 coat over a black creme.
Nothing in here dried textured or was difficult to remove.
LynB Designs
15ml, 5 free, Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
MLF Lacquer – Heavenly Messenger
Theme: Butterflies
Description: a medium orange crelly with red to orange to gold UCC flakies, red to orange to green aurora shimmer, and silver holographic ultrafine glitters.
Price: $11 for 15ml Cap: 100 bottles
Heavenly Messenger had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I did not have any application issues. The flakies spread out evenly and easily on their own without needing to do anything special.
The orange base has like a hint of peachiness to it. The shimmer effect is very strong and comes alive with top coat.
This will be opaque in 2-3 coats depending on preference. The third coat does deepen the color to what you see in the bottle. Nothing in here dried textured or will be difficult to remove.
Note: this was difficult to photograph color accurate. I found it photographed more pumpkiny than it looked in real life. It’s definitely a medium orange and not a pumpkin orange.
MLF Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty-Free & Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Music City Beauty – Million Reasons
Theme: Lady Gaga
Description: a light pink scattered holographic
Price: $11.50 for 15ml Cap: 100
Million Reasons had a great crelly-like formula. It was very opaque on the first coat. In person, this looks like a soft pink with a silver shimmer. The holographic effect is fairly minimal but this is still a really pretty pink.
This will be a 2-3 coater depending on your application. All of my nails except for my live swatch nail (middle) were good in 2 coats. I had a light spot on my middle nail that needed a third coat.
Nothing in here dried textured or was difficult to remove.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Red Eyed Lacquer – What Do You See?
Theme/Inspiration: Eric Carle/Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Description: A medium brown crelly with gold metallic flakies
Price: $12.50 for 12ml Cap: 100
What Do You See? had a great formula. It skirted the line between a jelly and a crelly. The flakies look amazing in this base! Y’all know I love brown polishes with gold flakes.
This will be opaque in 2-3 coats depending on nail length. For personal wear, I would wear this in 2 coats. I used 3 coats for my swatch photos as I had a tiny amount of transparency on my tips. Nothing in here dried textured or will be overly difficult to remove.
Note: browns tend to photograph very warm/red leaning on me. Color wise, I think the matte and natural light in the shade photos are the most color accurate.
Red Eyed Lacquer
12ml, 5 free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Swamp Gloss – Southbound & Down
Theme: Archie Vice
Description: A bright berry scattered holo base with red/gold/green aurora shimmer and iridescent flakies
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 200
Southbound & Down had a great jelly like formula. It applied very evenly and easily and the flakes spread out very nicely as well. This is a beautiful pink berry shade and I love how it pairs with the shimmer and flakies. The holographic is very strong as well.
This will be a 2 to 3 coater depending on preference. I found the third coat does deepen the base to what you see in the bottle. Nothing in here dried textured and I didn’t experience any staining.
Swamp Gloss
15Ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Returning Polish
Santa Bond by Heather’s Hues (November 2020 HHC) will be making a return to the Hella Handmade Creations shop as an overpour! My original review for it is available here.
Sale Info
The Hella Handmade Creations store opens on the 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.
Hella Handmade Creations
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | Facebook Chat Group |
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.
Comparisons
My Tall Bearded Iris is more opaque than Brite Puppy. Brite Puppy is a jelly base with iridescent glitters. Reviewed here
Smore Peeps was from the Peeps collab (reviewed here)
A note on thermal/solar polishes…
I want to note that thermal and solar polishes do have a shelf life on how long they will change colors for. Generally they are guaranteed to change colors for 6-12 months.
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 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.