Hello friends! Today I am sharing some polishes coming to the May, Hella Handmade Creations shop! The HHC shop opens May 14th. As always, I will have all of the sale details at the end of this 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 Body Care Products – Absolute Treasure Tall Bearded Iris
Theme: Bearded Irises
Description: Lighter blue base with blue and gold shimmer
Price: $10 Cap: None
Absolute Treasure Tall Bearded Iris had a great jelly-like formula. The shimmer in this base is soft and shimmery with minimal brush strokes. The base color is what I think of when I think of Spring/Summer shade of blue.
This was just slightly sheer after 2 coats so unless you go in for thicker coats or have very short nails, this will probably be a 3 coater on pretty much everyone. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here dried textured or was difficult to remove. I didn’t experience any staining.
Alter Ego Body Care Products
17ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Color Spectrum Polish – But You Were In The Shower?
Inspiration/Theme: Legally Bonde
Description: an adorable baby pink sheer shimmer loaded with gold to green to pink to silver to blue iridescent flakies and a sprinkle of holo microflakies
Price: $12 for 13ml Cap: 100 bottles
But You Were In The Shower? had a wonderful formula. It applies like a sheer jelly polish so even when you build this up in 3 coats, there will still be an obvious visible nail line. The base color is a soft pink shade that is very soft and (stereotypical idea of) feminine. I love love love this polish!
The flakies all spread out evenly on their own without needing to do anything special. They do not dry down textured but you will want top coat for a glassy smooth finish. I used 3 coats of polish for my photos.
Since it is sheer, this polish will also double as a topper. I showed it in 1 coat over Drunken Watermelon by Zombie Claw Polish from the May Talk Indie To Me box (reviewed here).
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Fancy Gloss – Seeking For The Last Dragon
Inspiration/Theme: Princess Series
Description: reddish/light plum (cold) to murky green (warm) packed with blue/green/copper/gold clear flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100
Seeking For The Last Dragon had a wonderful formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin. The formula was very much in line for a flakie thermal by this brand. The flakies spread out evenly and easily.
I found the cold state to be a shade between a murky mustard and a pea soup green. The warm state is a reddish, maroon or maybe a brick red type shade. The flakies give it a more green look in my opinion. The colors for this thermal are very unique in my opinion.
I used 3 coats for my photos. The third coat deepens the color slightly and adds opacity in the warm state. Nothing in here dried textured or will be overly difficult to remove.
Fancy Gloss
15ml, 10 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – I Don’t Need Oranges I Need To Scream
Inspiration/Theme: The Handmaid’s Tale
Description: a vivid orange base with iridescent flakes in red/orange/gold/green and a mix of red and orange holo and metallic glitters.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: NONE
I Don’t Need Oranges I Need To Scream had a great crelly formula. This is a BRIGHT, think eye-searingly-bright neon orange polish. Because this is a neon, it does glow under black light. The flakies and glitters all spread out evenly on their own without needing to do anything special to them.
This had really good coverage in 2 coats but I had some light spots towards my tips, so I used 3 coats for my photos. This dries down just slightly textured, 1 coat of top coat smoothed it out nicely. This will be a little tricky on removal from those glitters.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Swamp Gloss – The Orion
Inspiration/Theme: Nebula Series (final polish in this series)
Description: a lightened violet crelly with matte neon and pink and aquamarine hexes.
Price: $12 for 15ml Cap: 200 bottles
The Orion had a great formula. The glitters spread out really evenly without needing to do anything special. The base is thinner than what I would expect for a glitter crelly but what I have come to find is normal for crellies by this brand. Swamp Gloss (magically?) manages to create densely packed glitter crellies that aren’t thick and that dry down surprisingly smooth.
The base color is a pastel violet type shade. This was just slightly sheer in two coats so I went in for 3 coats. 1 coat of top coat smoothed this out perfectly. Removal will be difficult from all of those glitters so I suggest soaking it off.
Note: The neon glitters in this base are black light reactive. The base itself is not black like reactive.
Swamp Gloss
15ml, 10 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
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.
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.