Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the November 2022 Hella Handmade Creations.
Live Swatch Video
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.
All Mixed-Up Lacquer – Head Banging Mix Tape
Theme: 80’s Rock Bands
Inspiration: The Cinderella Queen Meme
Description: a tri thermal – orchid (cold), light blue (warm), clear (cold) with red/pink/gold shifting shimmer and scattered sapphire blue holo
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 150
Head Banging Mix Tape had a good but thicker formula. I was pleasantly surprised that this polish was pretty opaque! I only needed 2 coats to reach full opacity.
The thermal aspect started changing for me right away. I would say all of the color states are as described BUT the warmest state is more of a very pale lavender that leans towards being an off white shade.
The glitters do not give off very much texture. One coat of top coat smoothed them out really well. I don’t think they’re going to be the most difficult to remove but I still wouldn’t suggest scrubbing this one off. The shimmer was a larger particle size so it was very sparkly.
The shimmer paired with the base colors on this polish was really pretty. I didn’t think I was going to like this one as much as I did.
My photos show Head Banging Mix Tape in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
All Mixed Up Lacquers
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – You’re Creeping Me Out
Theme: Demon Slayer
Inspiration: Inosuke
Description: a steel blue polish with red to green ghost flakes and two different shades of blue light reflective glitter
Price: $14 for 15ml | Cap: None
You’re Creeping Me Out had a good but thicker formula. The light reflective glitter adds to the thickness so try to do the thinnest of coats for the easiest application.
This one also starts off pretty sheer so you if want full opacity, it’s going to be a 3 coater. Coverage is pretty even so if you don’t mind obvious VNL, it’s passable in 2 coats.
The glitters do not dry down textured but the reflective glitters do. They were incredibly sparkly both indoors and out in natural sunlight. I was able to best see the blue reflects out in the sun. I paired this polish with the KBSHimmer Smooth Moves glitter smoothing top coat before going in with my quick dry top coat. That combination smoothed everything out really nicely for me.
As a grey polish lover, I loved how flakies looked in the base! I always wait until I see a reflective glitter in natural light before I decide if I love it, and this one didn’t disappoint.
My photos show You’re Creeping Me Out in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Removal is going to be very difficult, the soak off method or a peel off base coat will give you the easiest removal.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Color Spectrum Polish – Best Friends Forever
Theme: Barbie
Inspiration: Barbie & Friends
Description: A lilac crelly with teal shimmer, purple to teal metallic flakies, iridescent flakies and fuchsia holo glitter
Price: $12.50 for 13ml | Cap: 100
Best Friends Forever had a fantastic formula. The base color for this polish is an incredibly pale lilac that can look white at first glance. I could tell that it wasn’t a white base pretty easily but my husband looked me dead in the eyes and said that it was white.
The flakies all spread out very evenly without giving off any texture. The shimmer in here was on the more delicate side. My eyes were able to pick it up but my camera didn’t seem to want to.
I was really happy with the coverage in 2 coats with this polish. The polish did seem to want to run down the stem of the brush a little bit but I didn’t find it made application difficult. I did end up going in for slightly thicker coats but it was workable.
My photos show Best Friends Forever in 2 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Crystal Knockout – Under the Emerald Canopy
Series: Habitat of the Cat series
Inspiration: The trees of the jungle where the ocelot makes its home
Description: a dark green vase with a golden shimmer, gold flakies, and matte white glitter in various sizes
Price: $12.00 for 15ml | Cap: None
Under the Emerald Canopy had a good but thicker formula. The base also is fairly sheer so either you will want to use this as a topper (I show it over black in my live swatch video) or build it up for opacity. Btw, this looked even more beautiful as a topper.
This polish has a ton of glitters in it but I didn’t need to hold the bottle upsidedown or do any fishing to get them out. They do give this polish some texture so depending on personal preference you will need 1-2 coats of top coat for a smooth finish. I paired this polish with a glitter smoothing top coat.
While the strong shimmer and glitters will largely distract from VNL, I do this you will have some VNL with this in 3 coats.
My photos show Under the Emerald Canopy in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Removal will be on the more difficult side if you scrub this polish off.
Crystal Knockout
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Happier Than Ever
Theme: Billie Eilish (final in the series)
Description: a gray crelly base with linear holo, a mix of holo glitters and micro shreds, gold flakes, iridescent orange-yellow flakes, and holo gold stars
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 120
Happier Than Ever had a really great but thicker formula. I found the formula easy to work with even with the thickness. I wasn’t surprised at all at that thickness since this polish has a TON of flakies and glitters in it.
I found the star glitters came out very easily without needing to do any fishing. For my swatches, I did run my bottle through my nail polish shaker (I use this one) before applying but when I did my live swatches, I didn’t use the shaker and still got out quite a few stars.
I am a major sucker for 1) the Heather’s Hues crelly formula 2) grey glitter crellies and 3) star shaped glitters. So this polish is my top pick from HHC this month. I am really tempted on getting a backup. It’s really sparkly and holographic!
The star glitters (and shreds) do give this polish quite a bit of texture. Depending on how they lay on your nail, 2-3 coats of top coat will be needed for a perfectly smooth finish. I used a glitter smoothing top coat paired with my quick dry top coat, and I had a few spots where the star glitters were poking up. For personal wear, I would have likely added a third coat of top coat.
My photos show Happier Than Ever in 2 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. This polish was pretty opaque so unless you go in for incredibly thin coats, I don’t see most people needing more than 2 coats for full opacity.
Removal will of course be very difficult if you scrub this polish off.
Heather’s Hues WiTS in Wildberry Princess
Theme: Adventure Time (final)
Description: a blend of buttercream, strawberry, grape and wild berries, with notes of plum and maple over a raspberry and tonka bean base
Price: $7.50 for 2oz | Cap: 40
This month’s fragrance smelled very yummy! It was fruity and sweet but not at all sickly sweet.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – Oy With the Poodles Already!
Inspiration: my most used Gilmore Girls quote.
Theme: Gilmore Girls
Description: a milky white crelly filled with pink/peach/gold/green shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Oy With the Poodles Already! had a great formula. Since this is a milky white crelly, it does start off a little but uneven/patchy. Coverage is pretty good in 2 coats so I think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on application.
Depending on lighting, the shimmer gives this a warm golden to greenish tone. I was seeing all of the described colors in the shimmer.
This polish was reminding me a lot of a couple of NOL polishes released last year. The first is, Feeling Gourd from the Fall 2021 collection. I will be honest, these are super similar. The biggest difference is that OWTPA! has a stronger pink color shift where FG has a more copper/bronze shift. The base color on FG is also more grey toned.
Also, if anyone is thinking this is similar to Breath Of A Banshee, again different base colors as well as BOAB has a purple color shift to the shimmer.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Sassy Sauce Polish – Up And Away Cabernet
Theme: Butterflies
Description: a classic red shade, jelly base with sparkling red holo glitter pigment and black glitter flakies
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: 150
Up And Away Cabernet had a good formula. It was on the thicker side but not difficult at all to work with. Since the base is a jelly, you will want to build it up to get the most opacity.
The glitter mix in this polish is incredibly sparkly! They were so sparkly, that at first, I thought there was reflective glitter in this polish. But no, it’s just super sparkly holographic glitter.
The black glitter flakies behave akin to glitter shreds so they do give this polish some texture. Depending on how they lay on the nail, you might need an extra coat of top coat to smooth everything out. Those shreds out pretty evenly so you don’t need to do any fishing to get them out. I did notice that if I help the bottle upside down, more came out.
My photos show Up And Away Cabernet in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. I think this polish will be a 2-3 coater depending on your nail length and personal preference. The third coat does add some depth to the base but coverage is even in 2 coats.
Removal will of course be difficult thanks to all of the glitters. The soak off method or a peel off base coat will give you the easiest removal experience.
Sassy Sauce Polish
15ml, 5 Free & 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
Multiple orders to the same name and address are combined and shipping overages are refunded. Shipping price is based on weight. Shipping is available internationally and there is a Facebook group for international group buys.
