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Hello my friends! Today’s blog post is for the October Hella Handmade Creations shop! I have an amazing variety of polishes today in a bunch of different finishes.
The October HHC shop opens up on the 14th of October. As always, sale details and links will be at the end of the post. I will also have a few comparisons tucked in at the end as well.
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.
BCB Lacquers – Orion
Theme: Galaxy
Description: dark magenta with violet shimmer, red & platinum silver micro flakes and a touch of holo.
Price: $13.00 for 16.5ml Cap: 100
Orion had a fantastic formula. It applied somewhere between a jelly and a crelly polish. The flakies are on the smaller side so they won’t dry textured.
This polish had great coverage in 2 coats. However my photos show it in 3 coats. I found the third coat deepen the base color to what I was seeing in the bottle.
Orion also dries dull so you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
BCB Lacquers
16.5ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Go Ahead and Laugh
Theme: Ghost Adventures
Inspiration: the time Zak though he was being attacked by a ghost squid but it was really just some stray wires
Description: a green to pink to gold pastel multichrome with black to red multichrome flakes
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: none
Go Ahead and Laugh had an amazing formula. This polish is EXTREMELY color shifty! Paired with the multichrome flakes, you get so much bang for your buck with this polish. I was seeing all of the described colors in person. I found that the flakes have an almost purple tone to them paired with this base.
This polish will likely be a solider 3 coater. You get good coverage with 2 coats but it wasn’t quite 100% opaque. Nothing in here will dry textured but you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Color Spectrum Polish – Natural Mystic
Theme: Bob Marley
Description: a black base with colorful flakies, holo, and a green/purple/blue magnetic pull
Price: $12.50 for 13ml Cap: 100
Natural Mystic had a really great formula. I found this applied best with normal to slightly thicker coats. In very thin coats it was a little streaky. Between the rainbow of flakies and the magnetic shimmer, this polish is very colorful. I found the magnetic effect to be more on the subtle side. It will be more apparent once you add your top coat as this does dry dull.
This will be a 2-3 coater depending on the thickness of your coats. I accidentally did a pretty thick coat on my live swatch nail (middle) and it was nearly opaque in 1 coat. I didn’t have any problems with this drying in thicker coats but I would still recommend building it up with thinner coats.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Garden Path Lacquers – Silver Dollar Eculpytus
Theme: Secret Garden
Description: a sage green crelly filled with blue/purple shifting iridescent flakes, holographic microflakes, and a dusky blue/pink/purple shifting shimmer.
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: None
Silver Dollar Eculpytus had a wonderful formula. It applied buttery smooth and I didn’t have any application issues. The flakies paired with the shimmer give this a gorgeous color shifty look on the nail. Paired with a holographic element, it’s really beautiful.
I swatched this polish in 3 coats. I found it had great coverage in 2 coats but it wasn’t quite the color I was seeing in the bottle. Nothing in here will dry textured but you will want top coat as thus dries dull.
Garden Path Lacquers
12ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Group
Hearts & Promises – Always Give Thanks
Theme: Holidays
Inspiration: Thanksgiving
Description: a cranberry and purple linear holo polish with orange/green/gold UCC flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 200
Always Give Thanks had a really great formula. This polish is a jelly so you will want to build it up for full opacity. I found the base color is a deep purple with some cranberry red tones. The holographic is very strong and I found the flakies to be more sparse on the nail.
I think this polish will likely be a 3 coater on most people. I found in 2 coats it wasn’t quite the color that I was seeing in the bottle. Thicker coats might solve that “issue” though.
Hearts & Promises
15ml, 5 Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Praise Be
Theme: The Handmaid’s Tale
Description: a bright blood red base with a pink to orange to gold magnetic shift. It’s filled with orange and red glitters and red-copper-bronze-gold multichrome flakes
Price: $13for 15ml Cap: None
Praise Be had a fantastic formula. The base for this skirts the line between being a juicy red and a blood red, depending on your lighting you will likely see both. The magnetic shimmer had a pink to gold to green color shift. This polish has a jelly-like feel to it so you will want to build it up for opacity.
The magnetic pigment, magnetized easily for me. I used a ring magnet for my photos.
I found this to be opaque in 2-3 coats. It was mostly opaque in 2 coats but I did use 3 coats as I magnetized the third coat. I did not magnetize my middle nail and that nail is swatched in 3 coats as well.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
LynB Designs – Eternally Optimistic Goldfish
Theme: Animal Magnetism
Description: orange/red base with red to gold shifting magnetic pull and scattered holo sparkle
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 100
Eternally Optimistic Goldfish had a fantastic formula. The base paired with the magnetic pigment looks so cool! The base color is somewhere between a rust and orange shade.
This polish magnetized very easily for me. I used a ring magnet for my photos.
This polish will be a 2-3 coater depending on application. I used 3 coats for my photos but my live swatch shows this in 2 coats. (I accidentally deleted the live swatch footage from my sd card so I had to swatch this twice).
LynB Designs
15ml, 5 Free & Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
MTK Designs – Bad Moon on the Rise
Theme: Seasonal full moon names (new theme)
Description: a dusty gray lavender (warm) to dark red-orange (cold) w/ medium particle linear holo; iridescent shifting sparkles, shimmers, and flakies in gold/copper/ruby/amethyst
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: None
Bad Moon on the Rise had a wonderful formula. I found the thermal aspect started changing on me very easily. I found the warm state to be a pinkish lavender that is just slightly grayed out and the cold state is a dark pinky red shade. The flakies and shimmer look so beautiful in these base colors!
This applied very smoothly and evenly so it will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. My photos show it in 3 coats. This did dry down a little dull so you will want top coat for a nice glossy finish.
MTK Design
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Music City Beauty – LaLa Orange
Theme: Rainbow Bright The Color Kids
Description: an orange crelly with gold shimmer and gold flakies.
Price: $11 for 15ml Cap: 100
La La Orange had an amazing formula. This is a very opaque crelly/creme formula that self levels perfectly and applies buttery smooth. The base color is a very bright cartoony orange shade. It’s a tad brighter than a pumpkin orange.
This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on preference. I had a *tiny* bit of VNL in 2 coats so my photos show it in 3. Nothing in here will dry textured but you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – Helloooooo
Theme: Psych
Inspiration: Season 6 Episode 2 ‘Last Night Gus’.
Description: a black tinted base with purple/red/copper multichrome shimmer loaded with holographic micro flakies and purple/red/copper multichrome flakes
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: None
Helloooooo had a wonderful formula. It didn’t feel thick at all despite being jam packed with flakies. I was seeing all of the described colors for both the multichrome shimmer and flakes.
I swatched this polish in 2 coats. Longer nails might need 3 for full opacity. Nothing in here dried textured but you will want top coat for a glossy finish. Removal won’t be difficult but it will be on the more messy side.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Pretty Beautiful Unlimited – Pickup Up The Spare
Theme: Cosmic Bowling
Description: a royal blue jelly base with turquoise to blue shifting pigment, gold and jade holographic micro glitters and 2 types of crystal chameleon flakies.
Price: $13.00 for 15ml Cap: 150
Pickup Up The Spare had a fantastic formula. The blue base is a gorgeous jewel toned blue. All of the components in this come together for a super sparkly combination on the nail.
I used 2 coats for my photos. This was surprisingly opaque so I think most people will be good in 2 coats. Very long nails might need a third. Nothing in here dries down textured but this polish does dry down dull so you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
I don’t think removal will be overly difficult BUT I would still recommend soaking this off or wearing a peel off base coat. Between the pigmentation and the components, I forsee it being a mess.
Note: this was very pigmented. If blues tend to stain you, I would recommend doubling up on base coat to prevent staining. I didn’t experience any staining.
Pretty Beautiful Unlimited
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Red Eyed Lacquer – Undercover Glow
Theme: Bioluminescent Animals (new theme)
Description: a cobalt blue jelly with light blue/lavender shifting flakies, blue/purple/green shifting flakies, and a blue glow in the dark.
Price: $13.00 for 13ml Cap: 150
Undercover Glow had a fantastic jelly formula. This has a squishy jelly look on the nail that will be perfect for layered with nail art. The flakies all spread out evenly and easily.
The glow in the dark aspect charged up very easily for me using a blacklight flashlight. This dries *slightly* textured so you will want top coat to smooth it out as well as to give it a glossy finish.
I think this one will be a solid 3 coater. Since it is a jelly, it is slightly transparent on the nail. I had some VNL but the flakies do largerly distract from it. I also swatched this polish in 1 coat over a black creme. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove.
Red Eyed Lacquer – Simply The Zest Da Balmer
Inspiration: vodka lemonade
Description: A custom blend of sparkling limoncello and the scent of the ocean air!
Description: Use a sparingly amount onto hands, arms, elbows, legs, everywhere that needs a boost of moisture! (Please avoid the face area). Scented in a blend of warm caramel vanilla and Angel food cake
Ingredients: Mango Butter, Shea Butter, Kokum Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Arrowroot Powder, and Skin Safe Fragrance
Price: $7.50 for 1oz Cap: 50
Simply The Zest Da Balmer smelled absolutely amazing. It has a citrusy scent with a strong ocean breeze to it. I found the fragrance doesn’t linger for very long and this is a very moisturizing balm. I
I have been using this product for a little over a month now. I find a little goes a long with it. If you take nail pictures, this will be a good one to use as your skin won’t look greasy. I am very excited to try this it gets colder here in Connecticut as I feel this will be amazing for the winter months and it’s small enough to fit in my purse.
Red Eyed Lacquer
12ml, 5 free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Swamp Gloss – Biscuits with the Boss
Theme: Ted Lasso (new theme)
Description: a light pink with metallic shifting flakes in blue, violet, red, orange
Price: $12.00 for 15ml Cap: 200
Biscuits with the Boss had an amazing crelly-like formula. The base color is a soft pink that is just slightly cool/purple in tone. The flakies all spread out evenly and easily without giving off any texture.
I swatched this polish in 3 coats. It applies very evenly so if you want just a sheer wash of color with some flakies, this would be fantastic for that in 1-2 coats. To get the color depth that you see in the bottle as well as to cover up your nail line, you will want to go in for 3 coats.
This polish also dries a little flat so you will want top coat for a glossy finish. Nothing in here will dry textured or be overly difficult to remove.
Overpours
This month the overpour section will have polishes from the March HHC. My review from that month can be found here or click the above image! Overpours are EXTREMELY limited so be sure to get on the website as it opens to snag them
Comparisons
For some reason Go Ahead And Laugh was making me think of Murderous Little Creatures from the From Blood And Ash collection. They’re not anything alike.
The next comparison is for La La Orange compared to Ahead Of The Carve by Glisten & Glow (Halloween 2021 Quad reviewed here). I didn’t realize how similar these two were until I accidentally put the MCB in the G&G video. The G&G polish is more color shifty than the MCB. The MCB polish also has flakies. They’re not dupes by any means but they are similar.
Products Used
- Base coats: Heather’s Hues 1st Base, Vapid Lacquer Commitment Issues
- Top Coats: Sweet & Sour Lacquer Gloss Sauce *gifted (Use code SweetNicole10 to save 10%), KBShimmer Clearly On Top & Glisten & Glow Matte
- Blacklight Flashlight
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.
