Sponsored, affiliate links used
Hello friends! If you haven’t been paying attention it is officially Falloween season, at least in my mind. Sadly the weather here seems hell-bent on staying in the upper 70s with 80% humidity.
The Summerween collection is inspired by the Summerween episode of Gravity Falls. Although to be honest, I am just thinking of it as inspired by those of us who start celebrating Halloween in August.
This collection will be available starting on August 19th on the Night Owl Lacquer website. That link is an affiliate link so if you plan on doing any shopping and want to help support the blog feel free to use it!
Live Swatch Video
Night Owl Lacquer is a US based indie brand. Their polishes are handmade, 5 free and cruelty free.
Candy Revenge
Description: a dusty dark indigo with various matte neon glitters and silver holographic
Price: $10.40
Candy Revenge made my glitter-loving heart so incredibly happy! This was an instant hell yeah from me between the neon dot glitters and the tiny holographic bar glitters.
This polish is absolutely PACKED the glitters so it is on the thicker side. I didn’t need to add any thinner BUT I would bet dollars to donuts the next time I reach for this that I just might need a dash of thinner.
I found after I ran this through my nail polish shaker I got out so many of the larger glitters that I almost, and I mean almost, questioned if I was getting too many out. They do spread out evenly with regular brushing but if you want more exact placement, using your brush to dab them around is also an option.
All that said, I wouldn’t recommend holding your bottle upside down to get more glitters out on the nail as it seems Lindsay packed this with just enough glitters that you don’t need to do anything special. When I was recording my live swatches, about a week after I did my full hand swatches, I still got out a ton of glitters without needing to do anything special to coax them out.
Since this polish is on the thicker side, I originally only wanted to go in for 2 coats. However, I didn’t like how opaque the indigo base looked after two coats so I opted to go in for a very thin third coat to deepen the base. This is sheer enough in one coat that I think you just might be able to use it as a topper as well.
My photos show Candy Revenge in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. Obviously, the glitters dry down textured and will make removal a bit more difficult. Use the soak off method!!
Jack-o-Melon
Description: a watermelon green with fuschia holographic glitter, dark green holographic shreds and gold shimmer
Price: $10.40
Jack-o-Melon I feel like at first glance this polish is very Christmas-y. I choose to think of it more like Freddy Kreuger’s sweater than Happy Holidays. After some thought on the inspiration for this release, I realize that a Jack-o-Melond is probably a jack-o-lantern made with a watermelon.
Both formula and application were pretty great. The base was a little bit thicker than I wanted so I did add some thinner to my bottle. I found that made the application less thick feeling and in my opinion better. I did mention to Lindsay that this one was a little bit too thick so it shouldn’t be an issue for customer bottles.
This will be a 2-3 coater depending on your personal preference. I found while coverage was even in two coats, the base was sheerer than I wanted so I went in for a third coat. The glitters all spread out evenly and easily with some texture. I used one thicker coat of top coat to smooth everything out for my swatches but I would recommend doubling your top coat for long-term wear.
My photos show Jack-o-Melon in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal of course will be on the difficult side due to the amount of glitter in the polish. Use the soak off method or a peel off base coat for the easiest removal.
Pure Evil
Description: a neon orange filled with fuschia/orange/gold/green glowy shimmer
Price: $13
Pure Evil is giving ALL of the Summer + Halloween vibes! This is a bright neon yet pumpkin-y orange. Both the base and formula were fantastic, it was just slightly on the thicker side but I am chalking up the thickness to the fact that it was incredibly humid the day I was swatching this release.
This is going to be a 2-3 coater depending on application style and personal preference. I had 2 nails that were good in two coats and 2 nails that needed a third to reach full opacity.
This is one of those shimmers that while it isn’t super in your face obvious, it isn’t so delicate that you can’t tell it’s there. It is a subtle color shifty one, I was seeing all of the described colors except for the green shift.
My photos show Pure Evil in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and no issues with staining to report.
Ruckus
Description: a neon aqua filled with green/cyan/blue/violet glowy shimmer
Price: $13
Ruckus was pretty much identical in formula and application to Pure Evil. The major exception is that I feel like the shimmer is more obviously in your face.
You do get some obvious brush strokes through the shimmer while wet and for the most part, the disappear as the polish dries down. My camera was able to pick up some brush strokes that my eyes weren’t in person.
Like Pure Evil, this will be a 2-3 coater depending on application and personal preference. While reviewing my footage, I noticed that my camera could pick up some dark spots on my nails that I didn’t notice in person.
My photos show Ruckus in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be pretty easy and I didn’t experience any staining.
Summerween Spirit
Description: a neon purple loaded with red/orange/gold/green crystal chameleon flakes
Price: $13
Summerween Spirit I don’t know why purple flakies have such a on me but they sure do! The base color on this one is more orchid purple leaning than what I usually gravitate towards but the slightly pinky-ness that you get from orchid got me.
I found coverage surprisingly good in 2 coats but folks with longer nails and dislike VNL will likely want to go in for a third coat. All of the flakies spread out evenly without giving off any true texture.
I knew that I was going to love this one with a matte top coat and I was right!
My photos show Summerween Spirit in 2 coats plus glossy and matte top coats. Removal will be fairly easy but I still wouldn’t recommend scrubbing this one off.
Trickster
Description: a black jelly with lime/orange/gold iridescent glitters and magenta/orange/gold/green multichrome flakes
Price: $12
Trickster screams Falloween! The base was very sheer on the first coat but this is the kind of polish that needs to be built up to really shine.
The flakies and glitters all spread evenly but they do dry down with some texture. I went in for one thicker coat of top coat for my swatches and found my nail were looking textured by the time I finished them.
I originally didn’t think too highly of this one, but I did end up liking it a lot with a matte top coat. This polish was also on the thicker side so I did add a little bit of thinner to this polish as well.
My photos show Trickster in 2 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. Removal will be fairly difficult due to all of the glitters, use the soak off method or a peel off base coat for easy removal.
I will not be surprising anyone by saying that I loved this collection. Summer + Halloween ANYTHING is an instant love to me. My favorite collections are usually summer or Halloween ones so putting the two together is brilliant.
I appreciate that we got a variety of finishes with a variety of summer and Halloween appropriate colors. Neons for Halloween? Never gets old.
My top picks are going to be Candy Revenge and Jack-o-Melon.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Sale Information
The Summerween collection will be available starting on August 19th at 6PM Mountain time on NightOwlLacquer.com. The full collection is priced at $66 or you can pick up each polish individually.
This collection is not limited edition and will be around for a while. If you are feeling the Summerween spirit, NOL’s past summer and fall collections are also still available on their website. I have reviewed quite a few of them over here.
