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Hey friends! I can’t believe the month of January is almost over already. Like what?? Despite the month blowing by way too quickly, I would say the first month of the year was pretty good.
I decided the other day to chop off my nail extensions so the next couple of posts will have a mixture of short nails and long nails. There wasn’t a real reason behind the chop, I just thought my nails looked nice short so I decided to switch things up.
Back to PPU, for February the theme is Famous Movie Quotes. I am planning on doing my wishlisting for PPU live later today at 5PM on my YouTube channel. I am really looking forward to seeing what all of the brands went with for quotes because this small selection that I got was great!
The February Polish Pickup opens up this Friday at 11AM Eastern time, as always links and sale details can be found at the end of the post.
Live Swatch Video
Polish Pickup aka PPU is a monthly collaboration of indie polish and other handmade product makers based on a chosen theme. There’s a new theme with new products each month from dozens of makers. Items are available the first Friday – Monday of each month for pre-order.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Better Than No Heart At All
Inspiration: Stardust
Description: a pale pink Doomicorn sibling with the same glowy green to blue shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: none
Better Than No Heart At All had fantastic but sheer jelly formula. This polish will stay sheer so if you want to reach full opacity, you’ll need to pair it with an opaque base.
The shimmer in here is STRONG. It is the kind of strong shimmer where in low lighting, you won’t see the base color, just the green to blue color shift. There are some brush strokes while the polish is wet, but they all disappear as the polish dries down.
I wasn’t too sure about this one given the level of sheerness. However, I ended up loving how it looks, especially in lower light situations. The color shiftiness was excellent.
My photos show Better Than No Heart At All in 3 cats plus glossy top coat.
A quick comparison of Better Than No Heart At All to Doomicorn (PPU June 2021). The base color is the only real difference between the two.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Cameo Colours Lacquer – Honey, Where’s My Super Suit?
Inspiration: Frozone, from the first Incredibles movie
Description: A white crelly base full of icy aqua and blue shimmer, a dash of holo sparkle, blue metallic flakes, small caramel metallic glitters, silver holo micro flakes, and a smattering of black micro flakes
Price: $11.50 for 15ml | Cap: 105 bottles
Honey, Where’s My Super Suit? had a fantastic crelly formula. All of the blue components in here make the white crelly base appear to be an incredibly pale blue shade. Those components all spread out very evenly with minimal texture.
The coverage for this polish was pretty good. I can see it being a 2-3 coater depending on nail length and personal preference. This polish is inspired by one of my favorite movie quotes.
My photos show Honey, Where’s My Super Suit? in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. Removal won’t be overly difficult but it will be on the messy side.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Clionadh Cosmetics – I Want An Everlasting Gobstopper!
Inspiration: Willy Wonka’s wonderfully chaotic Inventing Room
Description: A colourful, full coverage flakie explosion. Featuring: red, copper, yellow, lime, turquoise and blue metallic flakes, red and violet iridescent aurora flakes, holographic shimmer, a pea coat to warm it up and a sneaker for extra kick
Price: $12.50 for 11.5ml | Cap: None
I Want An Everlasting Gobstopper! had a fantastic formula. The base seems to be clear so you will want to build it up for the most opacity. The flakies spread out very evenly without giving off any texture.
I loved the rainbow flakie look that this polish had! The holographic shimmer was very holographic. My photos do not do them any justice.
My photos show I Want An Everlasting Gobstopper! in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I do think this will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on application/nail length. I got slightly more coverage with the third coat but it wasn’t that much.
Clionadh Cosmetics
11.5ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save extra!
Website | Instagram | TikTok
Clionadh Cosmetics
11.5ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save extra!
Website | Instagram | TikTok
Fair Maiden Polish – Even miracles take a little time
Inspiration: Cinderella
Description: Ultra pale periwinkle with pink, gold green aurora shimmer. While lighter colors with shimmer can lean sheer, this one yields a creamy opacity while still maintaining the effects of the shimmer
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Even Miracles Take A Little Time had a great formula. It falls somewhere between being a creme and a crelly. I was very surprised that this wasn’t in a jelly base.
Unsurprisingly, since this one is such a light color coverage is a little bit patchy and uneven. So you will need to build it up to fix that unevenness. With shorter nails and careful application, I could see this being a two coater. For everyone else, you will want 3 coats to get opacity as well as even coverage. If I looked really closely, I could see some uneven spots in 3 coats.
Ny photos show Even miracles take a little time in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Fair Maiden Polish
15ml & 5 Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Fair Maiden Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Truffle Shuffle
Inspiration: the scene from The Goonies where Chunk is made to ‘do the Truffle Shuffle’
Description: a black base filled with holo aurora shimmer, neon pink and green glitters, bright pink holo microshreds, and a mix of iridescent and multichrome flakes that all shift various shades of violet, pink, green, and gold
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Truffle Shuffle had a fantastic formula. It starts off fairly sheer but builds up to reach full opacity.
I LOVE the glitter/flakie/shimmer mix in this polish! I will say, this polish did remind me of a polish Heather released a few years ago called Flake Flight. The shimmer between the two is different and the flakies are also not the same.
I was curious to see if there was a big difference for this polish built up in 3 coats on its own vs 1 coat over black. I personally like it built up better but over black it was slightly darker.
My photos show Truffle Shuffle in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here dries down super textured, one coat of top coat smoothed everything out nicely.
Feel free to ignore how horrendous my nails looked back in 20223 kthnx.
Heather’s Hues – WiTS in Snozzberries
Inspiration: the hilarious scene in the movie Super Troopers- “The snozberries taste like snozberries”
Description: top notes of blackberry, apricot, and strawberry blended by middle notes of sweet pear, lavender, and jasmine. If you’ve seen the movie, you know why this scent had to finish with base notes of earthy greens
Price: $9 for 2 ounces | Cap: 100
The fragrance on this month’s lotion was SO good.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – Tastes Like
Inspiration: Lickable Wallpaper from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Description: a bold purple base with a rainbow variety of flakies
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Tastes Like had a fantastic crelly formula. It was slightly on the thicker side but I found it very easy to work with. This is jam packed with flakies in a variety of sizes. I did get some larger flakies out on the nail but these flakies do not dry down with texture.
I LOVE a fakie polish that you get a rainbow of flakies out on the nail like this. My only complaint is that I don’t really love the shade of purple that this one has. It’s very warm toned and I prefer cool toned purples.
My photos show Tastes Like in 3 coats plus glossy and matte top coats. Removal won’t be overly difficult but it will be messy.
KBShimmer Sugar Scrub in Zesty Lemon
Inspiration: lemons
Description: Fresh, tart, and not too sweet, Zesty Lemon scrub has notes of fresh lemon zest along with a hint of juicy grapefruit. Subtle white musk notes anchor this refreshing scrub for a scent anyone will enjoy. The bright citrus notes make this the perfect scrub to keep in the kitchen for use after spring garden prep, or in your bathroom to help you embrace the morning
Price: $10 for 9.5oz | Cap: None
As someone who really really really loves lemon scented products, I was so in love with this month’s scent! It smells like lemon zest, so think when you are cooking with lemon and not lemon cleaning products.
KBShimmer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Amazon | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – My Blood, Your Blood, Our Blood
Inspiration: Practical Magic
Description: a blackened purple with vibrant red/copper/gold shifting shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
My Blood, Your Blood, Our Blood had a fantastic formula. The base starts off a little bit sheer, but it does build up very nicely to reach mostly full opacity. It will of course look a lot sheerer in bright direct lighting due to the shimmer giving so much opacity.
This is one of those shimmer polishes where you largely see the shimmer and that the base color is all but hidden by how strong the shimmer is. I was only really able to see the base color on the first coat and then out in bright lighting. You do not get any brush strokes with it.
While I do not generally love reddish polishes there was something about this one (the gold probably) that I really loved. I do think to get the most opacity, this polish might be a solid 3 coater. If you have very short nails this might be ok in two coats.
My photos show My Blood, Your Blood, Our Blood in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Restored by Polish – I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed
Inspiration: the iconic sunset fighter jet scenes in the movie, Top Gun.
Description: a sunset orange with a pink/orange aurora shimmer
Price: $12.50 for 12ml | Cap: 100
I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed had a fantastic formula. The base color on this polish is a BRIGHT and vibrant almost neon orange. It was so absolutely beautiful!
This one is in a jelly base, so it starts off and stays fairly sheer. You will want to build it up to get the most opacity. However, you will still have obvious VNL with it in 3 coats. Of course, because my nails are clear, that does exarate how sheer it looks but as you can see my natural nail line was visible with this polish.
The shimmer was as described. I thought I was seeing a hint of green at very extreme angles but I wasn’t able to photograph it.
My photos show I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Restored By Polish
12ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Twisting Nether Lacquer – Ladies don’t start fights…but they can finish them
Inspiration: Marie from the Aristocats
Description: a sheer white polish with pink-gold-green ultra aurora shimmer, holo micro flakes, black flakes, and silver reflective glitter
Price: $13.50 for 15ml | Cap: 200
Ladies don’t start fights…but they can finish them had great formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick at all despite having those reflective glitters in there. It is a more milky white so it will need to be built up to reach full opacity.
As someone who loves white crellies, this one was my jam. I do wish the shimmer was a bit stronger but Kasi (brand owner) did tell me that customer bottles will have more shimmer and reflective glitters added since swatcher bottles didn’t have very much.
The reflective glitters do give this polish quite a bit of texture. I opted to pair this with a glitter smoothing top coat before my quick dry top coat.
My photos show Ladies don’t start fights…but they can finish them in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat.
Polish Pickup
Website | Overstock | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | Chat/BST Group
I thought someone might be curious on how this polish compares to the brand’s polish called Zero (Polish Pickup October 2022). The shimmer in Zero was stronger and appears to have a different color shift than the shimmer in this one.
Twisting Nether Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group
Sale Information
The January Polish Pickup opens up on Friday, February 3rd at 11AM Eastern time on PolishPickup.com. The sale period closes the following Monday at 11:59PM. All items are sold on a pre-order basis, for more information do check out the PPU website.
There will be a TON more items available than what I have shown. The website will be open to preview this Sunday.