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Hello friends! Continuing with spooky season posts, it is time to share my swatches for the September Polish Pickup!! September PPU is ALWAYS amazing (in my mind) because it is pretty much always themed around something Halloween related.
For September the theme is Haunted History. Not gonna lie, I was kinda meh about the historic aspect of the theme but it’s Halloween themed so I will take it! The September PPU opens up on September 1st at 11am Eastern time on PolishPickup.com for a pre-order window.
As always, I will have more links and sale information at the end of the post. Check out my live swatch video to see the polishes in different lighting situations! Also just a headsup, I am still waiting on a few things to come in the mail so I will be updating this post as they arrive!
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.
Beaux Rêves Lacquer – Bent Neck Lady
Inspiration: The Haunting of Hill House
Description: a dusky dark blue base with violet-red-green shimmer, a fiery red/orange magnetic and holo flake
Price: $12 for /no cap!
Bent Neck Lady Talk about a beauty! Photos do NOT do this polish any justice, it’s so multidimensional you have to look at it in person or in video to really see how pretty it is.
On the first coat, this is pretty sheer and uneven so it needs to be built up to make the most of it. You get pretty decent coverage in two coats however if you want to magnetize it, I would recommend going in for three. Once magnetized, the polish sheers out a bit so reaching full opacity and then magnetizing it is in my opinion, your best bet.
You all know I am not the most patient person when it comes to magnetics but I was able to easily magnetize Bent Neck Lady with my handy dandy ring magnet. The flakies give this some extra razzle dazzle without giving off any texture.
My photos show Bent Neck Lady in 3 coats both magnetized and unmagnetized plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here dries down texture and removal will be fairly easy but messy.
Beaux Reves Lacquer
12ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Facebook Group | Instagram
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – The Woman In Black
Inspiration: My own spooky experience while on a ghost tour
Description: a black sister polish to Doomicorn with the same green to aqua to blue shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml | No cap
The Woman In Black had a fantastic formula. I wouldn’t have realized that it had the same shimmer as the oh-so-famous Doomicorn if the brand hadn’t included that in the description. I’m not sure if it’s the black base that threw me off?
Much like its sister, the shimmer is STRONG and color shifty. Due to the black base, the shimmer doesn’t feel as color shifty as the original but the green to blue color shift is apparent.
Unlike its sister, it does seem to be a bit more opaque. Coverage is even enough that I can see some people being good with two coats. In bright direct lighting like sunlight it might appear a bit sheerer though. I opted to go in for 100% opacity with three coats.
My photos show The Woman In Black in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here will be difficult to remove and I didn’t experience any staining.
If you are like me you would be wondering how this compares to last month’s Beneath The Erdtree. They are not dupes, the base color on Beneath The Erdtree is a dark greenish teal and the shimmer has a golden color shift. I will fully admit the two polishes do have a similar look on the nail though.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Clionadh Cosmetics – Jerome Grand Hotel
Description: Appearing burgundy at first glance, this polish comes to life with its copper-gold magnetic pull and silver holographic flakes. The magnetization reveals a new dimension with pink-orange-gold-lime shifting shimmer and a pinch of a ghostly blue micro-flake. This polish is intended to be just as beautiful un-magnetized as it is magnetized. The magnetic effect enhances the overall dimensionality of the finish
Price: $13 USD for 11.5ml | Cap: 393 bottles
Jerome Grand Hotel starts off a little sheer and uneven but builds up really nicely. This is one of those polishes that are really hard to capture all of the dimensions in a still photo.
The magnetic effect takes a few moments longer than typical to get magnetized however it does magnetize easily. As someone who isn’t the most patient magnetizer, I held my magnet over my nail for 30 seconds and the effect looked good to me. I do think this polish looks great both magnetized and unmagnetized.
My photos show Jerome Grand Hotel in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. My pointer and pinky nails are unmagnetized.
Clionadh Cosmetics
11.5ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save extra!
Website | Instagram | TikTok
Color Spectrum Polish – Lady in Waiting
Inspiration: Honolulu International Airport – according to the legend, a woman fell in love with a man who promised to marry her, but then hopped on an international flight and abandoned her at the gate. Her ghost is still waiting for him to return, seen wearing a white dress
Description: A magenta with blurple flakes and pink-purple auroras.
Price: $12.50 for 13ml | Cap: 115 bottles
Lady in Waiting oh how I love this base color! It’s vibrant but manages to also feel very Autumnal.
I was pleasantly surprised at how opaque this polish was. It’s a little bit on the thicker side but not so thick that it needed thinner. Thick in that opaque kind of way.
The flakies all spread out evenly and since they are incredibly small do not dry down with any texture. This is a more pigmented polish so I would once again reccomend base coat to prevent any staining.
My photos show Lady In Waiting in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Super easy removal and I didn’t experience any staining.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Crystal Knockout – Where Birds Never Sing
Inspiration: Culloden Moors
Description: An apple green to black thermal that glows aqua in the dark, with matte glitters in aqua, light blue, and black, with iridescent color-shifting flakes in copper, pink, gold, and green.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: None
Where Birds Never Sing is kind of infuriating to photograph, due to the thermal aspect you get an entire range of greens from a light bright green to a deep forrest green on top of the darkest green you can get before you get to black.
The formula is on the thicker side, so working in thinner coats will be your best bet. Due to the thickness, I opted to only swatch this one in 2 coats so I did have a little bit of VNL in the warm state.
I didn’t realize that this was a glow in the dark when I was swatching it so I can’t speak on that effect. My hands were pretty cold when I was swatching this one so I did need to warm my hands up with a hairdryer to see the warmer states. It did seem to react quickly to differences in temperature.
My photos show Where Birds Never Sing in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. For long term wear, this will likely need a second coat of top coat to smooth everything out. Removal will of course be on the more difficult side if you top to scrub it off.
Crystal Knockout
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – Take The Stairs
Inspiration: a haunted hotel ride
Description: a deep black jelly Bold, near-neon lights are reflected in an array of colorful shifting flakes swimming in the midnight base. The pops of pink shift to red while blue and aqua morph into purple and green. Hints of gold and yellow complete this hauntingly beautiful shade.
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Take The Stairs is rainbows in a black base which is the quickest way to get me to love a black base. On the first coat, this was sheer and a little uneven but it built up nicely for me on the second coat.
The base did feel a little bit on the thicker side but nothing usual for a very flakie heavy based polish. All of the flakies spread evenly without needing manipulation and minimal texture. I didn’t experience the flakies being top coat hungry but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. In that case, just add an extra coat of top coat to keep everything smooth and glosy.
My photos show Take The Stairs in two coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. Removal wil be a little be trickier than a shimmer but nothing like a glitter polish.
KBShimmer – Caramel Apple Crunch Sugar Scrub
Inspiration: Caramel apple crunch desserts
Description: Starting out with notes of a sweet, juicy apple, you can almost taste that first bite. The nutty notes of rich caramel and brown sugar add depth to the apple notes. Every once in a while, a hint of cinnamon tickles my nose, completing this fall-inspired scent.
Price: $10 for 9.5oz | Cap: None
If you like all things apple desserts, this month’s scrub is for you. This smells exactly like the description. Appley, sweet and a hint of cinnamon.
KBShimmer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Amazon | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Monarch Lacquer – Eerie Embers of Salem
Description: Dark orange jelly base with red gold MC flake and black flake. The orange color represents the flickering flames of witchcraft accusations, while the black flakes symbolize the haunting darkness that shrouded the town during that time.
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Eerie Embers of Salem I love how Falloween the base color paired with the flakies are in this. This is a sheerer jelly base so most of hte opacity comes from the flakies. This is sheer enough that over similar or darker colors it would work as a topper.
This is jam packed with flakies so it does feel slightly on the thicker side. I found the flakies had a tendtendcy to clump together a little bit but the polish dries down slow enough that you can work them a little bit more to even them out.
The flakies also seem to dry down a little bit textured so you might need an extracoat of top coat to keep the manicure smooth.
My photos show Eerie Embers of Salem in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. The flakies will make for messy removal but not overly difficult. I still wouldn’t recommend scrubbing this one off.
I intially thought this was the orange sibling to Fair Maiden Polish‘s Mind Freak. They are NOT dupes but they are similar. Mind Freak is a red base but doesn’t gave the black flakies.
Music City Beauty – The Stanley
Inspiration: The Stanley Hotel as inspiration. This is the hotel that inspired Stephen King’s The Shining during his stay there.
Description: a red base full of Aurora shifting through red, orange and green and silver holographic flakies.
Price: $14 for 15ml | Cap: 100
The Stanley the new Nicole Loves Nails who does not in fact hate red nail polish on sight, was absolutely gaga over this polish! The red is JUICY and paired with the shimmer and holo, this is a stunner!
The red doesn’t feel like a seasonal red but it did make my hands look a little bit warmer than normal. It has a tendency to look a lot more orange in photos than it is in person.
I don’t know how Kim (owner of MCB) does it but this was opaque on me in one coat! The base was on the thicker side but not in any way difficult to work with. The polish also dries down dull so you will need some top coat for a glossy finish.
My photos show The Stanley in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Since this is so pigmented I HIGHLY recommend doubling up on bae coat to prevent staining.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – Haunted Forest
Inspiration: the thick, dark, mossy haunted forests in Washington
Description: a linear holographic multichrome that shifts blackened-olive/red/orange
Price: $13 for 15ml | No Cap
Haunted Forest had a fantastic formula. I was surprised to reach that this is a linear holo multichrome base. I would have called this a linear holo with a strong brownish to orange shimmer.
It built up perfectly for me in only 2 coats. You get a ton of holographic sparkle without the fuss of a glitter polish. The shimmer comes out to play best in lower lighting where the holo isn’t quite as strong.
I am pretending that the inspiration of this polish is actually the haunted forests of Forks Washington because ya girl is gonna be a Twi-Hard whenever given the change!
My photos show Haunted Forest in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. You will want top coat for this one as it dries down flat. Super easy removal.
Unrelated to this but I find it really funny how just a few days before I got this polish in the mail I was thinking to myself that I need a prugly green linear holographic to add to my collection. Kismet!
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Restored By Polish – Mysterious Waters
Description: an indigo base with lavender micro flakes and strong teal aurora shimmer
Price: $12.75 for 12ml | Cap: 100
Mysterious Waters had a fantastic formula. The indigo base was so dang pretty. This is one of those shades of indigo that led me down Googling “What color is indigo?”. That search led me to the conclusion that depending on who you ask, indigo is anywhere from purple, blue to something in between. *shrug*
My photos show Mysterious Waters in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. I had a few light spots that while my naked eye didn’t catch, my camera did.
Restored By Polish
12ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Sweet & Sour Lacquer – The Saw Is Family
Inspiration: The history behind Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Description: a beautiful cherry red jelly with black flakes and a touch of blue iridescent flakes
Price: TBD for 15ml | Cap: 500
The Saw Is Family is the dark spooky red that I only recently admited to enjoying. It is a bright punchy red on that first coat so to get the darkening of the base you will want to build it up.
Built up, it has a gory almost bloody red look on the nail. Coverage is fairly even so if you don’t care to build it up in 3 coats you can stop in two.
The flakies in here spread out evenly without needing to be manipulated but dry down slightly textured. This is one of those flakie polishes that benefit from an extra coat of top coat or a glitter smoothing top coat.
My photos show The Saw Is Family in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. While I did not experience any staining with this polish, i would still recommend wearing a base coat. Removal won’t be overly difficult but it will be messy.
Sweet & Sour Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Use my affiliate code ‘SWEETNICOLE10‘ to save 10% on S&S website orders
Sale Information
The September 2023 Polish Pickup goes live Friday September 1st at 11AM Eastern time on PolishPickup.com. All items sold are on a pre-order and sale period closes the following Monday.
There will be a TON more items available than just the ones I have shown. You’ll be able to see everything available for the month the Sunday before the shop opens.
International shipping is available and all items are sold on a pre-order basis, for more information do check out the FAQ section of the website.
Polish Pickup
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