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Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the August Polish Pickup! My apologies that this one is going up later than I intended. I haven’t been home much the past few days (Wayne’s truck is in the shop so I have been driving him to work and waiting around for him to finish) so I am playing catchup like a champ.
I didn’t realize it until I was doing the voiceover for my video but this is the first time I have had multiple products that were all inspired by the same thing (jellyfish was a recurring theme this month). I just thought it was funny how despite there being multiple similar inspirations, the polishes were nothing alike.
Anyways, the August PPU shop opens up this Friday and as per usual, links and sale details can be found at the end of the post. My live swatch video should be up either tonight or tomorrow morning. It’s currently uploading.
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 – Nothing Ever Scared Me So Much As Saying Goodbye
Inspiration: Porter and his love for Pearl
Description: A sister polish to Lion With A Thorn In Its Paw, this is a darker aqua with orange to green shimmer and a ton of holo flakes.
Price: $13.50 for 15ml | Cap: None
Nothing Ever Scared Me So Much As Saying Goodbye had a fantastic formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues.
The shimmer was very strong and color shifty. Like its sisters, I did see any brush strokes and the holo flakies were very holographic. Sadly it was raining the day I was swatching this polish so I tweaked my lighting in photo #5 to better show the holo.
I have really been loving the LWATIIP sister polishes this brand has been releasing. Like the shimmer combo paired with the holo flakes is just SO pretty.
My photos show Nothing Ever Scared Me So Much As Saying Goodbye in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on your nail length and personal preference.
Nothing in here will be difficult to remove but the flakies will likely be a little messy if you scrub this polish off.
Cameo Colours Lacquers – Swimming With Reefbacks
Inspiration: Subnautica, specifically the gentle giants known as Reefbacks.
Description: a medium blue crelly with a hint of green shimmer, full of blue, turquoise green, purple, and red metallic flakes, a dash of silver holo microflakes, and a smattering of small matte hot orange and green glitters
Price: $11.50 for 15ml | Cap: 105
Swimming With Reefbacks had a fantastic formula. It does start off a little sheer so you will want to build this one up for opacity. The glitters/flakes in here are super tiny so they do not give off very much texture. I used 1 coat of top coat and that seemed to smooth everything out nicely.
This polish screams ocean vibes and I think it will work really well as a base for nail art. The holographic flakies give this a really beautiful sparkle out in the sunlight.
My photos show Swimming With Reefbacks in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. I think this polish might be a solid 3 coater. It was still just a tiny bit sheer in 2 coats. Removal won’t be overly difficult but as per usual, I wouldn’t recommend scrubbing it off.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Color Spectrum Polish – Shimmery Tangs
Inspiration: Yellow Tang Fish
Description: A yellow jelly with red, blue, green & purple aurora and iridescent flakies.
Price: $12.50 for 13ml | Cap: 115
Shimmery Tangs had a really great formula. This polish starts off and stays fairly sheer so you will want to build it up to get the most opacity. The aurora shimmer makes it look super glowy and a little pearly on the nail.
The flakies all spread out evenly and easily without giving off any texture. There were also a few larger flakies in here which always make me happy. The yellow base is bright and a sunshiney yellow.
My photos show Shimmery Tangs in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. As I mentioned, this polish is on the more sheer side so you will have obvious VNL with it. This polish is sheer enough that you could potentially use it as a topper.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Crystal Knockout – Sea Serendipity
Inspiration: Beachgoers enjoying an ocean sunset
Description: A silver holographic base with a vibrant pink shimmer glow, silver reflective glitter, holographic flakies in purple and gold, holographic micro glitter in gold and pink, and aqua iridescent flakies
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Sea Serendipity had a great formula. It was on the thicker side but this has SO MUCH glitter and flakies that the thickness was not a surprise. I found it applied easily but it did dry down very textured. I opted to pair this polish with a glitter smoothing top coat to help smooth out the glitters.
This polish is so incredibly sparkly, photos do not do it justice. The holographic elements and reflective glitters give it next level sparkle. The shimmer effect also added to the sparkle level.
My photos show Sea Serendipity in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. I found in two coats it was still fairly sheer so I went in for a thin third coat to reach full opacity. If you don’t mind VNL coverage or have shorter nails it is passable in 2 coats.
Removal for this polish will be very difficult if you opt to scrub it off.
Fair Maiden Polish – Salt Critter
Inspiration: Cute little marine life that exists in the ocean
Description: Eccentric bright and earthy chartreuse with red orange flame. This polish summons “fall vibes” and is sure to be a unique color in your collection.
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Salt Critter had a fantastic formula. It starts off a little sheer but I found in 3 coats it reached 90-95% opacity. The shimmer effect was very strong and I didn’t see any brush strokes in person.
Between the chartreuse base and the firey shimmer, this polish was really really gorgeous. It’s bright enough for summer nails but the colors somehow also scream Autumn.
My photos show Salt Critter in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I think this will likely be a 3 coater but coverage is pretty even so it is passable in 2 coats. I did have some very slight VNL with this polish but IMO it’s not super obvious.
Fair Maiden Polish
15ml & 5 Free
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Heather’s Hues – Jelly Time
Inspiration: a bioluminescent jellyfish
Description: a dusty indigo crelly filled with red-orange-pink iridescent flakes and a touch of violet holo sparkle
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: None
Jelly Time had a good formula. It was a bit on the thicker side so I did add a few drops of thinner to it to make application easier. I am pretty sure the thickness was due to the high heat/humidity the day I was swatching as that is something that has been an ongoing issue for me this year.
In my original notes, I wrote that the base color to my eye was an inky blue with a hint of purple. I can see it as indigo but my mind still wants to call it inky blue with a hint of purple. It’s really gorgeous and the flakies look great in it.
The holographic was on the more delicate side but out in the sunlight, I could see the twinkles easily. The flakies all spread out evenly and easily without giving off texture. I also got out a couple of larger flakes.
My photos show Jelly Time in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. This polish dries down a smidge more sheer than it applied so I think this is likely going to be a 3 coater.
Heather’s Hues WiTS in Mermaid Magic
Inspiration: the mystery of mermaid
Description: a magical blend of fresh strawberry, sweet raspberry, and juicy pineapple with spun sugar on a base of vanilla with hints of musk
Price: $7.50 for 2 ounces | Cap: 60
Mermaid Magic has a super yummy fruity and sweet fragrance. Each time I have used it I kept smelling my hands like a weirdo.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – Jelly Much?
Inspiration: a jellyfish
Description: a pink-leaning cherry shade loaded with color-shifting shimmer.
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Jelly Much? had a fantastic formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues.
The shimmer in here is SO strong and glowy. It had a more subtle orangey/golden color shift to it. The pink leaning side of the base, is most obvious on the first two coats. If you go in for a third coat, the base deepens to a more obvious red tone.
My photos show Jelly Much? in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal won’t be overly difficult but I would suggest wearing base coat as this polish does seem very pigmented.
KBShimmer – Hand & Body Scrub in Salt Water & Mermaids
Inspiration: Mermaids
Description: a sweet scent that captures the essence of mermaids with a fresh, watery green fragrance. Delicate notes of ocean mist and sea grass combine with agave nectar and coconut milk for a fruit-like fragrance I can’t quite describe. A sea blue shade, this scrub is accented by a touch of biodegradable glitter on top for a scrub that will make you want a seashell outfit and a day at the beach.
Price: $10 for 9.5 ounces| Cap: None
This month’s scent is really refreshing! I love the ocean-y notes paired with hints of a fruitiness.
KBShimmer – Nail Polish Thinner
Inspiration: Thick Nail Polish
Description: add a few drops to nail polish that has thickened up
Price: $7 for 4 ounces| Cap: None
KBShimmer will also have their nail polish thinner available this month. This is the thinner than I personally purchase and use. I go through *a lot* of top coat while swatching and quick dry top coat tends to thicken with use. I just squirt some of this thinner into my top coat when I am refilling the bottle and that restores the top coat to a perfect consistency.
Since it has been so humid here lately, occasionally I will have polishes that just don’t apply well. This thinner comes in handy when that happens.
This thinner is compatible with all nail polishes, including both glitters and top coats.
KBShimmer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Amazon | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Music City Beauty – I’m So Jelly
Inspiration: jelly fish
Description: An orange jelly base with red to gold shifting micro flakes and holo flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 100
I’m So Jelly had a fantastic formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. I love how bright and fun this orange base is!
The micro flakes to my eye looked like a larger particle shimmer effect. To my eye, it mainly gave the polish an orangey/golden glow. The holo flakies looked beautiful out in the sunshine.
My photos show I’m So Jelly in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. This seemed to dry slightly more sheer than it applied so if you have much of a free edge, this will likely be a solid 3 coater.
Nothing in here will be overly difficult to remove and I didn’t experience any staining.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – Water Bears
Inspiration: Tardigrades aka Water Bears
Description: a clear base filled with mint green reflective glitter pigment, purple/pink/gold/green shifting shimmer and green/aqua/purple crystal chameleon flakes
Price: #13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Water Bears had a fantastic formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues.
On the nail, this polish has a slight minty green look to it from the reflective glitters. However, overall I would say the color I was seeing the most was a combination of the flakies, shimmer and glitters. I could easily see the colored reflects in person in natural sunlight.
The reflective glitters do give this polish some texture. I opted to pair it with a glitter smoothing top coat before going in with my quick dry top coat. That combination seemed to smooth this out nicely.
Since this polish is in a clear base, you can also use it as a topper. I paired it with Night Owl Lacquer’s Darkness Over Light.
My photos show Water Bears in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. This polish will be a 2-3 coater depending on how you feel about your VNL. Removal will be on the more difficult side if you decide to scrub it off.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Pretty Beautiful Unlimited – Sea Dragon
Inspiration: Leafy Sea Dragon
Description: a purple jelly base packed with pink to gold shifting shimmer, gold and purple reflective glitters and 2 types of chameleon flakies.
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Sea Dragon had a really great formula. This polish was on the thicker side but I didn’t have any application issues. Between the flakies and reflective glitters, this polish was super sparkly and looked really fantastic.
In my opinion, the flakies and glitters were the star of the show. If I didn’t know there was a shimmer effect in here, I would have chalked it up to the flakies. I was able to see the colored reflects in person in direct sunlight.
My photos show Sea Dragon in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. The relfective glitters do give this polish quite a bit of texture. I opted to pair it with a glitter smoothing top coat before going in with my quick dry top coat. That combo smoothed it out nicely.
Pretty Beautiful Unlimited – Wax Melt in Volcano
Inspiration: Volcanos
Description: A delightful blend of tropical fruits and sugared oranges, lemons and limes with hints of exotic tropical florals and mountain greens
Price: $6 for 3oz | Cap: None
It has been a hot minute since I reviewed one of the PBU wax melts and no surprise, they are still just as amazing as I remembered. This month’s scent had a really great scent throw. At the time of typing this up, I have had the same single cube in my warmer in my nail room for around 2 weeks and it is still going strong.
To my nose, the scent seemed as described. In general, I don’t love orange heavy fragrances but I found the mixture of fruits played really nicely together so while I can smell the orange, it’s not the only thing I can smell.
Pretty Beautiful Unlimited
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Sassy Sauce Polish – Wet Spot
Inspiration: a photo of hunka hunka Aquaman
Description: A super shifty turquoise jelly with gold reflective glitter at some angles you will see a purply pink
shift and at other angles a gold/copper/green shift
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: 500
Wet Spot had a fantastic formula. It starts off a little sheer so I do think this one will be a solid 3 coater to reach full opacity. Coverage is pretty even so if you don’t mind super obvious VNL, this will be passable in two coats.
The shimmer is super strong and glowy. The color shifts were as described and I didn’t see any brush strokes. The reflective glitters were also as described. I could easily see the gold reflects out in natural lighting as well as indoors.
Those glitters do give this polish some texture but not nearly as much as I expected. I did still pair this one with the KBShimmer Smooth Moves glitter smoothing top coat, before my quick dry top coat, but I don’t know if that will be 100% necessary.
My photos show Wet Spot in 3 coats plus 2 coats of top coat. I had some very slight VNL, mainly on the clear part of my nail. The shimmer and glitters largely distract from VNL.
Removal will be on the more difficult side if you opt to scrub this polish off.
Sassy Sauce Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Sweet & Sour Lacquer – Don’t Fear the Reefer
Inspiration: coral reefs
Description: a black jelly with pink-green iridescent flakes, pink-green-gold metallic iridescent flakes, red metallic flakes, and silver holo micro flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 100
Don’t Fear the Reefer had a fantastic formula. I was very surprised at how opaque the black base was on this polish as the flakies all really pop!
The flakies all spread out evenly and easily without giving off any noticeable texture. I can’t stress enough just how pretty they look paired with the black base. I never really think black polishes are my thing but then I see one like this and think “yeah I like black polish”.
My photos show Don’t Fear the Reefer in 3 coats plus both glossy and matte top coats. I think I was being overly picky about doing a third coat as coverage was really great with just the two coats. I think most people will be good in 2 with this polish.
Sweet & Sour Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Feel free to use my code ‘SWEETNICOLE10‘ to save 10% on S&S website orders
Twisting Nether Lacquer – Leafy Seadragon
Inspiration: Leafy Seadragon
Description: Shifty polish with holo micro flakes
Price: $13.50 for 15ml | Cap: 209
I re-PC dragon had a fantastic formula. This one does start off and stay fairly sure so you wanna build it up for the most opacity or use it as a topper. The shimmer effect in your has a gorgeous teal to blue to purple color shift and just like a hint of gold and extreme angles. I just watch this one and three coats plus glossy topcoat
Twisting Nether Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group
Sale Information
The August Polish Pickup opens Friday, August 5th at 11 AM Eastern time and closes Monday the 8th at 11:59PM. The UK site opens up Thursday the 4th at 1600 GMT.
Multiple orders to the same name/address on the US site are automatically combined. Details on shipping charges can be found here.
Items purchased during the sale period are a pre-order and generally ship 3-4 weeks after the sale period is over.
Polish Pickup
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