[Sponsored/Press Samples, affiliate links used]
Hi friends! Long time so chat! Things have been a little hectic on the homefront and I fell behind on my blog posts. I have been posting on YouTube still but again, I fell behind on the blog posts. I’ll be posting a bunch over the next couple of days to make up for it though.
So today’s likely first blog post is for the June 2023 Polish Pickup. It’s blowing my mind we are halfway through the year already. The Polish & Beauty Expo is quickly approaching (if you’re going make sure to come say hi to me!!) as is PPU Rewind. Unfortunately for all of our wallets, this month’s PPU polishes are a hit.
For June the theme is Misheard Song Lyrics. The June shop opens up on June 2nd at 11AM Eastern time on PolishPickup.com. As always, I will have more sale details and a full list of links at the end of the post.
Just a headsup, I am still waiting on a few items so I will update this blog post once 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.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – They’re Coming For The Snail
Inspiration: the band Blessthefall
Description: a black polish with green to blue microflake shimmer as well as a large particle pink to gold to green mulitchrome magnetic shimmer
Price: $13.50 for 15ml | Cap: none
They’re Coming For The Snail so I goofed on this swatch. I didn’t realize it was a magnetic polish until yesterday when I was recording my voiceovers. Other than me goofing, the formula on it was fantastic. It was on the thicker side but not at all difficult to work with.
When I originally swatched this, I wrote it my notes that it looked odd to me. As if it was missing something. I now know what it was missing was me magnetizing it. If you’d like to see it magnetized, I have that included in my live swatch video.
Coverage was ok in 2 coats but I found in bright lighting, it looked a little bit uneven. So I think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on your personal preference and level of pickiniess.
My photos show They’re Coming For The Snail in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here dried textured or will be difficult to remove.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bluebird Lacquer – Wake Me Up To Pour Your Cocoa!
Inspiration: the inaugural hit by WHAM!
Description: a peach neon base with a pink-orange-yellow shifting sparkly shimmer
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 400
Wake Me Up To Pour Your Cocoa! I love that somewhere out there someone really thought “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” was Wake Me Up To Pour Your Cocoa. That is comedy GOLD.
Formula wise, this polish had a fantastic formula. It is BRIGHT and perfect for summer! I found on the nail, this looks like pinky peach than a orangey peach. The shimmer seems to play a big part in that and it is super sparkly. Because of those sparkles, it will make cleanup and removal very messy.
Coverage was pretty good with this but I found the third coat deepend the base color as well as making the shimmer stronger. It’s passable in 2 coats but in my opinion, looks better in three.
My photos show Wake Me Up To Pour Your Cocoa! in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Other than being a messy removal, it will be easy peasy.
Bluebird Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Cameo Colours Lacquers – I Will Make You Clean Up Everything You See
Inspiration: A lyric my kids misheard in “House of Gold” by Twenty One Pilots.
Description: A yellow to pink shifting shimmer base, full of scattered holo sparkle, gold and green metallic flakes, gold holo micro glitter, and silver holo micro flakes.
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: 105
I Will Make You Clean Up Everything You See had a fantastic formula. I love the sparkle level of this nail polish! It has an almost metallic-y antique gold color.
You get a ton of razzle dazzle from the glitter and flakies but very minimal texture. One coat of top coat smoothed everything out nicely. Coverage was also pretty great, I only needed 2 coats to reach full opacity.
I feel like the addition of the green metallic flakes made this a touch more unique as well.
My photos show I Will Make You Clean Up Everything You See in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be incredibly messy, I do not recomend scrubbing this polish off.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Clionadh Cosmetics – If I Was Green I Would Die
Inspiration: the iconic Eiffel 65 “I’m Blue (Da Ba Dee)
Description: a navy blue metallic magnetic, with lime-aqua-indigo shifting shimmer, large green-blue-violet shifting iridescent flakes and green holographic micro glitter.
Price: $13 for 11.5ml | Cap: None
If I Was Green I Would Die I wasn’t completely sold on this one based on the bottle but once I got it on my nails, yeah *insert Owen Wilson Wow here* It starts of pretty sheer but it builds up nicely.
This is one of those magnetic polishes that sheers out a little bit after you magnetize it. I would reccomend bulding this up to full opacity and then magnetizing it. For my swatches I reached full opacity in 3 coats and magnetized that final coat using a ring magnet. It magnetized very easily for me.
There is a lot going on in this polish and all of it is beatiful. This polish screams mermaid to me, which I feel like works well for the almost summer season we are in.
My photos show If I Was Green I Would Die in 3 coats both magnetized and unmagnetized. Removal will be very messy but not super difficult if you decide to scrub it off.
Clionadh Cosmetics
11.5ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save extra!
Website | Instagram | TikTok
Crystal Knockout – Don’t Go, Jason Waterfalls!
Inspiration: Waterfalls by TLC
Description: A turquoise to pale aqua thermal with a blue-teal glow, blue shimmer, iridescent orange and blue flakies, and neon green matte glitters
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: None
Don’t Go, Jason Waterfalls! oh how I love it when Crystal Knockout uses chunky glitters! The base was on the thicker side but I didn’t have any issues with application.
The glitters give this polish some texture so you will want to double up on your top coat for a smooth finish. I didn’t need to hold the bottle upside down or do any fishing but I did use a trust nail polish shaker for my swatches. I didn’t use the shaker for my live swatches and still got out a good amount of the larger circle glitters.
Due to the thickness of this polish, I would recommend only doing 2 coats of this polish if you have shorter nails. The third coat might make them look a little chunky.
Side note, I feel like there was a good year where this song was EVERYWHERE and I still can’t listen to it without groaning.
My photos show Don’t Go, Jason Waterfalls! in 2 coats plus 2 coats of top coat.
Crystal Knockout
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Fair Maiden Polish – You Can Call me Green Bean
Inspiration: the song Royals
Description: A pale pea green with red-orange aurora shimmer, packed with iridescent & holo flake.
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
You Can Call me Green Bean was absolutely beautiful! I did not think I was gonna like this one because this is not like my typical shade of green that I like, but like built up this is an absolute stunner.
The base was a little bit on the thicker side but I found it easy to work with. The flakies give off unicorn vibes and spread evenly without any texture. The holographic is a little subtle but still obvious.
My photos show You Can Call me Green Bean in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. Nothing in here dried textured or will be overly difficult to remove.
Fair Maiden Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Hearts & Promises – I’m Feeling Sweaty Too
Inspiration: the Taylor Swift song 22
Description: a teal holo base with blue and teal metallic flakes
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: 300
I’m Feeling Sweaty Too ooh I love a teal base like this! The formula was fantastic, I didn’t expect it to be nearly as opaque as it was. It wasn’t a one coater but it was a 2 coater for me.
This is a very holographic base! I was able to see the rainbows indoors but as per usual, this really was something out in the sunshine.
The addition of the metallic flakies once again has made the polish feel more unique to me. They don’t dry down super textured but you will want top coat to smooth everything out.
My photos show I’m Feeling Sweaty Too in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be messy if you opt to scrub this polish off.
Hearts & Promises
15ml, 5 Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – Apple Dapple Doo
Inspiration: The Price Song I Would Die 4 U
Description: A bold magnetic shows off hues of pink and fuchsia at most angles, with touches of peach and gold. A deep background subtly shifts from navy to purple and black, while a touch of micro holographic glitter adds a hint of sparkle
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Apple Dapple Doo Holy color shifts Batman! I was seeing purple, pink, gold with green at extreme angles. Unmagnetized, you have a typical multichrome base but magnetized the blue toned base comes out to play, paired with the holo it is an almost galaxy like feel.
I was impressed with the opacity of this polish. It wasn’t quite a one coater but it was pretty close. The opacity seems in part to thicker formulation.
My photos show Apple Dapple Doo in 2 coats both magnetized and unmagnetized with glossy top coat.
KBShimmer Sugar Scrub in Root Beer Float
Inspiration: summers drinking root beer floats
Description: A top note of root beer gives way to subtle smooth notes of creamy vanilla. Hints of cinnamon and clove give depth to that root beer bite. This scrub even echoes the look of a root beer float with its dark brown base topped with a creamy white layer
Price: $10 for 9.5 ounces | Cap: None
As someone who thoroughly hates root beer anything, this fragrance blend was not the one for me. It smells exactly what I think of when I think root beer and I didn’t like it.
I love this scrub, it’s my favorite scrub in the whole world but this month’s scent wasn’t for me.
KBShimmer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Amazon | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Night Owl Lacquer – Just Give Me a Raisin
Inspiration: Pink’s Just Give Me a Reason
Description: a plum brown filled with rosy-copper/gold/green shifting large particle shimmer
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Just Give Me a Raisin the shimmer in this polish is SO pretty. Since it is a larger particle size, it was a little sparkly and you don’t get brush strokes.
I don’t love the base color of this one. I usually love a brown base but it is just a tiny bit too red for me personally. I do think it looked great paired with the shimmer. The shimmer is 100% the reason why I liked this one as much as I did.
Coverage for this polish was ok in 2 coats. It was a little bit too sheer/uneven for me personally but it was passable. If I wasn’t taking photos, I probably would have stopped with 2 coats.
My photos show Just Give Me A Raisin in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
Night Owl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | TikTok
Sweet & Sour Lacquer – Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese
Inspiration: Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (are made of this)
Description: Yellow crelly with strong red/orange/gold shimmer
Price: TBD | Cap: TBD
Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese this is the misheard lyric that had me cackling the most! I don’t know why I just assumed everyone knew what the lyrics to this song were?
The formula was pretty good, but it starts off pretty sheer so you do need to build it up to get the most opacity. The shimmer was super strong and glowy. To my eye, I wasn’t seeing obvious color shifts, it more so looked very like an reddish orange shimmer to me.
Coverage was ok in 2 coats but it was still very sheer. To get the same depth of color that you see in the bottle, you’ll want to go in for three coats. I did still have ovious VNL with it in three coats though.
My photos show Sweet & Sour Lacquer Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese in 3 coats plus glossy top coat.
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
Polish Pickup
Website | Overstock | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | Chat/BST Group
The June 2023 Polish Pickup goes live Friday June 2nd at 11AM Eastern time on PolishPickup.com. All items sold are on a pre-order and sale period closes the following Monday.
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.
