[Press Samples – Post Disclosure Page]
Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the June Polish Pickup! The theme this month is ‘Over The Rainbow’. As far as themes go, I thought the 90s theme back in March was going to be my favorite theme of the year. If you didn’t already know, I LOVE rainbows. Rainbows, unicorns, and glitter are what speaks to my soul.
Anyway, I have 20 polishes to share with you all today plus a few extra items. I also have a few new-to-the-blog brands! The June PPU opens this Friday. As always, links and sale details will be at the end of the post!
In case you are new, 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.
Live Swatch Video
All Mixed Up Lacquers – Tickled Pink
Inspiration: Tickled Pink from Rainbow Brite
Description: A fuchsia to clear thermal (fuchsia – cold, clear – warm) loaded with color shifting flakies and subtle blue to purple shift
Price: $13 Cap: 200
Tickled Pink had a really nice formula. It was a little on the thicker side but not at all hard to work with. The shimmer and flakies look really pretty with the base color.
Since this is a clear to fuchsia thermal, it will be on the sheer side in the warm state. In person, the warm state was a *very* pale pink shade.The shimmer and flakies do give off a blue/purple color.
The flakies all spread out evenly on their own and do not dry textured. I used 3 coats for my photos. Removal will be typical flakie polish removal.
All Mixed Up Lacquers
15ml, 5 Free, Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Alter Ego – Brite Puppy
Inspiration: The Rainbow Brite character
Description: Bright, not neon, yellow base with iridescent rainbow micro glitter
Price: $10 Cap: None
Brite Puppy had a great jelly formula. The base is a bright yellow crayon type shade. The microglittiers spread out evenly and easily on their own without needing to do anything special. This goes on fairly sheer so you will have some VNL with this polish.
I used 3 coats for my photos. On my thumb, I swatched this in 3 coats over a VNL blurring base coat. I liked this polish both ways. Nothing in here dried super textured so 1 coat of top coat smoothed it out nicely. This will be a little tricky to remove from the micro glitters so I would suggest soaking this off. I didn’t have any issues with staining.
Alter Ego Body Care Products
17ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Babygirl Lacquer – The Girls Are Fighting (Over Shoes!)
Inspiration:
Description: a Red-To-Pale Pink Thermal Holo Flakie Bomb W/Holo Glitter & Holo Shard Accents.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100
The Girls Are Fighting (Over Shoes!) had a great jelly-like formula. It is on the sheer side so you will want to build it up in 3 coats. I found in person that the cold state was more of a dark dusty pink than what I consider a red. The warm state is a pale ballet slipper pink.
The holo glitters/shards do not dry textured and 1 coat of top coats gives this a nice shine. This is a very holographic polish and I am honestly a little sad it was raining the day I swatched it because this would love amazing in the sunshine!
Babygirl Lacquer
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Doomicorn
Inspiration: Sarah’s all-time favorite Doom costume from Doom Eternal
Description: A cool toned iris purple with glowing green to blue shimmer.
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: NONE
Doomicorn had a great jelly formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or overly thin and I did not have any application issues. This does apply like a jelly polish so you will want to build it up alternatively I think this could also be used as a topper. The shimmer is very strong in this polish I was seeing the green to blue color shift. The shimmer does not show brush strokes when dry.
Unless you like a very sheer wash of color on your nails I think this will be a three coater on everyone. It is on the sheer side so you will have some VNL. On my thumbnail, I used 3 coats over a blurring base coat.
No issues on removal.
Bee’s Knees Lacquer
15ml, 5+ Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Cameo Colours Lacquers – Only Bad Witches Are Ugly
Inspiration: Glinda, the good witch.
Description: A peach-toned light pink crelly full of scattered holo sparkle and pink/peach/gold shimmer, a smattering of rose gold micro flakes, small and micro silver holo glitters, and silver holo micro flakes.
Price: $11.50 for 15ml Cap: 105
Only Bad Witches Are Ugly had a wonderful formula. The application felt similar to the past few PPU polishes by this brand. This is extremely holographic and sparkly! The shimmer is strong but slightly overshadowed by the sheer amount of sparkle from the glitters and flakies. I wasn’t seem much if any of a color shift in the shimmer.
This had pretty good coverage in 2 coats. It was just a little too sheer for me so I used 3 coats for my photos. It wasn’t super textured, so I only needed 1 layer of top coat for a smooth finish. Removal will be tricky from all of those glitters so I would recommend soaking this off.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook group
Color Spectrum Polish – What Does It Mean?!
Inspiration: Double Rainbow Guy, Paul Vasquez
Description: A grey linear holo with a strong green shimmer shift and rainbow iridescent flakies.
Price: $12 for 13ml Cap: 115 bottles
What Does It Mean?! had a great formula. It was on the thicker side but it applied evenly and easily. The shimmer is very strong in the base and I found it had a green to reddish purple color shift. (I’m not sure if the color shift was from the actual shimmer or if that was the holo pigment)
Due to the thickness, it was pretty opaque. I think most people would probably be good in 2 coats. I had some transparency on my extension so I went in for 3 coats. Removal will be pretty easy.
Side note: I completely forgot the video that was the inspiration for this polish existed.
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 Free, Vegan & Cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Fancy Gloss – Follow Your Dreams
Inspiration: Rainbows
Description: eal (cold) to yellow (warm) with blue/green/gold/copper clear flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 400
Follow Your Dreams had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. The flakies spread out evenly and easily on their own.
The cold state is a cool toned teal and the warm is a bright green. This will be a 2-3 coater depending on preference. The cold state is opaque in two but the warm still looked a sheer. I used 3 coats for my photos.
Nothing in here dried textured or will be overly difficult to remove. No issues with staining.
Fancy Gloss
15ml, 10 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Rainbow ‘Pourn’
Inspiration: a drippy rainbow paint pour
Description: a vibrant purple base filled with a mix of bright rainbow glitters
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: None
Rainbow ‘Pourn’ had a fantastic crelly formula. The glitters spread out really nicely on their own so no need to hold the bottle upside down or do anything special for good coverage. I would say the base color is a medium deep purple shade.
This will be opaque in 2-3 coats depending on nail length. Shorter nails will probably be good in 2 coats. I had some transparency on my extension nail so I used 3 coats for my photos. This dries down slightly textured, so I used 1 coat of a glitter eating top coat before using my regular quick dry top coat. Removal will be tricky from all of the glitters.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – I’m So Over It
Inspiration: Sun Showers & Rainbows
Description: A pale gray crelly base accents a shifty shimmer and holo glow flakies
Price: $11 Cap: None!
I’m So Over It had a wonderful formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. The grey base is very cool toned and almost has a blue hint to it.
The shimmer is very strong and I was seeing all of the described colors in person. This was pretty opaque in 2 coats. I think short nails will be good in 2 coats. Long nails will most likely want a third coat. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here will be overly difficult to remove.
KBShimmer – Rainbow Shaved Ice Sugar Scrub
Inspiration: Shaved Ice & Snow cones
Description: scent of ripe fruits like orange, peach, and raspberry give way to hints of sour lemon, vanilla sugar, and wild strawberry jam. Swirled with blue, yellow, and red, the top of this shaved ice-inspired scrub is dusted with a hint of biodegradable glitter.
Price: $10 Cap: None!
Ingredients: Sucrose, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Emulsifying Wax NF, Stearic Acid, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Fragrance, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol, Mica
Rainbow Shaved Ice Sugar Scrub this sugar scrub smells EXACTLY like shaved ice! It’s really uncanny just how perfect Christy got the fragrance for this scrub.
The sugar scrub itself is one of my favorites. It’s good for all over the body. I use it on my hands before swatching and it’s fantastic for pedicures as well.
KB Shimmer
15ml, 5+ free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Leesha’s Lacquer – Shantay You Stay, Sashay Away
Inspiration: Mother Rupaul Charles of Rupaul’s Drag Race and all drag superstars of the world.
Description: A linear silver holo with added holo sparkle.
Price: $12 for 15ml Cap: 250
**$1 from every sale of this polish will benefit onePulse Foundation**
Shantay You Stay, Sashay Away had a great formula. This is a pure silver holo base so it does need to be built up for opacity. It applies very smoothly. The silver flakes spread out evenly without needing to do anything special.
This polish to be very holographic even in normal lighting around my house. Indoors, when the linear holo wasn’t glowing, the flakes were. I had some slightly VNL on some angles.
This was opaque on me in 3 coats. Shorter nails might be good in 2. Nothing in here dried textured or will be difficult to remove.
Leesha’s Lacquer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
You can use my code NicoleLovesNails25 on the Leesha’s Lacquer site to save 25%!
LynB Designs – Not Invisible
Inspiration: Rainbows and positivity
Description: a green-leaning neon teal crelly base with pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue neon glitter dots, scattered white shreds, and neon pink micro glitters
Price: $13 Cap: NONE
**10% of proceeds will go to the Trevor Project**
Not Invisible had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. The glitters all spread out evenly on their own without needing to do anything special. I did find that I did get more of the larger circle glitters out on the nail when I kept the bottle upside down between coats. This is a super bright and fun glitter.
This was just a tiny bit sheer in 2 coats so I used 3 coats for my photos. This dries down slightly textured. 1 coat of top coat smoothes it out like 90%. I didn’t wear this long enough to see if 1 layer of top coat will eventually get sucked up by the glitters or not.
This immediately reminded me of Lynn B Designs Petri Dish Picasso from the August 2020 PPU. The base colors between the two are different and this one has a different glitter mix.
LynB Designs
15ml, 5 free & Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Moonflower Polish – Dreams That You Dream Of
Inspiration: Nadia’s wedding colors and Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow on the ukulele
Description: Aqua base with blue-gold-pink-purple color shifting aurora shimmer and blue iridescent microflakies.
Price: $12 Cap: 100
Dreams That You Dream Of had a great formula. It was slightly on the thicker side but it applied really nicely. I would describe the base color as more of a medium blue than aqua as I wasn’t really seeing that greenish tone that I think of when I think aqua.
I was finding it a little difficult to pick out the differences between the aurora shimmer and the iridescent microflakies. I think the shimmer was slightly larger in particle size and the microflakies were very small so they almost blended together to my eyes. The effect was very pretty on the nail. Unless you are looking at your nails very closely, this will look like a creme polish.
This was very opaque. I think on most nails, this will be a solid 2 coater. On longer nails, you will most likely want to go in for a third coat. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here dried textured or will be difficult to remove.
Moonflower Polish
15ml, 5 free, cruelty free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group
My Indie Polish – Purple People Eater
Inspiration: The song purple people eater
Description: a stunning violet jelly with blue to green shifts and some shimmer too.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100
Purple People Eater had a great jelly formula. It is on the sheer side so you will want to build this up for opacity. In person, I was seeing a violet linear holo jelly base with a strong shimmer effect.
This will be like 90% opaque in 3 coats. There will be some VNL on some angles. I also swatched this in 3 coats on my thumbnail over a blurring base coat.
Nothing in here dried textured or will be difficult to remove. I didn’t experience any staining.
My Indie Polish
15ml, 7 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Music City Beauty – Ruby Slippers
Inspiration: Dorothy’s ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz
Description: a full coverage microglitter with red, silver and gold holo microglitters
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 100 bottles
Ruby Slippers had a really great formula. It was on the thicker side due to the amount of glitters in the base but it was very easy to apply and dried quickly. It is incredibly sparkly and holographic!
The red glitters are the dominant glitter for this polish. I was seeing hints of the gold glitters but this is just so holographic it’s hard to pin point where the silver glitters are.
This had pretty good coverage in 2 coats. If you aren’t picky and have shorter nails, you could get away with just 2 coats. I used 3 coats for my photos. This dries down textured so I used 2 coats of top coat (1 coat being aglitter eating top coat) for my photos. Removal will be difficult so I recommend soaking this off or using a peel off base coat. I soaked it off with no problems.
Music City Beauty
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan and Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
NeVerMind Polish – Unweaving A Rainbow
Inspiration: Unweaving a Rainbow by Camilla D’Errico
Description: A peachy pink crelly with blue, pink, silver, green, and purple holo flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 250
Unweaving A Rainbow had a great crelly formula. It was slightly on the thicker side but around what I expected for a flakie filled crelly. The flakies in this are the kind that are like glitter shreds so they will be a little textured when dry. I had a few flakies that did poke up out of the polish but they smoothed out with 2 coats of top coat.
I didn’t need to hold the bottle upside down between coats to get good coverage. I found the base color was a very light pink in some lighting I think it will look like an off-white.
I think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on thickness of coats and nail length. Short nails will probably be good in 2 coats. I used 3 coats for my photos plus 2 coats of top coat.
Note: While I didn’t hold the bottle upside down between coats, I did notice that my live swatch nail seemed to get less flakies on the nail than the other nails. I’m guessing that is due to the amount of time that elapsed between shaking, my doing my nails, and doing the live swatch nail.
Note #2: Jenn (owner/maker) plans on darkening the batch sent out to PPU headquarters. The actual polish color will be more like the description. Here is the color corrected version
NeVerMind Polish
15ml, 5 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Poetry Cowgirl – There’s Light After This
Inspiration: Photo of a rainbow against a dark sky
Description: A dusty blue-grey base with strong magenta-gold-green iridescent shifting shimme
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: None
There’s Light After This had a great formula. It was thinner than I expected but it didn’t feel overly so. I will note that this will run into your cuticle area if you go in for too thick of a coat. Otherwise, it applies very nicely. The shimmer is very strong and color shifty.
It is a little sheer so you will want to build this up in 3 coats. You might have some very slight VNL on some angles. No issues with staining or removal.
Poetry Cowgirl
15ml, 5+ free, Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Red Eyed Lacquer – Hi-Chews Are Kiwi To My Heart
Inspiration: Kiwi Hi Chews
Description: A neon green crelly with white shimmer and black holo micro glitters.
Price: $12.50 Cap: 200
Hi-Chews Are Kiwi To My Hears had a wonderful crelly formula. Thit was very opaque on the first coat. It is a BRIGHT neon green polish! The glitters give it a very unique look.
I think depending on application, this could be a 2 coater on shorter nails. I had some light spots towards my tips so I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here dried textured or was difficult to remove.
For the products on how I did the nail art in the last image, check out this post.
Red Eyed Lacquer – Tamsies
Inspiration: A refreshing beverage under a summer sunset.
Description: A really refreshing fragrance reminiscent of a citrusy cocktail. Top notes of fresh peaches and tangy grapefruit with a finish of herbally thyme
Price: $12 Cap: 75
This was my first time trying out Tamesies. The directions state to apply this to your hair and not your scalp but after reading the ingredients list, I decided to use this in replacement of my usual jojoba and black castor oil blend (I DIY mine) that I use on my scalp and hair. I also have been using this as a replacement my usual leave in conditioner spray.
After I wash my locs, I usually spray on a leave-in conditioner onto my hair and apply Jamaican black castor oil and/or jojoba oil to my scalp. For the past month after washes, I have used this instead. I have also been using it between washes on my scalp and near my hairline, like once or twice a week. I just use 1 pump, rub my palms together and use my fingertips to apply it to my scalp. For my hair, I will use a few pumps to cover all of my hair.
I have been having some issues with dry scalp lately since switching shampoos and this has helped a ton. I haven’t had any issues with flakes for the past month that I have been using this. YMMV, but I think for people who usually apply oil to their scalp, this would be a good product to try out that way. If your scalp is more oily, I would follow the directions on the bottle. This can also be used as a body oil.
The fragrance is light and fruity. It doesn’t linger very long after applying it.
This comes well sealed with tape around the screw-off cap as well as the pump piece. I did end up cutting the tube shorter of the pump to get it to fit inside of the bottle.
Red Eyed Lacquer
12ml, 5 free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Sassy Sauce Polish – Ray Of Ducking Funshine
Inspiration: Sunrise
Description: A bright cantaloupe shimmer with a strong red/gold/green shift loaded with ghost flakies that shift purple/red/gold.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 400 bottles
Ray Of Ducking Funshine had a great formula. It didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. This is a bright neon-like shade that is slightly on the sheer side. I was seeing all of the described color shifts in person. The flakies spread out evenly on their own and didn’t feel textured.
There will be some VNL with this polish in 3 coats. The shimmer is so strong that VNL isn’t super obvious but it is visible in most lighting. I also showed this in 3 coats over a blurring base coat. I found that the blurring base coat didn’t alter the base color drastically so this would be a good polish to wear with one.
Sassy Sauce Polish
15ml, 5 Free & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Sweet & Sour Lacquer – Mosaic
Inspiration: blue rainbow mosaic
Description: Periwinkle sky blue crelly with purple shimmer and blue, green, pink, and gold metallic flakies.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 200
Mosaic had a great formula. It was slightly on the thinner side from what I was expecting but it had really good coverage and it applied very evenly and easily. It was not watery. The flaky’s are very sparkly and has a strong blue to purple shimmer as well.
This had great coverage and two coats I think short nails might be able to get away with two coats. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here dries down textured and removal will be typical flakie polish removal.
Twisting Nether Lacquer – Starlite
Inspiration: Starlite
Description: a white crelly with a rainbow of matte glitters and yellow stars
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 150
Starlite had a really nice formula. It was a little thick but about what I would expect from a glitter crelly. I found it was a little on the sheer side but that makes the glitters pop more. The white base is a little patchy on the first couple of coats but it evens out nicely with a third coat. I found the larger star glitters do sink in the bottle so holding it upside down between coats will get you the most star glitters.
Alternatively, this does come with a bag of star glitters so you can also choose to do glitter placement if you don’t want to hold the bottle upside down. I couldn’t help myself so I did do glitter placement with this polish. I added star glitters to the second and third coats. To see what coverage is like without doing glitter placement, check out my live swatch video.
This didn’t dry down nearly as textured as I thought it would. Just to make sure it was perfectly smooth, I did go in for 2 coats of top coat. That might not be necessary though. Removal will be on the tricky side due to all of the glitters.
Twisting Nether Lacquer – Rainbow Glass
Inspiration: Kasi’s glass bowl
Description: A flakie topper with five different crystal chameleon flakes and holo sparkles
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 150
Rainbow Glass had a great formula. It was on the thicker side from all of those flakies but it applied evenly and easily on the nail. I found the flakies looked best under indirect lighting. In person, I was seeing every color of the rainbow in them. The holo sparkle had a very strong linear effect.
I showed this in 1 coat over a black creme (Heather’s Hues – Shadow) and 1 coat over Starlite. I LOVED how this looked over black! Over black, you could see all of the colors of the flakies better than over Starlite but that’s just my personal preference. Removal will be typical flakie polish removal.
I will note that this polish does have a slight odor to it from (I think) the flakies. It’s not that skunky smell some flakies have but it was something similar. The scent didn’t linger and once the polish was dry I could no longer smell it.
Twisting Nether Lacquer
5 free, vegan & cruelty free
Website | Instagram | Facebook Page | Facebook Group
Sale Info
These items will be available on PolishPickup.com starting Friday, June 4th at 11AM Eastern time until Monday the 7th at 11:59PM Eastern time. The UK site, PolishPickup.co.uk opens Thursday, June 3rd at 1600 GMT. Orders to the same name/address on the US site are automatically combined and shipping on multiple orders refunded. 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
Website | International Site | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group | Chat/BST Group
Both sites are open now for wishlisting. There are WAY more items available than just what I have shown today. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out my live swatch video up on my YouTube channel Nicole Loves Nails. It’s a new channel and I’d really appreciate if y’all would watch the videos and subscribe!
A note on thermal/solar polishes…
I want to note that thermal and solar polishes do have a shelf life on how long they will change colors for. Generally, they are guaranteed to change colors for 6-12 months. My oldest thermal that still transitions is from 2018 and my first solar polish from 2019 still transitions.
To get the most out of a thermal/solar (all nail polish really) you’ll want to store them in a cool, dark place. I store my thermals with my other nail polish in the Ikea helmers. Once a thermal no longer changes color (aka dies), you can still wear them! The thermals that I own that have died, all stayed in the warm state but it’s not guaranteed to stay in either state.