[Press Samples – Post Disclosure Page]
Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for the January 2022 Polish Pickup! I really can’t believe we’re heading into 2022 already. Like… I swear it was just January 5 seconds ago. 2021 was an amazing year for me and I want to say thank you to each and every person who visits my blog or any of my social media pages. I hope all of you have a wonderful and happy New Year.
Anyways! The theme for January is Spices and Condiments! I didn’t know what to expect when I saw this theme won but as always, the makers really went all out! My January post is going to be a little shorter than usual as I am just finishing off taking a little break from heavy swatching.
As always, links and sale details can be found at the end of the post. I also include links to all of the brands featured social media pages after their swatches so be sure to check out the makers individual websites if you like their polishes!
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.
Cameo Colours Lacquers – Pink Peppercorns
Inspiration: Pink Peppercorns
Description: A cranberry red jelly with scattered holo sparkle, a bit of burnished gold holo microglitter, full of purple/blue crystal chameleon flakes, gold metallic micro flakes, and silver holo micro flakes.
Price: $11.50 for 15ml | Cap: 105 bottles
Pink Peppercorns had a beautiful jelly formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application troubles. Being a jelly, it does start off fairly sheer so you will want to build it up for opacity. I found the glitters and flakes didn’t seem to dry nearly as textured as I expected. The texture was pretty minimal.
This polish is VERY holographic and super sparkly in person. It was just stunning! This will look even more amazing in natural lighting when the sun hits the holo. I tweaked my lighting in the 5th photo to try to show off the holographic a bit more.
The glitters and flakies spread out very evenly as well. I think Pink Peppercorns will be a 2-3 coater depending on your nail length and personal preference. I used 3 coats for my photos. Coverage in 2 coats was even but a little sheer. The third coat made this 100% opaque as well as deepened the base color slightly.
Removal on this might be on the tricky side if you try to scrub it off. I soaked it off with no issues. I also didn’t experience any staining.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Fancy Gloss – Dried Roses
Inspiration:
Description: a dark green one cold to a pink one warm thermal with dark green/light green/copper/gold/clear flakes
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 400
Dried Roses had a wonderful formula. Y’all know Fancy Gloss knows how to make a flakie thermal polish. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. The flakes all spread out very evenly and easily without giving off any texture.
The thermal aspect started changing on me right away. I found the warm state to be a pink that would work well as a nail bed nude pink. The cold state is a darker green that wasn’t quite an army green or olive but something in between.
I swatched this polish in 3 coats. I found it had pretty good coverage in 2 coats but to get full opacity in the warm state, I went in for a third coat. Nothing in here dried textured nor will it be overly difficult to remove. You will still want top coat as this dried slightly flat.
Fancy Gloss
15ml, 10 free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – Starflower
Inspiration: Borage
Description: a tri-thermal that shifts between purple when cold, periwinkle blue in transition, and a ‘colorless’ state when warm (it’s really a very pale lavender color.) It features silver reflective glitters and pink-purple-red iridescent flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: None
Starflower had a fantastic formula. It applied very similar to crelly/jelly polish so it was a little sheer on the first coat but it builds up very nicely. I was so ridiculously excited about this polish when Heather showed it to me. I have never seen a reflective polish that was also a tri-thermal AND had flakies so I couldn’t wait to get this on my nails.
The thermal aspect started changing on me right away. I found the warmest state is a *very* pale lavender, the mid state is a beautiful blue leaning periwinkle and the coldest state is a dark purple. Due to the colors that this polish changes to, you will get a wide range of shades of purple.
The reflective glitters in Starflower are SO sparkly, my photos don’t give them justice, to be honest. Definitely check out my live swatch video to see them really shine!
I swatched Starflower in 3 coats. I found it was still fairly sheer in 2 coats but it was passable if you aren’t overly picky. You will also want top coat for a glossy finish. The reflective pigments will give this polish some texture. I have found that with reflective polishes, you will get the smoothest final product when paired with a glitter smoothing top coat. I used the Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber for my photos.
I didn’t have any issues with removal. For reflective polishes, the easiest removal will be with the soak off method or a peel off base coat.
Heather’s Hues – WiTS Bergamot & Taragan
Description: a fresh fragrance with top notes of bergamot and grapefruit, mixed with basil, tarragon, and green leaves, rounded out with hints of jasmine, hyacinth, geranium, and oakmoss.
Ingredients: avocado oil, sweet almond oil, rice bran oil, babassu oil, jojoba oil, oat extract oil, buckthorn extract, kukui nut oil, chia seed oil, vitamin E, vegetable glycerin, BTMS-50 (emulsifying wax), stearic acid, shea butter, aloe vera, distilled water, and Optiphen (preservative & skin-safe fragrance oil.
Price: $7.50 for 2 ounces | Cap: 50
***note this lotion contains oils derived from seeds/nuts***
This month’s scent for WiTS has a very natural/earthy fragrance! I would personally classify it as a floral scent. So while not the type of fragrance that I gravitate towards, it was very nice.
WiTS is my go-to lotion. I seriously love this stuff! I can’t sing its praises enough. It’s hydrating without feeling greasy and it’s great all year round.
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
KBShimmer – Say It Ain’t Cilantro
Inspiration: Cilantro
Description: a fun, herb green polish loaded with a blend of reflective pigments. In low lighting, a deep, almost cilantro leaf green hue subtly catches the light for a muted twinkle. In bright light or with flash, the color vivifies, showing off a bold and sparkly lime hue.
Price: 11$ for 15ml | Cap: None
Say It Ain’t Cilantro had a fantastic formula. The base felt slightly on the thicker side but it was very easy to work with. The green base color is the perfect natural green color. I found this to be very reflective.
This will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. I goofed while swatching this so my middle nail shows it in 3 coats and the other nails are in 2 coats. The third coat deepened the base color and added more opacity.
Due to the reflective nature of this polish, it does dry down slightly textured. If you like textured polishes, this would be great without top coat. If you want a glossy finish, you will want to double up on your top coat. For the smoothest finish possible, you will want to pair this with a glitter smoothing top coat. I used the Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber before going in with my usual KBShimmer top coat.
Removal will be on the difficult side if you try to scrub it off.
KBShimmer – Restoration Drops Polish Thinner
Description: Over time, nail polish can get thick and stringy. This is due to the evaporation of Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate, two of the main ingredients in all nail polishes that help the polish to dry on your nails.
Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate
Price: $7 for 4 ounces | Cap: None
I have been using KBShimmer’s nail polish thinner regularly since my original review. I mainly use it with my top coats but I have also used it with both my indie and mainstream nail polishes.
This thinner is safe to use with all brands of nail polish.
My original review for this thinner is here Polish Pickup March 2021 | Birds and Butterflies
KBShimmer
15ml, 5+ free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Leesha’s Lacquer – Spicy Mayo
Inspiration: Spicy Mayo
Description: a mustard yellow crelly with red and orange micro flakies
Price: $12 for 15ml | Cap: None
Spicy Mayo had a wonderful crelly formula. The base didn’t feel overly thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. The microflakes are super small so they spread out very evenly without giving off any texture.
The inspiration for this polish really made me laugh. I hate mayo but I love this polish! The base color is on the lighter end of the mustard spectrum.
I swatched Spicy Mayo in 3 coats. I think shorter nails will be good in 2 coats. Nothing in here will dry textured or be overly difficult to remove.
This polish reminded me a lot of the Leesha’s Lacquer polish called TACOS!!! They’re not similar colorwise but something about microflakies just made me think of that polish.
Leesha’s Lacquer
15ml, 5 free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Psst.. You can use my code NicoleLovesNails25 on the Leesha’s Lacquer site to save 25%!
LynB Designs – Bready To Jam
Inspiration: Saffron
Description: a wildberry tinted base with pink to orange to yellow shifting shimmer, holo micro flakies, and linear holo
Price: $13 for 15ml | Cap: None
Bready To Jam had a wonderful formula. It did not feel overly thick or thin and I had zero application issues. The shimmer in this polish is very color shifty! I was seeing a pink to go to green color shift in person. The holographic was also very strong, in both normal lighting around my house and out in the sunlight.
This one does start off fairly sheer so you will want to build it up for opacity. I found in three coats I did have some pretty obvious VNL. Depending on thickness in coats I can see this one getting perfectly OK if you go in for a thicker coat or even a fourth. My photo show it in 3 coats.
Nothing in here will dry textured or be difficult to remove.
LynB Designs
15ml, 5 Free & Vegan
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Restored By Polish – Everything But The Kitchen Sink
Inspiration:
Description: a black jelly polish with a mixture of holographic and iridescent glitters
Price: $11.50 for 12ml | Cap: 100
Everything But The Kitchen Sink had a fantastic formula. Since this is a jelly polish, you will want to build it up for opacity. The glitters all spread out very evenly and gave off very minimal texture. This polish is like a little galaxy mani in a bottle.
As I mentioned, since this polish is a jelly, you will want to build it up for opacity. I found to reach full opacity, I needed that third coat. Coverage was very even so it will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on your own personal preference.
My photos show Everything But The Kitchen Sink in 3 coats. Due to the amount of glitters in this polish, I paired this with the Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber to smooth it out. I don’t know if that was 100% necessary but I wanted to make sure this was super smooth.
Removal on this polish will be on the difficult side due to all of the glitters. I would recommend soaking it off or pairing it with a peel off base coat for the easiest removal.
Restored By Polish
12ml, 10 Free, Vegan & Cruelty Free
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Sassy Sauce Polish – Saffron Sizzle
Inspiration: a saffron flower
Description: a shifty multi chrome shimmer That will shift pink/gold/green in a lightly
tinted indigo base with red/black multichrome flakies.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml | Cap: 300
Bready To Jam had a gorgeous formula. It starts off a little sheer but builds up for full opacity. The multichrome shimmer is very color shifty! In person I was seeing all of the described colors plus a hint of blue at extreme angles. The flakies all spread out very evenly and easily without giving off any texture.
This polish will likely be a 2-3 coater depending on your own nail length. I used 3 coats for my photos but shorter nails will likely be good in 2 coats.
Nothing in here will be difficult to remove and I didn’t experience any staining. You will want top coat for a glossy finish.
Polish Pickup
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Sale Information
These items and more will be available starting on Friday 7th at 11AM Eastern time on PolishPickup.com until Monday the 10th at 11:59PM. The UK site, PolishPickup.co.uk will open on Thursday the 6th.
For more information on the sale including shipping charges and international shipping, check out the FAQ on the PPU website.
