Happy Wednesday! Today’s blog post is for the April Polish Pickup! My level of excitement for Polish Pickup is up tenfold because of the theme! April’s theme is The 90s! I am a 90s kid, and the nostalgia I feel with this theme is borderline ridiculous! I have some really amazing polishes to share with you all as well as 2 body care items. The PPU shop opens this Friday, April 2nd. Which happens to be the day before my wedding! I will have links to where you can purchase these down below. Don’t forget to check out my live swatch video as well as my comparisons video for this month’s polishes.
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. All items are shipped together, for one flat rate price of $3 (U.S. orders). Canadian shipping starts at $6 USD on the main site and international shipping is also available from the sister site.
Live Swatch Video
Don’t forget to check out my live swatch video as well as my comparisons video for this month’s polishes.
Alter Ego – 7 Cherries Rose Up 🙂
Inspiration: Cherry 7UP
Description: sheer cherry red base
Price: $10 for 17ml Cap: None
7 Cherries Rose Up 🙂 had a great jelly formula. It is on the sheer side so it will need to be built up. The base color is the perfect ‘artificial cherry’ red. I found it seemed to have a delicate shimmer/pearl like effect that gives this an inner glow type feel.
This didn’t feel like a seasonal specific red polish to me. I used 3 coats for my photos. There will be some VNL with this polish. Nothing in here was difficult to remove and I didn’t experience staining.
Alter Ego – 7 Cherries Rose Up 🙂 Foaming Bath Crumbs
Inspiration: Cherry 7UP Description: 2 oz, Bubbling bath crumbs, scented in white soda. unrefined kokum butter, castor oil, unrefined shea butter, baking soda, citric acid, cosmetic clay, tapioca flour, SLSa (this is the bubbling agent)
Price: $7 for 2 ounces Cap: None
7 Cherries Rose Up 🙂 This feels really nice on the skin. I was a little concerned about the red coloring staining my skin but my hands don’t appear to be stained red at all. I used a very small amount from this bag in a bowl of warm tap water. If you use this for mani/pedis, you should be able to get several uses out of the bag. A little seems to go a long way.
This smelled so amazing! I had this in my ‘to be swatched’ drawer for about a week and each time I opened the drawer I could smell the fragrance. I was picking up a sweet soda-like fragrance with something extra. So I have a long history of smelling random things in fragrances that are not in them. It definitely smells like a soda with a hint of fruitiness. I found that when I added this to water, the soda scent all but disappeared and I was mainly smelling fruitiness. At one point I thought it smells like Fruity Pebbles. Soo yeah. Cynthia didn’t add any fruit fragrances to this but my wonky nose swore it was smelling something fruity.
Alter Ego
17ml, 5 free, Vegan & cruelty free
website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Bee’s Knees Lacquer – Don’t Go To Sleep
Inspiration: The Goosebumps novel by the same name
Description: a deep indigo polish with an antique gold shimmer that shifts to vibrant green and blue
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: NONE
Don’t Go To Sleep had a wonderful formula. It was neither thick or thin and I had zero application issues. This is a very color shifty polish! In person, the colors I was seeing wear a warm gold, shades of green, teal, blue and a hint of purple. When I brought this outside, I was seeing a reddish orange to gold to green to blue to purple. A full rainbow! The shimmer in this is not brush strokey at all.
This had great coverage in 2 coats. I had some hints of VNL so I went in for a third. It’s passable in 2 coats but I found that the third coat deepens the base color and shimmer. Nothing in here dries textured or will be difficult to remove.
This is not a dupe for KB Shimmer’s Hidden Potential! They’re similar but not dupes. See my comparisons video for a side by side comparison.
Bees knees lacquer
15ml, vegan, cruelty free & 5 free
website | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Cameo Colours Lacquer – Double Denim Days
Inspiration: Denim on denim fashion of the 90s
Description: A light-medium denim blue crelly with a blue/indigo shimmer, full of scattered holo sparkle and silver holo micro flakes.
Price: $11.50 for 15ml Cap: 105 bottles (100 US/5 UK)
Double Denim Days had a really great formula. It did not too thick or too thin. The shimmer in the holo is very sparkly even just in normal lighting. Depending on your lighting, this will range from a light to medium blue in color. I would put it in the lighter denim jeans blue category though.
This has great coverage in 2 coats I think shorter nails would definitely be good in 2 coats. For personal wear, I think I would stop in 2 coats. The third coat doesn’t seem to really deepen the color but it did cover up my visible nail line. Nothing in here dried textured or was difficult to remove.
Cameo Colours Lacquers
5 free, vegan & cruelty free
website | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Color Spectrum Polish – Pretty Princess
Inspiration: Pretty Pretty Princess Board Game
Description: A “pretty” sheer teal base loaded with purple to blue shifting ucc flakies, gold to teal to orange shifting ucc flakies, silver to blue iridescent flakies, rose holo glitters, green to gold shifting aurora shimmer and teal holo.
Price: $12.50 for 13ml Cap: 115 bottles
Pretty Princess had a great formula that neither too thick or too thin. It is on the sheer side so it will need to be built up. I found that the flakies and glitters all spread out evenly on their own. This one is jam packed with components! As a 90s kid who was obsessed with this game, I approve of this polish!
This built up nicely in 3 coats. I found the third coat adds opacity as well as deepening the color. In 1 coat I can see this being used as a topper over a variety of base colors. There will be some VNL with this polish. The flakies and glitters largely distract from it but it is there. Nothing in here will be textured but removal will be tricky if you choose to scrub it off.
***$2 from each bottle of this polish sold will be going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation***
Color Spectrum Polish
13ml, 7 free, vegan & cruelty free
Website | etsy | instagram | facebook | facebook group
Fancy Gloss – Let’s Be Friends
Inspiration: Furby
Description: A light blue base packed with blue/green/teal/copper/gold/red/pink/purple clear flakes.
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: 400 bottles
Let’s Be Friends had a great formula. Slightly on the thicker side of normal. I didn’t have any application issues. This is a BRIGHT neon sky blue with flakies in a rainbow of colors. This is the type of polish that screams Spring/Summer to me.
This has so many flakies in it that you will probably have to search for any signs of VNL. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here dries textured and removal will be typical flakie polish removal. Since this is a neon, this will be black light reactive.
Fancy Gloss
15ml, 10 free, vegan & cruelty-free
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Heather’s Hues – The Midnight Society
Inspiration: Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Description: a black to purple thermal filled with fiery red-pink-orange-gold shimmer and flakes as wewell as a touch of holo microflakes and microshreds
Price: $12.50 for 15ml Cap: None
The Midnight Society had a wonderful formula. It didn’t feel thick or thin and I didn’t have any application issues. This is a deep vampy eggplant color in the cold state and the warm state is a medium toned purple. The flakies and other components give this a complex look on the nail that I just love.
This dries down slightly textured but 1 coat of top coat smoothed it out nicely. I had good coverage in 2 coats but I had some light spots so I went in for 3 coats. I did have some temporary staining (it came off with acetone and soap) with this so be sure to wear base coat with this one. Removal will be a little tricky if you choose to scrub this off so I recommend the soak-off method.
P.S Oh the number of times I wished I was a member of the Midnight Society!!
Heather’s Hues
15ml, 5 free, vegan & cruelty free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP
KB Shimmer – I Just Wanna Fly
Inspiration: The iridescent butterfly hair clip
Description: A pastel, cool-toned purple glimmers with iridescent shimmer. In low light, a rainbow of hues from pinks to blues come out to play, while brighter lighting will show golds, greens, and aqua, depending on the angle.
Price: $11 for 15ml Cap: NONE
I Just Wanna Fly had a wonderful formula. It didn’t feel thick or thin and applied really nicely. I was just as obsessed with this polish as I was with putting butterflies in my hair back in the day! I am a newly converted pastel polish lover and the pastel tones of this base paired with the shifty shimmer were really jaw dropping. The colors I was seeing the most in person were the gold, greens and a cyan/aqua type color.
The shimmer in this was not brush strokey at all. This had good coverage in 2 coats but that third coat deepens both the color and shimmer. I used 3 coats for my photos.
KBShimmer – Fresh Peach Hand & Body Sugar Scrub
Inspiration: THE coolest place to be in 90210, the Peach Pit
Fragrance: Fresh Peaches
Price: $10 for 9.5 ounces Cap: NONE
As their IPU (Indie Pickup) item, KB Shimmer will be returning their sugar scrub to the shop. This is one of my favorite sugar scrubs to use for pedicures, manicures and all over the body. It’s coarse but not so coarse that it is painful. The glitter you see on the top of this scrub is only sprinkled on the top and is bio-degradable.
This month’s fragrance is fresh peaches. I was kind of hoping that this would smell like gummy peach rings (my favorite candy in the world, that coincidentally I discovered in the 90s) which it does not. Good news is that is smells EXACTLY like actual real peaches and I love that about it. So my disappointment on this not smelling like candy is only slight because I love real peach scented items.
KBShimmer
5+ free, cruelty free & vegan
website | instagram | Facebook | Facebook Group
Leesha’s Lacquer – Slime Time
Inspiration: Nickelodeon and all of the sliming they did to everyone in the 90s
Description: a neon green jelly with neon green and neon orange glitters and an orange shimmer. Glows under black light.
Price: $11 for 15ml Cap: NONE
Slime Time had a great formula. This is a very BRIGHT, 90s Nickelodeon slime green. I found that the glitters spread out pretty evenly on their own. I had a few of the larger glitters that seemed to want to cluster on my nail tips so I did manipulate this a little to get even coverage. I don’t think that would be an issue with shorter nails. You will not need to hold the bottle upside down to get great glitter payoff.
This is passable in 2 coats but it was a little sheer. That third coat deepens the color significantly as well as adding more glitter. This dries very slightly textured so I used 2 coats of top coat to make sure it was perfectly smooth.
Note: I am currently wearing this on my Cindy hand and found that 1 coat of top coat smoothed it out just fine.
Leesha’s Lacquer – Butterflies in my Hair
Inspiration: butterfly hairclips
Description: a full on holo glitter topper with a blend of different color glitters
Price: $12 for 15ml Cap: 150
Butterfly In My Hair had a great formula. The glitters all spread out evenly and the colors Alicia chose for the glitters SCREAM 90s. This is a *very* dense glitter topper. I only used 1 coat for these swatches and it gave really great coverage.
This does dry down fairly dull and slightly textured but not gritty. Only 1 coat of top coat would be needed to smooth this out and add shine. I loved how this one looked glossy and was not looking forward to adding a matte top coat. Imagine my surprise that I LOVED this topper matte! Over black it reminded me of black acid wash jeans.
Leesha’s Lacquer
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%!
Swamp Gloss – WHOA
Inspiration: Keanu Reeves
Description: a thermal that moves from a soft green to white with aquamarine and hot pink matte hexes and iridescent flakies that shift red to gold.
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 300
Whoa had a wonderful formula. It felt surprisingly on the thin side for having so many glitters as well as being a thermal. This is on the more sheer side so you will want to build this one up. This is a beautiful cyan/aqua color in the cold state and in the warm state seems to be a very whitish color. You do not need to hold a bottle upside down to get good glitter coverage with this polish. The flakies give a really nice added sparkle to the polish.
I think that if you go in for thicker coats with short nails you *might* be OK in two thicker coats. I found in two coats I still had some patchiness in both states so I went in for a third coat. This does dry textured so I used 1 coat of a glitter eating top coat before my qdtc. Removal will be tricky.
swamp gloss
15ml, 10 free, vegan & cruelty free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | FACEBOOK GROUP
Twisting Nether Lacquer – Fungus Amongus
Inspiration: The Incubus album by the same name
Description: olive green polish with red-green unicorn shimmers, red-bronze-copper UCC flakes, red-green-gold & copper-red-green-gold crystal chameleon flakes, Ruby red metallic micro flakes, and holo sparkle.
Price: $13 for 15ml Cap: 150
Fungus Amongus had a great jelly formula. It felt just slightly on the thicker side of normal but I think my bottle was just a little cold when I was swatching it. This is definitely an ugly pretty polish that I feel will probably polarize most people. Personally, I think it’s gorgeous! The flakies and shimmer paired with base color look amazing in my opinion.
This will be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. The third coat does deepen the color to what you see in the bottle but I think coverage wise, it’s passable in 2 coats. I used 3 coats for my photos. Nothing in here will be difficult to remode.
TWISTING NETHER LACQUER
5 free, vegan & CRUELTY free
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK PAGE | FACEBOOK GROUP
Comparisons
Sale Info
These items will be available on PolishPickup.com starting Friday April 2nd at 11AM Eastern time until Monday the 5th at 11:59PM Eastern time. The UK site, PolishPickup.co.uk opens Thursday April 1st at 1600 GMT. Orders to the same name/address on the US site are automatically combined and shipping on multiple orders refunded. As of October 2020, there are upgraded shipping options within the US. 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 thermals…
I want to note that thermal polishes do have a shelf life (generally at least 6-12 months) on how long they will change colors for. My oldest thermal that still transitions is from 2018. To get the most out of a thermal (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 the warm.