Monday, March 30, 2020

Polish Pickup April 2020 Aquatic Wonder Swatches and Reviews

*press samples*



Hi guys! I hope the physical distancing has been going ok for you. I know this is a tough time for everyone, but at least we can come together to support other small indie brands through Polish Pickup. I may not be able to purchase quite as much as I usually do, but I will definitely be getting a handful of items. 

This month's theme is Aquatic Wonder which is near and dear to my heart having done my Ph.D on the microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems. New to PPU? If so, here's how it works:

Definitely join the Polish Pickup Facebook Group. You don't necessarily need to actively participate in the group, but it will give you a look at the polishes that will be available in the coming month. PPU themes are chosen by the people, often a few months in advance (brands need time to find their inspiration and test their polish). Any indie brand that has been around for at least a year can participate and each has their own specific inspiration picture and polish for that month. All you need to do is go to the Polish Pickup site during the pre-order window (the first Friday-Monday of the month) to make all of your purchases of these exclusive polishes. There's no need to pay for multiple shipping charges; since this is a pre-order, all polishes get sent to Polish Pickup and they send you the polishes you ordered. Yup, it's that simple. Oh, and shipping is a flat-rate of $3 to the US (more for international and they just had to increase the pricing to Canada). Recently they also opened a UK site which you can find here. Since all orders are pre-orders, shipping will take place about 3 weeks after the end of the pre-order.

PPU starts Friday, April 3rd at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, April 6th at 11:59 PM (but if a polish has a cap and sells out before the end of the pre-order, it's gone, unless you get lucky and the cap gets raised...which is rare) on the PPU website.

The website is currently open for wishlisting, so go check out this month's offerings STAT. Time for swatches!




Chirality Polish



Chirality Polish Factory Reset (2 thin coats)

Inspiration: The ocean
Price: $8
Cap: None

My nails obviously need a bit of a factory reset if you ask me. Yes, they are in the state of growing out stained nails and this really helps neutralize the yellow. I think it's best to give you the info I was sent about Factory Reset:

"Sometimes your nails need a reset back to their typically strong and undamaged self.

Factory Reset is an intense Restorative Nail Treatment designed to restore your nails back to their healthiest factory settings: strong, silky smooth, and protected.

Perform either a partial or complete factory reset to soothe damaged nails, strengthen nails, and prevent nails from peeling.

Partial Reset Instructions:

Apply one coat to nails every day for six days. Remove Factory Reset on the seventh day. Use as needed afterwards.

Complete Factory Reset Instructions:
Apply one coat to nails every day for six days. Remove Factory Reset on the seventh day. For the next two weeks, apply one coat twice a week and remove at the end of each week. Use as needed afterwards.

Hard working ingredients include: •Avocado Oil •Apricot Kernel Oil •Calcium Fluoride •Ginseng Root Extract •Lavender Extract

Factory Reset can also be used as a base coat! 
Allow it to completely dry before using nail polish. 

SCENTED! Inspired by the peace and tranquility felt by gazing into the watery embrace of the ocean. Emoceans is a delicate scent blend of ethereal rain water and delicious red apples. What emotion does the ocean evoke in you?"

This treatment reminds me most of Cuticula's Mic Drop in color and coverage although this is more ivory compared to Mic Drop which is more peach-colored. I used this as a base coat, and it worked well to neutralize my discoloration, and dried very quickly. The scent was very nice, and I was worried that the ocean scent would be too strong because sometimes "clean" fragrances give me a headache, but I had no issues with this. I think the apple really balances the clean fragrance. While I'm in a little bit of a lull waiting on more polishes to come in, I will be using Factory Reset as a treatment and not a base coat.








 Chirality Polish Lost (3 coats)
Inspiration: The Bermuda Triangle
Price: $12
Cap: None 

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I really hope the purple shimmer translates enough in photos because it is evident in real life. Lost is inspired by the Bermuda Triangle and is a medium teal crelly base with prominent purple shimmer, silver micro-sparkles, and green to purple color shifting flakes. I love the combination of teal and purple shimmer in this one. It is slightly sheer and needed 3 thin coats for full opacity and dried with no texture. Any visible nail line you see in photos were not evident in person and is just due to the bright lighting. So pretty!

Noodles Nail Polish









Noodles Nail Polish Snorkel Zone (3 coats)
Inspiration: Tropical fish amongst bright coral reef
Price: $11.50
Cap: None


What a party on the nails from Noodles Nail Polish! It's squishy and full of flakes and I'm all down. Snorkel Zone is an indigo jelly base with neon purple, blue, pink, and orange glitters, gold holo glitters, iridescent rainbow glitters, and violet/red/purple/orange color-shifting flakes. The iridescent glitters just glow (not literally), too! I used 3 thin coats for full opacity, and it applied easily. I found that dabbing down the glitter and flakes followed by regular strokes was easiest. It did dry with texture due to the glitter, so you will likely need a second coat of topcoat to smooth it all out. 

There you have it, folks. The website is open for wish listing and I've started mine already. If anything you like has a cap, it's best to add your items to the cart the night before the sale goes live. You need to have an account and sign in first before adding your wish listed items to the cart. Easy peasy. What do you think? Which ones are you picking up? 

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

1 comment:

Ananka said...

Nice polishes :-D