Polish Pickup April 2021 The Nineties Swatches and Review from Noodles Nail Polish

 *press sample*

Happy Monday everyone! Well, the only reason why it's happy Monday is because Polish Pickup starts this Friday. I was born in the 80s and grew up in the 90's so I'm all about this month's inspiration. I already started my wishlist and I'm about 9 products in so far. Oops! Give me all of the grunge rock and Nickelodeon show-inspired polishes! 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 2nd at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, April 5th 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 now open for wishlisting, so go check out this month's offerings STAT. My wallet hopes I can bring my list down a little bit. 

Noodles Nail Polish Gel-ous (3 coats)

Inspiration: Pastel Pentel Milky Gel Pens

Price: $11.50

Cap: None

website | Facebook Fan Group | Instagram

I doubt this will surprise you, but I loved pens growing up. I mean, I work at a fountain pen company so I better love pens! Do you remember these pastel gel pens back in the day? Not many pens could write on colored paper (especially black paper), but these Pentel Milky pens could! I definitely had some of these back in the day. If you like similar pens, may I recommend the Sakura Gelly Roll pens? I own a ton of these, and they have some awesome metallic, neon, and pastel colors. 

Hold up, we are talking about nail polish here! Gel-ous is a sheerish grey holo base with pale pink, blue, lavender, yellow, and green glitters, white and silver glitters, and silver holo flakies. I went ahead and used 3 thin coats for full opacity, but you may get away with 2 if you have shorter nails. This does dry with texture due to the glitter density, so you may need 2 coats of a thicker topcoat, or a coat of glitter-specific topcoat (such as this one from Glisten and Glow) + 1 coat of topcoat to really smooth it all out. It was hard to capture how sparkly this one truly is, so you'll have to trust me. 

If any of the items you want have 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? What are you picking up this month? 

*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

Zoya Spring 2021 Darling Collection Swatches and Reviews

*press samples*

 

Hi everyone! How is life going for you? Work will be kicking my butt this week, but I'll get through it. In May the business I work for will be moving to a brand new building custom built for us, and I'm super excited. My husband received his first vaccine dose a few weeks ago, my dad is fully vaccinated, and my mom gets her second shot tomorrow. Now everyone just has to wait for me. It appears I will be eligible in April and it can't get here sooner. Honestly, I've just been cruising through life waiting for a vaccine. Tonight I've got the latest Zoya collection to share with you, and it's a 6-piece set of cremes with bright pastels and dusty neutrals. These retail for $10 each (or $59 for the set) and they are available now. Don't forget, Earth Day is coming up, and Zoya is famous for their generous polish exchange. Shall we get a closer look? 

Polish Pickup March 2021 Spring: Birds, Bees, and Butterflies from Noodles Nail Polish

 *press sample*

Hi folks! Long time no blog! I'm happy to report that my dad has had his first vaccine, and my mom will be getting her first one tomorrow! While it will be an extremely long time before I'm eligible, I'm so happy those closest to me have been able to get theirs. Oh, and my dad had no real side effects with his Moderna vaccine. I hope you've been staying safe and healthy. I've been working as usual. I wish I had more to talk about, but I've just been going through the motions lately. Can you believe it's time for  Polish Pickup again? This month's theme is Spring: Birds, Bees, and Butterflies and I just can't wait for it to be here (spring, that is). We'll be springing forward before you know it. 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, March 5th at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, March 8th 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 now open for wishlisting, so go check out this month's offerings STAT. 

Noodles Nail Polish Strut Your Stuff (3 coats)

Inspiration: a vibrant-colored peacock

Price: $11.50

Cap: None

website | Facebook Fan Group | Instagram

This month Noodles Nail Polish gives us Strut Your Stuff which is inspired by peacocks. You know Natalie's white crellies are some of my favorite polishes, so I was so happy when I opened the package. Strut Your Stuff is a bright white crelly base with purple, magenta, green, blue, and pink hexagonal glitters in metallic/matte/holo finishes. This is basically a party in a bottle. I went ahead and used 3 thin coats for my photos, but you could get away with just 2 with thicker ones. It dries with texture, so you'll likely need 2 coats of topcoat to get a completely smooth finish. 

If any of the items you want have 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? What are you picking up this month? 

*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*