Polish Pickup December 2022 Maker's Choice Swatches and Reviews

I'm back tonight with the final Polish Pickup for the year. Can you believe it?! From some rumblings around some Facebook groups, it sounds like there will be some changes to PPU next year, and I'll be interested to see how that goes. I'll make sure to post about that when it comes straight from the headquarters since perhaps some of it could be rumors. As I said in my last post, Issa from Starlight Polish is back and she has a new shade for this month's PPU. This month's theme is Maker's Choice which I think is a perfect way to end the year because I'm sure brands have prototypes that they love that just haven't fit with any theme, and they can use it here. The website just opened for wishlisting, but also make sure to join the Polish Pickup Pack Facebook Group as swatches pop up left and right there as well. 

The shop officially opens at 11:00 AM ET Friday, December 2nd and ends on Monday, December 5th at 11:59 PM (but if a polish has a bottle limit 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. Shall we get to some swatches? 

Noodles Nail Polish Hanukkah Nights (3 coats)

Inspiration: Hanukkah decor

Price: $11.50

Bottle Limit: None

website | Facebook Fan Group | Instagram

I just want to say how happy I am that there is a Hanukkah polish. I'm all about inclusivity, and not everyone celebrates Christmas, so give us all the variations! Hanukkah Nights gives us awesome glitter shapes, and I'm here for it. It's a pale blue crelly base with white/silver/blue glitters with white stars and blue moons. I went ahead and flipped the bottle for about a half hour before applying it to let the stars and moons sink to the top of the bottle. I used 3 thin coats for my photos while with the third I focused on dabbing the larger glitters on. Use thin coats, otherwise it can get too thick and you may get wrinkling when it dries. I would definitely recommend a glitter smoothing topcoat if you have one to make sure it evens it all out. 

Starlight Polish Verdant Scales (2 coats)

Inspiration: I haven't been in the best place the last few months, so for this month, I decided to create a polish that made me happy.  I felt like making a green, and winter makes me think of dragons, so Verdant Scales was born.  

Price: $16

Bottle Limit: 250 bottles

Website | Instagram | Facebook Group | Facebook Page

As someone who also had some tough months throughout the pandemic, I empathize with Issa. I'm so glad she's back to making new polishes, and I hope this creative outlet helps her even more. Verdant Scales is a green jelly with gold to bronze to green shifting old school UP sibling pigment, a touch of holographic shimmer, and scattered glitter, in both green to gold iridescent and green holographic. I did my best to show the shifting shimmer, but it's even more evident in real life. Don't be alarmed by it being a jelly; this one is still quite pigmented, and I got away with using just 2 coats for my swatches. Despite having a little glitter in there, just a regular coat of topcoat should be enough for a smooth finish. 

There you have it, folks! I'm making sure to set aside some money for PPU this month, because I know all of us will be partaking in all these Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales going on. Have a great one!

 

*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*

Polish Pickup September 2021 Trick or Treat Swatches and Reviews

 *press samples*

Wait, you mean to tell me it's September already? And did I hear recently that I should be buying Christmas presents NOW because things are going to be a mess near the end of the year? I'm just not ready for any of that! Please tell me I'm not the only one. I just got back from San Francisco a couple days ago for work, and I also forgot how hard a 3 hour time change messes with your sleep. I haven't been out of the Eastern Time Zone since 2019! This month's PPU theme is aptly Trick or Treat.  Wishlisting is up now on the website and I'm blown away by the variety of inspirations. 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). Since all orders are pre-orders, shipping will take place about 3 weeks after the end of the pre-order.

PPU starts Friday, September 3rd at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, September 6th at 11:59 PM (but if a polish has a bottle limit 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. Shall we get to some pictures? 

Polish Pickup May 2021 Guilty Pleasures Swatches and Reviews

 *press samples*

Hi everyone! How is it May already? It both feels like March and August at the same time. I got my second vaccine recently, and I'll be officially protected on Cinco de Mayo. If that's not a reason to get some delicious Mexican food, I don't know what does. I had a few side effects for the second one, but they weren't severe, and they went away quickly. Even if it was worse, I'd still get the vaccine in a second. This month's Polish Pickup theme is Guilty Pleasures, and boy do I have plenty of those. Well, most of these pleasures should be guilty, but I have 0 cares given if someone thinks they're silly. Wishlisting started today, and I'm embarrassed to say I have 10 items already waiting to go into my cart. Oops! 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, May 7th at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, May 10th 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. Time for swatches!

Noodles Nail Polish Crazy Plant Lady (3 coats)

Inspiration: Being a crazy plant lady. Do I need more plants? Nope. Am I going to buy more plants? YEP. 

Price: $12

Bottles Available: No limit 

 

website | Facebook Fan Group | Instagram

Up first we have Crazy Plant Lady, which, in my house, is more like Crazy Plant Man. My husband does all of the outdoor planting while I enjoy gazing at the beauty in our yard. I'm more of an indoor succulent person to be honest. I absolutely love how Natalie from Noodles Nail Polish combines flakies with glitter. Now pair that with a bit of holo and a beautiful mint green base and we have Crazy Plant Lady. The official description is a sheerish mint green holo base with green/gold/copper/blue UCC flakes, lime green/yellow/pastel green glitters, and a touch of holo/green/gold microflakes. I found that it dried with texture (more from the flakes than the glitter) so I went ahead and used a coat of Glitter Grabber from Glisten and Glow followed by a coat of quick-dry topcoat. I used 3 thin coats for the swatches above. 

Starlight and Sparkles Gilded Phoenix (1 coat) over 2 coats of Zoya Raven 

Inspiration: Inspired by Gilded Phoenix is a gilt-y pleasure inspired by unicorn pee polishes being quite a few people’s guilty pleasure!

Price: $14

Bottles Available: 150

Website | Instagram | Facebook Group | Facebook Page

We got a unicorn pee topper!!! I feel like it's been a hot minute since we've gotten a really good UP topper/polish. If you don't know what UP pigment is, it's a green to red color-shifting pigment that is extremely hard to find. As far as I know, the pigment is no longer made, which makes polishes containing this pigment cost more. Gilded Phoenix isn't just a plain UP topper, it contains a fine sprinkling of gold shimmer and microflakes. The Starlight and Sparkles bottles are a full 15 mL, so you are getting plenty of pigment here. I find these toppers work best over darker bases (the shift just isn't as apparent). I used one thin coat of Gilded Phoenix for my swatches, so this bottle is going to last a long time. Oh, and it dried with no texture, so a thin topcoat works well with this one. 

Starlight and Sparkles Sparkly Things Page Marker and Charm Set

Inspiration: Inspired by the love for sparkly and color shifty things that most indie polish lovers share!

Price: $14

Number Available: 40

I feel so seen by Issa from Starlight and Sparkles! Give me all the sparkly and color shifty things. Things are a little different this month as there are 3 page markers and 3 charms instead of having 5 page markers and 1 charm like previous months. The rivoli crystals shift color depending on the lighting and the angle they're looked at. The three colors of crystals are: light lavender that shifts to light blue, an iridescent lilac-to-celadon, and vibrant teal to purple.

These sets use rectangular paper clips, stainless steel rings, silver-tone lobster clasps, silvery iridescent glass beads, 12mm rivoli crystals, and silver-plated rivoli settings. Due to the shape of the paperclip, the charms can’t freely slide all around the paperclip. I consider these type of paperclips to be quite secure, able to reliably hold quite a few sheets, and I usually find they’re less likely to leave paperclip imprints in the page they’re attached to. I like to use the charms on all my zipper pulls or make some necklaces or charm bracelets. 

There you have it, folks! A few of these items have a cap, so 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*

Polish Pickup January 2021 Birthstones, Gems, and Minerals Swatches and Reviews

 *press samples*

Hi folks! I know, it's been a while, but it's that time of year where not a ton of new polishes are being released. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate. My husband and I spent it by ourselves which was the first time we've done that since we've been married. It's so sad we weren't able to see our families, and I hope vaccines become more readily available soonish. I can't wait for 2021, even though I know it will take a while to see any real changes. On a much lighter note, can you believe Polish Pickup starts this Friday? This month's theme is Birthstones, Gems, and Minerals which is near and dear to my heart. I used to be a soil scientist and there is a lot of overlap with minerals which are components of soil. 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, Jan. 1st at 11:00 AM ET and ends on Monday, Jan. 4th 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. Time for swatches!

Starlight and Sparkles Mythological Wish Collection Swatches and Reviews

*press samples*

Hi guys! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I got caught up on work and went to our local (ish) nursery. Oh, and I'm thinking of starting up my work with polymer clay. I used to make beads and miniatures back in the day, but just stopped having the time. I think it's time to make time again. Tonight I've got Issa from Starlight and Sparkles' newest collection, Mythological Wishes. In case you've forgotten, make sure to check out the original Mythological Creatures set I reviewed back in December which featured toppers with UP and Aurora pigments. The new Wishes Collection is six toppers with combined color-shifting shimmer and multichrome glitter (the shimmer in these are again UP and UP sibiling pigments). I'm also happy to mention that she has sample bottles that hold a decent amount of polish! The mini size holds 7.5 mL while a full bottle is the normal 15 mL. Mini bottles can have brush issues, but these were very generously sized and I had no issues with applying them.

Each full-sized bottle will retail for $16, or $11 for the mini bottle. On the Starlight and Sparkles website, purchasing four or more bottles of polish from the Mythological line in a single order will give a discount of 3.5% on all Mythological polishes in the order, which will be reflected in the cart as "Mythological line discount." The collection releases on May 17th at 7 PM MT on their website, and Psyche's Beau will start their pre-order at 12 PM PST. Shall we get to some photos? 

Formula and Application

For the first set of my photos, I used 1 coat of Static Lacquer's Primary Black with 2 coats of each respective topper followed with a coat of topcoat. By no means do you need to use 2 coats of each topper; I just used 2 to really show the shift under the bright lighting. The darker the base, the more noticeable the shift, but you can use any color really. These applied like a dream and even a sample bottle will last you a long time. Each polish dried quickly and with no texture, even with the multichrome glitter. 

Starlight and Sparkles Dragon Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

I took so many photos. I mean, I couldn't help myself...these are just so photogenic. Up first we have Dragon Wishes which has UP sibling pigment that shifts from bronze/gold/green and flashes orange and teal at most extreme angles, while the glitter shifts from bronze/yellow/green/turquoise. The glitter is fine and doesn't add texture which makes these easier to remove, too. 

Starlight and Sparkles Kelpie Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

Kelpie Wishes contains UP sibling pigment that shifts from teal/violet and flashes aqua and purple at most extreme angles, and the multichrome glitter shifts from teal/green/blue/violet/purple. Issa was kind enough to mention that Unicorn Wishes and Kelpie Wishes use the same glitter and unless you love shifters in the teal/blue/violet range, you may not need both. I personally found these to be very different...the color shift from the shimmer varies, and that's enough for me. 

Starlight and Sparkles Phantasmal Chimera Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

Phantasmal Chimera is a bit of a wild card as it's a combination of the 4 colors of multichrome glitter and the UP and UP sibling pigments used in the other Phantom polishes in the Mythological line. The effect is a profusion of colors and shiftiness. In other words, this one is extremely sparkly and quite the rainbow of color. 

Starlight and Sparkles Phantom Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

Up next is Phantom Wishes which shifts from a brilliant blue/violet/purple into near invisibility and the multichrome glitter shifts from blue/purple/violet/fuchsia/pink. The shimmer is the same UP sibling pigment used in the other Phantom polishes in the Mythological line. This one just glows on the nail. 

Starlight and Sparkles Phoenix Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

As you can probably tell from the photos, Phoenix Wishes is the original UP pigment and shifts from red/green/gold, and flashes red/bright green at extreme angles and is the same UP pigment used in the other Phoenix polishes in the Mythological line. The multichrome glitter shifts from pink/red/orange/gold. As much as I don't want to love UP-filled polishes (due to the price), I can't help but fall in love every time. I mean, just look at that last photo 😍

Starlight and Sparkles Unicorn Wishes (2 coats) over 1 coat of Static Lacquer Primary Black

Last, but certainly not least, is Unicorn Wishes which shifts from cool green to deep blue, and flashes turquoise/indigo, and the multichrome glitter shifts from a teal-y green/blue/violet/purple/fuchsia. The shimmer is the same UP sibling pigment used in the other Unicorn polishes in the Mythological line. Again, Issa mentions that this one and Kelpie Wishes use the same glitter, so unless you really love the UP sibling pigment, you may not need both. If you ask me, you need both. 

L--R Dragon Wishes, Kelpie Wishes, Phantom Wishes, Phantasmal Chimera Wishes (1 coat) over 2 coats of Zoya Walker 

L-->R Phoenix Wishes, none, Unicorn Wishes, none (1 coat) over 2 coats of Zoya Walker

I went ahead and used all of the toppers over a lighter color and this time just one coat was used. As you can see, one coat is plenty and these are full of UP pigment, UP sibling pigment, and multichrome glitter. A sample bottle will last you a long time if you can't afford full-sized bottles. 

Well, there you have it! It's so hard for me to pick my favorites because they are all so beautiful and flashy. I was swatching these when my parents were in town, and they were so shocked with just how much they changed the base color. They've seen me wear a lot of colors, so it really takes a lot to surprise them. My top picks have to be Dragon Wishes, Phantasmal Chimera Wishes, and Unicorn Wishes. Gah, it's so hard to choose! These will be available on May 17th at 7 PM MT on the Starlight and Sparkles website and Etsy store, while the pre-order will start at 12 PM on the Psyche's Beau site. You can find out more about Starlight and Sparkles on their website, Etsy page, Instagram, Facebook Group, and Facebook page.

*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*