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Creme a la mode collaboration box – Swatches and Review

Nothing to Disclose

Alright my dearest readers!  I have another exciting bunch of creme polishes to show you today.  Recently four makers (three of them already long-time favorites of mine and one I’ve been dying to try) got together to start a collaboration box.  Each quarter a new box will be released of fashion-forward, seasonal, on-trend colored creme polishes.  Their first box was a quartet of fall colors.  Of course the instant the pre-order was opened I snagged my box…I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on this!

Creme a la mode Box

Creme a la mode Box

This is how the Creme a la mode box works:  Every quarter Digital Nails, Literary Lacquers, Indigo Bananas, and Octopus Party Nail Lacquer are going to release four on-trend creme colors.  These will first be offered in the Creme a la mode box which is a pre-order at an amazing discounted price (under $30 – can’t beat that!).  Once the Creme a la mode box has made its way into the eagerly awaiting hands of the customers the individual brands will release their own individual color in their shops, at the normal price.  So that means if some random shenanigans keeps you from ordering the box, never fear, you can still get the colors later but they will be priced higher.  So, each of the polishes I show you today will be, if they aren’t already, available through each brand’s website.

Whew!  That’s a lot to get through I know!  But it’s so worth it because these polishes are the… creme de la creme (HA!  See what I did there??!!) and definitely live up to the hype!

First up Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon:

Indigo Bananas - The Dark Side of Maroon

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Oh yes, The Dark Side of Maroon almost made me swoon (rhyming for the win!).  The color is an absolutely beautiful deep wine color.  Perfect for fall.  Honestly, if you are more into vampy dark colors, it’s perfect for any season!

Indigo Bananas - The Dark Side of Maroon

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Excuse me…I was just drooling a bit over here.  In fact I’m pretty sure I need to go put this back on again right now.  The formula was very good.  The polish goes on a bit sheer in the first coat but is fully opaque in two coats, which I think is perfectly acceptable.  It self-levels beautifully and dries to a high-shine finish.  I had no problems with application on this polish and found it very easy to work with.  It is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark or red color.

Indigo Bananas - The Dark Side of Maroon

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance:

Literary Lacquers - Bluestocking Romance

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Hubba freaking hubba.  Yeah I said it.  We already know my well-documented love of navy blue polish.  This polish is utter perfection color-wise.  It is a deep rich navy blue without leaning teal or being so dark that it appears black.  It’s just stunning.

Literary Lacquers - Bluestocking Romance

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Can I get a round of applause?  Holy cow these pictures make me want to wear them all again!  This polish could have been a one-coater.  For the interest of pictures and consistency I did two coats.  Again another fantastic formula, self-leveled, dried to a high shine.  This one was very easy to apply and I had no problems with snags, drags, or streaks.  Like the Indigo Bananas, it is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark blue polish.

Literary Lacquers - Bluestocking Romance

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up a new to me brand, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner:

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer - Universal Loner

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Holy freaking crap!  This is a true red creme polish.  Fun fact, I did not own a true red creme.  I know, I know, no need to hyperventilate!  I’m aware that it’s nail polish sacrilege not to own a true red creme but, I didn’t.  So, yeah, needless to say I was all about this one.  I didn’t even want to take the swatch off so I kept it on for like two days.  You can’t more classic than a true red creme polish and this one is beautiful.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer - Universal Loner

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Ditto my reaction to Bluestocking Romance.  Hubba freaking hubba AGAIN!  Like The Dark Side of Maroon the first coat on this is a bit sheer but builds to perfect opacity in two easy breezy coats.  Highly recommend careful application, because, this is a highly pigmented polish and like a lot of reds, dark blues, and dark purples they can be a little bit tricky to clean up.  The good news is that it had a very easy to control formula and it made careful application not only possible but delightful.  Dried to a high-shine.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer - Universal Loner

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Last but certainly not least…Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism:

Digital Nails - Tauping Mechanism

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Oh.My.GLOB.  EVERYTHING.  This polish is EV-ER-Ything to me!  I spend so much time trying to find perfect neutral polishes and I always gravitate to grey.  This is a beautiful putty or “greige” color.  The perfect balance of beige and grey.  I am so in love with this color I can’t stand it.  I just know it will be the base of much nail art and be layered under glitters galore.

Digital Nails - Tauping Mechanism

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

I have come to expect, and receive, perfection from Digital Nails’ polishes.  I should have known that a creme polish would be the same.  This one is very opaque and was easily opaque in two coats and some people may be able to get by with just one.  I looooove the brush in this polish (something I rarely mention because, well, nail polish brushes are all pretty ok for me mostly) it’s round and fluffy but doesn’t lose any of the control that you would expect from a polish brush.  Self-levels, check.  High Shine, check.  Great formula, check!  This one was the easiest to clean up but that’s to be expected as this is a much lighter color.

Digital Nails - Tauping Mechanism

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

There you have it.  I have broken down the inaugural Creme a la mode box.  I loved every one of these polishes.  I’m delighted to finally add an Octopus Party Nail Lacquer to my collection (and I know it won’t be the last).  Trust me, next quarter grab the box when it’s up for pre-order.  You won’t be sorry.

Make sure to follow all the makers on their social media and check out their shops if you missed the Creme a la mode box this time.

Creme a la Mode

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Digital Nails

Facebook Instagram Shop

Indigo Bananas

Facebook Instagram Shop

Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

Facebook Instagram Shop

 

 

Indigo Bananas Review and Swatches – Mei Mei’s Signatures Exclusive Trio

Nothing to Disclose

Hello my lovelies!  I am officially a college graduate!  It’s kind of a surreal feeling and also bittersweet as I happened to make a lot of good friends this semester.  Now that I’m done with school now, for awhile, I will have some more free time so you will see some more posts and reviews.  I’m also thinking up some other features and things that I might be able to incorporate, would ya’ll like to see a return of Wednesdays We Wear Pink?  Do ya’ll have anything else you’d like to see more of?  Tell me in the comments and I’ll definitely see what I’m capable of pulling off for you!

Today I have a beautiful trio of Indigo Bananas polishes to show you.  They are exclusive to Mei Mei’s Signatures, an international stockist that is based in Singapore.  Trust me they are worth a little international shipping!

First up we have Liang Shanbo is in Doubt!

Indigo Bananas - Liang Shanbo is in Doubt

Indigo Bananas – Liang Shanbo is in Doubt

Liang Shanbo is in Doubt is a beautiful golden champagne colored linear holographic polish that has some additional ice blue flakies and shimmer.  I’ve said before, and I’m sure you’ll hear me say it again, I like holographic polishes most when they have something else going on, a fun shimmer, some flakies, glitter, or anything like that.  This one fulfills that desire for me!  It’s a perfect neutral work-friendly shade that is not boring or dull in the least!

Indigo Bananas - Liang Shanbo is in Doubt

Indigo Bananas – Liang Shanbo is in Doubt

The formula on this polish was lucsious.  I had no troubles with dragging or streaking.  It also self-leveled beautifully and despite being a light color did not take a lot to build to opacity!  These pictures show two coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Indigo Bananas – Liang Shanbo is in Doubt; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up is Zhu Yingtai is a Lady!

Indigo Bananas - Zhu Yingtai is a Lady

Indigo Bananas – Zhu Yingtai is a Lady

So little known fact about me…up until just recently I disliked the color purple with a passion that would fuel a thousand burning suns.  However, something has changed and I can’t.get.enough.purple!  I bought this trio mainly for this one polish and because I liked the other two as well but it was this one that made me look at it to start with.  This is a gorgeous medium purple linear holographic with a golden shimmer and gold flakies!  I just love it.  Love.love.love.  I also really like the way it looks on me as well.

Indigo Bananas - Zhu Yingtai is a Lady

Indigo Bananas – Zhu Yingtai is a Lady

Another fantastic formula here.  No issues to report.  Again the opacity is good as well as the self-leveling.  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Indigo Bananas – Zhu Yingtai is a Lady; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Last but not least is a fun glitter topper that works with either of the other two polishes in the trio.  Love Like Butterflies:

Indigo Bananas - Love Like Butterflies (over Zhu Yingtai is a Lady)

Indigo Bananas – Love Like Butterflies (over Zhu Yingtai is a Lady)

Indigo Bananas - Love Like Butterflies (over Liang Shanbo is in Doubt)

Indigo Bananas – Love Like Butterflies (over Liang Shanbo is in Doubt)

Love Like Butterflies is a clear-based glitter topper with a wide variety of satin pastel glitters.  In addition there is scattered holographic pigment, iridescent flakies, and some of the glitters are shaped like butterflies and flowers!  I love this because, while I’m not really the biggest fan of shaped glitter, butterflies are special to me.  Plus it’s so pretty and springy over the other two colors!

Indigo Bananas - Love Like Butterflies (over Liang Shanbo is in Doubt)

Indigo Bananas – Love Like Butterflies (over Liang Shanbo is in Doubt)

Indigo Bananas - Love Like Butterflies (over Zhu Yingtai is a Lady)

Indigo Bananas – Love Like Butterflies (over Zhu Yingtai is a Lady)

This one is a chunky glitter and you may find it to be a little topcoat-hungry.  Also, I found that dabbing this one on worked far better than attempting to apply via brushstrokes.  The glitter does tend to settle a bit because the larger shaped glitters naturally are a bit heavier.  I just flipped the bottle upside down for a bit and as you can see I got plenty of goodie glitters on my nails and I didn’t have to fish for them once it had redistributed through the base.  Pictures show one dabbed coat over undies and two coats of topcoat.

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Indigo Bananas – Liang Shanbo is in Doubt, Zhu Yingtai is a Lady, Love Like Butterflies; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

As I mentioned before this trio is exclusively sold at Mei Mei’s Signatures.  I have to say they provide excellent customer service and while I was expecting a long shipping time because she was having a huge sale at the time I placed my order and because, well, she’s based in Singapore!  I actually got my shipment within 10 days.  Not bad at all.  Do expect however that it can take more time than that if you order.  You can get these and other Indigo Bananas polishes.  If you are looking for other non-exclusive Indigo Bananas polish you can visit the Indigo Bananas Webpage, Facebook, or Instagram!  Don’t forget to follow Mei Mei’s on Facebook and Instagram as well!

 

New to Me Brand! Indigo Bananas!

Nothing to Disclose

Oh my dearest readers.  I cannot begin to express to you the amazingness that has happened over the weekend.  Perhaps you are not aware of my penchant for flakie polishes and if not then allow me to enlighten you…I get faint at the thought of beautiful flakie polishes!  They are by far and away one of my favorite things about nail polish and I like love just about everything about nail polish.  So when I saw Indigo Banana’s Summer Rains collection, I knew that some of them at the very least would find their way into my collection.  I told my family that when I put the first one on that it was like the heavens opened up and choirs of angels sang in exultation over the loveliness of the polish…too much?  I think not!

Now that your appetite for gorgeousness is whetted I’m going to show you two beautiful Indigo Bananas polishes that will likely send you running to their shop to order your own bottles of angel choir prompting beauty.  First up we have Reign:

Indigo Bananas - Reign

Indigo Bananas – Reign

Reign is a stunning royal burgundy jelly polish with definite purple undertones to the rich deep red.  Packed into that jelly is a golden microshimmer and color-shifting flakies.  It looks like buried flames within the depths of the squishy jelly polish!

Indigo Bananas - Reign

Indigo Bananas – Reign

Indigo Bananas - Reign (matte)

Indigo Bananas – Reign (matte)

The formula on this was perfection.  The jelly is sheer so it did take three thin coats to get this level of rich depth, but I don’t find that excessive and some people could definitely get away with 2 thin coats but the amount of free edge on my nails makes that difficult for jelly polishes particularly.  The flakies and shimmer are very evenly distributed throughout.  Now I’m no huge fan of matted nail polish…but flakies NEED to be matted for you to get an idea of the true beauty that they possess!  So I added a bonus matte shot for you all so that you can bask in the glorious flakiliciousness.

Products used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Indigo Bananas – Reign; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat; Julep – Matte Topcoat

Next up is the one that sent me racing to the Indigo Bananas site to make my first purchase…Acid Ocean:

Indigo Bananas - Acid Ocean

Indigo Bananas – Acid Ocean

Now do you see what I mean about the heavens opening up and choirs of angels singing?  Yeah.  This beauty is a deep blackened teal jelly base packed to the brim with a gold to bronze color shifting microshimmer and color shifting flakies!  Seriously beautiful.

Indigo Bananas - Acid Ocean

Indigo Bananas – Acid Ocean

Indigo Bananas - Acid Ocean (matte)

Indigo Bananas – Acid Ocean (matte)

Just look at that (excuse those little white dots, my matte topcoat is about to be replaced ASAP).  I haven’t said it in awhile but this polish is AH-mazing!  The formula is just like Reign – perfection.  In fact I found both of these to be insanely easy to work with and very controllable.  They also cleaned up nicely even though they are highly pigmented.

Products used:   Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Indigo Bananas – Acid Ocean; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat; Julep – Matte Topcoat

Now I’m sure that you’re saying “self where can I get some of THAT polish?!”  So here ya go!  You can find Indigo Bananas nail polish on their site right here.  If you want to keep up on all the news about Indigo Bananas you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.