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

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

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

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

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up 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

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

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

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

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

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Last but certainly not least…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

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

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

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Indigo Bananas

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Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

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Holding onto Summer as hard as I can! Alchemy Lacquers – Fire Bright Collection – Swatches and Review

Sep16

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovelies. Fall is officially on its way. I woke up this morning and there was a nip in the air and the temperature stayed mild all day. While I love it right now because I can cruise with my windows down and my stereo blasting Queen as I’m on the highway, I’m just not ready for Fall yet! I still want summer colors and that lackadaisical summer feeling to continue on for just a bit longer.

I’m sure you’re eager to see these so I am not going to ramble forever. Let’s just say that I’m going to show you some fantastic eye-popping neon goodies from Alchemy Lacquers, and the best part? She just restocked them yesterday so they are available RIGHT NOW.

This is Alchemy Lacquers’ Fire Bright Collection:

Imagine my delight when I opened up my most recent package from Alchemy Lacquers and saw this adorable round tin staring up at me. I couldn’t wait to get that thing open because I already knew what was in it!

Alchemy Lacquers – Fire Bright (mini collection tin)

All the squees. Seriously, so much neon glitter goodness I almost passed right out. Then I had to figure out what the best way to show these would be without making you stay with me for half a year (not that you’d mind, right? RIGHT?). Anyway you shall see what I’m talking about below. First I want to show you two glitter toppers so versatile that I’m fairly certain I’ll need backups of them:

Fireworks:

Alchemy Lacquers – Fireworks

Fireworks is a glitter topper with a mix of various sizes of black glitter with a mix of neon glitters thrown into the mix. The glitters are all fairly small but the variety of sizes adds interest and depth!

Alchemy Lacquers – Fireworks

Alchemy Lacquers – Fireworks (Macro)

Awesome right? Wait, you want to know about application, formula, etc? Ok well I’m relegating that information to the end of the post because each and every polish I show you today applied exactly the same way. Talk about consistency! Honestly quality is one of those things that I just take for granted with Alchemy Lacquers.

Next up is Pyrotechnics:

Alchemy Lacquers – Pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics is the sister to Fireworks! Instead of a glitter topper with black and neon glitter, it’s white and neon. Yes, I know you can see it but I still wanted to say it! Same idea as Fireworks, multi-sized white glitter and a burst of mixed neon glitters.

Alchemy Lacquers – Pyrotechnics

Can you pick a favorite from these? No neither could I. I even donned white and black nail polish to show you these toppers (oh the horrors of plain black and white polish it’s so hard to get right!). They would look good over several different colors though so experiment away!

Ok next up are LiCl, CuSO4, CaCl, and KCl, and no I promise that isn’t just a random amalgamation of characters that I typed to throw you off…that is their names. These are the chemical abbreviations of chemical compounds:

Alchemy Lacquers - (left to right) LiCl, CuSO4, CaCl, KCl

Alchemy Lacquers – (pointer to pinky) LiCl, CuSO4, CaCl, KCl

Each of the glitter toppers in the rest of the collection is named after a chemical compound that is used in…you guessed it FIREWORKS and PYROTECHNICS. How very cool is that?? This is another thing that I love and adore about Alchemy Lacquers the themes are always well thought and exceptionally well executed. Each of this is a multi-sized neon glitter topper in one color in a clear base. LiCl is neon pink, CuSO4 is neon green, CaCl is neon orange, KCl is purple. Also there are matte and satin glitters so it gives it even more dimension!

Alchemy Lacquers – (pointer to pinky) LiCl, CuSO4, CaCl, KCl

I love that depending on the base you put them on you can get different looks. The possibilities for this collection are really endless when it comes to nail art as well!

Last but not least we have NaNO3, CuCl2, SrCl2, and NaCl

Alchemy Lacquers – (pointer to pinky) NaNO3, CuCl2, SrCl2, NaCl

So much love for these glitter toppers. I’m totally doing a mega neon skittle mani (there are ten, count ’em ten, toppers in this collection) in the near future to try to grasp onto as much Summer as I can! NaNO3 is neon marigold, CuCl2 is neon blue, SrCl2 is neon coral, and last but not least is NaCl which is neon highlighter yellow!

Alchemy Lacquers – (pointer to pinky) NaNO3, CuCl2, SrCl2, NaCl

Now of course some do show up better on black or white depending on the color but I wanted to show you both because I could. I think that SrCl2 is my favorite one although to be honest I love them all! So many things that you can do with these, you can pair these with neon polishes of a similar color to create a neon monochrome effect or with contrasting colors to really rock out your 80s throwback tendencies. Whatever you decide to do with this collection would be bright and fun.

The application of all the glitter toppers was exactly the same. I did not have to fish for the glitter at all. It’s suspended well and spread nicely. I preferred a bit of a heavier coat so I did lightly dab the polish instead of brushing which will give a subtler effect. All pics show one lightly dabbed coat over two coats of white or black with topcoat.

There you have it I’m clinging to summer like crazy. I love Autumn but when it starts to get too cold I am not a happy Relly! Per usual you should definitely check out the links below to follow, drool over, and get your own Alchemy Lacquers. I have some more stuff to show you soon but that’s for another day! Also go grab the Fire Bright Collection NOW it was just restocked yesterday!

Facebook – Instagram – Etsy Store

Fall is Almost Here! Review of Pretty & Polished Dusty Fall Cremes!

Sep6

Provided for Honest Review

Fall is almost upon us my dear readers! Hot drinks, cool days, sweaters, and gorgeous muted colors will be taking over before you know it! Ok, so where I live hot drinks, cool days, and sweaters don’t generally come out until Christmas (if we’re lucky). However, I still love good seasonal polish. I fully admit that there’s something in my brain that makes me crave muted earthy polishes for Autumn, glitzy jewel tones for winter, delicate and shimmery pastels for Spring, and OMG could they be any more Neon neons for Summer (For the record, I’m not over neons yet, I could really do those all year).

Another thing that I’ve been craving is CREME polishes. Now I know you’re saying to yourself, “But, Relly, I thought you were all about glitter and flakies?” You would definitely be right, I am. However, lately I’ve also been wanting that smooth gorgeous color that you can only get from good creme polishes. Plus, glitters need bases, and cremes are fantastic for nail art! Luckily for me Pretty & Polished came out with a stunning collection of Fall-colored Dusty Cremes. I had the pleasure of trying out five of them, which I am going to share with you!

Up first is Reflect and Ponder:

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a weakness for dark blue polish. Dark blues and all shades of gray are probably among my very most favorite polish colors. I can’t tell you how many various shades of dark or navy blue I have and I’m always delighted to add another shade to my collection (because they’re similar not the same…) This one is ever so slightly teal-leaning so it’s not a straight navy, which is just fine with me. Also, this polish is the one that conceals the “dusty” effect that each of these polishes have. Still love everything about this color and I will definitely be using it again!

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder

I’m going to hold off discussing individual formulas because in all honesty they were all so very very close in application.

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder (Macro)

Perfectly smooth and fantastic!

Next up is Saucy Marsala:

Pretty & Polished – Saucy Marsala

Such a pretty color for Fall. I love pink almost as much as I love blue. This is a rich dusty mauve pink and despite being a major Doctor Who fan I’m not alarmed at the color (It’s Mauve…the intergalactic color for danger). You can see the dusty effect in this polish and it’s like a light layer of dust throughout the polish.

Pretty & Polished – Saucy Marsala

I don’t have a macro shot of this one because apparently the photography spirits were not with me and everything I shot came out blurry. This happened with another of the colors as well – I’m tempted to say it’s the camera but honestly I’m no pro *grins*.

Now for what must be the most perfect green:

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again

I love this color so much. This is such a perfect green for nail art, to go with a lot of my glitter, and just on its own. This color is almost neutral as well. I say there’s a case to be made for muted earth toned greens to be neutral and I can imagine this in so many different manis.

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again

You can really see the “dust” effect here. It’s not quite speckles but kind of like speckles.

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again (Macro)

I’m saving my very favorite for last (and it’s not this one!), and it’s going to be a surprise I promise because you already know my preferred colors are blues, greens, teals/turquoises…

Here is Docked at Biscay Bay:

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

I’ll admit this one fought hard to be my favorite. It’s right there in the color family that I am always immediately drawn to. Gorgeous muted turquoise and it’s just smooth and creamy and everything I ever want in a creme polish.

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

Now onto my favorite of the ones I received:

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That?

Now I know there are a lot of purple fans out there. I’ll be honest, I’ve not always been a purple fan. However how can you resist a color like this??? This gorgeous true purple is just stunning. I love everything about it!

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That?

Quick Macro to see the perfection:

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That? (Macro)

Let’s talk about creme polishes for a minute. I really debated with myself as to whether I should show you these with topcoat (maximum shine!!!) or without. I finally decided that I would show you these without topcoat so if there were any formulaic issues they couldn’t be hidden by a glossy layer of topcoat. One of the wonders of topcoat is that it does cover a multitude of flaws. Without topcoat you would be able to see any drags, balding, streaks, or other formula issues for yourself. I felt that this would be the most honest representation of the polishes. And as you can see I had NONE of those troubles. They all applied beautifully and leveled out so nicely.

All of these pictures are two coats of the respective color without topcoat. Almost all of them could have probably been one coat. Only the green HAD to have two coats because it’s such a light color. These all dried to a demi-matte rubbery finish. I think this is great because it gives you two options, high shine with topcoat or the natural finish which could be very cool in nail art.

Speaking of nail art….BOOM:

Reverse Stamping with Pretty & Polished Dusty Cremes (stamp is MoYou London – Explorer 07)

The buzz over these cremes is tremendous. It seems that the Indie Nail Polish community is just craving cremes like I was. This is five of the TEN piece collection. They work fabulously together and are perfect colors for fall. This collection will be available for purchase on September 9, 2015. You can pick up yours at the Pretty & Polished Shop (but don’t wait to visit the shop until then…Chels is running a Labor Day Sale from right now until September 7 at midnight. Time to pick up some of those other pretty polishes you’ve been eyeing. Use LaborDay25 to get 25% off of all polish!! That’s a killer deal right there!). For all the news and to see other pictures of this and other upcoming collections go check out Pretty & Polished on Facebook and Instagram!

MOD Lacquer Review and Swatches!

Jul12

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my dearest and most wonderful readers! I have a fun post for you today as it’s a brand we haven’t seen around these parts in awhile! Now MOD Lacquer puts out some truly beautiful polishes. I have two holographic polishes and three of her new Electrified collection which is a gorgeous batch of neon cremes!

Let’s start with the Neons shall we?

I’d like to make a couple of notes before we dive into the abyss of…Er…I mean review. I’ve seen a lot of bloggers/swatchers/customers of the brand who have been marbling with these colors to very good effect. I received minis of these and as many know marbling with minis is extremely difficult so I didn’t attempt it more than once. With minis by the time you get a good bead on the brush the first ring is a little too set. If you’re interested in marbling these WILL work well for that just make sure to get the full sizes! Secondly neons are notoriously hard to photograph and my pictures do not do justice to the full and amazing neonness that is these polishes.

First up we have High Powered!

MOD Lacquer – High Powered

In this photo this polish looks more like one of the neon red colors however I assure you that High Powered is a Bright Neon true orange. This shade is actually more like traffic cone orange than my pictures could capture! This is a smooth shiny creme that almost didn’t need topcoat though I put one on out of habit. The brightness of this is so satisfying. I crave neons they are some of my favorite colors!

MOD Lacquer – High Powered

I know that this picture looks a bit dark I was trying to play around and get the best color possible. This is as close as I could get to the true color and even then it’s still tricky! Normally we would talk about formula here but all the neons I am reviewing today had the same formula so I’ll save that for the last one! Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is Stunned:

MOD Lacquer – Stunned

I’m stunned (see what I did there?) at how accurately this one photographed. It’s still a touch less bright than the actual polish is but the shade is correct at least! Stunned is a highlighter green creme. It’s definitely an eyecatching color and I seriously can’t wait to do some kind of nail art with these colors soon!

MOD Lacquer – Stunned

Pictures show three coats plus topcoat because my nail line wanted to peek through the green moreso than the orange.

Last but not least for the neons we have Energize:

MOD Lacquer – Energize

Again justice for this color is not served…you can ALMOST see the actual color in the edge of the bottle. This color is a shocking, bright, neon, highlighter pink. Looooove this color this is my favorite of the three neons I received but together they work amazingly well!

MOD Lacquer – Energize

Like I mentioned before the formula on all of these was the same. Awesome! Here’s the deal pickles – neons are sometimes (frequently) a pain in the behind to work with or need to be layered over white to perform decently. They can be hard to apply, streaky, hard to level and all sorts of unfun to apply. However I experienced none of this! The only one that needed more than two coats was the green and that was more because the color itself allowed my nail line to show through rather than the formula itself. All of these cremes self-leveled and are shown on their own without undies. For neons they are truly delightful! I topcoated them moreso out of habit than need and they look just awesome alone and will be AMAZING for nail art.

Now onto the holos!

First up is Baby Flamingo:

MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo

Baby Flamingo is a perfect flamingo pink, pink with a touch of orange undertone – almost salmon but not quite…it’s still definitely pink, creme holo. The holographic effect in this is fairly low density so it’s a much more subtle effect, more of a holographic shimmer if you will. It’s a gorgeous color and is great to have if you want some saturated color but have to keep to a “traditional” color pallette for work. It’s also great for nail art as I’ve already used this polish in that capacity as well!

MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo

Because of the creme base for this polish it’s stunningly easy to apply and self-levels beautifully. It was opaque in two coats without any issue whatsoever. This one also almost didn’t need a topcoat as it dried very shiny but I threw one on out of habit! Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Last up is my favorite! Aerodynamic:

MOD Lacquer – Aerodynamic

Aerodynamic is a gorgeous medium turquoise creme holographic polish. As I’ve said a million times and as ya’ll are probably sick of hearing about I love holographic polishes that have a little bit more going on with them and this one has a strong gold shimmer that keeps this from going too cool or gray due to the holographic pigment. I’m absolutely enamored of this shade!

MOD Lacquer – Aerodynamic

Formula on this is just luscious and perfect and everything I would want from a polish. Perfect in two coats with a good holographic arc, you can even see a bit of it in these pictures in my interior light. I can’t wait to see it in the sunlight!

MOD Lacquer – Aerodynamic

Now for all the details you need to snag up your own batch of MOD Lacquer! Naturally you can buy MOD Lacquer in their Etsy Shop. If you want to keep up to date and see lots of pretty nail polishes you should definitely follow MOD Lacquer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Go check ’em out!

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For Indie Nail Polish Addicts, by an Indie Nail Polish Addict

Archives

Creme a la mode collaboration box – Swatches and Review

Holding onto Summer as hard as I can! Alchemy Lacquers – Fire Bright Collection – Swatches and Review

Fall is Almost Here! Review of Pretty & Polished Dusty Fall Cremes!

MOD Lacquer Review and Swatches!