Hitchhiker Nails - Update November 5th

Hello Lovelies!  I am super excited to share some new polishes with you today! I was perusing Instagram when I happened upon Hitchhiker Nails.  For my fellow nerdites, you might be thinking that looks like it might have something to do with Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and you would be absolutely correct.  Ginny, the maker of Hitchhiker Nails, has created polishes inspired entirely by HG2G, the labeling, the polish names, and the colors and finishes are perfect representations of Douglas Adams masterpiece.

  

What you haven't heard of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," please pull yourself out from under your rock and enjoy the universe.  For those of you who didn't enjoy HG2G, well you are entitled to your wrong opinion, but you should be able to appreciate Ginny's gorgeous polishes anyways because they are absolutely incredible.  Now let's enjoy a few of these lovelies together shall we...

Zarkin Frood

This is for all you amazingy well put together guys, who really know where there towel is.  This is a phenomenal medium purple filled with gorgeous silver flakies.  This application is shown with two smooth easy coats, and no topcoat.  I was amazed at how shiny these polishes were without the addition of a glossy topcoat.

Douglas Adams

This wonderful medium bright blue creme polish, was created for the author himself, Douglas Adams.  For me this polish couldn't be any more perfect.  I'm a sucker for a good creme, and you all know my favorite color is blue.  This swatch is two glorious coats and again no topcoat because it is so shiny already.

Great Green

Jatravartids of Viltvodle Six, know this is short for The Great Green Arkleseizure.  The Jatravartids were firm believers that the entire universe came into being when it was sneezed from the nose of The Great Green Arkleseizure.  They all feared the time known as The Coming of the Great White Handkerchief. 

This polish is just too much fun, from its inspiration, to it's color and finish.  This is an amazingly bright green micro glitter in a slightly green jelly base.  However, the glitter is so condensed that it applies evenly without any sponging necessary.  I was also pleasantly surprised as to how smooth it was to apply.  I have had many dealings with micro glitters that are unpleasant because they are too thick, Great Green was magnificent to apply.  This is shown in three thin brushed on coats and still no topcoat because these polishes are fabulous on their own.

Black and White Stamping Polish

In addition, to Ginny's fun and lovely polishes she also creates stamping polish.  I was in desperate need of a good black and white stamping polish, and when I saw that Ginny had some available I had to purchase them right away.  It was the best investment I have ever made!  Her stamping polishes are phenomenal, they picked up and transferred so easily, and the opacity is incredible.  I couldn't resist doing a layered stamped Halloween design over Great Green.

This was my first time working with a clear jelly stamper (also sent to me by Ginny) and creating a layered stamped design.  I did have to prep the stamper by washing it with dish soap (do not ever use acetone on your stampers).  When you need to do a quick clean up between pickups use tape or a lint roller to remove polish from your stamper.  I definitely could use some practice stamping with a clear stamper but for a first attempt I am really pleased with how these Halloween nails turned out.

If you haven't checked out Ginny's Etsy shop yet you really should.  She has so many different, gorgeous polishes to offer, that you will love (even if you don't love HG2G).  She has jellies, neons, cremes, holo, GITD, and some cute water slide decals too!  There is a little (or alot) of somethings for everyone.  I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.  I hope you enjoyed these swatches, and found the review useful.  So long and thanks for all the fish ; )

Your Fellow Plebe,

Update November 5, 2016 - Ginny so graciously provided me with a code so that you the readers could get free shipping on anything you order from her Etsy shop!  She has just added a bunch of different polishes including some phenomenal neons and amazing stamping polishes.  Check out Hitchhiker Nails and use code FREEME for free shipping.

Sweetpea Polish

Hello Lovelies! I know I have been posting here very little lately, life has been crazy busy. However, I had to share these gorgeous holographic polishes with you. I'm super excited to present to you a brand dandy new indie brand, Sweetpea Polish!

All the photos you are about to see are taken indoors under sunlight lamps (except for the photo above). Each swatch is applied in two coats (though most of these are opaque with one coat), and are shown with a glossy topcoat.  Enjoy...

Enchanted Pine

This gorgeous, rich green is phenomenal. Honestly, I am not huge fan of green but this is really incredible! The holo sparkle really makes it enchanting, as its name implies. I can see this in future holiday manis. 

I created the accent nail using all four shades swatched in the post and nail vinyls from Polished Vino. 

Aquamarine Dreams

Blue!!! You know I love this just for that reason alone. The holo shine makes this medium blue polish truly dreamy. This blue is the most unique blue I've been able to add to my collection. 

I had to try out these polishes with stamping and was pleasantly surprised to see that they did work. I did screw up the transfer a little. 

You Are My Sunshine

This is a really special polish. It's so hard to find a really good yellow polish. Most yellows need white undies to be really bright but not this gorgeous lovely!  My pictures don't really do this polish justice, but in the sun this really shines. This polish also has a special meaning to me because I sing You Are My Sunshine to my daughter every night. 

I also tested these out for water marbling, even though I'm not great at it. Surprisingly, they work well, they spread easily and didn't break up when dragged. For me to achieve a descent water marble take a small miracle, so if you are good at water marbling you should have no problem with these. 

Frosted Alexandrite

This is a very rich and elegant dark purple polish. The holo sparkle makes it look like it should be worn by royalty. 

I, of course, had to use these lovely polishes to create a gradient. I love these polishes and I love gradients so I just had to do it and they blended so seamlessly. 

I am really honored to introduce you to the amazing polishes. Sweetpea Polish will be opening shop this weekend, October 1st. Besides, these polishes here she has many other gorgeous holo shades to choose from, so head on over and check them out.  The colors are gorgeous, the holo is so sparkly, and the formulas are fantastically opaque and smooth. 

If you would like to see swatch application videos and sparkle videos of these polishes check out my Instagram feed (I also post nail art there much more frequently than I do here).I really hope you enjoyed these swatches, and found this review useful. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time (hopefully sooner than later). 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Dam Nail Polish Summer Sunset Swatches and Review

Hello Lovelies!  Today, I have some gorgeous thermal polish swatches to share with you.  This is Dam Nail Polish's Summer Sunset Series.  Angie created these four thermal polishes inspired by the sunset and they are very captivating.

All swatches are photography indoors under daylight lamps, and have a glossy topcoat applied to them.

Blushing Nudie

This is a perfect soft pink when warm that transitions to a very pretty rose pink when cold.  Shown here in three thin coats.

Cerulean Skies

This is a soft greyish nude when warm that transitions to a medium blue.  I think this is the pretties when in transition.  Shown in two thin coats.

Auburnt

To me this is one of the more dramatic thermals in the series.  Its a beautiful bright peachy orange when warm that transitions to a lovely deep auburn when cold.  This reminds me a lot of the sunsets we have here in New York.  This is shown in three thin coats.

Exotic Horizon

This is another dramatic transitioning polish.  It's a fun bright pink when warm that transitions to a beautiful deep purple.  Shown here in two thin coats.

The formulas of all these polishes were incredibly smooth, with no streaking, and all nicely opaque in two or three thin coats.  As you can see I tried these with watermarbling (which you all know I am not very good at) and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they marbled wonderfully.  Seriously though, how cool is that thermal watermarble?!  I also think that this series is a great collection for that end of summer early fall season, you know when your not yet ready to give up on summer but fall is also so enticing.

These polishes are currently available for pre-order as full sized entire sets at Dam Nail Polish's Etsy store.  Through pre-order they are discounted to $32.50 for the full set.  Pre-orders are expected to ship out on 9/2.  The sale price will end on the official release date, 9/2 (or when sold out).  After that they will be sold for full price and will be available as individual bottles.

I hope you enjoyed these lovely swatches and found the review useful.  Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Anchor & Heart Lacquer First Group Customs

Hello Lovelies!  I am super honored and very lucky to have been randomly selected to guest swatch Anchor & Heart Lacquer Facebook Fan Group, Anchored Hearts, first group custom! The group voted on their favorite inspiration pictures and because Taryn loves making polish so much she decided to make polishes for the top two picks. 

After some group discussion the two group custom polishes evolved into four polishes.  What I like to consider the warmer and the cooler shade for each polish. 

Please be warned that this is a very photo heavy post. I wanted to show the polishes in different lighting sources so you could see the real beauty in them.   

Group Custom #1

This is the warmer of the two purple shades. It's a nice medium shade with a lovely linear holo sparkle along with gold flakies. The holo really sparkles in the sunlight!

A closer look at the holo and gold flakies. Because this is a warmer purple the gold flakies almost appear coppery. 

Group Custom #2

Similar to the first, being a shade of purple, having a holo shine and gold flakies. This one, however, has a cooler tone, giving it a blue-ish almost periwinkle shade. 

A closer look at #2 reveals the holo and gold flakies. Because of the cooler tone the flakies take on an almost silver appearance. 

Here is a direct comparison of the first two customs. In a side by side view you can see they are significantly different. 

Group Custom #3

Inspired by the pastel meadow picture, Taryn created this phenomenal crelly. I'll be perfectly honest, I am not a huge crelly fan mostly because I haven't had great experiences with them. Both of Taryn's crellies in this custom group are amazing! They are incredibly smooth and have the perfect amount of glitter in them. I didn't have to fish for the glitter, nor was there so much glitter that it wouldn't apply evenly. These are absolutely perfect!

#3 is the warmer of the two crellies with a peachy nude base. For me it's very similar to my skin tone, so it gave the interesting illusion of naked nails covered in glitter. 

As you can see in this macro there is a slight holo shimmer along with varying sizes of bright pastel glitter pieces. 

Group Custom #4

This is the cooler toned crelly, that has an off-white slightly pinkish base. 

Again all the same lovely glitter pieces and pretty holo shimmer but in a cooler base. 

A side by side comparison of the two crellies. Even though they are similar you can see they are still quite different. 

The swatches above are each done with a two coat application and have a glossy topcoat over them. The formulas of each of these are absolutely perfect. Each coat  applied so smoothly and was streak free. 

If you haven't tried Anchor & Heart Lacquer you should, if you're already a fan, these are a must have for your collection. 

In order to be able to purchase these you must be a member of the Anchored Hearts Facebook Fan Group. For more information on the pre-order date and how to purchase these polishes head over to the group page and become a member. It's a great group with a passion for one of the best indie brands I have come across yet. 

I hope you enjoyed these swatches, and I hope to see you in the group forum soon. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,