My Introducion to Paint it Pretty Polish

Note: these polishes were sent to me in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.  Also, there is a lot of sorcery in these nail polishes.

I haven't had the opportunity to review a thermal polish in a while, so I was super excited when Sherri of Paint it Pretty Polish (my first Canadian indie!) asked me to swatch for her!  This collection is all color-changing.  Cosmic Kisses and Reach For the Stars are thermals, while Blushing Sun is UV-reactive.

Cosmic Kisses

Cosmic Kisses is a lovely pink-purple.  When it's warm, it's a bright, rosy pink with a shimmer that's almost golden, almost holo.  My camera really couldn't capture how pretty the shimmer is.

In its cool state, Cosmic kisses is a shade of purple that I find hard to describe. Lavender-violet, I suppose?  The shimmer really shows through in the purple state, adding a gorgeous pink undertone to the purple.

Three coats of Cosmic Kisses is needed for opacity.  I actually have four coats on my middle finger and pinky, because I dinged both fingers while they were drying, but it was opaque at three coats.  Really, two coats could cut it, but I wanted the additional layer of color just to make sure that the whites of my nails weren't deceiving my eyes during the polish's transition phase.

No review of a color changing nail polish would be complete without a video, so here you go!

Reach For the Stars

Okay, my blue bias is going to show through here: this color took my breath away!  I think this is the most drastic color change in any of the thermal polishes that I own.

In its cool state, Reach For the Stars is blue with purple undertones from the shimmer.  Like Cosmic Kisses, the shimmer is almost holo.  I mostly noticed it looking holographic under my phone's flashlight, but not so much in natural light.

Except for when it's warm!  Reach For the Stars turns almost-white in heat.  It's absolutely GORGEOUS and I am so glad that I swatched this in the summer when my fingers are always warm!  When it's warm, the shimmer in Reach For the Stars stands out much more holographic than when it's cool.  At certain angles, the purple in the shimmer stands out really well, though my camera couldn't pick that up.

I couldn't help but think of Elsa with this color.  The cold state reminds me of the bottom of her dress, while the warm state reminds me of her... uh... arm cloaks?

Blushing Sun

I'll start this one off by saying that the name is perfect for this polish.  Indoors, Blushing Sun is a cheerful, sunny yellow with flakies that are just noticeable.

But take it out into the sunshine (or stick it under a UV lamp if you have one) and BAM! it becomes a bright, orange-y pink.  The flakies stay yellow, so they really stand out in the sunlight!

I am obsessed with this color.  It wasn't really possible to get a transition photo like I did with the thermals, because the UV rays change the color so quickly.  You can tell how direct the sunlight is by the color the polish turns!  In direct sunlight, it's very pink.  On a cloudy day, it's more orangey, halfway between pink and yellow.  It's also sort of in between if the sunlight is filtered through a window.  I highly enjoyed making a fist to hide my nails, then opening it and watching the color change again.

I have three coats of Blushing Sun on my nails, and as you can see, it's still fairly sheer.  I tested out a fourth coat on my thumb, but it didn't really make a difference.  If you want solid coverage, I'd recommend layering it over a white base.  Or maybe a pink or yellow base to be more playful!

I am so happy to have these magical polishes in my collection!  A big thank you to Sherri for letting me swatch these for her.  If you're a fan of thermals and/or UV-reactive polishes, you definitely need these in your collection!

Polish Addict Nail Color: Beatles Thermals

My Beatles fan side is definitely happy today!  Polish Addict Nail Color first released these two shades last summer, and re-released them this May.  The second I saw their names on Instagram I knew I had to own Hey Jude and Strawberry Fields Forever - especially Strawberry Fields Forever!  (If you've been around for a while, you'll be familiar with my inherent need to own strawberry things and all things related to that song.)  But because funds are limited - and so is space in my Helmer! - I got mini bottles.  I've left my pinky out of shots because a) 3 fingers looks less crowded on a mini bottle than 4, and b) my pinky nail is still too short to shape and I think it looks weird next to my other long nails.

Hey Jude

First off, I have to say that I really like the glitter density of Hey Jude.  The amount of glitter in the first coat matches the amount that I see in the bottle!  Very nice.  And the glitters applied very nicely, as smoothly as if they weren't even there.  The yellow and green glitters are most noticeable in the photos, but there are some teeny tiny gold holo glitters that really make this polish special.

Two coats of Hey Jude was enough to be opaque.

Hey Jude is a thermal, but I barely noticed a difference even when I plunged my fingers into ice water.  My camera definitely wasn't able to pick up the transition.

Based on the transition photo in the shop, it looks like my bottle is stuck in the warm phase.  I've heard that heat can damage thermal polish, and it was hot when my order was in the mail, so maybe the heat killed it?  But Strawberry Fields Forever is still very reactive, so I'm not sure.  An older review of Hey Jude also said that she couldn't see much of a difference in hue, so maybe the thermal formula is just odd on this polish.  But thermal or not, I still really like the teal color!

Strawberry Fields Forever

Like Hey Jude, the glitter density of Strawberry Fields Forever gets a round of applause.  The amount of glitter on my nails matches the amount that I see in the bottle perfectly and effortlessly!

Also like Hey Jude, two coats of Strawberry Fields Forever is great for opacity.  In fact, I think it was almost a one-coat wonder!  But I do prefer the look of two coats, especially since it's a glitter polish.

The thermal color changes are wayyyy more noticeable than with Hey Jude!  Strawberry Fields Forever is yellow in its warm state and berry-pink when cold.  When it's transitioning, it kind of reminds me of a half-ripe strawberry!

I actually had a hard time photographing this while cold or even transitioning because my hands were so warm that it kept turning yellow before I could get the focus right!  Summer is hard.

I love, love, love this polish.  It definitely meets my standards for strawberry themed things!

The multitude of gitters are fairly holographic, which is gorgeous.

I'll say one thing for my stubby pinky nail - it looks pretty nice in macro shots! 

I plunged the bottle into a bowl of cold water to get it to transition a little bit for this bottle shot.  Because why not?

Sadly, these two polishes are now gone from the shop (why do I always put off publishing reviews until the polish is gone?), but their Beatles-related sister Abbey Road is still available in the shop!

What do you think of these polishes?  Are you a Beatles fan too?  Let me know in the comments!

CDB Lacquer: Apocalypse Averted collection

I first discovered the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the 7th grade.  It was still airing its final season on TV, but I had to catch up on the first six seasons on DVD.  (Netflix was around at this time, but if they did offer instant streaming already, my family with its dial-up internet did not utilize it, and I didn't have much say over which DVDs we received.)  I quickly became obsessed and have since re-watched the show at least three or four times, plus several annual viewings of the three Halloween episodes.

When Cheyenne of CDB Lacquer released a Buffy-inspired collection last March, I knew that I absolutely needed all of them.  There was no way I would be able to buy just the blue and maybe one other polish, because that would feel too much like leaving out my closest friends in favor of only two of them.  So I got the whole collection in mini sizes, in order to save my wallet a little bit of the trouble.

Due to many silly reasons, it's taken me well over a year to finally get around to swatching all of these.  (You'll even get to see my old nail shape again!)  The polishes are long gone from cdblacquer.com, but they're far too beautiful for me not to share them with you!  Who knows, perhaps with enough demand Cheyenne will be incensed to bring them back to the shop.

I wasn't blessed with any sunny days at all when I was swatching these polishes, and they're all at least a little bit holographic!  Direct sunlight shows off holos the best.  Under my lamps, the holo glitters still look nice, but you don't get to see the rainbow sparkle very well.

Powerful Magics

"The magics I use are very powerful.  I'm very powerful."

That perfectly royal shade of purple, Powerful Magics draws its inspiration from the character Willow Rosenberg.  I think this color fits Willow perfectly.  It would compliment her fiery red hair very well, for one thing.  The holographic sparkles in this polish, which are subtle in indoor lighting but brilliant in sunlight, also remind me of Willow.  Like the sparkle, Willow's powers were subtle in seasons 1-3; then in seasons 4-7, she grew into herself, her confidence, and her power.

Two coats was enough for full opacity on this one, but I used three coats on my pointer and ring fingers just to see if it affected the color at all.  I think a third coat makes the color a little bit deeper and darker.

A Monster's Nightmare 

"I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about."

This shade is inspired by Buffy herself.  It's a truly gorgeous shade of bright, ruby red.  I think Buffy would love this polish.  In the show, she mainly sported the delicate pinks and taupe-ish nudes that were so trendy in the 90s, but I think she would also really like this vampy color.  (Um, can I call this vampy if it's inspired by the Slayer??)

On the first coat, the color kind of reminded me of raspberry jelly!  I was tempted to lick my nails.  Two coats of A Monster's Nightmare is plenty for opacity.  I have three coats on my middle finger because my second coat came out a bit streaky (the downside of minis - tiny brushes tend to lead to uneven application).  I'm about 95% sure that the streakiness was only due to the small size of my brush, and not the formula of the polish.  As you can see, a third coat deepens the color a little bit, but not by much.

Removal of this polish is surprisingly easy!  With red nail polish, I usually wind up with red stains all over my fingers so badly that I have to exfoliate my skin in order to get rid of the red.  Not so with this polish!  My skin was nice and stain-free, and with two coats of base coat, my nails also escaped red staining.

He Sees All

“Seven years, working with the Slayer.  Seeing my friends get more and more powerful, all of them.  And I’m the guy who fixes the windows.  They’ll never know how tough it is, Dawnie.  To be the one who isn’t chosen, to live so near to the spotlight and never step in it.  But I know.  I see more than anybody realizes because nobody’s watching me.”

He Sees All is inspired by Xander Harris.  It's a lovely shade of blue-toned gray that reminds me of a starry sky.  That seems very fitting for Xander, in two ways: abstractly because his sight is as endless as the night sky; directly because many times throughout the course of the show, he speaks of his Christmas tradition of camping out under the stars to escape his dysfunctional family. 

As with the previous polishes in this collection, He Sees All is opaque in two coats.  I have a third coat on my pointer finger because a stray fuzzy forced me to ding up my second coat a little bit; as you can see, there isn't really a difference in color or glitter depth between two and three coats.

Bloody Hell

"Inspired by 'William the Bloody' aka Spike, a vampire who fights for his soul. Spike sacrificed his life in the final battle against the First Evil, permanently closing the Hellmouth."

If anyone in the show deserves a blood red color in their honor, it's Spike!  From his vampiric need for blood to his frequent British use of the expression "bloody hell," any time I see a vampy blood-red color I immediately think of Spike.

Bloody Hell leans a bit to the rusty side of the red spectrum, more reminiscent of half-dried blood than fresh blood.  But it doesn't look nasty rusty, because it sparkles!  Nothing that sparkles this much can truly look like a nasty patch of dried blood.

This one is the thinnest of the bunch, requiring three coats for full opacity. 

Apocalypse Averted

"Inspired by the several events that almost caused an apocalypse and were averted thanks to Buffy and her friends aka the Scooby Gang."

Throughout the course of the show, there were no less than eight apocalypses that the Scooby Gang thwarted off.  One could argue that there were more, and one would probably be right!

Apocalypse Averted has a clear base, and as a result it's very sheer.  I have two coats over my naked nail on my pointer finger; one coat over black on my middle; three coats over naked nail on my ring finger; and two coats over black on my pinkie.  Personally, I prefer the look of this polish on top of a solid color, but it does look good over the naked nail too!

This one is definitely the most holographic of the collection!  The microglitters are suuuuuper fine and holographic.  We're talking so fine that this almost applies as smoothly as a creme!

Macro at one coat over black

Angelic Demon 

"Inspired by Buffy’s true love, Angel aka Angelus. Angelus was cursed as vengeance for killing a member of a gypsy clan. They returned his soul, forcing him to live eternally in guilt over the countless crimes he had committed as a soulless vampire."

Angelic Demon is a thermal polish, which means that it changes color based on temperature.  When it's warm, it's significantly lighter than when it's cool.  I think a thermal polish is perfect for Angel because he's always so darn moody.  And blue makes it even better because blue is often associated with sadness, and Angel is definitely sad and broody most of the time. ;) 

This is my very first thermal polish!  I'm super impressed and may or may not have launched a new obsession.  My nails are so long now that, in a neutral state, the color is lighter near my cuticles and darker at my nail tips!  It's a lazy woman's ombre mani!

The shade of blue here is stunning.  When it's mediocre-warm, it reminds me of the blue raspberry jellybeans that were my favorite as a kid!  Angelic Demon definitely has that squishy look to it when it's warmer.  When it's cooler and darker, it is still gorgeous but loses a fraction of the depth to its dark pigmentation. 

What do you think of this collection?  If you're a Buffy fan, what do you think of the colors for each character?  Let me know in the comments!