[Review] The Trend: Indie Brands (Cirque, Love Thy Polish, Rainbow Honey)

The Trend

Indie polishes have exploded in popularity all over the world in recent times. If you are a nail polish newbie, in short, indies are nail polishes made by normal people like you and me! Indie makers mix and match their own pigments, bases and glitters to create unique polishes in their own home. From plain polishes to holographic polishes to glow in the dark polishes, and with the growing number of indie brands in existence, there is certainly no shortage in the range of indie polishes available.

The Polishes

The products in my post today were sent to me free and for review by Femme Fatale Cosmetics, ‘an Australian stockist for top international indie lacquer brands’. You can also find them on Facebook here.

I received three products, two polishes and one cuticle balm, from the indie brands Cirque, Love Thy Polish and Rainbow Honey.

The Review

The first polish I received was Cirque Colors ‘Kaleidoscope’. I was incredibly excited over this full sized 13.2ml glitter polish and you can see why below!

It is an AMAZING glitter bomb polish with a clear base and an assortment of different sized shapes and coloured glitter. It is described as being a  ‘rainbow confetti made with over 30 different types of satin-finished glitter’. These include squares, hexes and diamonds that come in white, gold, red, orange, green purple and blue! The colours are fun and very vibrant which makes it extra special both in the bottle and on the nail!

This is one coat of Kaleidoscope over two coats of Sinful Colors ‘Snow Me White’. As you can see, the colours are very bright against the white base and it seriously looks like a party on my nails! I think the polish would look great over black or any other bright colours!

I loved that I didn’t find myself having to fish for glitter because there was plenty in the bottle and also with every brush stroke. The drying time was also fairly quick and I didn’t think the formula was too thin or thick.

For a good value of $13 you can find this polish on Femme Fatale Cosmetics here. This is a great option for anyone who loves rainbow or fun, coloured nails. I honestly love a whole lot about this polish and haven’t found anything bad about it yet!

I decided to pair this polish with a fun rainbow water marble accent nail!

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The next polish is Love Thy Polish ‘Royalty’. I received a cute, little 8ml bottle.

This is another amazing glitter polish which is described as being ‘a deep, vampy purple base with purple micro glitter.’ 

In one coat, this polish is a very sheer purple.

In two coats, the polish is wearable and appears as a lovely royal purple.

In three coats, the polish is at its best! It is becomes a very vampy purple, on the edge of being black but still subtly purple. The purple micro glitter has a glistening effect in light and gives a great sparkle!

I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t quite capture the polish’s brilliance on camera. In light, the amount of sparkle is just perfect. I love my purple polishes and this is no exception!

In addition, the polish is not grainy at all and applies smoothly on the nail. I found that the polish was dry to touch very quickly, however after adding three coats I found that the polish took a long time to dry completely.

All in all, this is a great value polish for $10 which you can find here.  I really do love this polish and I have a feeling I will be wearing a lot because I love my vampy colours!

I paired this polish with a simple silver dot-icure because I absolutely adore the combination of silver and purple!

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Finally, I received Rainbow Honey ‘Holiday Paradise Cuticle Balm’. It is a cute, travel-friendly 0.07oz twist-up stick that I now take around with me in my purse.

On opening the lid of this balm, I was hit with a beautiful scent which truly reflected its ‘holiday paradise’ name. It is described as being a scent ‘reminiscent of a holiday kitchen, with notes of oranges, peppermint and cloves.’ And this is not a joke, I can smell each of these items with every whiff and it truly reminds me of the Christmas season!

If you are ever on the go, look down at your nails and think your cuticles need a lift, this is a great product to have. I smear some of the balm on my cuticles, then massage it onto my naked nails and also the skin around my nails. I found that it was very nourishing and acted as a great moisturiser to relieve my dry-looking cuticles.

For a cheap price of $5.50, I highly recommend this cuticle balm! You can purchase it here.  If you are not a fan of the holiday scent, it also comes unscented and in four other fragrances!

[Tutorial] The Trend: Chevrons

The Trend

The chevron trend has become a popular design for nail artists in the recent years. A chevron design incorporates an inverted V-shaped pattern and may refer to a series of zigzag-like designs or simple V shaped designs. The best thing about this trend is that it looks highly sophisticated but is fairly simple to accomplish. It can be done alone, paired with other patterns and works well with any colours!

The Look

This is the design that can be achieved with the tutorial below. This chevron print uses a self-drawn and self-cut tape technique. There are also other ways of creating chevrons but I will do tutorials for these in future posts.

The Technique

The polishes I have used in this manicure are China Glaze ‘Flip Flop Fantasy’, China Glaze ‘I’m Not Lion’ and Seche Vite fast dry top coat. You will also need scissors, a pen and some tape.

Before you begin painting your nails at all, some preparation needs to be done. Use a pen to draw a zigzag pattern on some tape. I use masking tape because I find it does not rip as easily when it is cut. Continue drawing these zigzags parallel to the first one. Carefully cut out these ‘zigzag strips’ and place onto the edge of your table.

1)      Paint your nails a desired colour, until it is opaque.

2)      Place the ‘pre-cut zigzag strips’ onto the nail, leaving gaps the same width as the strips. Press these down firmly.

3)      Paint your nails a second colour until it is opaque.

4)      While the polish is wet, remove the tape immediately. 

You can repeat the chevron design on all your nails or mix and match with various patterns! On my pinky and index fingers I placed one of the zig zag tapes about 1/3 of the way down my nail and painted the gold at the tips only.

For a more clean and professional look, you can buy pinking shears which enable you to cut the zigzags without drawing them.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Also, be on the lookout for future posts on other chevron methods! 

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Features and Suggestions

Suggestion #1: Go the black and white chevron! Pair this with some statement red and you have a fun and classy look!

These nails are by @graciezac on Instagram. You can also find her on http://itsallaboutthepolish.blogspot.com.au/

Suggestion #2: Combine the chevron design with 'watercolour nails'or gradients.

These nails are by @xxlovelauren on Instagram. You can find her on http://talesaboutnails.wordpress.com/

[Review] The Trend: Glow in the Dark Polish (Polish Me To Go)

The Trend

‘Glow in the dark’ or phosphorescence is a chemical process that has been incorporated into many products for marketing purposes and to captivate buyers. The upcoming trend these past few months has been glow in the dark nail polish! On Instagram you can find countless photographs of glow polish swatches and fabulous glow in the dark designs. After all, what better novelty is there to have with you all the time than nails that glow!?

In order for the polish to work, the polish is applied to the nail and must be exposed to some form of light for a few minutes. The polish will continue glowing, even after a few hours.

The Brand

Polish Me To Go has become a popular indie nail polish brand, which specialises in glow in the dark polishes. Each polish is hand blended and there are many amazing colours available. From pretty pastels to bright neons, there is a vast range to choose from. You can buy the polishes in singles or as a set, as minis or full sized.

Customers in USA can purchase these glow polishes here. 

International customers can purchase these glow polishes from the distributor ‘BeautySoFly,’ here. 

The Polishes

These polishes were purchased by me from BeautySoFly. This is the Pastel Mini set which consists of 6 mini 5ml bottles in a range of pretty pastel colours. 

The Review

All swatches consist of 2 coats of a white base, Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White,' and 2 coats of the glow polish. The photographs below were taken in artificial white light and in the dark. 

(Note: These polishes also have unique glows under UV light but these are not considered in my review.)

'Snow Glow'

This is a beautiful polish that applies white and glows a light blue. I was most impressed by the fact that the polish gave a blue glow. The glow itself was fairly decent but did not leave me astonished. 

'Oh Cool Blue'

Compare the previous polish to this one, which applies as a pastel blue and glows light blue. The glow on this polish left me amazed. It was bright, fun and both the raw and glow colours were amazing.

'Yell, Oh Mint!'

I would have to say that this is my favourite polish in the set. It applies as a pastel yellow, something I would describe as a faded highlighted yellow, and glows a freakishly awesome green colour.

'Pinky Promise'

This polish applies as a cute baby pastel pink and glows as a very pale pink. I was not left very impressed by the glow of this polish but at the same time, the raw pink colour is so cute!

'LOVEnder'

This polish applies as a pastel purple and glows as … a very feint white? I so wanted to love this polish because the raw colour was my favourite one by far. I think the colour is so unique, lying somewhere between a lavender purple and baby pink. However, the glow on this was quite dismal. 

'Honey My Dew'

 This polish applies as a gorgeous orange (very much like honey dew) and glows a yellow/orange colour. The glow was bright, but not as prominent as Oh Cool Blue and Yell Oh Mint.

The Verdict

I have to say that I really do enjoy the novelty of glow polishes! These Polish Me To Go polishes all applied matte, streak free and dried fairly quickly. I absolutely adore the naming of ALL the polishes, both relevant and cute. The raw colours in light were true to it being a 'pastel polish set'. The glow of some of the polishes were amazing and bright, while others did not work so well. 

One problem I did come across was that the glow formula would settle to the bottom after a period of sitting idly. The bottles did come with 2 mini metal balls, but I found that I had to shake the bottle vigorously for it all to blend.

Overall, I would recommend this polish set to anyone who loves pastels and wants to try the glow trend! You can also buy the polishes individually, and if so, I highly recommend Yell Oh Mint and Oh Cool Blue!

The next step up from having plain glow nails is to do designs on them. Draw a picture for a silhouette effect, or even combine the polishes for a rainbow glow! In the picture above I combined ‘Yell, Oh Mint’ with the Batman sign which I find so suitable and fun!

You can visit Polish Me To Go on Instagram for a collection of glow polish designs done by various Instagrammers!