Me-Lissa Nail Lacquer: The One That Got Away

Hello beautiful people! Today I have another indie polish from Etsy to share with you.  This is The One That Got Away by Me-Lissa Nail Lacquer. This is technically a Valentine's polish but it's still available on the Etsy store.

It's a really interesting glitter suspended in a clear base. I love the heart shaped glitter and I had no issues getting it to come out of the bottle and apply. Sometimes large glitters sink to the bottom but that was not the case here.

I swatched this one on my bare nails so you can see the color in its purest form. I'd suggest checking out the Etsy listing to see it over a few different colors.

Me-Lissa Nail Lacquer polishes are 3-free and handmade. 

A full bottle of this sells for $8.75. You can also check out Me-Lissa Nail Lacquer's Facebook here. 

What do you think of this fun glitter?

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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Hillbilly Love Lacquer (Etsy)

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all have a great week. We're finally going to be seeing the sun stick around a bit longer, spring is on the horizon!

Today I want to show you some polishes from the Etsy shop Hillbilly Love Lacquer. The owner, Alisa, is from Tennessee and she's come up with some hilarious creative names for her down home lacquers. You're sure to crack a smile browsing through her shop. All of the polishes are 3-free and sell for $8.50.

The formula on all three of these was different than what I am used to. It's almost gel like (not gel polish like Shellac, but just gel like in texture). I have never experienced a texture like these. Very interesting.  I don't love it but I don't hate it. It's in the middle for me. I applied all three with no real issues so it's all good.

The bottles are really nice looking with professional looking labels featuring the color name and company logo. 

First up I have Buckshot (see, told you the names were adorable). This is a blue/grey shimmer with copper glitter. I used two coats for the opacity shown, I think you'd be better off with three.

  

Next up is Hick-Tastic  LOL. This is a light pink with pink, white and holographic glitter. The glitter in this one is really fun!  I used two coats for the opacity shown. The base is sort of a shimmery jelly so I am not sure more coats would  necessarily equal more opacity. 

And last but not least is Bluegrass  which is a teal jelly with teal, navy and holographic glitter.  This one is really pretty. Two coats are pictured, I think it's fine with two but three migh be preferable. 

  

Overall, I think this shop has some really unique and cute lacquers, and the names are just hilarious and creative. I don't think any other companies have come up with a similar concept so kudos for originality. If you're looking for something fun, or for a gift to give your redneck friend, this company can provide just that. (LOL). 

Have you tried anything from this Etsy shop? Are you interested in trying any of the colors?

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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GG Couture Nail Lacquer

Good morning polish lovers. I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Today I have some indie polish to show you made by the lovely Gabrielle of GG Couture Nail Lacquer. Here's a little information about the company:

GGCouture Nail Lacquer, is a hand made, 5 free polish. There is no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, toluene, or DBP. The base is high quality and long lasting. They are colored with mineral colorants, and all glitter used are solvent resistant and not glass. GGCouture Nail Lacquer has the option to be scented with 1 of 2 essential oils: plumeria and crisp apple rose. After the formula is finished, the bottles are dressed up, complete with a bow and rhinestone. Made in California.

I ship worldwide, and package accordingly, to withstand normal abuse that shipping brings. (This entails nail polishes being wrapped in tissue paper, followed by bubble wrap, backed in a bubble mailer, and folded for added padding).

No sample or small bottles offered, as I feel it takes away from the charm of my polish. (Can't do rhinestones and bows on a mini bottle!)

Full size (15ml) is $8.

Store: ggcouturenaillacquer.etsy.comEmail: ggcouture@me.com.

IG, Vine, Tumblr: ggouture

Facebook: GG Couture Nail Lacquer. 

My polishes arrived packaged as described. I received two colors, I am Yours and Body Electric. Let's take a look at  I am Yours first:

I am Yours is an emerald/teal jelly.  Mine appears to have some flecks of black in it, and while I am not sure this is an intentional addition, I quite like the look of it that way. The formula  as mentioned above, is a jelly so it's very sheer but can be built up for a more opaque look. I used two coats for the photos.  Application was lovely on this. It was so smooth and just simply glided on the nail.  I am sure that has a lot to do with the mineral colorants. Removal was a piece of cake, no staining at all.

Next up is Body Electric which is a bronze-y brown with a silver micro-shimmer. This one is quite frosty and while I can see brush strokes I can't help but say I am in love with it. There's something about it, when you see it in person the micro-shimmer will win you over. It's stunning. This is a great fall/winter color. 

As I mentioned, I do see some minor brushstrokes but nothing atrocious and they don't bother me at all. In fact, this went on just as smoothly as I am Yours and I really enjoyed the application. These really do just glide right on. This was fully opaque with just two coats.

Both of these polishes were scented in the Apple Rose scent. I found the scent to be pleasant but not perfume-y  Just slightly more bearable than traditional nail polish. Don't go sniffing these, it's just designed to make application more pleasant, and it did. 

Overall these are great indie offerings available on Etsy for $8 each.  Go check them out! Have you tried anything from GG Couture? I would love to hear your thoughts? If you haven't tried the brand yet, which colors attract you the most?

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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Prettily Inspired Polish (Etsy Store) Review

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I have three polishes to show you from an Etsy seller named Chelsea. Chelsea's store is called Prettily Inspired Polish and she hand mixes all of her 3-Free polishes in small batches. She's got an every changing variety of unique and fun, mostly glitter polishes. 

Up first is Kiss me at Midnight. This polish is a gold and blue micro-glitter along with small gold hex glitter and larger gunmetal hex glitter suspended in a sheer dark blue/green base. Boy is that a tough one to describe! It's got a lot going on. 

The jelly base on this one is super sheer but tinted that dark green/blue, almost grey color. You won't be able to build it up to a truly opaque state but it's more of a topper glitter anyway. The jelly base provides a high shine so it will look good over most any color you can think of. I put it on my bare nails for the swatch and over black on my ring finger to show you some variety. 

Next up is Starlet which Chelsea describes as containing "micro gold hex, small matte pink square, matte pink stars, medium red hex, large iridescent clear hex, and ultra-fine iridescent white glitters" in a bight pink jelly base. 

This one is really interesting and has a lot going on. I love the little pink star glitter particles. This is something really fun to throw on for Valentine's Day. This is two coats:

Last, but certianly not least is my favorite of the bunch and to me, the most unique: Lettuce Leaf. Chelsea describes Lettuce Leaf as containing "micro purple, small matte neon yellow hex, matte white square, medium matte neon green hex, and holo green square glitters in a clear base." I actually don't think this base is clear though. It's ever so slightly tinted highlighter yellow/neon green. I think the photo clearly shows that.  This is two coats:

I had no issues applying any of the polishes. Formula was consistent across the board, not too thick, not too thin. I found the larger glitter particles in all three of the polsihes to go on abundantly and evenly. Sometimes larger glitter sinks to the bottom of polishes, that did not happen with any of these three.

Chelsea sells these, and more, in her Etsy shop and a 15ml bottle will run you $9.95 USD which is a pretty standard indie rate. Be sure to stop by her Facebook page for more photos and occasional special offers. I really like all three of these polishes. I can tell Chelsea puts a lot of thought into creating these polishes. It's nice to see something unique on the market and it's fun to support small businesses. 

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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Idalmi St. Barth

Hi everyone! Today I have some colors to show you from an Indie Brand called Idalmi St. Barth. Yup, these polishes came all the way from the beautiful island of St. Barth, and with the way the snow came down here in CT I'd give anything to be there basking in the sun right now... but I digress...

You can find the Idalmi colors here.

First up I have Coco, which is a pink with silver shimmer. It's a frost / metallic finish. I needed two coats for the opacity shown in the photos. I had to be careful with this one so as to avoid the inevitable streaking that comes with a finish like this. I think the end result was good.

  

Next up is Tortue which is a gorgeous dark teal green/blue color with a green shimmer. The shimmer on this one is absolutely gorgeous. I love this color!

I had no issues with application with this one. No streaking or balding and it only required two coats for full opacity. 

Next up is Chevreau which is a silver frost. This one was the troublesome one of the bunch. It's quite sheer and also applied really streaky for me. Color is nice but application was lacking here. I just can't get past the streaking.

The photos show two coats but I think you need to go for three or more for full opacity. 

Next up is one of my favorites of the bunch, Les Saintes.  This one is a really pretty royal blue jelly with tons of green microshimmer throughout.  Now this one is sheer, but I like it. It's a shiny jelly finish and the shimmer adds interest.

I used two coats for the opacity below. There is visible nail line which is sure to drive some of you nuts but I give it a pass because it's just such a pretty color combination. I love it! 

Last but not least is Fregate which is a standard shimmery maroon red. This is a classic color so it's not entirely unique but it's a staple for sure.

The formula on this is a cross between a frost and a shimmer. I didn't have any real issues with streaking and it was opaque in two coats.

Overall this is a nice Indie Brand. I don't think the colors are exceptionally unique but it's hard to be completely unique these days, we have seen it all, haven't we?  Everything except for the frosty one had a nice, cooperative formula.

If I ever am lucky enough to find myself in St. Barth I will be sure to seek out some more colors. 

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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Sparkles by Julie: Graffiti

It's hump day, we're one step closer to the weekend kids. Who has fun weekend plans?  

Today I want to show you a super fun glitter polish from SparklesbyJulie on Etsy. This is Graffiti which is  described as "nail polish is packed with shredded glitters in red, yellow and blue! With black hexes, and bars, creating a graffiti like finish to any manicure!" This is one of the most unique and gorgeous polishes I have seen in a long time. This is what makes indie brands so amazing, this level of creativity just hasn't made it to the mainstream market yet in my opinion. 

The glitter in this polish is suspended in a clear base so it can be used over any color. I did swatch it mostly on bare nails so you can see it on its own but it looks awesome over black. Julie has it swatched over a nude on her store listing and I think I am going to do that next. 

This is available on Julie's Etsy store and it's $8.00 for a full sized bottle. Julie is from Hawaii but her shipping so fast! On days like this, where it's snowing in Connecticut, I am super jealous of Julie living in paradise.  Check out her shop, it's fun to support small business and when an indie brand delivers with something this unique it's hard to pass it up! 

Today's Random Thoughts:

• Seriously, if I never see snow again it will be too soon. I hate the snow!
• New washer and dryer are being delivered tomorrow, I can't wait. Although I am sure the delivery men will devastate my home wit their snowy shoes. 
• I love to read but I have been stuck on Insurgent by Veronica Roth for MONTHS now. I need to finish this so I can move on. I am enjoying it so IDK what my problem is! 

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

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