Gold Rush by Free Hippie: Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Hello, lovelies! Today's beauty is Gold Rush by Free Hippie, an out-of-the-blue polish maker that I never would have discovered were it not for randomly searching Etsy for "nail polish". Rebecca from Free Hippie specializes in Boho Chic and hippie jewelry, but she also offers a small selection of polish, and I've been very impressed with it! (You can see my review of Phosphorus here.)

Gold Rush is a nice pale gold packed full of shimmer, plus small and micro bright gold hexes.

This is two coats of Gold Rush alone, topped with Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural sunlight.

I love how pale this color is compared to most gold polishes: I really don't wear gold polish on a regular basis, and I hate how it looks with my skin, but this is a nice, almost champagne color, and I think I pulled it off rather well! The polish went on very smoothly, and had great coverage. I was afraid it would be kind of sheer, but I only used two coats, and I'm the three-coat Queen. It did dry slightly gritty, as is standard with micro glitters, but a thick coat of Seche Vite completely smoothed the whole thing over. I've tried 6 colors from Free Hippie, and I haven't had a single issue with any of them! This one, in fact, has become my favorite gold (for the rare occasions when I need one!). My only complaint is that polishes are only available in minis- because there are a few that I would like full size!

Free Hippie polishes are available on Etsy.

Electric OJ!: Phosphorus by Free Hippie

Today I have the first of several polishes to show you from a relatively unknown polish maker, Free Hippie. 

Today's polish is Phosphorus- a bright orange jelly polish with silver micro and medium glitters, and the occasional bright blue medium hex. 

This is three coats of Phosphorus alone, topped with a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in full, natural sunlight.

I really liked this color right out of the gate, and the attraction only grew stronger. The orange is super BRIGHT bright orange, and I think it looked more and more neon every time I looked at it. My best friend called it "Electric Orange Juice orange", and I couldn't agree with him more- it's a fitting description :)

I had zero application issues with this polish- I was quite impressed, overall. Three coats to no VNL. Glitters applied smooth and even. And is lasts! I've had this baby on my toes for a good three weeks, and while they could use a repaint, it's really only because my nails are growing and the gap looks funny!

Electric OJ! featuring a cameo by my favorite shirt :)

Free Hippie polishes- along with Hippie and Boho Chic jewelry- can be purchased on Etsy. 

I Put a Spell On You!: Boouk! by 365 Days of Color

I know this one seems a little late, as it was part of a Halloween Collection, but Boouk! is NOT a Halloween specific color, so I'm posting it now. Because it's gorgeous. 

Boouk! is inspired by Winnifred Sanderson's spell book in the move Hocus Pocus. Sunny from 365 Days of Colors says that "Boouk! is a "flesh" colored base with all sorts of glitter inside: gold and brown square fine glitter, super fine brown glitter, copper and brown medium glitter." The nude base is very sheer, so I played with some layering combos. L-R shows two coats of Boouk! alone, and one coat over Sinful Colors Black on Black, NYC Carrie'd Away, Sinful Colors Nirvana and Love My Nails Iced Copper. 

Despite all the fun I had layering this polish, I didn't really have a choice as to undies. Every now and then, I feel the need to take a break from blingy, glittery and overall fantastic overthetop nails, and just wear a nude. One fateful day, I decided to wear LA Colors Whipped, a lovely Band-Aid colored nude (seriously, NO ONE has skin that color) as a palette cleanser. And my 365 Days of Color order happened to arrive that day. It was fate! I was already wearing the perfect base color, so I sat down and put Boouk! on immediately. This is two coats of Boouk! over Whipped, topped with Seche Vite. Photos are taken indoors, under "natural" light. 

There is a very subtle shimmer in the base of this color as well- you can see it best on the tip of my middle finger, where the light is diffusing off of it.

The shimmer really shows up well over black and Nirvana as well!

Nude polishes are right up there with greys as my absolute favorites, and this one did not disappoint. I love the "neutral" look to the glitter, and I think it would be very appropriate in a conservative work setting. Boouk! applied very well. The glitter is light, but not too light, allowing you to customize the amount of glitter that you get on each nail, and the base is just tinted enough to transform your base color into something truly spectacular. If you haven't picked up Boouk! yet, I highly recommend it. 

While you're there browsing, you may want to pick up some Sunny's Miracle Balm too! Sunny's Miracle Balm is a hand made cuticle balm, available in way too many scents for me to sit and count! My WAG would put it at over 100! For those who don't like balms, there are roll-on oils available as well. I'm not great at applying cuticle balm as often as I should, but these definitely make me want to- they are moisturizing without being greasy, and they smell amazing! I picked up a 3 pack balm sampler for only $5! I will do a separate review of these, but if you haven't tried them yet- or if you need great stocking stuffers for anyone in your life- DEFINITELY consider these! 

Purchase 365 Days of Color here: full sized polishes are currently on sale for $8, while minis are $4.50. Cuticle balm mini sample 3 packs are $5, full sized balms are $3. The oils run $1 more. 

Have you tried 365 Days of Color yet? Which are your favorites! I have the SCENTED Holiday Collection coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Boouk! is a "flesh" colored base with all sorts of glitter inside: gold and brown square fine glitter, super fine brown glitter, copper and brown medium glitter

two coats over la colors whipped (band aid color - no one has skin this color0
+ sunny's miracle balm- gummy bears (my mom said it instantly made her mouth water), brown sugar & spice (light, spicy & sweet) & sea island grapefruit (not too fondof it- should have just gotten grapefruit- kind of musky? )

must have been fate that make booukl show up the day I was already wearing whipped- being lazy & wore it for an extra day (which I never do), but then I was ready to use booukl right out of the pkg

zsuper easy to remove

Pot of Purple Granite

Today's polish, my dears, is a little bit different. No bottle. What? Yeah. Meet Wonder Beauty Products' Nail Polish Palettes. Shown is Purple Bang.

Jen from Wonder Beauty Products created this polish system, which is different, but does have some great advantages. The polish is more concentrated, so you can get away with fewer coats, and the little jar allows for easier picking of glitter- no getting stuck under the lip of the jar, or at the bottom where the brush doesn't reach. Also, if you're one of those that actually uses up a whole bottle of polish, you can get all the way to the bottom of this one: no waste! I was a bit hesitant about the whole system, just because it is different, but curiosity got the best of me. 

Each polish palette comes with a little jar equivalent to a .5 oz bottle of polish, plus a .5 oz bottle of Fusing Liquid and a mixing stick (not shown) in a cute little organza favor bag.

There is a tutorial for applying these polish palettes here. I'll detail the application at the end of the post, with my thoughts on the whole thing. 

Purple Bang is described as "A super fierce glistening darkened grape purple made up of a multitude of glitters in a jelly like clear base." My polish base was purple-ish, but very sheer, with black, pinkish and kind of whitish glitters. Bad description, but it's the closest I can get- this polish is a bit complex.

I had to wait a little bit to wear this polish, because I specifically ordered Essie Smokin Hot to wear under it! I could have just gotten it at Walmart, but I used my Copious credits, so I only paid a penny! Since the base of Purple Bang is clearish, I really wanted good undies, and this Smokin Hot came to mind immediately! Also, it gave me and excuse to get this lovely Essie. I prefer to save my polish budget for indies, so it was win-win. 

For this manicure, I used Essie Smokin Hot as a base, then two coats of Purple Bang, one coat of the provided Fusing Liquid, and one coat of Seche Vite. 

It was very weird taking pictures with the little pot, rather than a bottle. I couldn't quite figure out how to grip it, and still show off my nails.

Ahh . . . that's better!

The Etsy listing for this color refers to it as "faux stone fusion", and that could not be more apt! It looks amazingly like a granite countertop on my nails, and I love it! If I could find a countertop in this lovely greyed-out purple, you'd better believe it would be in my kitchen already. I can see myself wearing this one quite a bit. I know I say that a lot, but I really mean it every time- there just aren't enough nails on my fingers for every polish I want to wear.

I want to tell you a secret: the palette is really not at all hard to use. You open up both the jar and the bottle of Fusing Liquid, mix it up with your mixing stick, and use the brush from the Fusing Liquid to dip into the jar, and apply just like a regular bottle of polish. It seems like an extra step, but I've already expounded on the benefits of a jar when it comes to glitter and repeated use. You can keep the brush loaded up with the Fusing Liquid to make the polish more sheer, or wipe off all of the clear for more concentrated color, which is what I did. The Fusing Liquid then doubles as a topcoat. I put on one coat of the Fusing Liquid, but the polish was still slightly bumpy, so I used a coat of Seche Vite on top. In hindsight, I should have used another coat of the Fusing Liquid to see if that would have smoothed everything out. 

I don't think I would want ALL of my polishes in palette form, but I certainly won't shy away from them. And hey- comes with it's own special topcoat!

Wonder Beauty Products can be purchased on Etsy. Bottles are $10, palettes are $12. And if you're STILL wary of the palettes, all colors now come in bottles as well. Jen has a new line of SCENTED polishes coming out soon, as well! Sign me up :) Like Wonder Beauty Products on Facebook, and check out my review of Crotch Rocket (in a bottle). Jen also runs a blog, and a second Etsy shop, called Vintage Riches, which appears to sell mostly vintage clothing, with some assorted dishware and knick-knacks.

Had Enough Gray Yet?

I should have called this blog 50 shades of gray . . . I haven't read the books (and I really have no desire to), but I'm pretty sure I could gather 50 gray polishes to rave about :) This is my 30th post, and my 5th gray. 12.5% of my posts. I make no apologies! This time, it's Crotch Rocket from Wonder Beauty products- another one I've been wanting from the first time I laid eyes on it! Stupid budget :(

Crotch Rocket's Etsy listing describes it as "An opaque medium gray cream base with flashes of yellow, blue, green, purple and orange glitter effects." 

Definitely a lovely asphalt gray, with micro yellow matte glitters, small purple and green metallic glitters, and medium blue and orange metallic glitters.

This color went on incredibly smoothly, but it took 4 coats to get the gray completely opaque. Layering over a gray polish would work, but I prefer the multiple layers- the glitter sinks in and is buried by the next coat, creating an amazing depth that would be missing if you only used one coat. 

The micro yellow matte glitters really gave this polish an extra zing, but my camera didn't seem to want to see them. And the orange glitters were so different from the surrounding colors that they kept catching the light, drawing my eye to my nails- in a completely good way! This polish is definitely going on my list of favorites, to be worn again and again until I cry because my bottle is empty.

Wonder Beauty products can be found on Etsy. Full size bottles are $10, and palettes (polish in a nifty little pot, complete with a bottle of topcoat/application brush- I've got a review of one of these coming up) are $12. They also sell color and suspension base, as well as empty bottles for anyone interested in mixing up some polish of their own! I have used their suspension base in the past with no problems. 

You can also like Wonder Beauty Products on Facebook.

Peachy Cherries

It's High Summertime, shouldn't I be rocking neons on a daily basis? For some reason this summer I've been strongly leaning toward neutral-y colors: greys, tans and nudes. Of course, I'm always down for glitter :)

Today I have a lovely almost-neutral for you, Sugared Cherries by Lacey Lou's Stockpile.

(Ignore my nails- I promise I'll review that one later, and I promise you actually see the subject of this post on them shortly! I accidentally deleted my bottle shots from the day I was wearing it.)

I love handwritten labels on indie polish. Makes it feel, well, handmade :)

Lacey doesn't describe this color in her Etsy listing, but says that it's cherry season in her area, so she took lots of inspiration from them! I'd call this a lightish coral-y peach/pink packed with gold shimmer, smallish silver hexes, and some hexes that I couldn't quite decide what color to call them. Gold, maybe? Pinkish? The pinkish base color is a jelly, so it may be throwing my color receptors off. I'm also not sure if there is supposed to be red glitter in this or not: I can't see any in my bottle, but I did end up with two or three on my nails. Total, out of all ten. Hmm.

The hexes all look obviously silver here. 

Full sunlight. You can see a lone red glitter on my index finger. Three coats over bare nail, topped with SV.

Full sun again. See the gorgeous gold shimmer?

Shade. Don't let me semi-complaining about glitter colors throw you off- I adore this color, and I'm sure it will get pretty heavy play through the rest of the summer (if I ever make it through my untried pile!) and it'll be one of the first I pull out next spring when I need light, happy colors! It applied well, not thick at all, and the glitters were very forthcoming. It did dry slightly matte, and slightly gritty, but a thick coat-and-a-half of Seche Vite made it nice and glassy smooth.

All Lacey Lou's Stockpile polishes are 3 free, and are priced according to production time and supplies. Full size bottle range from $8 to $12. Find them on Etsy, and like the brand on Facebook! 

*This product was provided to me for an honest review.

Legend of the Pheonix Pt II

Not too long ago, I showed you my first part of the Feenix Polish series, Legend of the Pheonix, Embers.  Today, I've got part two, Ashes. Suzette from Feenix Polish says Ashes was "designed to look like the ashes after the fire. It met my expectations exactly! The base is a shimmery dark gray. Mixed throughout are black and gray glitters in assorted sizes. It looks very much like ashes on your fingertips. Shiny, sparkly ashes. . . but ashes in any event." And it really, really does!

I don't know if I've said it yet, or if I can say it enough, but I love grey polishes! Love love love them, absolutely. Given any two choices, I will probably pick the grey one.

This polish, like Embers, was surprisingly opaque. This shows Ashes on a nail wheel: 3 coats alone, one coat over Wet N Wild Metallica, and one coat of LA Colors BCC. Not a whole lot of difference between the colors, but one coat over a pewter colored base would make your bottle last longer.

Photo taken in direct sun. Full mani is three coats with no undies, topped with two coats of SV. This polish was not exceptionally gritty, but I felt that two coats of topcoat would be helpful, as I'm a pretty bad picker if things aren't completely smooth. 

Again, in direct sun. Application on this was pretty good. It's a bit thick, but not as thick as Embers was. Suzette has said that she's thinning out some of her glitter packed polishes, but my bottle of Ashes wasn't problematic. I don't know if it's one of the "fixed" versions, or if this one just wasn't as thick to begin with, but it really was easy to work with.

I absolutely love this charcoal-y color, and it is the one that drew me to buy from Feenix Polish in the first place! I really hope to complete my Legend of the Phoenix collection- these colors are gorgeous! Ashes, and  other Feenix Polishes, can be purchased on Etsy. Full size bottles are $8. Be sure to like Feenix on Facebook and follow along on Blogspot: support your indies, so they keep 'em coming!

Reading Tea Leaves

I have another Lyn B Designs color today: Chocolate and Chai! Jenna from Lyn B describes the colors as:
I created this collection in honor of one of my favorite drinks, tea . . . In my opinion chocolate goes smashingly well with chai tea. It adds a sweetness to the spice, and makes it even more yummy. This polish is a light sandy color with small brown glitter added like bits of chocolate in a hot cup of tea." I'd call it a sort of dark shimmery nude, and I couldn't decide if the glitter was black or brown.

I have to say: I love when polish makers describe the thought process behind their color names. Many polishes are named for TV shows, or movies, or other large fanbases and I don't always get the reference. Tea is a bit easier, but I still love seeing how a certain item inspired someone to create a lovely polish :)

You were wondering when I'd get to pictures, right? Here is two coats, topped with one coat of Out the Door, in full sun. You can still see a bit of VNL here, but I find I prefer that with nude shades, as it prevents the dreaded "mannequin hands" syndrome. And can I say, I love this color on my skin? It's just dark enough and shimmery enough (not to mention the glitter) to make my nails look obviously painted, but not outrageous. This would be a lovely neutral look for the office, or any other occasion where hot pink would be rather inappropriate. 

Indoors, under "daylight" lamp. This polish reminds me of loose tea leaf dregs in the bottom of the cup- but in a totally good way! Like- makes me want a cup of hot tea, even though it's 90+ degrees outside kind of way.

Again, indoors- you can see the super shimmer in the base color. 

Bottle shot. These bottles are adorable! And completely unique within the indie community. 

I had absolutely zero issues with application on this polish. It was slightly sheer, but I like that in a nude. It went on completely smooth, and created a lovely "depth" with the layers of glitter. 

I haven't seen too many reviews of Lyn B Designs out there, so I held off on ordering for quite a while. But I'm so glad I did order! I purchased this color, Four Things and a Lizard, and Angels Have the Phonebox, which I haven't tried yet. And there are several other colors that have been added to my wishlist since. Polishes are $10 each, and there is currently a "moving sale", where you buy two polishes, get one free! There are also many other items available in the shop, including lip balms and scents.

Lyn B Designs can be found on Etsy and Facebook- check it out!

Dr. Who Polish!!

"Well, listen. Gotta dash. Things. Happening. WELL, four things. WELL, four things and a lizard." One of my absolute favorite Dr. Who lines ever! Have you ever fallen in love with a polish based solely on the name? To the point where you don't even care what color it is or whether you have 6 dupes or whatever? Meet Lyn B Designs Four Things and a Lizard.

Jenna from Lyn B describes this color as:  

A shimmery lime green color with medium black and green hexagons, and large gold squares., I love this colors, it's a beautiful spring green." Pretty spot on. It's a gorgeous grassy green with almost iridescent shimmer.

 In the shade

Full sun

Bottom of bottle

Luckily, I love this color for more than just the name. I'm a sucker for greens, and this is a great summery green. I love indies that actually have color to them, as opposed to the glitter in a clear base that everyone offers. 

That said, I did have a few (manageable) application issues with this. It is a full coverage color. I used two coats, with one coat of SV. Any more than two coats and the glitter would start to get buried. I would either stick to two coats, or use it on top of something else (Sinful Colors Happy Ending would be a great option). Glitter issues, there were two. First, I had trouble getting any glitter on my first pass. But a few minutes upside down fixed that problem. There was also some curling of the square glitters (which is acknowledged in the Esty item listing), but it wasn't too bad. Out of all the squares (and I had at least one on each finger), I only had a problem with one: the index finger on my left hand. There were two squares on that one, and I needed three coats of SV to smooth it down. I guess I got all the other squares on with the curl side down. 

In summary: I love this color, both for the name and the actual colors. There were some issues with application, but it was nothing that would prevent me from wearing it again, or from buying from this shop again. Lyn B Designs can be found on Etsy, and you can like them on Facebook. Polishes are $10 a piece, and right now she is having a moving sale: buy 2 get one free! There is a 16 piece Dr. Who Collection, a tea based collection, and many more. She is also beginning to offer other beauty products such as lip balms and fragrances, plus various other sundries.