The Fifth Element (Emily de Molly)

Diving right into the season with awesome indie polish, this is The Fifth Element (Emily de Molly). It's a gorgeous turquoise creme with different sizes of orange hex glitter and smaller blue glitters. It's got great depth and dimension and applies easily and with relative smoothness for this kind of polish. I used three coats for evenness and to achieve opacity and only one coat of Seche Vite was necessary to get it all smooth and shiny.

Wild Card (Wet n Wild) - A Polish That Makes Me Happy

Wow, you don't even want to know how many coats I used to get to this picture. Hell, I don't even know. Thankfully it didn't feel at all awful because Wild Card (Wet n Wild) is very easy to apply and is GORGEOUS. It's a lovely sheer pearly purple that just makes me extremely happy. I love that it's an all-season sort of color, I can see it for spring, fall, and winter. So pretty!! I love it so much!

Times Square (NYC)

This is Times Square (NYC) from their In A New York Minute line. It's a juicy looking red creme but nothing that hasn't been done over and over. Still, a great red to have for the budget at around $1.99. Application was pretty simple though I should probably have gone for three coats instead of two as in the pic.

Neon Lights (Lush Lacquer) - A Polish That Is Hard To Apply

I'm getting on that indie train and it's almost summer so of course my first indie purchase of this season had to be something in preparation. Neon Lights (Lush Lacquer) is a white based chock full of semi-transparent neon glitter in different hex sizes and colors (so far I can see, neon pink, yellow, orange, green).

It can get a bit streaky, especially when I have to deal with the large pink and green glitters but it mostly evens out on the second coat. I realized a little too late that I need to work with thinner coats to avoid covering all the glitter in the white base. My goal is to get it as close as possible to how it looks like through the bottle. There will be a lot of topcoat (I need to invest in Gelous). It was opaque in two coats, but I had some things to correct so added a third one.

It's growing on me. I can't say I'm in love yet, but I'll try it out a bit more before I can truly let it go. What a cool concept though!

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Polish that:

is hard to apply

i can't pull off
would be worn to a wedding
is blue
is new
is from a favorite brand

has a name that describes me
is a glitter

is easy to apply

is vampy

was coveted
is from my favorite collection

has never been worn

is boring

is inexpensive

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
is worn often
was gifted to me
is from a least favorite brand

was loved but is now hated
is overrated

is a pastel
was hated but is now loved
hasn't been worn in some time
is sexy
matches my favorite outfit

It's A Trapeze (China Glaze) - A Polish That Is Overrated

I've actually had It's A Trapeze (China Glaze) for a good long while now. Within the first few days of the Cirque collection's release in fact. The idea of it caught my eye and I was a bit excited for China Glaze's dip into the indie pool. One of the much celebrated aspects of indie polish is the sheer creativity that comes with the mix of bases and glitters which is definitely what CG went for. They used a milky white base and packed as much glitter as they could in the colors they could.

Which is how China Glaze might have missed the mark here by doing a bit too much. I couldn't help but feel like it was just too much all at once and they missed a chance to edit their formula and make it more refined. It always looks effortless when indie brands like Lush Lacquer or NerdLacquer manage the perfect balance but it is the art of working those decisions out that makes them so popular. I hope that they keep trying because in the end they are very frankly more accessible ($7 for China Glaze vs. $9 and up + shipping for Indie Brands) but part of the fun of indie is their creativity and that it feels good to support something individual and homegrown that doesn't have the resources of massive hi-tech labs.

Good try, but still no dice.

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Polish that:

is overrated 

is hard to apply
i can't pull off
would be worn to a wedding
is blue
is new
is from a favorite brand

has a name that describes me
is a glitter

is easy to apply

is vampy

was coveted
is from my favorite collection

has never been worn

is boring

is inexpensive

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
is worn often
was gifted to me
is from a least favorite brand

was loved but is now hated
is a pastel

was hated but is now loved
hasn't been worn in some time
is sexy
matches my favorite outfit

Hanging In The Balance (China Glaze)

A blue creme from China Glaze's Cirque collection. It's a bit of an ordinary color to have in a collection, I can't say there's no other place to get a blue like this. Immediately I can think of Why Not (Sinful Colors) as a more affordable alternative. The formula was a bit thinner than I expected, and as such took three coats instead of two as most other blues do. It's a smurfer, so at least a double base coat should be used.

14. Eye of the Tiger Lily (Flower) - A Polish That I Can't Pull Off

The last time I reviewed Eye of the Tiger Lily (Flower), I was less than pleased with the results. Not only did the shade just not work for me (though it’s quite pretty on its own and has become a Flower brand favorite), the application was incredibly troublesome and didn’t deliver the promised results. So when I thought of a polish I can’t pull off, I immediately thought of Tiger Lily and just in case it was just bad luck application, decided to review it again.

I’m all for second chances, however some things are just not meant to be.

Application was hard to control and opacity even harder to come by (somewhat passable because it is a jelly, I suppose). At three coats, I can still see my VNL though the flash in my camera hides most of it in the pics. I experienced dragging and unevenness even when I waited an extra-long time between coats. One thing I will give it though is that it did dry shiny and glossy. For someone else, this might be worth the trouble, but for me this is going right back to the Blog Sale.

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Polish that:

i can't pull off

would be worn to a wedding
is blue
is new
is from a favorite brand

has a name that describes me
is a glitter

is easy to apply

is vampy

was coveted
is from my favorite collection

has never been worn

is boring

is inexpensive

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
is worn often
was gifted to me
is from a least favorite brand

was loved but is now hated
is overrated

is a pastel
was hated but is now loved
hasn't been worn in some time
is hard to apply
is sexy
matches my favorite outfit

Surreal Appeal (China Glaze)

From the 2012 Cirque du Soleil collection, Surreal Appeal (China Glaze) is a yummy pink toned coral creme. It's got excellent application, especially for a shade like this, and it was opaque in two coats. If you don't have a spring/summer coral, grab this one as quick as you can.

Stay Safe Lacquer Lovers ♥

My prayers and thoughts are with everyone in Boston, MA & West, TX.

Thimbleberry (Sinful Colors)

This squishy looking coral creme is Thimbleberry (Sinful Colors) from their core line. Application was troublesome. The formula is a bit thin and I had unevenness and streaking after two coats. However, three coats managed any damage pretty well. Despite the issues, I adore the color I ended up with and would say that Thimbleberry was definitely worth the extra care.

13. Pacific Blue (Sally Hansen) - A Polish That Would Be Worn To A Wedding

Weddings used to be all about pinks and shimmery neutrals, but I think we're past that. Now I feel like it's all about bright and cheery (at the very least for the guests). So my pick for polish I'd wear to a wedding is Pacific Blue (Sally Hansen).

two coats (forgive the index fingernail; it broke right before I swatched)

This is a gorgeous muted iris blue creme from their Xtreme Wear line. Due to the mild purple tones in this shade, it is of course just about impossible to capture it perfectly on camera but trust me the very subtle purple tinge adds a lovely twist to this blue creme and it does have a slight desaturated effect which only adds to the polish's appeal. Application is as smooth as butter, which was surprising, and I had opacity in two gorgeous coats. Perfect color to welcome the summer and a great bright to wear for spring as well, especially as it starts to taper out (it's already 80 degrees fahrenheit where I am!).

How do you feel about bright polish shades for weddings?

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Polish that:

would be worn to a wedding

is blue
is new
is from a favorite brand

has a name that describes me
is a glitter

is easy to apply

is vampy

was coveted
is from my favorite collection

has never been worn

is boring

is inexpensive

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
is worn often
was gifted to me
is from a least favorite brand

was loved but is now hated
is overrated

is a pastel
was hated but is now loved
hasn't been worn in some time
is hard to apply
is sexy
i can't pull off
matches my favorite outfit