Polish Review: Guilty Pleasures Polish

Today I have a review and Q & A with Gwen of Guilty Pleasures Polish, she’s a true gem to get to know, so I hope y’all have as much fun as I have!

The Good Witch: What are your favorite sources for inspiration?
Gwen: Anything I see really .. I LOVE nature and all the colors that go along with it. My inspiration usually comes from some form of that. Whether that be flowers, grass, smells, feelings specific to me, holiday goodies, the sky, animals ... you name it!

The Good Witch: Where does your creativity stem from to allow you to come up with an array of colors and possibilities?
Gwen: I've always been on the creative side. I've always looked at something as "what could that be" instead of what it is. Most of my collection colors are, oddly enough, what I "feel" that word or phrases color should be. Example .. to me spring has always felt like pink and pale yellow. Why? I can't explain lol that's just how my mind works!

The Good Witch: What do you love about making polish?
Gwen: I love the endless possibilities. There are so many mediums to work with that the chances of having 2 makes with identical formulas and colors is near impossible. I love the idea of that.

The Good Witch: What made you start making polish?
Gwen: I began making polish because I had been searching for a few specific colors and just could not find what my mind's eye was seeing. So I decided I'd make it myself because then I knew I would get the color I wanted/needed.

The Good Witch: If someone copies one of your polishes, is that flattering or insulting?
Gwen: Flattering in my opinion! I'm always looking to make a polish better so if someone ended up taking my color and improving on it that would be fantastic! At least they liked it! Right?!

The Good Witch: What are some of the new polish trends going around that you like and what are some that you cannot stand?
Gwen: In my area right now many women are doing the reverse french tip. They leave the entire nail plain and just paint the tip. To me this looks unfinished but to each their own! I cannot stand the chunky 3d nail art! It makes my fingers hurt just looking at it! But again, as long as I don't have to wear it .. have at it!

The Good Witch: Do you have anything awesome in the works for your customers?
Gwen: I DO!!!!!!! I have over 40 EXTREME chameleon colors coming out over the next year! I'm VERY excited to unveil them! I will be releasing them a few at a time after they are done in the testing process. I also have a super duper secret polish up my sleeve! A TRUE "mood ring" polish! It will change exactly like a mood ring! I am stoked to show everyone that one!!! Fingers crossed it'll be ready in April!

The Good Witch: What type of base coat do you use or suggest? As well as top coat?
Gwen: I always use ORLY bonder followed by ORLY tough cookie .. then the color ... topped with Seche Vite or glisten and glow HK Girl top coats. The base and top coats must be THIN THIN THIN coats! So many people have problems with the top coats I mentioned and mostly because the coats are too thick. Also everyone has different body chemistry so all polish will work differently with YOUR body and each individual polish. It's best to test many and see what works best for you. So many factors determine what will work best at any given time.

 

Alrighty! Time for the review!

First up is Calm Before the Storm, a gorgeous smoky grey crème.

It doesn’t look like much in the bottle, but trust me… It translates well onto the nail.

It is semi-transparent, all but the middle finger have three coats and it’s still kind of see through. I wore this polish to my test/meeting with my boss and wore it over grey undies and it was spectacular.

No undies, without flash

Over grey undies, with flash

Under black undies, with flash.

I like it better under grey lol

It does go on a little streaky, as with most shimmery cremes. I can live with that though, as the depth of the polish is what I really fell in love with. Dry time is almost non-existent.

Next up is Good Morning, Glories (which I love just for the name… I always greet my kids after school saying “What’s the story, morning glory?” yeah… That’s so an Oasis song…) Anyways! It’s a shimmery blue crème, along the same lines as Calm Before the Storm.

It is a real light blue shade, almost robins egg blue only a little more subdued.

Again, it is pretty sheer, so you have to build up the opacity. I used three coats and I liked the outcome.

You still have a little VNL (visible nail line) but nothing horrible, and it’s not a deal breaker. You probably could add four coats, since dry time is low, and no VNL will show.

Next up I have Morning Dew, a beautiful shimmery white/silver polish.

It does beautifully by itself, showing relatively opaque at two coats. Three would have been perfect. It also wears really well over a darker undie.

So pretty!!!

One coat over undies! Still fantastic!

Last but not least, this gorgeous stunner and my favorite of the polishes Gwen sent me, The Witching Hour. Can you tell why I love the name? Lol

I love looking at this big blue jelly polish full of blue holo glitters. It’s like a little drop of blue sunshine in my life. I reaaaaally love blue polishes. Can you tell?

It’s so freaking pretty!!!!

This is my current mani! Three coats of The Witching Hour on all but the ring finger makes for a beautiful jelly sandwich.

Gah I really love this polish! It’s so multifaceted and shiny. And blue. And pretty. And witchy. And if it were sunny, I’d take an even better picture but I can’t. Because it’s cloudy. But it’s sparkly. Oooo shiny!

You can find Gwen’s polishes at her Guilty Pleasures Polish Etsy Page. She has some BEAUTIFUL creations (including Holy Grail and Knights of Templar holos… Which… I am totally going to have to get Holy Grail… WHITE HOLO?! Say WHAT?!) for a pretty good price. Just $7 for full size, that’s a pretty great deal when you look at getting beautiful polishes! Don’t forget to show some love on her Facebook page as well!

Polish Review: Sue Me Lacquers

I have yet another polish review for your Sunday afternoon viewing pleasure!

The first beauty I have for you is Forever Alone. Listed as a “black polish with tons on holo glitters”, Forever Alone does not fail to impress.

The holo may be scattered, but none the less, it’s there and it’s dazzling.

Stunning without flash…

Utterly gorgeous with flash.

This polish is kinda thin, so you’ll have to do multiple coats to build up coverage or like me, you can wear it over black undies for a completely opaque look.

This is Pink Affair, which to be completely truthful, I had no idea it was a thermal before I started putting it on.

Listed as a “thermal that starts off as a deep purple when cold or when applied and turns into a stunning pink as soon as it starts to warm up or just dip it into warm or hot water,” Pink Affair is definitely a sleeper.

It immediately starts shifting colors as soon as you start putting it on. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a thermal like this! It goes on a dark maroon color and as it dries, it turns into this beautiful dark pink.

Cold water…

Warm water.. Ok, to be truthful, I had a really fun time taking these water pictures LOL

GAH! So PRETTY!!!

Lastly, I have Ruby Kisses, my favorite from the entire set she sent me. It’s my birthstone, so cut me some slack lol. Listed as a “ruby jelly that could also be used as a holographic tinted top coat,” my Ruby Kisses was quite a bit darker than the one she showed in her shop picture.

It’s a deep maroon/burgundy color.

It goes on completely opaque in two coats, which I didn’t figure a jelly would do.

Soooo flipping pretty with or without flash! The holo in this polish is astronomical!

You can find these, and other beautiful polishes on her Etsy and Storenvy pages. Her price is very affordable, her most expensive polishes only being $8 and her polishes are well worth the money, if not more! Also, make sure to show her some love on her Facebook page!

Polish Review: Priiincess Polish

I’ve been waiting to do this review for awhile, I had to redo a couple swatches and what not but now I’m finally ready!

Here’s a Q & A from Crystal, who is the mastermind behind Priiincess Polish:

The Good Witch: What are your favorite sources for inspiration?

Crystal: Most of my inspiration come from my daughters movies and shows. She's the inspiration behind the name Priiincess polish. We both love Disney princess movies and anything girly, colorful and glittery. I actually have Tinkerbell, Ariel and snow white tattooed in my arm.

The Good Witch: Where does your creativity stem from to allow you to come up with an array of colors and possibilities?

Crystal: I just love bright polishes with lots of glitter. I have always been totally obsessed with polish and nail art. Also glitter. I couldn't always find the colors and types if glitter I wanted so I started making my own. Plus Rylee is always asking me if I can make her different polishes that resemble the colors of her favorite characters

The Good Witch: What made you start making polish?

Crystal: I've always been into crafts. My favorite place to shop since I was little are craft stores. So creating my own polishes is so much fun. I hadn't planned in selling them but I would always end up with such a big batch that I thought: “What the heck let me post some of them on Etsy!”

The Good Witch:  If someone copies one of your polishes, is that flattering or insulting?

Crystal: If someone copied one of my polishes that would be totally flattering.

The Good Witch:  What are some of the new polish trends going around that you like and what are some that you cannot stand?

Crystal:  I usually love any new polish trend. The only one I've seen that I didn't really care for is the whole matte top coat look. I just think polishes are so pretty and are meant to be shiny and beautiful.

The Good Witch:  Do you have anything awesome in the works for your customers?

Crystal:  I've been doing a lot of colored polishes with some glitter, but I'm getting more into making "glitter bomb" top coats. Like I said I love glitter. The more the better. My son is always complaining that he went to school with glitter stuck to him somewhere lol.

The Good Witch:  What type of base coat do you use or suggest? As well as top coat?

Crystal: I always use Seche Vite base coat and top coat. Their top coat is super glossy and works really well to smooth out super chunky glitter.

First up I have for you one I called Speckled Egg. It reminds me a lot of those malted milk balls you get around Easter time that have the speckles on them. Its luxurious lavender base is “speckled” with yellow square, blue hex, hot pink hex and white micro glitters to create a very special look.

 

It’s completely opaque with two coats and dries to a shiny finish in no time flat. A simple coat of topper cleans the look up.

It does tend to get kinda gloopy sometimes, so make sure you don’t load your brush up with too much polish.

I love how the glitters are understated but still cute.

Next up is Easter Dress, a glitter topper chock full of different pastel glitters and white bar glitters. There’s even some stars and bows in there as well!

This polish would seriously wear well over pretty much every Easter-y polish you own. I paired it with a Robins egg blue and the result was stunning. I did have a slight problem getting the larger glitters, like the stars and bows out so I had to fish them out with a toothpick and place them on the nail.

But it’s still so darned cute!

Next up is my personal favorite, Wrapped Up in Tiffanys. A Tiffany-blue crelly base is littered with iridescent micro glitter, white bar glitter and black hexes.

This polish is opaque in two coats, which I love! It does tend toward the gloppy side, so make sure your brush is not bogged down.

I love how transparent it is without being transparent. If that makes any sense.

This black beauty is Mario Galaxy. This black jelly glitter filled polish has a mish mash of glitter with white, silver, blue and green the predominate players. With some fuchsia stars showing up every now and then.

I seriously love the playfulness of this polish. I layered two thin coats over black undies.

Isn’t this fabulous?! I love how layered it looks!

Next up is Neon Barbie Pink. As you could probably guess, it’s a neon pink jelly base with different shape and sized glitters in orange, yellow, pink, blue and even some iridescent shapes mixed in there.

This polish seriously screams 80’s to me. The Bangles, jelly bracelets, scrunchies, what have you. It’s just 80’s personified. It is a pretty thin jelly, so if you want to use it by itself, it’s about three coats to opacity. I only used two here.

Again, the layering possibilities are endless!

Last but not least, I have for you a polish I don’t have a bottle shot OR a name for LOL This one is just a mishmash of blue, purple, black, white and silver glitters, which seriously, I love. I wore this one over a light blue, and it looks fabulous. All but the middle finger, I used one coat over the undies. The middle finger has two.

Just a freaking fabulous glitter bomb, I tell ya!

And it even looks great over black!

All in all, these polishes rock. They don’t smell overly bad, their dry time is practically non-existent and the colors are fun and playful, which is what I am all about.

You can find a few of these, plus some others (and I’m sure more will be released soon!) at her Etsy Shop! They come in Mini, Medium and Large, with $5.75 for the Large, that’s not bad at all!