Indie Spotlight: Spellbound Nails, The Darks plus Holo Back Girl

*Spellbound Nails products provided for honest and unbiased review.  All other products mentioned were purchased by me.*

Hello, everyone!  I've got a collection of cremes plus a holo topper to show you all today from Spellbound Nails.  Ashely, the owner and creator of Spellbound Nails, has just opened up a new website to sell her lovely wares and has released some beautiful new collections to go with the fabulous new site.  I was lucky enough to get to try out one of these collections and wanted to share them with you!

The collection I received to swatch is called The Darks, a witchcraft-inspired set of 5 cremes.  I have to mention upfront that the bottles I received were testers, so the bottles you decide to purchase will possibly be a touch different (as far as any formula issues go).  All of Ashley's finished products I've tried have had great formulas, so I never worry about quality issues.  Just felt I should make you guys aware that you'll be getting a fully tested, 100% finished product if you choose to buy!

First up is Velvet, a deep, eggplant purple.  As purples are always my favorites, I was excited to try this color in particular.   The color is beautiful with a smoky edge, very fitting for the witchy theme! I'm wearing 3 coats of Velvet here with one coat of Seche Vite.  My bottle was a little streaky up until the third coat but evened out quite nicely in the end.   If you're in need of a dark-but-not-black polish for your stash, Velvet is a great option!

Witching Hour is a blackened teal and one of my favorites of this collection.  The color is touch less green than my photo in real life, absolutely gorgeous!  Witching Hour reminds me of the swatches I've seen of O.P.I.'s Amazon Amazoff and now I'll just have to grab a bottle so I can do a comparison.  Oh no! :)  No formula issues with this one at all, opaque in 2-3 coats (2 coats shown here with one coat of Seche Vite) and a smooth, easy application. 

Next we have Bewitched, a deep, rusty burgundy.  This was my least favorite of the colors as I just don't think it goes with my skin tone very well.  The color itself is lovely, just not for me!  I had no trouble with the formula here, this is an easy 2 coats with a coat of Seche Vite. 

Salamander is greyed, camouflage-y green; the perfect match for slimy, salamander skin!  That said, it's actually a very lovely color.  I'm a big fan of green polishes right now, I think it's because we had such a long winter and I'm just thrilled to see anything that looks like growing things lol   I'm showing 3 coats of Salamander here with one coat of Seche Vite.  Again, easy application with no dragging or streaking, just a great polish!

Hearthstone, a mid-tone grey with a touch of earthiness, completes the collection.  This color was my top fave of the bunch!  Something about the perfect grey polish gets to me every time, what can I say?  I'm showing 3 coats of Hearthstone here with one coat of Seche Vite.  Like Velvet, my bottle of Hearthstone gave me a little streaky trouble, but did even out just fine with the third coat. 

The Darks are currently available on the Spellbound Nails website and retail for $8 for a full-size, 15ml bottle.  Should you decide to purchase the entire full-size collection ($40), Ashley is currently offering a free full-size bottle of her scattered holographic topper, Holo Back Girl! which I was also lucky enough to swatch :)

This is one coat of Holo Back Girl! over 2 coats of Witching Hour.  The sparkle on this beauty is incredible!  A great holo topper is an easy way to freshen up a days-old mani that's still in good shape or revitalize the boring polish colors.  Holo Back Girl! essentially doubles the polishes in your stash by giving you the option to make each one a holographic!  I love the versatility with this one.  

I wanted to show you a blurry photo so you could get a better idea of the sparkle factor going on here.  So many rainbows!  And one coat will do ya, easy application and a great payoff!

If you want to keep apprised of new releases, sales, and other important information be sure to follow the Spellbound Nails Facebook page.  I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks so much for reading!

Indie Spotlight: No Blank Paper

*Nothing to disclose*
 
Hi there!  I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend.  It's been kind of a lay-around-the-house sort of weekend for me, which was much needed.  I did manage to get some swatching done and I've got a new-to-me brand to show you all.  I first heard of this brand through The Good Witch of the Midwest and I knew I had to try them out for myself!  No Blank Paper is run by a lovely gal named Erin who frankens up a pretty mean set of pretties!  I'll be showing off these polishes in two posts, three polishes a piece.

First up is Dashwood Sensibilities.  I have to mention that Erin does a fabulous job naming her polishes...I just think they're so fitting!  Anyway back to the polish at hand (if you'll pardon the pun),  DS is salmon-y coral creme with a hint of golden shimmer.   This polish is just perfect for summer, the color and shimmer capture warm breezes and sand between your toes.

DS has a great formula, I'm showing three easy coats here with no top coat.  I did have a little tip wear on this after a day, but I'm chalking that up to no top coat.  I had no issues with gloppiness or streaking, just an overall nice polish.

I'm very pleased with the cremes from No Blank Paper that I've tried so far, Dashwood Sensibilities is no exception.  Sometimes with a newer brand, you'll run into opacity issues with cremes but I can say that Erin seems to have no issue with that at all. 

Next I've got a lovely crelly called Blonde With a Union Jack (remember what I said about the names?).   This barely-there baby pink beauty is chock full of metallic pink, white, and blue hexes with a sprinkling of fine holographic glitter thrown in for sparkle.  Colors like this always remind me of Soft Kitty from Big Bang Theory for some reason :)

I layered up 4 coats (no top coat) of BWAUJ for these photos and still had a little visible nail line.  This isn't an issue for me, but if you dislike the sheerness you can always wear it over a base polish.  Good formula, no application issues, and I didn't have to fish for the glitter.

BWAUJ might be a great work polish.  The soft color and sheerness give it a conservative feel but the glitter and holographic sparkle keep it from seeming boring.

From a sheer softy we're heading into uncharted territory!  This is Captain's Log, a sheer gold shimmer with multi-colored stars and holographic bars, squares, and hexes.  If you're looking for a polish to boldly go places with, Captain's Log might be for you ;)
 

Since the stars are a bit heavier, you may have to fish a little and do some placing.  You can also turn the bottle upside down for a few minutes before application to help distribute them a bit more evenly.  I'm showing 3 coats of Captain's Log with no top coat here.  I knew from looking at the bottle that this would be sheer, so I didn't bother trying to cover up any VNL.  Again, a base polish will help in the opacity department if you don't like the look.  The only application issue I had was the aforementioned heavy stars, everything else was great!
 

Overall, I'm really impressed with Erin's polishes.  She's got some unique color combinations and her formulas are fantastic!  I have yet to mention the prices, as they're so jaw-droppingly great I thought I should save them for last.  Since she makes small batches of frankens, Erin currently offers only 5ml mini bottles which will set you back a measly $3 a piece!  Even better than that, she's offering a 15% discount to my readers here for a couple of weeks with code: TOPCOAT15.  Let's run through the fabulousity one more time.  Great colors, wonderful formulas, fantastic prices, plus a discount?!  You should run to her Etsy store immediately and grab yourself somethin' purdy!

If you're interested in seeing more swatches before you buy, be sure to check back on Wednesday, as I'll have the second set of three polishes from No Blank Paper to show you!  Thank you for reading!