Hello there! Yes, I know it's been ages and ages since I've posted. There are tons of excuses I could make, but what it boils down to is just feeling burnt out on blogging. There just came a point where all the swatching, photo editing, and writing just wasn't fun for a bit and I was all like "Blogging is hard!" so I took a break. But I'm dipping my toes back in the water, just to test it out. I can't promise regularity with posting but be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram (user name is @vashtiaa). I tend to post quick shots of current manicures on those accounts.
Alright, back to the point of today's post! Paint Shop Polish has a new spring collection coming out on Monday, March 23 and I was lucky enough to get to swatch a couple of pretties and I have some photos of those to show you today!
First up is In Bloom, an appropriately named floral glitter topper. Large iridescent lavender flower-shaped glitter swim in a clear base with smaller petal pink, daffodil yellow, and violet hexes, lilac squares, and a healthy sprinkle of holographic micro glitter. This is just a perfectly pretty spring mix!
I applied In Bloom first in one thin coat to spread out the holographic sparkle and then by dabbing the larger glitters on. The gradient underneath was created using Sinful Colors Unicorn and Out of Bounds. In Bloom was fairly easy to work with, the base is a good consistency; not too thick or gloppy. I did have to fish a bit for the larger flower glitters, but that's pretty much par for the course when it comes to big glitters. You'll also want a good top coat to smooth out any bumpiness from the glitter.
If you're a glitter topper fan, In Bloom is definitely worth a look. So pretty!
May Flowers is the second polish I have to show you today. We all know what a sucker I am for a good crelly and this one fits the bill! Icy blue iridescent flower glitters are accompanied by small hexes in the same shade and periwinkle hexes in a squishy white crelly base. This was my favorite of these two polishes...love the glitter mix and the base is beautiful!
No application issues to report, beyond the necessity to fish a bit for the larger glitters. I'm showing 3 coats here with one coat of Seche Vite on top. Really just a lovely polish!
May Flowers and In Bloom will both be available this Monday, March 23 on the Paint Shop Polish Etsy site. A 5ml mini bottle retails for $5.50 and a full size 15ml bottle is $10. Also, Candi is currently offering 15% off $15 with code PADDYS15 or free US
shipping with a $25 order with code FREESHIP25. Both codes will expire
on March 31st so don't wait!. Be sure to follow PSP on Facebook to keep updated on new products, sales, and other important info!
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below!
*Paint Shop Polish products provided for honest and unbiased review*
Hello, everyone! I hope you're all having a great weekend so far! Any baseball fans out there? There's a heck of a World Series going on and, though I'm much more of a football fan, I'm pretty excited that the Royals are in it. I'm from Kansas and this is the first time they've made it to the WS in 29 years! That's something to be excited about, right? Anyway, on to the polish!!
Paint Shop Polish is an indie brand based out of Pittsburgh who's been making polish for about a year and a half. I was lucky enough to swatch for Candi in the past (here's a link to that post) so when she asked me to swatch a few polishes from her Fall 2014 LE collection, I was thrilled to accept. I've got 4 polishes from that collection to show you today, so let's get to it!
Cherry Berry is first up. A raspberry colored jelly with a satin, semi-matte finish, Cherry Berry is a great fall color! And since it's a jelly, the squishy factor is high and would be fun to play with in a jelly sandwich.
This is a fairly sheer polish and I'm showing 5 (!) coats to get the opacity you see in these photos. Of course, it could be easily layered over another polish if you don't want to deal with that many coats. The formula was smooth and easy to apply, no real issues to report.
As I said before, Cherry Berry has a semi-matte finish, as do all of the polishes I'll be showing you today. You can choose to keep that finish or add a matte top coat to bump up the effect or even a regular top coat to make everything all shiny. Be careful if you choose to leave the natural finish of the polish, as they do take a while to dry without top coat.
Next up is Bad Romance. This is a hard color to describe and it's showing up much more neutral in these photos than it actually is...my camera fails yet again :( A heather grey base with pink to lavender shimmer, Bad Romance is just plain pretty. It's one of my favorite colors of the 4 and I don't think I have anything else quite like it.
Bad Romance is opaque in 2-3 coats and I'm showing 3 with no top coat here. Another nice formula with no streaking or dragging issues. I wish I would have used a matte top coat on this because I think it would have looked spectacular, but I'll have to save that for another time.
Bad Romance is a great, soft polish that would transition well from work to whatever you have planned after. The color is unique but not in-your-face...I think you'll catch yourself staring at your nails a lot with this one ;)
No Plain Jane is an orchid metallic with a bit of blue shimmer. You know I love a purple polish, so this one is a bit of a no-brainer for me.
Opaque in 3-4 coats (I'm showing 4 here), No Plain Jane has a smooth application and I experienced no issues at all with the formula. Of the 4, NPJ has the least satin finish I thought so I'd definitely recommend a matte top coat if you want to emphasize that.
A pretty color and a good formula, what more could you ask for?
Last but not least (especially since it's my favorite of this post) is Blue Steel. The name of this polish makes me giggle because all I can think about is Zoolander...I'm not sure if that's what Candi intended when she named it, but there it is nonetheless. Blue Steel is a gunmetal grey with shimmery bits throughout...love, love, love this color! Especially for fall!
This is the most opaque polish of the bunch, almost a one coater though I'm showing 2 coats in these photos. The formula was near perfect with no streaking or dragging and a beautiful finish. If you're tempted to pick up only one of these polishes, Blue Steel is a must-have!
All of these polishes are currently available on the Paint Shop Polish Etsy site for $5.50 for a 5ml mini bottle and $10 for a full size 15ml bottle. This is a Limited Edition collection so don't wait to grab any you may like, they won't be around forever! Be sure to follow Paint Shop Polish on Facebook to keep updated on new releases and other important info!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!
*Polishes provided by Paint Shop Polish for honest, unbiased review*
Howdy everyone! I'm gonna start here with a warning; this is a photo-heavy post. Why so many photos, you ask? Because I'm reviewing not one, not two, but FOUR polishes from a brand-new-to-me indie polish, Paint Shop Polish. I discovered Paint Shop Polish via The Polish Diva and loved the look of them. Candi, the owner/designer of Paint Shop Polish, was kind and sweet enough to send along these four mini bottles for review. She's also given a little something for my readers, but we'll save that for the end of the post ;)
First up is Sycamore. A bright, lemony, gold shimmer, Sycamore is part of Candi's Fall 2013 collection. This color was so flattering, I didn't want to take it off! The gold and shimmer definitely say Fall, but I could also see this polish used for a summery manicure as well. Gotta love a color with versatility!
Golden fleck-y goodness! Application was good. The brush on my bottle was a little wonky, but it's the only one of the four I had an issue with, so it's the exception rather than the rule. Sycamore is quite sheer and it would be a wonderful layering polish. I've used four coats here and still had a bit of VNL on a couple of nails. I could see this layered over a red or orange to add a lovely shimmer...and now I'm wondering what it would look like over straight black. Oh, the possibilities!
Sycamore is definitely worth a look if you're in the market for a versatile Autumn-inspired polish.
*Polishes provided by Paint Shop Polish for honest, unbiased review*
Next up, we've got Baltimore. This polish is a glitter topper inspired by the Baltimore Ravens. Candi has several NFL-inspired polishes in her line-up (pun intended) and if you don't see your favorite team, she accepts custom orders and I'm sure she'd be happy to whip up some team spirit for you!
Anyway, back to Baltimore! Lavender squares, black and gold hexes in two sizes, and white bars make up the glitter portion of this clear-based topper. I'm particularly partial to this color combo because, while I'm not really a Ravens fan, they do happen to share their team colors with my KSU Wildcats, so I'll be able to work this into a future Pigtails & Purple Nails post. Bonus!
I'm showing 2 coats of Baltimore over the previously mentioned 4 coats of Sycamore. There was a little bit of settling with the gold hexes in this polish, but a quick upside-down session with the bottle fixed it right up. I dabbed on the first coat and the second was applied normally. Glitter coverage was good and the base isn't too thick, which is nice.
*Polishes provided by Paint Shop Polish for honest, unbiased review*
And we're on to the first of two polishes that are part of Paint Shop Polish's limited edition Sons of Anarchy-inspired collection, SAMBEL. SAMBEL is named after the Belfast chapter of Sons of Anarchy. I wish I could tell you more about the inspiration, but I don't actually watch the show myself. Fortunately, my lack of SOA knowledge has no bearing on my appreciation of polish!
SAMBEL has a blackened base with a gorgeous dark green shimmer. In this case, the green is actually much more pronounced on the nail than it was in the bottle, which is a happy :) This turned out to be a surprise favorite for me. Once I got SAMBEL on my nails, I couldn't stop staring at the deep green shimmer. This jewel tone color is totally on trend for Fall, so even if you're not a SOA fan, you'll want to seriously consider adding SAMBEL to your collection!
Again, application was smooth and opaque in 2-3 coats. The first photo shows no top coat while the following two have a coat of Seche Vite on top. Paint Shop Polish has done a nice job with the finish on these polishes; a nice shine without a top coat is always a plus!
*Polishes provided by Paint Shop Polish for honest, unbiased review*
SAMCRO is the second SOA-inspired polish I received for review. Named for the SOA Charming chapter, SAMCRO is similar to SAMBEL but with a blue shimmer instead of the green. You may want to view these photos at a larger size to see the difference between them.
Unlike SAMBEL, SAMCRO's blue shimmer didn't become more pronounced on the nail, but it did look the same in the bottle so what you see it what you get. Now, I'm not baggin' on SAMCRO! It's still a pretty polish, just in a more subtle way than SAMBEL. The shimmer is kind of opalescent with the blue being the most noticeable color.
SAMCRO also had great application and was opaque in 2-3 coats. First two photos shown with a coat of Seche Vite and the last photo is without top coat. If you're looking for a dark color that has a subtle hint of color, give this one a shot!
I was so excited to get to try out Paint Shop Polish and am so pleased to report that these polishes really lived up to my hopes! The colors are rich and the formulas are great, you can't ask for much more than that! All of these polishes and more are currently available in Paint Shop Polish's etsy store and they all retail for $4 for a 5ml mini bottle and $7.50 for a full size 15ml bottle. You can keep up with Candi and Paint Shop Polish over on Facebook. Make sure to "like" her page for updates on new products, giveaways, and all that good stuff!
Now, remember earlier when I said Candi had a little something for my readers? Well, she's offering a discount code for 15% off of your purchase! That makes these lovelies a total steal! To get your discount, simply enter the code TOPCOAT at checkout. And make sure to thank her in the Buyer Comments!
Alright, I'm just about wore out here lol I do want to remind everyone to enter the The Nail Files Turned 2! giveaway for your chance to win some awesome prizes from myself, Taneja’s Bride, Accio Lacquer, My Boyfriend Hates Makeup, A Polish Playground, Mandie’s Manicures, An Accent Nail, Nail Addicted Sisters, Galactic Lacquer, Pretty Jelly and last but not least.. xo, noelle! You don't want to miss this!
Thanks so much for reading!
