Polish Pickup Pack November 2018 - A-Em | Polish Reviews

Press Sample

Hey, y'all! I disappeared partly because of life (adulting is fun) but partly because I was asked to participate as one of the Bloggers of the Month for Polish Pickup for November 2018! Because this post (and the accompanying one) is for PPU, it's a different layout than my normal posts. If you're looking for more pictures from me, make sure to check out the Polish Pickup Group! Please note that this is not the entire selection for PPU November, it's just the ones that makers chose to send to me.

If you're looking for the Et-Le portion of the post, click here.

For Li-Z, check out Michelle's post at Lacquer or Leave Her!

Polish Pickup's info:

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This took so long to get it even this straight in editing. I hate collages with more than four pictures in it.

Anchor & Heart Lacquer's Dark Lady of DNA is a blacked purple jelly base shot through with green/aqua/purple multichrome pigment, red/orange/green Aurora shimmer, and red/copper/gold UCC flakies. 

Inspiration: Rosalind Franklin

Price: $12.50

Cap: None

This is a gorgeous polish. The base is stunning and I love the flakies. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Three coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Minimal texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

B Polish's Pineapple Bud is a sage green crelly with glass fleck and UUC flakes.

Inspiration: Pineapple Bud by Georgia O'Keeffe

Price: $12.00

Cap: 50

I love this base shade. It's something I don't have (or no more than one other one similar. It's not so much a sage in my opinion as it's almost a smokey robins egg. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Three coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal-slow.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Baroness X's Superhuman's Bourbon (Acetone Antidote) is a bourbon-based scent with vanilla and a touch of cinnamon.

Inspiration: Jessica Jones

Price: $4.50

Cap: None

I'm kicking my self for not watching Jessica Jones yet, but I love that this is based on her. The scent is a little dark and almost dusty (not in a bad way, which sounds weird) with a touch of sweet and spice.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Science is Curiosity is a galaxy in a bottle! Black jelly base with pink and royal blue glass flecks, red microflakies, scattered holographic pigment, small silver holo glitter, and a blue/green/fuchsia shifting magnetic pigment.

Inspiration: Sally Ride

Price: $13.00 without magnet/$15.00 with a magnet

Cap: 75 without magnet/25 with a magnet

This really is a galaxy in a bottle when using a magnet. It's also stunning if you don't like using a magnet on your polishes. No issues noted with the formula/application besides some minor texture.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: One coat.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Minimal texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

BLUSH Lacquer's The Moors of Haworth is an olive toned taupe base with a golden green shifting shimmer and a light touch of scattered holo and holo flakes.

Inspiration: The Bronte Sisters

Price: $12.00

Cap: None

I have yet to see a BLUSH polish that doesn't have the glowy aspect to it, this is no exception. It's such a unique green that I actually like. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Two coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Cameo Colours Lacquers So, You Wanna Play? is a deep purple jelly, full of indigo/purple shifting shimmer, with genuine silver, neon purple, hot pink, gunmetal, and silver holo micro flakes.

Inspiration: Hit Girl

Price: $12.00

Cap: 100

I love the inspiration behind this polish. I even still love watching Kick-Ass to this day! This is definitely a purple for Hit Girl! No issues noted with the formula/application besides some minor texture.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Three thin coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Minimal texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Chirality's 8th Wonder is a raspberry red base color and is filled with various shades of intense blue and silver sparkles, red and dark grey micro flakes, a hint of red to blue shifting pigment, and blue iridescent flakes.

Inspiration: Wonder Woman

Price: $11.00

Cap: None

I'm always going to be a fan of berry polishes, they're my go-to for winter/holiday season, and all of the flakes are the perfect addition. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Three coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Satin-shine.
Removal: No issues.

Colores by Carol's Pinky is a light pink jelly with aurora shimmer, pink holo glitter, and iridescent flakes.  

Inspiration: Nellie Bly

Price: $11.50

Cap: None

If you haven't checked out Nellie Bly's undercover work in an asylum, you definitely should. The polish is also really nice! No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Three coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Minimal texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: Typical microglitter removal, use peel-off base for easier removal.

Colors by Llarowe's Rosa is a charcoal grey base with strong blue shimmer and blue to turquoise shifting flake.

Inspiration: Rosa Parks

Price: $11.00

Cap: None

Not so much glossy, but definitely matte, the flakies super pop with this one. I didn't see the grey in the polish (in person or in the bottle) but that might be because of the blue shimmer. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Two coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Creative Cuticles Nail Polish's Take Chances. Make Mistakes. Get Messy. is a pink base with a rainbow of holo glitter.

Inspiration: Miss Frizzle

Price: $10.00

Cap: None

I did have a bit of an issue with this polish. It's very much on the thicker side and when I tried to do two coats, it dragged and became patchy. I spoke to the maker and she said she was going to tweak the formula to make it a bit thinner.

Formula: A little thick, slightly difficult to work with.

Coats Used: One thick coat, drags with second coat.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

CrowsToes Nail Color is an emerald/teal sparkly shimmerfest.

Inspiration: Lady Galadriel has had enough and sends Sauron back to the Void.

Price: $12.00

Cap: 75

This is a gorgeous base. I'm always a fan of these rich gem bases. No issues noted with the formula/application other than some texture noted.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: One coat.

Ease of Dry: Quick.

Texture: Texture, two coats of TC used.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Crystal Knockout's Iconic, Incredible is a dark blue-purple holographic base with a blue flash, indigo-purple aurora, violet shimmer, silver holo micro shreds, purple holo micro glitter, bright pink and purple flakies, and iridescent blue flakes.

Inspiration: Lady Gaga

Price: $12.50

Cap: None

This was, unfortunately, a difficult polish to work with. It was very much on the thicker side and was difficult to work with. It's a gorgeous shade if you thin it out.

Formula: Very thick, almost too difficult to work with, VNL.

Coats Used: Three coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues

Dollish Polish's Get Away From Her, You Bitch! is a walnut brown jelly with shimmer and color-shifting flakes.

Inspiration: Ellen Ripley (Alien)

Price: $12.00

Cap: None

I admit, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this polish. I never grab browns and I really don't know why. This is stunning and the flakies are killer! No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Two coats.

Ease of Dry: Slightly slow.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

DRK Nail's I'm Not Made of Glass is a alassic vibrant red magnetic polish. A mixture of gold galaxy glitter, aurora red to green. bronze sparkles and holographic powder.

Inspiration: Katherine Watson/Monalisa Smile Movie

Price: $12.00 (includes magnet)

Cap: None

This is a magnetic polish but I couldn't get it to show very well. It does pull a bit pink on the magnetic lines but it's more of a shift. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Two coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: None noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

Emily de Molly's Project Alice is a blue/grey holo with orange iridescent flakes.

Inspiration: Alice from Resident Evil

Price: $12.50

Cap: 220

Ugh, I love the inspiration and the polish itself. Resident Evil is one of those movie series that I can watch over and over again. No issues noted with the formula/application.

Formula: Very good.

Coats Used: Two coats.

Ease of Dry: Normal.

Texture: Minimal texture noted.

Finish: Shine.
Removal: No issues.

As always, let me know what you thought of this polish in the comments!