Category: Indie Nail Polish

Indie Spotlight: Shimmer Polish Part I

Today will be the first in the Indie Spotlight to showcase Shimmer Polish. Shimmer is an indie brand comprised of glitters. Each glitter is named after a family member or friend of the creator of Shimmer, Cindy. I was super excited when Cindy contacted me to ask if I would review her polishes for my readers. This brand is absolutely divine! I love glitter polishes, especially those that you can wear alone without layering them over another polish. Shimmer is the perfect glitter that can be worn either alone or as a layering polish. Cindy was kind enough to send me almost her entire collection to review. Thus, there will be several posts to highlight Shimmer Polish! I hope you enjoy the first two polishes I have to show you.

Jasmine is the first Shimmer I tried out. I didn’t know which to choose first, so I asked my mom what her favorite color was (blue), and she chose this aquamarine over another dark blue polish. When speaking of Shimmer, the base in this case is not a colored polish. In fact, all of her polishes are in a clear base, but there is a base color that can often be detected. Jasmine has a very light blue base that leans to the teal side. Along with the fine, teal glitter, there are small hexagons of dark blue, red, green, and silver. There are also larger hexagons that appear to be either gold or silver, depending on the light. I used just two coats of this polish to get full coverage! I was really happy about that.

The formula of Jasmine is amazing. It is a bit on the thick side, but it’s not clumpy at all. It was also very easy to use — I applied it just like a regular polish. Jasmine tried very quickly on its own, and I followed with a topcoat to even out the glitter. I’ll be honest — I kept singing “A Whole New World,” from Disney’s Aladdin every time I looked at Jasmine on my nails. It is just so gorgeous!

The next Shimmer I tried was Cassandra. Unlike the other Shimmers that Cyndi sent me, Cassandra does not have any color in it. Instead, it is an opalescent glitter in the same clear base. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to wear this on its own, but with three coats I got an amazing look. Jasmine has very fine glitters, small hexagons, and large hexagons that are all opalescent. While the polish at first may appear clear or white, when the light reflects off of the glitters, you can see all the colors of the rainbow! I feel like I am wearing snowflakes on my fingers. This would be a great polish for winter.

Just like Jasmine, the formula was great. This time I did need the third coat to get more coverage, but that’s just because of this particular color. Although Cassandra did seem to dry rather quickly, I smudged it a few times after 20-30 minutes of wear. This is probably because of the third coat I applied. Luckily, I was able to smudge the polish right back into place. No harm done! I also did not use a topcoat this time, Cassandra is not as textured as Jasmine. This polish is perfect if you want a more subtle glitter on your nails! It’s not as “out there” as some others.

I hope you enjoyed this post about Shimmer Polish! You can buy these online at Etsy HERE, and visit the Shimmer blog HERE. Stay tuned for the next installment on Shimmer!

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Indie Spotlight: AbsolutLacquer in Maybe I’m Crazy & Confetti Cake

Welcome to my first Indie Spotlight post! A few months ago I had no idea that indie polish existed, but I quickly learned of this underground world of polishmakers. Indie polish is created and sold by small businesses. They are typically 3-free, and can be very sought after. Some indie polishes sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay! On average, indie polish is about $8-10 for a full size bottle. While this is a bit more than I typically like to spend, it is nice to support small businesses when you have room in your budget. My Indie Spotlight posts will highlight some of the sellers that create this stunning polish!

AbsolutLacquer was kind enough to send me two minis from her store to test out for review. I was thrilled to use my first indie! I began with Maybe I’m Crazy layered over Zoya America. Maybe I’m Crazy is a glitter top coat in a clear base that literally has every type of glitter you can think of — bars, hexagons (large & small), squares, and fine — in a variety of different colors. You can layer this over basically any color, because it is sure to have a matching glitter in the bottle. I think it looks great over this bright red!

 

I’ll be honest, when I first started using this polish I thought, “Maybe I’m Crazy, but what am I doing wrong?” As I’m not used to this type of glitter polish, I found it a bit difficult at first to master the polishing technique. In order to get the glitter on your nail successfully, make sure to have a lot on the brush! Then, you want to dab the polish instead of swiping it across the nail. That way the glitter will stay on your nail and not on the brush. I used about 1-2 coats to achieve this look. Isn’t it fabulous?! I got lots of compliments on this polish.

 

My one woe with Maybe I’m Crazy is that removal took some effort. As with any glitter polish, I used the tin foil method (read about that HERE). Make sure you let your tin foil claws sit for at least ten minutes. That way the glitter will come right off! Even though this takes a bit of extra removal time, I don’t mind at all because Maybe I’m Crazy is stunning. I can’t wait to use it again. Here are a couple more photos.

Look at that bottle!

 

 

The next polish I have to show you is Confetti Cake. This is a white based polish with multi-colored hexagonal glitters. Unlike Maybe I’m Crazy, I didn’t need to dab on this polish. Instead, it applied like a dream! The polish stays true to it’s name. In fact, I had to remind myself as I was applying it that it was in fact nail polish, and not frosting! I used three coats of Confetti Cake on it’s own to get this look.

 

I am absolutely loving Confetti Cake! The white base has a frosted look, and the glitter spreads out perfectly. One thing that’s so fun about this polish is the look you get when adding coats. The glitter is brightly colored just like sprinkles, but when the white is over the glitter you get a beautiful pastel look. Thus, each nail has some bright and some pastel glitters. It gives a fantastic look! It was definitely worth the three coats, but if you wanted to conserve the polish, simply start out with one coat of white polish. That way you will have more Confetti Cake for future manis!

It looks so yummy!

 

 

I’ve been craving some cake since painting this mani! But that’s another story. I am absolutely thrilled with my first experience with indie polish. These are so well made, and you can tell a lot of work has gone into making the formula perfect. I highly suggest you check out AbsolutLacquer and buy some of her polishes! Shop her Etsy site HERE. Full size polishes are $8, and she JUST released a brand new neon collection! Also, be sure to like her Facebook page HERE. She often has contests for free polish!

What do you think of AbsolutLacquer? Have you tried this brand before?

 

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.