As I was posting my weekly manicure post this morning, I realized I never posted about my April Polish Pickup order. I usually try to do these as a Nail Mail Monday shortly after my order arrives, but I forgot all about April’s order. I think putting my swatch my stash posts on Mondays has thrown off my mojo. Or something. Ha, ha.
April’s theme was “Across the Universe / Planets & Galaxies”. I went into the April sale imagining all sorts of spacey, galaxy type polishes. And, there were a bunch of those. As well as a bunch of polish gorgeousness, too! For some reason, most of the offerings in the April sale didn’t appeal to me. This is the second month in a row where I didn’t feel particularly excited or wowed by most of what was on offer. I am NOT saying the polishes offered weren’t beautiful and spectacular. They were. They just weren’t for me. And that’s okay.
I only purchased 2 polishes in April’s sale. What?!?!? What is this madness? I know, I know. It’s crazy. With the March sale, I remember speculating that, perhaps, I was becoming stronger and more mature in my polish purchases. I would love to think I was getting better at being more selective, so that I am buying only things I love and, also, things that are unique to my ever-growing stash. But … I ended up grabbing 7 polishes in May’s sale. So I think it’s safe to say that March and April were off months for me. I shall never grow up and change my polish hoarding ways. I swear it! *ahem*
Dollish Polish, Drop It Like It’s Hoth is an “icy cool arctic aqua blue with intense blue/turquoise shimmer and loaded with lapis, emerald, and turquoise micro flakes and shreds”. The inspiration for this polish was the Planet Hoth from Star Wars. This polish is beautifully sheer. It built up to full opacity for me in 3 coats, but I think it would also be beautiful at 1 coat as a topper over a black or dark blue. Maybe even a dark purple? I didn’t manage to get a macro shot of this polish, because the light wasn’t cooperating with me. All of my attempts turned out blurry.
When I saw previews for this polish, I thought it was breathtaking. I still debated over whether or not to buy it, because I couldn’t tell how sheer it was. In the end, all that icy blue goodness won me over, and it went right into my cart. Plus, Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the Star Wars movies. So, of course, I had to have a Hoth-themed polish. And the name makes me laugh — so cute and punny. When I saw this one in person, in the bottle, it absolutely wowed me. I could not wait to get it onto my nails. It did turn out to be quite sheer, although I don’t hold that against the polish very much. I like how the sheerness lets me see every bit of shimmer and glitter through every layer. And it does build up nicely on the nail.
When I wore this in a manicure, I felt a little more lukewarm about it. And I’m not sure why. This is a polish that should be right up my alley. The icy look of it, the color, the glittery goodness, those flakes (!!) — everything about this polish is something I love. It should be my jam. And yet, wearing it left me feeling a little flat. I’ve been in an odd seasonal mood lately, wanting rose tones, pinks, and even reds. So I think it could be that I just wore this at a time when I wasn’t quite in the mood for it. Because I still love the look of it. I’m hoping I will utterly love it the next time I wear it. Timing is everything.
The other polish I purchased in the April sale was LePolish, Starman. As the previews for the sale were going up online, I immediately knew this was THE POLISH I wanted from April’s shop. If I got nothing else, and there seemed to be a very real possibility of that happening, I wanted this polish. It was the first thing in my cart, right after the shop opened on the first day.
Here is a macro shot for Starman. This is a “blue-gray crelly with various color shifting flakies and a red to orange duo chrome shimmer”. The inspiration behind this polish was the SpaceX shuttle launch. Starman has a great formula. It was opaque for me in 2 easy coats, although I found that 3 deepens the base color nicely.
Guys … Let’s just stop for a moment here. Because I need to pause for a bit to think about how much I freaking LOVE this polish. Because I do. I love it. I LOVE IT!!! I think I’m having a hot flash, just sitting here typing about it. That’s how much this polish crawled into my heart.
I love everything about this polish. I love the almost blurple tone to the gray base. I love those red-copper looking flakes. I love the lighter oranges I can see in here. I love the shimmer. This polish is fabulous.
POLISH PICKUP INFO:
I’m sure anyone happening upon this post already knows all about Polish Pickup. It has become a huge thing in the online nail community and the indie nail community. But, just in case you are new to it, here’s some info:
Polish Pickup is a monthly online indie shop that is open for the first Friday through Monday of every month. Every month, the “polish pickup pack” (that’s all of us nail polish addicts who shop the sale or visit the store) suggest themes for future months and vote on the theme for the upcoming month. Each indie maker creates a polish inspired by the month’s theme. It’s a great way to experiment with a lot of different indie brands, and, if you like limited polishes, this is the place for you. Because all of the PPU polishes are limited. They are only sold in the PPU shop during the sale. Other than that, you can find them in destash sales or, sometimes, in mystery grab bags through the makers’ store fronts.
Polish Pickup is much more than just polish. There are stamping supplies, jewelry, cuticle oils, lotions, and wax melts, to name just a few of the creative, non-polish products available. When you place your order through the Polish Pickup store, it acts as a pre-order. Makers have a certain amount of time to prepare their products and ship them to the PPU headquarters. From there, everything ships out to all of us lucky polish addicts! It usually takes 3-4 weeks for my PPU orders to get to me. In general, you will receive your order shortly before the shop opens for the next month’s sale.
The Polish Pickup store is found at http://www.polishpickup.com. I apologize for the lateness of this post, because May’s sale already happened. The next sale will be in June. It will run from June 1st through June 4th. June’s theme is Video Games.
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