Hey, y’all! It is SATURDAY!! It is the start of my Beautiful Weekend at the tail end of a Very Long Week, which was exhausting. And Beautiful Weekend is even more beautiful this time around because it is a long weekend due to the Monday holiday. My work is closed on Monday to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I am hoping for some time to rest and recover from what have been two super long, stressful, and hard weeks coming back to work after the Christmas holidays. And I’m hoping for some extra time to play with nail polish … maybe do nail art … maybe blog … and maybe even write a little bit. I have big plans, y’all. Huge plans! As is often the case for me, all my plans may come to nothing, in the end. But, I am kicking everything off with a swatch-a-palooza post for one of my very favorite brands. I’m so, so excited to share these beauties with you, so let’s jump in and get started!
2 Become 1 was part of the 2019 Goodbye Summer collection.
Y’all! This polish is such a mysterious, magical, and shifty beauty. It’s a lovely shade of pink with just a tinge of purple to it. But it also has a strong blue shimmer that catches the light perfectly at every angle. For me, the shimmer is the whole story with this polish. It makes it look so … well, “magical and mysterious”!
Absolute Monarch was part of the 2019 The Little Prince collection.
I don’t have a macro of this polish, so I am tossing in an extra full-hand photo to show the shifty shiftiness of this beauty. Because it is INCREDIBLE. Seriously! This polish is an amazingly shifty multi-chrome that goes from a deep, bold red, to a coppery orange, and even to tones of green. I can’t even with this one. It is a beauty, and I love how the shift colors are so unexpected to me.
Confetti Cannon was part of the 2021 Overdue Winter collection.
This polish is an interesting and rather unexpected (at least, to me) mix of foil-like metallic and delicate, dainty iridescent/holographic glitters. It’s actually super pretty and delicate in a full manicure, and I find this polish to be enchanting and a bit like a fairy tale at every angle. But … I don’t think it photographs as well as it looks in person. For me, the foil aspect stands out much more in photos than it does in person. In person, you get a lot more pastel flashes from the delicate glitters, and it is a lovely look, overall.
Don’t Call it a Comeback was part of the 2020 Comeback Collection.
This beauty is lovely and delicate in every way. It is (to my eye) a perfect, slightly purple-toned raspberry pink, which I love. But it also has some beautiful and delicate golds running throughout. This is one of those polishes that looks pretty simple from far away, but, then, looks much more complex when you take a closer look.
Down to Clown was part of the September 2018 Hella Handmade Creations sale.
Y’all!! OMG. This polish captured my heart right away. Just … full stop. I love the combination of dark, vampy, juicy-deep red base with all of these colored/reflective flakies. I don’t have many reds like this that show as many colors as this one does.
Draw Me a Sheep was part of the 2019 The Little Prince collection.
This polish is a delicate, fairytale masterpiece. It is the barest blush of pink, and I love the pastel flashes from the iridescent flakes. This one has holographic in it, too, which is scattered and delicate and teeny and just … perfect. I think this is probably the most delicate, and sweet pink in my entire stash.
First Love was part of the 2020 The Comeback Collection.
Y’all! You know Mama is not a pink-loving gal. I say this — again and again and again. But Mary, the maker behind Quixotic, has (had?) the most delicate touch with pinks. She made me WANT them. And she made me want to wear them over and over again. This polish is no exception. I think it is one of the loveliest and most perfect “baby girl” pinks in my entire stash.
Fuji Vibes was part of the Summer 2018 Vibes collection.
I freaking adored this entire collection. All the polishes in it were simple but bold, and this gorgeously balanced red is definitely both of those things! I love the juicy feeling to this base color, and the delicate golds and oranges from the shimmer set it off perfectly.
Homesick was part of the 2019 The Little Prince collection.
Um … I’m actually thinking this maybe should have gone in my purples. But … oh well! It’s here now. I put it with my pinks because my whole-hand swatch (on the day I put my notes together for this post) looked more pink to me. Today, it’s looking more purple, particularly in the macro. There is a mix of pink and purple in here, along with some oranges and a few icy blues. I like that this is a darker, “juicy” sort of color for the base.
How Merlot Can You Go? was part of the Fall into Autumn Trio.
This is a classic “autumn” sort of red with a flakie twist. And I think it is stunning. I love the motion and depth I can see through every layer of manicure because of the flakes.
Love Potion No. 9 was part of the Fall 2020 collection.
This is such a lovely base color. It’s a pinky-reddish-purple extravaganza. And I loooove all the delicate, tiny elements in here. I enjoy the flashes of golden orange I can see in every manicure layer with this one, and I really love how teeny the scattered holographic glitters are.
Pixie Stick was part of the Winter 2019 Cold Front collection.
This is another polish that probably could have gone into my purples just as easily as my pinks. I do think this one leans genuinely pink, though. It is a deeper, more purple-toned pink, and I think the blue shimmer brings out the purple color tone even more. But for me, this one is a bright and cheerful pink!
This is Prototype 2. Yes, I named it myself. Yes, I still suck at naming things. It is a sad fact.
This polish is BA-ZAAAM!! I’m not sure what it was the prototype for, and I’m not sure this particular beauty found its way into any collection. But it should have. It really is magical and magnificent. I love how this has a strong, bold look in a full manicure. But I have also used this one in gradients and as a stamping polish!
This is Prototype 3.
Just look at this mauvey-toned, “Grandma” rose-pink! Just. Look. At. It!!!! This is perfect in every way imaginable. I freaking love it. It’s a beautiful neutral with just the right kiss of color to it, as well as some interesting things happening with the flakes and the holographic. So, so pretty. This is another one that I’m not sure whether or not it ever made it into an actual collection. But it should have!
This is Prototype 6.
Now … THIS is a vampy red. In fact, it is vampy perfection in my book. I love the slightly icy look it has from the holographic. This one is a beauty, for sure.
Razzle My Berries, 2.0 was a re-release. It originally released as a July 2018 Color of the Month.
THIS PINK!!! Y’all … I can’t even. This is so good that it makes me want to scream and cry at the same time. And I mean like … ugly cry. I actually forgot how dang gooooood this one was until putting this post together. I am now fighting the urge to run to my Helmers and dig this one out for a manicure. Must. Finish. Post!
Red Ivy was part of the 2020 Flakie Bombs collection.
I loved the Flakie Bombs collection. Y’all know Mama has a weak spot for the flakie polishes. And these flakies are so, so, soooooo good! They are reflective and iridescent and just … all the things. This polish reminds me a lot of Down to Clown, although this red has a rustier tone to it, whereas the base in Down to Clown feels juicier and sweeter to me. This one is a bit more tart.
Scarlet was part of the 2019 OG UP Trio.
This red is definitely something special. It is a perfect red for me, and I love the mix of golden-oranges from the scattered flakes, as well as the beautiful golden-orange from the UP (Unicorn Pee) shimmer. I remember when these polishes came out. Folks went mad for them because of the UP. The polishes in this trio have the original UP pigment, which is a rare and well-known (and much beloved) pigment in the nail community.
I’m tossing in an extra photo so you can see the magical UP shift for this polish. It’s golden-orange with just a hint of green around the edges. So pretty and delicate!
Scream Queen was part of the Fall 2020 collection.
Va-Va-VOOM!! This is a beauty worthy of the classic horror movie silver screen, for sure. I love the richness and depth to this polish. It is a bombshell red, for sure. And the shifting shimmer running throughout it is strong and beautiful.
Secret Society was part of the 2018 Illumi-Naughty collection.
This is a bold, deep, glowing red with a strong blue-purple magnetic shift. I’m often not one for magnetic polishes. I know they continue to be hugely popular, and makers love to make them. I don’t necessarily love wearing them. And I often think manicuring with magnetics is too much trouble for the final effect. BUT … I have to say this one is pretty spectacular. I like that the magnetic shift line is clearly a different and boldly contrasting color with the base. It definitely shows up and does not get lost on the nail!
Southern Nights was part of the 2019 Goodbye Summer collection.
This is another super-sweet and delicate pink with a very strong blue shimmer running throughout. I freaking love it. It shifts in every type of lighting and at every angle. It has an eerie look in a full manicure, which I find a bit unsettling and a whole lotta fun.
The Whole Parade was part of the 2019 Hairspray collection.
This polish really IS the whole parade — and a bag of chips! I love the red-pink of the base. It is so dang juicy and bright and eye-catching. Plus, there is a ton of holographic in this beauty. This is a fun polish to wear.
Treat Yo’ Self was part of the January 2019 Hella Handmade Creations sale.
O.M.G. Remember how I said Mary could make me want and love All the pinks? Yep!! This, right here, is a perfect example of why. This pink is MAGNIFICENT. I have worn the hell out of this pink. I have worn it in manicures on its own. I have worn it in gradients. I have worn it as a base for nail art. I freaking LOVE this pink. This is me! Loving a pink!! What is this sorcery??!!??
THE WRAP-UP:
That is a “wrap” for all of my Quixotic Polish pinks and reds. I know it was a long post with a lot of photos, so thank you for hanging in there with me while we looked at all this pretty polish. I’m not exactly sure, but I think my first Quixotic polish purchase was through Polish Pickup in 2018. From there, I started buying more and more from this brand. I fell hard right away for Mary’s delicate touch with combining different elements, as well as the way she deftly created beautiful pastels. But even Mary’s bolder polish creations have a fairytale look to them that I find absolutely enchanting. I wish I had fallen into this brand much, much earlier, because my stash from it would be much, much larger than it is today.
Sadly, I do not think this brand is alive any longer. The online shop is gone. The Facebook group seems to be largely inactive. I think the last Instagram post on the brand’s IG page was in 2021. I did some very quick internet sleuthing, but I did not run across any information as to what happened to this brand or why it closed up shop. The last announcement I remember seeing on the Facebook fan group mentioned that Mary, the maker, was going through a hard year in 2021. I can only guess that this continued through the Pandemic and to the other side (as it did for many people!) and led to the brand’s eventual closure, but that is just a guess on my part. I have no idea what really happened. It does make me sad to know this brand is currently non-existent, because this is a brand that I truly, truly loved. Quixotic Polish was neck-and-neck with Colores de Carol for that “favorite indies of all time” spot in my little, glass, polish-loving heart. I was never personal friends with Mary, but I always found her to be a caring and kind person through my online interactions with her. I nurture the hope that Quixotic Polish may come back one day. But, even if it does not, I hope that things got better or get better for Mary, and that she finds happiness and strength and peace in her daily life.
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