Cupcake Polish: Vintage Rose Collection

Hey, y’all! I am bopping into the blog today with the cutest collection from Cupcake Polish. I’m not sure if these fit within a “Spring” vibe or a “Fall” vibe or just an “anytime” vibe, but I am all about them. I’m gonna go with “anytime vibe” for myself, because these are colors and types of polishes I know I would happily wear at any time of the year.

I’m sporting my Shorty McShorty nails in these swatch photos. Y’all know Mama be-bops back and forth between nail lengths. I’m in a short nail mood right now, so that’s what I’m wearing in my every day life, too. I’m enjoying the short length, especially for the hot Summer weather we are having, so I think I’m going to keep them short for a while.

Anyhow, let’s hop in and take a look at these lovely little darlings!

Garden Grace is a “jade green filled with blue/green/gold multi chrome shimmer”. I liked the formula on this polish. I found it easy to apply. I felt like it started a bit sheer, but I was happy with the opacity on my nails in 2-3 coats.

Y’all! This polish is so pretty, and she is such a shifty little chameleon. I didn’t see a strong gold shift, although I could see pretty flecks of gold throughout each of the other colors. I was able to see pretty shifts of greens and blues, although I had the hardest time catching these in either of my photos. I think you can see it around the edges of my nails, but I couldn’t get the angle and light just right for catching it in my pictures.

Guilded is a “white crelly filled with subtle gold metallic flakes”. I thought this had a nice formula. I didn’t have issues with application. I found this somewhat sheer, which was expected from a white and from a crelly. But I liked the opacity in 2-3 easy coats.

Look how pretty this is! I love the idea of white polishes and white crellies, but I often find I love them in the bottle and, then, not so much on my nails. I wore this in a full manicure right away, and I am happy to report I loved it in real life on my nails. Victory! It’s such a pretty and subtle look. I love the gold and white together, and there is a lovely, subtle sheen or shimmer with this polish. It’s so pretty and delicate.

Pretty in Pink is a “dark pink creme filled with red/gold iridescent shimmer”. This polish has a nice formula. I didn’t have any issues with application, and I liked the opacity on my nails in 2-3 coats.

This is suuuuuch a pretty, pretty baby. The iridescent shimmer is super, super delicate. I think you can see that in my macro shot. I feel like the gold part of the shimmer shows more than the red part of the shimmer. The red, at least to my eye, deepens that pink base color, but the gold seems to scatter across the nail surface to catch the light. I can’t even with this. It gives me “sunset” or “sunrise” vibes, and, for me, it’s a different sort of pink from most of what is in my stash. I haven’t worn this one yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Retro Romance is a “rose gold nail polish filled with red/orange/gold iridescent aurora shimmer”. I thought this polish had a nice formula. It was sheer for me when I applied it, but I felt like it built up pretty well. I did 3 coats in my swatch photo, but, now, I feel like I can see some nail plate at the cuticle line in my photo. I didn’t notice this when I wore it in a full manicure, but I’m going to call this a 3-4 coat polish.

AAAAAAAAAH! Y’all!! I can’t even with this polish. Can’t. EVEN. It’s so delicate and so pretty and so shimmery-shifty. I have a few polishes that call themselves “rose gold” in my stash. I love this color tone, in both polish and jewelry, so I tend to gravitate toward these. (I have some lovely rose gold jewelry in my jewelry box, too!) Most polishes, once you put them on your nails, don’t really have that “rose gold” sort of look. I feel like it’s not an easy color to replicate. This polish probably comes the closest out of everything in my stash. It has a nicely balanced mix of gold, coppery-pink, and some cooler silvery-white tones. I found the shimmer super pretty on this polish, and I enjoyed wearing it in a full manicure shortly after I got the collection.

Reverie is a “sage green filled with red/gold iridescent shimmer”. I found this polish had a nice formula. It was sheer, which I feel is expected, since it has to balance the base color with the delicate shimmers. I liked this in 2-3 coats.

Y’all! I’ve gotta be honest here. I did not love this polish when I saw it in the bottle. I thought the shimmer was pretty, but the combo of sage green, pinks, and golds kind of mushed together into what seemed like a muted, murky mess. BUT!!

This changed the moment I swatched this polish and saw it on my nails. Oh my goodness! We are talking instant lovey-lust the moment I saw it on my nails. Once the polish was more spread out on my nails, I felt like I could see all the colors and how they worked together. In particular, the sage base color softened out and looked peacefully green, instead of murky. And the golds and pinks are super delicate but also super prominent. I wore this polish fairly soon after swatching through this collection, and I enjoyed it so much!

Rose Soiree is a “burgundy crelly filled with gold shimmer and gold metallic flakes”. This polish has a nice formula. I didn’t have issues with application, and I liked the opacity in 2-3 coats. I’m pretty sure I used 3 in my swatch photos.

I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this polish. When I first saw it in the bottle and first swatched it, I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I even wrote “Favorite!” in my notes for the collection. Also, y’all know Mama loves a nice burgundy, as well as all polishes that are “grandma-rosey” in color. I also think burgundies and rose-toned polishes look gorgeous with gold. I like the color combination in this polish a lot.

But, the more I look at my swatch photos (especially the macro shot), the more I feel unsettled about whether I will like this one or not. It’s because of how the flakes are so many different shapes and sizes. And some of them feel really large to me on when I look at them in photos on my nails. This is totally a “me” thing. It has nothing to do with the polish itself. I’m looking forward to wearing this one, and I am hoping so hard that I will actually love it once I wear it in a full manicure.

THE WRAP-UP:

So, what do y’all think about this lovely little collection? I have to say I am a big, big fan. I’ve slowly been adding more Cupcake Polish to my stash over the last year or so. There are so many things I love about this brand, and I was super excited when I stumbled across a live swatch of this collection. I had to snap it up right away. I feel like it has a timeless, vintage look to it, which makes all of these polishes work together in a beautifully cohesive way.

What about all of you? Did you purchase anything from this collection? If so, what did you think of it? I would love to hear all about it!