Hella Handmade Creations: August 2025

PR Sample

Heads up, polish lovers! The Hella Handmade Creations pre-order is live from August 14–21 — don’t miss your chance to grab some stunning new shades and goodies! Shipping usually starts about 30 days after the sale closes (around the 22nd), remember to add tramsit time. I got my hands on some early-release products and can’t wait to share my thoughts below.
Ready to wishlist your favorites? Check out the HHC shop here!




LynB Designs - You Go Gill
Inspired by the vibrant Annularis Angelfish, You Go Gill dives deep with a rusty red base, glowing blue-to-purple shifting shimmer, and a splash of holo sparkle — like sunlight flickering through tropical waters.
Part of LynB’s Virtual Aquarium theme, this polish is limited to 150 bottles.




Victorian Varnish - Celestial Clockwork
Turn time on its head with Celestial Clockwork — a magnetic multichrome that shifts from pink to peach to gold to bronze like the final flickers of a summer sunset. When magnetized, it reveals a moody deep base, lit with blue-to-purple holo and aurora flakies that sparkle like gears in a cosmic machine.
Part of the Steampunk Unicorns collection, this twilight-inspired polish is limited to just 300 bottles.




Victorian Varnish - Lavish Hand and Cuticle Cream — Geared for Sweets!
Imagine wrapping your hands in a deliciously dreamy blend of strawberry, raspberry, and pineapple, all topped with sweet spun sugar and a touch of vanilla for warmth. A subtle hint of musk adds just the right amount of mystery to this sweet, steampunk unicorn-inspired cream.
Perfect for keeping your cuticles soft and your senses delighted, this cream is a little luxury you won’t want to miss. Capped at only 50 bottles.




Victorian Varnish - Tincture Acetone Additive Duo — Double the Delight!
Get ready to elevate your nail routine with this dynamic duo designed to pamper your cuticles while you remove or clean up your manis.

Geared for Sweets treats you to a mouthwatering blend of strawberry, raspberry, and pineapple, sprinkled with sugar cane and spun sugar, all resting on a cozy vanilla and musk base—think candy shop vibes in a bottle!

Serene Dreams is a breath of fresh air with its crisp citrine leaves and apple aura, softened by airy fluorescent clouds. Floral jasmine and orchid notes dance alongside tropical pineapple sweetness, all warmed up by a surprising touch of resinous amber. It’s like sunshine and mystery rolled into one.

Each handy two-pack set is perfect for mixing up your mani magic or sharing the goodness with a friend! Capped at 20 sets.




All of my swatches are shown in two thick coats with topcoat and had no formula issues unless otherwise stated. All photography uses a neutral color temperature bulb with white bounce card. My nails are natural with no enhancements and no blurring/cream base, I have a fairly prominent VNL.

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Hella Handmade Creations (HHC) is a popular monthly indie nail polish collaboration and sales event — and it was the first of its kind in the indie polish world, started in Feb of 2015. HHC gives makers the freedom to create unique, limited-edition polishes based on their own chosen themes. It’s a fantastic platform for indie polish lovers and collectors to discover exclusive shades from a variety of brands, all in one place — with something new and surprising every month. See my last HHC review here.

What is indie polish?

This is really a loaded question, but I will do my best to give you clarity on the topic.




Indie by definition means independent, as a business type. The literal definition of this is: one that is not publicly traded on the stock market, and is generally owned by a very small group of individuals.

HOWEVER...

In the nail polish world, the above definition applies and the product has to be manufactured and packaged by the business owner, ie handcrafted. The more appropriate word we should have chosen as a community in 2009 is Artisan made. But we didn't, and here we are at Indie Polish. The term has stuck and will likely not be changed after 13 years of being called indie polish.

There is another flavor of polishes that are not considered as "Indie Polish" and are not "Mainstream." They are independent businesses such as Holo Taco, Mooncat and a few others. These are referred to as "boutique" or "lab made." The difference here is that the business owner may design what the polish will look like, but they do not manufacture or package (bottle, label, box) the polish themselves. They typically handle their customers themselves and the shipping and their products are typically only available online. (there are sometimes exceptions, for example, polish expos, and special deals a maker has made with a salon or handmade type shop) Both indie and boutique type polishes usually have a personalized customer experience where we can interact with the business owner directly. Most indies and boutique shops have only one employee (the owner) or a small number of people to help them. These companies utilize Nail Bloggers, IG swatchers, and YouTubers for public relations media to advertise for them.

Lastly is "Mainstream." Mainstream are the polishes found readily available at big box stores like Target, Walmart, some Salons, Drug Stores etc. These are mass produced, available in large volumes and are typically publicly traded. Because of their mass production, most mainstream polishes are less costly than indie or lab made/boutique polishes. (again, there are exceptions to cost, like Chanel or Hermes)

Hope that helps clarify! I have a glossary page in my blog's top menu bar that may be helpful with other acronyms you may come across in the indie polish community as well as a list of indie shops.


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Polish Pickup: January 2022

PR Sample

Polish Pickup's theme for January is Spices and Condiments. I've got a few items from KBShimmer to show you, these are launching on Jan 7-10 for pre-order.




Say It Ain’t Cilantro is a green polish loaded with reflective pigments. In low lighting, a cilantro leaf green hue catches the light for a muted twinkle. In bright light or with flash, the reflective pigment comes alive. Shown in 2 coats with topcoat. Without a top coat, this shade is textured. Removal is as easy as removing a cream or shimmer polish.



KBShimmer Restoration Drop Thinner
Restore your thick, stringy, goopy or even completely dried out polishes with this thinner. Add a few drops at a time and shake then test, until you have the consistency you desire. If the polish is fully hard, add about 20 drops and let sit overnight, shake the next day, test and repeat until it is thin enough. Glitter polishes are generally thicker and too much thinner can reduce the suspension properties.
The bottle comes with an extra dropper style cap for easy application. To prevent evaporation of the thinner, store with the flat top.

I used KBShimmer thinner for a long while before I became a blogger for her brand. It works well and does not contain any extra/unnecessary ingredients. In the photos, I included my current bottle and an empty bottle that I kept. In total, the PR sample is my fourth bottle and I'm so glad she chose the thinner for PR this round as I was almost out!




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Glam Polish: Sunnydale Trio (Limited Edition)

PR Sample

Glam Polish is bringing us three vampy shades inspired by the TV Series Buffy The Vampire Slayer. They release August 28th, 2pm EST USA, on the Glam Polish website.
For the first 72 hours Save 5% Off All Individual shades in store with code VILLAIN5 or 10% Off All Full Collections in store with code VILLAIN10



I Happen To Be Very Biteable, Pal. - Dark Purple jelly with shifting iridescent flakies and aurora shimmer.






I Hope Evil Takes Mastercard - Dark Blue jelly with shifting iridescent flakies and aurora shimmer.






You’re The One, Buffy - Plum jelly with shifting iridescent flakies and aurora shimmer.





Each polish is shown in two lovely coats with topcoat. The formula for each was smooth and easy to apply. The smallish brush allows precision for me, as I have small nails.

Will you be picking these up?!

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Alter Ego: As You Wish

PR Sample

Alter Ego is being featured in the Nails & Novels facebook group with a beautiful custom group polish!

As You Wish
Inspired by The Princess Bride book's cover art, this polish is packed with super micro blue, aqua and holo glitter suspended in a jelly-ish base. It can be used as a topper, or alone as shown here in three coats. It sparkles and sings and will surely make you feel like a princess while wearing it!





Available August 1 at the Alter Ego online shop! Will you be picking it up?!

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Lollipop Posse: Polished Gamers Borderlands Box Polish

PR Sample

Lollipop Posse is participating in this month's Polished Gamers box. The box has an assortment of polishes that are available a la cart! The pre-order is June 15th - 20th at https://polishedgamersbox.com/


Psycho Killer. Qu'est-ce que c'est?
An electric blue jelly filled with dark blue to purple shifting iridescent flakes, blue Aurora shimmer, and holographic micro flakes.
Inspired by artwork of the female psycho from Borderlands 3.
No cap





The flake and shimmer give this polish such a reflective chrome-like finish! I found the polish to apply smooth and easily, I'm wearing two coats with topcoat for photos. I wore this polish for over a week and had no chipping. There's some kinda magic in that bottle ya'll.

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Blush: Regulation Hottie

PR Sample

Blush has created a beautiful brown holo for the Hella Handmade Creations site for June. Blush's current series is Mean Girls, and this polish is inspired by Cady's black & pink dress that she wears during the first party she throws at her house for "a few friends".

This new polish launches on Sunday, June 14th at 12:01am EST to Sunday, June 21st at 11:59pm Hawaiian time at hellahandmadecreations.com

Regulation Hottie
A dark gunmetal grey nail polish with a strong linear holographic effect and rose gold metallic micro flakes.
Cap: None

The holo effect is so vibrant! Look at that rainbow on the nail! Shown in two coats with topcoat.






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Blush: Pink Lagoon Collection

PR Sample

Blush Lacquer is celebrating their 4th year in business with a special anniversary collection!

Pink Lagoon is a 5-piece mixed finish collection in hot summer shades. Inspired by aerial photos of the Hutt Lagoon in Australia, a salt lake naturally pink in hue due to the presence of carotenoid-producing algae. This collection features shimmers, a delicate neutral flakie polish and a bold metallic for a variety of textures and colors to wear this summer.

The set launches on May 25th at 7pm EST with a special sale! Customers will be able to take 20% off of their entire order (including this new collection) with the code BIRTHDAYBLUSH through May 30th at 11:59pm EST




24k Coast: A bright and sunny gold metallic nail polish.






Grape Barrier Reef: An eggplant purple nail polish with a pink shimmer and subtle shifts of orange at extreme angles.






In The Shallow: A grey-beige nail polish with rose gold metallic micro flakes.






Oh Là Là-guna: A magenta nail polish with a pink shimmer and subtle shifts of orange at extreme angles.






Persimmon Bay: A muted persimmon orange nail polish with a pink shimmer and subtle shifts of orange at extreme angles.





I am really liking the variety in texture and the shades chosen for this whole collection. I especially love In The Shallow, with its subtle color but surprise pop of glam with it's metallic flakes. I've swatched these all with two coats of polish plus topcoat, and they're all great formulas. You'll experience effortless application with their soft fan shaped brush, original to the BLUSH brand.

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