Polish Pickup: 'Tis The Season

PR Sample

Available at Polish Pickup Nov 4-7 are some goodies from a variety of brands. I have items from Great Lakes Lacquer, Kathleen & Co, and KBShimmer to share with you!




Great Lakes Lacquer Lake Superior Shenanigans
No cap
Inspired by a beautiful snapshot in time of the Northern Lights over a snow covered beach in winter. If you've ever been by, drove by, or lived by Lake Superior, you know it pulls some serious shenanigans in the winter.
A white crelly base with an extra helping of green to blue to purple shifting aurora shimmer and just a bit of scattered holographic pigment. Shown in two coats with topcoat. The shift is a vibrant rainbow in varied lighting, absolutely a stunner!




Kathleen & Co Candlelit
Cap: 500
A pastel lavender (red leaning) with glowy peachy pink/orange/green shimmer and linear holo.
The holo sparkle and shift is incredible! Like prismatic diamonds under disco lights or something! Shown in three coats with topcoat.




KBShimmer Snow Unique
No Cap
Christy's inspiration: There’s something special about heading outdoors on a crisp winter’s day as the sky sprinkles fat flakes of snow. Fuzzy gloves offer a perfect canvas for examining those unique pieces of seasonal art we call snowflakes. As pine boughs and house roofs are blanketed in white, those six-sided flakes turn even the most mature adults into kids, sticking out tongues to catch frozen flakes. We watch as those myriad designs of frozen crystals fall and it is awe-inspiring!

Snow Unique nail polish is a shimmery shade that echoes the prismatic colors of an icy snowflake. With a soft mint base, the special shimmer blend takes on a soft blue hue that flashes hues of pink, coral, green, yellow, and orange. Wear alone in two-to-three coats for a soft and delicate manicure, or layer over darker colors for a bolder multichrome look. Shown in three coats with topcoat.




KBShimmer Peppermint Marshmallow Scrub
Christy's inspiration: After spending a day in the crisp outdoors, warming up with a hot mug of cocoa is a guilty winter pleasure. Whether it’s real milk and cocoa, or a ripped open packet to pair with hot water, any mug filled with sweet, warm liquid cocoa makes me smile. But I can never quite resist doctoring my drinks! I love to stuff my mug with fluffy marshmallows and watch as I swirl a peppermint candy cane around those sweet, melting white puffs of sugar until the liquid is just the perfect temperature to drink. Grabbing a taste of peppermint and extra marshmallows for snacking makes the treat even more perfect.

Peppermint Marshmallow Hand & Body Scrub starts with sweet notes of sugary whipped marshmallow. A hint of vanilla blends perfectly with notes of fresh peppermint. Red swirls of color pop against a creamy background, while a dusting of biodegradable glitter on top sparkles like sugar crystals.



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Polish Pickup:Fairy Tales

Press Sample

The theme this month for Polish Pick Up is Fairy Tales! Launch is Nov 1-4 at 10am Central. All of the brands have great offerings this month, and I have a couple of those shades to share with you!


Lollipop Posse Chicken Legs & Mortars & Pestles, Oh My!
a flakie-packed crelly that's accented with Aurora shimmer and holographic sparkles.

Inspired by Baba Yaga, an enigmatic figure from Russian/Slavic folklore who may appear to help or hinder. You won't find this basic witch flying around on a plain old broom! Instead, you might catch Baba Yaga in her hut that stands on chicken legs, or flying the night skies in her steel mortar and pestle.
No Cap

Packed with sparkle, a fantastic fall shade! Shown is two coats with topcoat, the formula is good and smooth to the touch.






KBShimmer The Nothing
We all have movies that we loved as children that can still bring to mind fond memories when we look back on them as adults. For Christy and myself too, The Neverending Story was one of them and it's cover art serves as the inspiration for this polish!

A magnetic polish, this shade starts out as a rich emerald green color that shifts to navy blue. When a magnet is used, the added array of holo glitters and pink-to-blue-shifting micro flakes give this polish a galaxy-like feel. Shown in one coat over black.







KBShimmer The Dark Crystal
This luxurious sugar scrub is inspired by the Dark Crystal story. Like the crystal from the movie, its rich fuchsia color is warmed by the lush scent of amber. Sugar and citron combine with juicy plum notes, accented by cashmere musk for a deep and complex scent.

So totally loving this scent! It is warm, yet bright and soft. The scrub is topped with sparkly glitter and leaves skin feeling soft and clean.







What are you picking up at Polish Pickup this month?

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KBShimmer: PPU & IPU September 2019

Press Sample

Lime Margarita Sugar Scrub
Inspired by a scene in Practical Magic when the quartet of witches sings about limes and coconuts while sipping their margaritas.
This juicy, drink-inspired scent starts with notes of salty lime blended with subtle hints of raspberry, apple, strawberry, and peach. Finished with wisps of jasmine and vanilla, this scent smells so much like the real thing that you'll wish you could drink it!

It smells so much like the real thing that after using the scrub I was wishing I had a margarita to drink! As with all of Christy's scrubs this left my skin soft, supple and smelling delicious!






Something Wicca This Way Comes
Inspired by Christy's favorite WB show, Charmed. A magnetic duochrome polish whose base shifts from shades of blue to hues of purple. When a magnet is used, the multichrome magnetic effect moves through shades of peach, pink, lime and gold. Finally, sparks of holo micro glitter and colorful flakes are reminiscent of magic floating through the air.

This looks like an aurora borealis in the night sky to me. I have always wanted to see them in person. I freaking love it! Shown in two coats with topcoat. I used the S magnet for the effect.








The Polish Pick Up will open September 6 at 10am Central.
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Cupcake Polish: Sweet Addictions September box

Press Sample

September's Sweet Addictions collaborative box from Cupcake polish has a Marie Antoinette theme. Featured guests in the box are Pipe Dream Polish and Serum No5 along with the box's creator, Cupcake Polish. The box includes 2 full sized polishes, one mini polish and a sugar scrub. The box is packaged very well with bubble wrap around the polishes and pink shreds in the bottom of the box. There are also a few business cards included from the brands.



Dauphine is made by Pipe Dream Polish and is a cool toned nude crelly packed with small pastel blue, teal and white glitters. The polish was opaque in two coats and topped with Gelous and KBShimmer topcoat for a smooth glossy look. The formula was good and easy to apply with the flat brush. The cap of the bottle has some texture which makes it easier for me to open and her logo and label are splashy!





Versailles is made by Cupcake Polish and is a lavender linear holo with a smattering of pink and purple shimmer. The holo is very strong even under studio lighting. I used two coats and KBS top coat for the finished look. The formula is very easy to control and applies smoothly. The square bottle allows for easy opening and is adorned with a fanciful label.






Cake Revolution is made by Serum No 5 and is a mini sized vanilla crelly with a rainbow of pastel glitters and gold micro glitter. This polish also glows purple in the dark!
I wore two coats over Illamasqua Scorch. The formula was a little textured due to the gitd pigment which dries quickly so you'll need to use fewer brush strokes and work quickly when applying each coat. The polish has a matte finish so I topped it with Gelous and KBShimmer top coat for a smooth glossy look. I used a flashlight to charge the glow for the glow in the dark photo.






Serum No. 5 also contributed a 2 oz. sugar scrub in the delicious scent of dark chocolate hazelnut. SO in love with this scrub - read why below the photo. :)



Other than nail polish, I'm a bath and body junkie and I love scrubs. I've used hundreds - from commercial to indie; I've even made a few! I've been working through my scrub stash for about two years now without buying more and still have two shelves full. I was super excited to see a scrub included in this box, but also skeptical because I've found my holy grail scrubs already.

And well...this one zoomed right up to holy grail status.

If you're familiar with scrubs, you know that there are a few different kinds: oily, bubbling, and somewhat bubbly yet moisturizing at the same time. Some scrubs contain salt while others are sugar scrubs and then there are also different sized granules of salts and sugars from large to very fine. Some granules are more square and have rough edges, those work well on callused skin but can feel harsh to softer areas. Some granules are rounded and soft which feel amazing to softer areas of skin like the hands, arms and legs.

The Serum No5 scrub has soft bubbles and a velvety cream feel. It contains fine sugar granules which are rounded and feel good on the hands, arms and legs. I tested this with handwashing first and then on my legs. I like to use a scrub on my hands about once a week to help the skin feel soft and smooth and I always use a scrub on my legs before shaving for a really close and smooth shave.

Using a spoon, I scoop about half a melon ball's worth of scrub into my hands. I use a spoon because when other oils and/or water are introduced into the scrub jar it can cause the scrub to go bad fairly quick. Rubbing the scrub into the skin without water first allows the skin to absorb the moisturizing oils in the scrub; this one contains Jojoba Oil and Sweet Almond Oil along with the oils from the soap. After I've rubbed it in a bit, I add a splash of warm water to work up the suds and creaminess from the scrub and when most of the sugars are melted I rinse and pat my hands dry with a towel. After using the scrub, my hands felt moisturized and soft and smelled of delicious chocolate. SO much love for this scrub, I can't even. If you get this box, I'd love to hear what you think of the scrub!


scrub ingredients: Organic Refined Sugar; Shea Soap [Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin), Shea Butter (refined naturally crushed), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Oat Protein (conditioner), Titanium Dioxide (mineral whitener used in opaque soaps)]; Jojoba Oil; Sweet Almond Oil; Mica; Fragrance; Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol

The September Sweet Addictions box will be available at the Cupcake Polish shop August 31.

If you've enjoyed this review, please let me know!