February's Gimme That Polish!

Yes, I realize February has been over for several days now...I guess I inadvertently took a little blogging break! I have an excuse though...over the weekend I found out I got accepted into a Master's program, so I'll be going back to school (again) next fall! Woohoo!!

Anyway, here are my top five lemmings from my Pinterest board last month. As always, click the links to visit the original bloggers' posts!

1. KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

KBShimmer really hit it out of the park with glitter crellies in their spring collection, and this one's my favorite. Mostly because of that gorgeous aqua base! (KBShimmer shop | swatch by The Nail Polish Challenge)

2.  Glam Polish Leilani (Heavenly Flower)

I couldn't NOT pick this one because a) it's a delicious shade of purple and b) look at those flakies pop! A terrific mix of textures here. (Glam Polish shop | swatch by Lacquerstyle)

3. Spell Polish Friendly Omens

Another lovely crelly! I think the grey base prevents this one from looking too carnival-esque, and the opacity looks perfect. (Spell Polish shop | swatch by Very Emily)

4. Dance Legend Bereginya

I am constantly in awe over Dance Legend's stuff. I love the delicate, natural base color of this one--it makes me think of jade. (Dance Legend shop | swatch by Very Emily)

5. CrowsToes The Terminal Engagement

I suppose this polish isn't super original, but there's something about dark colors with super strong shimmer that just calls to me... (CrowsToes site | swatch by Pointless Cafe)


Honorable Mention: Lacquer Lust Ultraviolet

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Spell Polish Troll

I won the product in this post in a giveaway. All opinions are my own.

Good morning everyone! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is giveaway/blog sale polish. I've only won a couple giveaways (but I keep on trying!), but here's one I won but haven't worn yet: Spell Polish Troll.

Troll is a clear base with lots of teal/green/gold shimmer that shifts in the light (almost a frost/metallic finish), plus a smattering of holo glitter.

Spell Polish Troll. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Very pretty and ethereal--magical even (hey, it's Spell Polish after all)! This is supposed to look good over black too. Since there's no base color backing up the shimmer, it's a fairly sheer polish. Application was fine.

I did have a couple problems with the formula though. First of all, it was very slow drying. By that I mean it took forever to reach the point of "tacky but non-liquid" that most polishes hit pretty quickly; while I was cleaning up my cuticles I kept accidentally making the polish slide around on my nails. Once I got my topcoat on, it seemed to dry normally.

The second issue I had was the smell: this polish has a very strong, unusual smell (not due to any of the "big 5" chemicals, just a characteristic of the particular suspension base used). It was so strong I had to breathe through my mouth while I was applying the polish. For someone who plays with nail polish all day, that's saying a lot! The smell kind of hangs around until the polish is dry. If you are very sensitive to smells you might have a problem with this brand.

On the bright side, the bottle is beautiful, and I got a free sticker along with the polish.

Troll is available at Spell Polish's shop ($17 for 15 ml).

Total untrieds tried: 35

I won the product in this post in a giveaway. All opinions are my own.