It’s a little bit of a different post today! It might be a little longer, and a little chattier. But ya know, all the info is important, so I do recommend a read. (I mean, of course I recommend a read of all my posts, hah!)

Today, I’m talking about Sista Chic Lacquer, and that’s right, it’s an indie brand – or that is, made by an independent maker. I know I haven’t talked about indies before – I’ll be honest that with my more limited budget, I can stick with mainstream releases – it’s also why I can’t review every single makeup product that comes out. The world of indies is so large, and diverse, but I hope that someday soon with a larger budget I can really crack into them and start adding them into posts. For now, these are my first!

I know indie polish can seem more expensive – but that is because you are literally paying for smaller batches of polishes made by one creator. So it makes sense. But they’re right about the same pricing as Essie and OPI.

These polishes in particular have been gifted to me for review.

I know, this is my first post like this, with a gifted polish, or even product in general. I love to give any new polish brand a fair shot, and to constantly test out and try new things, and will review any polishes I buy or that I’m lucky enough to receive. As always, I’ll be sure to be honest and tell you when they’ve been provided for review – that’s so crazy to say! This is my first sample and I’m still so grateful for it! And of course, even though it’s been provided to me, I’ll always give an honest review, and won’t let that sway me in just reviewing the formulas in general. Just a little disclaimer. I pride myself on always being honest and open with my thoughts, and I won’t let that change.

Now that that disclaimer is over and out, let’s talk about this brand. Sista Chic Lacquer is made by @sistachic1 on Instagram. I will admit that I hadn’t seen her brand before she reached out to me, but I was glad to find them.

The brand’s motto is “Polish with a Purpose”, with part of all of their sales going to support Project Rescue, an organization that rescues sexually trafficked women and children. That part immediately caught my eye, and made me eager to try out these polishes. I love a wonderful cause like this, and you know pretty polish is just a bonus.

I have two smaller collections to talk about today, and wanted to just combine them into one post – since they’re releasing at the same time, and since I wanted to talk about the brand as a whole at first.

So let’s get into talking about the polish itself!

Like I said I have two collections to talk about – the ‘Harvest Moon’ Fall 2018 collection is 4 polishes, and then there is the ‘Monster Mash’ Halloween 2018 trio. These all release on October 1st on https://www.etsy.com/shop/sistachiclacquer and will retail for $9 each.

Now that I’ve written my small novel – let’s get into swatches.

To start, with these indies, I did notice they tend to be a thicker formula than most mainstreams. I personally don’t mind it, and it helps them be so smooth and easy to control on the nail. But if you’re not used to it, it can seem thick and almost skip on the nail so make sure to have enough on the brush! It won’t flood the cuticles except where I purposely point it out. They also have a wider brush, like OPI, so it was easy to cover my nail.

Now onto the shades!

(Also did you notice my new lighting setup? I think I finally figured out a way to keep the shadows down, and to get a more consistent lighting and setup for polishes now! I’m in love with the way it looks now, and it brings better swatch photos for you guys as well).

The first up is the namesake of the Fall collection. This is ‘Harvest Moon’, a super bright red-orange (said to be based off Pantone 021C – as a designer I love a good Pantone). She’s got a lil bit of shimmer lurking there in the bottle, but it’s subtle and just gives the shade some shine.

This was a smooth easy formula! I had some nail line left after 1 thinner coat, but it was an easy 2 coats for me or even could be done in 1 thicker coat. This seemed to dry a little faster, so those two coats were super easy.

Up next is ‘The Silvery Moon’. This is a silvery lilac shade with lots of shimmer throughout. After 1 coat, there was some nail line that could be seen at certain angles, but it gave that “perfected nail” look I talk about a lot. But again, super smooth, and it was an easy 2 coats.

Up next (I would say one of my favs, but let’s be honest I could say that about them all), this is ‘Moonlight Madness’. This is a dark brown base with tons of shimmers in silver and gold, and larger gold flakies. This is one of the ones I found I needed to make sure I had enough polish on my brush, or the thicker formula would skip a little. But it was still easy to control with a thicker coat.

Another easy 2 coats, and just look at that depth. This reminds me of the OPI shade from last holiday… (called ‘Top the Package with a Beau’ – see it here) but I think this one is ever sparklier.

Here’s a close up to show all that beautiful shimmer. It seems like it would be textured, but it was still smooth on the nail.

The last of the fall collection is called ‘Sapphire Moon’. This is a beautiful shimmery sapphire shade. This did have a more sheer first coat than I was expecting, but 2 easy coats and it was opaque again. Another shade that with thin coats, it dried quickly, so those 2 coats went by fast!

And as you can see for a shimmer, those brush strokes aren’t evident at all! Another lovely formula.

And that’s the fall collection, ‘Harvest Moon’. Let’s continue right on into the Halloween trio!

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The Halloween Trio also releases on October 1st, and contains, obviously, 3 polishes. This is called ‘Monster Mash’ after the classic Halloween song.

First up is the namesake again, ‘Monster Mash’. This is a super bright green crelly shade. It shows up brighter under my bright lights – it’s a little darker under normal lighting, but still the same tone. This is the only one that I found you needed to wipe off the brush, because too much polish on the nail can flood the cuticle and get a little uneven. But thinner coats do dry faster of course.

This was pretty after 2 thicker coats – you will have nail line still so I added a 3rd thicker coat here. It’s more of a squishy look so I didn’t mind some subtle nail line. If you have super white visible nail tips, it’ll be a little harder to cover it up, but that’s a crelly formula for you. If you really want to eliminate nail line, you can put this over a white base as well – it’ll brighten up the color as a bonus. So it depends on your preference for nail line here. It also dries with a satin finish.

Look how bright she is! That perfect slime green for Halloween. Like a nice highlighter green on the nails.

The next polish is a topper. It’s called ‘Heebie Jeebies’ and it’s a clear base with tons of shimmer and red and black flakes. This was one easy coat over ‘Monster Mash’. It’s got super good coverage and lays down evenly.

I did wear this as a tester, and removal can be a little bit tricky, with those flakes sticking like a glitter polish. It just took some extra leg work to get em off.

A unique topper, and I do love that shimmer all throughout. I love how much it distributes with just one coat, and I didn’t have to do any placement to get the shards to spread out.

I didn’t show this built up on its own. You would just be building up the black shards, and would lose the look of them all over a color – so I chose to keep it as a topper.

The last polish of this trio is ‘Things That Go Bump’. This a bright shimmery purple shade, perfect for fall. This has some shimmer that gives it such beautiful depth.

This was a beauty that can be opaque on 1 thicker coat, or 2 thinner ones. She’s pigmented so she can get a little messy – especially if you’re in a hurry and just paint it messy like I did, lots of clean up. But it almost glows a little on the nails and is worth the effort.

So those are the 7 polishes from Sista Chic releasing on October 1st! I’ll once again link her shop here —> https://www.etsy.com/shop/sistachiclacquer

All in all I ended up really loving these! Again, I promise I’m not biased. These all ended up having really easy formulas, and I love the unique finishes and shades. These will be perfect to add into my fall and Halloween looks – that topper, and that green, I’m in love. I love some Halloween polishes. And of course, it’s a nice little bonus that you’re helping a good cause along the way.

Lovely release, and now I’m excited to see what she continues to come out with!

Lots of new stuff coming along for review – we’re officially into fall so the fall reviews are coming on up. This is my favorite season of the year, so I love all the colors coming out. I’ll never stop buying too much nail polish and makeup, so as always I’ll never stop having reviews. What’s your favorite season?

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Instagram: @GingerlyPolished
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Disclaimer: The products above were provided to me for review. All opinions are my own and I was not at all obligated to give a positive review – these are all my honest thoughts and feelings.