Monthly Manis: March 2020

April 6, 2020 GingerlyPolished5 Comments

Now, it’s no secret that Sinful Colors is the biggest part of my collection. They’re the brand I started reviewing when I started this blog way back in 2016, because they’re so dang cheap (and I was on a college student budget at that point). And they come out with tons of collections a year, so they easily build up quickly. These collections are often with fun and interesting finishes, so it can be harder for me to let them go.

So for this month’s #MonthlyManis, I made it a #SinfulMarch! I only pulled Sinful Colors polishes and I focused on all of the singles outside of collections. I had a period there where I was very obsessed with just collecting any older Sinful Colors polishes that I could, just because they were older Sinful Colors. I had a weird collector moment, where I just wanted them all just to have them all.

And then I came to my senses and realized that wasn’t feasible, especially with how many other polishes from different brands that I constantly have coming in. I live in a studio apartment in Chicago, and I don’t have the space and storage to collect them all and keep them if I don’t like the polish at all. So my main goal this month was to go through this large group of untried polishes and see what I just don’t love, and what I can pass on. There are other people out there who collect Sinfuls, and have great archives of them, so I’m not needed to do that. It was a big thing for me to realize that I don’t need to keep everything, and letting go of things that I just don’t like is alright!

Now obviously I still have a lot to go in this group. I started out well trying polishes but then of course, events happened and I wasn’t wearing polish as often. But now I’m getting into a better routine of painting my nails and cycling through polishes. And especially once my swatch sticks get here, I can continue to put the polishes onto sticks and feel out formulas that way as well! I’m getting rid of polishes that I just didn’t like at all, and especially with non-unique colors, if I didn’t love it, they were gone. I have too many dang polishes to keep ones I don’t like at this point.

So let’s look at the ones I was able to try this month and whether or not I’m keeping them!

China Glaze x Trolls World Tour Collection 2020 – Swatches & Review

April 6, 2020 GingerlyPolished3 Comments

I’m being a good little productive bean here and catching up on some posts! Listen, I had a time where I just didn’t have the motivation to blog AND THAT’S OKAY. I’ve been telling myself it’s okay to not be productive 24/7 while quarantining, and it’s a very important lesson we all need. Like if you just need to lay around in bed? Lay around in bed, y’all! It’s a weird time and we need to be nice to ourselves right now and it’s important to relax and give ourselves some rest!

Okay spiel that’s mostly to myself is over now. I’m back in for blogging because it’s a lovely distraction for not just me, but others right now, and I always find it relaxing! There will definitely continue to be reviews here for you to read, and lots of polish to talk about! I’ll also be reviewing some older collections that I never got a chance to review, so it’ll be a nice little mix all around! Nail polish is always here for us.

So today, we have a new China Glaze collection! This is an 8 piece collection in collaboration with the new Trolls World Tour movie, and is their Spring 2020 release. It features 8 bright and colorful shades with names that reference the movies. All of the caps are printed with the hand that says “Trolls World Tour”.

I purchased this collection from polishpick.com, aka my favorite place to buy discounted new collections that you’ve heard enough about already.

So let’s get into the swatches already!

Essie Spring 2020 – Swatches & Review

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 GingerlyPolished3 Comments

PURCHASED

I don’t have much for a rambling intro here (I know you’re all so disappointed), because I’ve settled into a pretty steady routine here in Hotel Social Distancing. I work from home, I do a little swatching, I drink some tea and watch my movie for the night and then I go to bed! It’s a very exciting existence over here – but I can’t complain! I’m enjoying the to catch up on reviews (I’m fully determined to catch up on the full checklist I have in a notebook, because let’s be honest, now is the time).

But of course, there will always be nail polish! Let’s look at more spring collections – it’s up into the 50s today, so it’s practically balmy here in the Midwest!

We’re looking at the Essie Spring collection today! As usual, this is a 6 piece collection. It features 3 straight creams, and 3 creams with shimmer in them.

I picked these up from polishpick.com. I know I’ve mentioned them so many times before, as they always have the best prices on China Glaze and OPI – but now they’ve also started selling Essie as well! It’s so nice to just be able to grab all the polishes I want to review all in one place, and always with incredibly fast shipping. Okay, I’m done gushing, you’ve heard it all before.

Let’s get into the swatches!

Nailtural Malibu Collection – Swatches & Review

March 21, 2020March 21, 2020 GingerlyPolished4 Comments

PR SAMPLE

I am fully determined to get through my checklist of polish collections while fully social distanced up. That means not only will you be getting some new spring collection reviews, but you’ll also be getting some “older” collections that I never got around to putting up on the blog! It’s about being productive here – with ample amount of just sitting around (I’ve now challenged myself to watch a new to me movie every single day, someone suggested to put up a post about the movies, so I’ll definitely be doing that as well!). But like I said, expect LOTS of swatches and posts coming up here!

Now let’s look at tonight’s review! This is from a new-to-me brand called Nailtural. They reached out on Instagram and offered to send over some polishes. I am always so grateful when a brand offers, and I love that I’m able to try out new indie brands I haven’t heard of before. (And of course, will always give my honest opinion about the formula and polish itself).

Nailtural is a 16-free, vegan nail polish brand. They say they’re “bio-sourced” and that their products contain extracts from potatoes, cassava and beetroot, and are 85% natural and entirely vegan. So lots of cool things going on here! You can find them on their website at nailtural.com.

Today I have their ‘Malibu’ collection. This is 5 cream shades that are inspired by the “rosy-pink tones of the wild flowers and the ashy gray tones of the sand dunes found along the shores of the Malibu beaches like Point Dume”. They’re all shades I can’t get enough of, so let’s get into them already.

Onto the swatches!

Sinful Colors Sporty Brights – Swatches & Review

March 19, 2020 GingerlyPolished7 Comments

Helllllo everyone! Everyone’s all fully aware of what’s happening in the world right now, and I have no better information than all of the medical professionals, so I don’t want to make this blog about it. I want to keep posting about nail polish since I know everyone needs a little escape from the madness around us! A little distraction from everything! And I mean, I’ll be working from home indefinitely right now, so I have a lot of extra time, so it’s the perfect way to spend it by catching up and putting out a lot of reviews and posts.

I know this post came a little later than planned – I definitely have had to adjust to my new schedule. I had too little structure, and needed to give myself a schedule and routine. Or maybe I just needed a little break from everything. Either way, I’m back in and excited again, and definitely want to get back to blogging regularly!

So alright, let’s talk about these beautiful polishes already, shall we? Because this is an exciting post. It’s exciting because it’s the first new Sinful Colors collection of the year!

If you’ve read my other posts about the brand, you’ll know that Sinful Colors was the first brand that I really started my blog on! And ever since 2016 when I started this blog, I’ve collected every release that has come out. They’ll always have a sentimental place in my heart, and forever a place on this blog, so I’m always so excited when I have new shades to talk about!

This collection here is called the ‘Sporty Brights’ collection. It features 8 bright shades all with a “sneaker like texture” which means they dry down more satin-matte with a bumpy and rubbery finish. It’s not super textured, so it won’t be catching on anything, but of course, you’ll definitely notice it. It’ll just be lil bumps, like rubbing a tennis shoe. Sinful Colors is always releasing such interesting finishes, and this is no exception.

I was sent my collection by the lovely ladies in the Sinfully Polished group as always – they always have my back with these Walmart exclusive collections (who would have thought I would miss large Walmarts living in Chicago!). As mentioned, these are available in Walmart and Target stores (I know that’s definitely hard to get to right now). There are 5 shades available on Target’s website, and Walmart has them available to pick up as well. One of the shades, Track $tar, is a Walmart exclusive.

Now let’s get into the swatches!

Orly Feel the Beat Spring 2020 – Swatches & Review

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 GingerlyPolished3 Comments

Hellllo from my apartment! I’ve been put on official “work from home indefinitely” status. Don’t worry, I’m fine, it’s all prevention down here and I’m grateful to be in a career that allows me to work remotely! Now we’re here for a distraction, so let’s talk about nails! This time at home will also mean less time commuting and more time for polish, so I’m hoping to get so many swatches out for you during this time!

Let’s continue right on with spring collections! And we’re looking at Orly’s, one of my favorite underrated brands.

I got this collection through my Color Pass subscription. As I’ve mentioned a million times, Color Pass is a subscription where you pay a 1 time fee up front and then you’re sent all 4 Orly collections throughout the year automatically. And you also get extra goodies in each box. It’s perfect if you’re already planning on buying the collections like me, but if you’re just looking for individual shades, they’re also up on head2toebeauty.com for a discount.

Zoya Calm Spring 2020 – Swatches & Review

March 8, 2020March 8, 2020 GingerlyPolished5 Comments

My windows are open, the sun is shining, and it’s 60 DEGREES, Y’ALL. Yes, you’re going to keep hearing about the weather as it finally gets warm down here in the Windy City. It was a mild winter, but I still look like a crazy person just sitting in every patch of sunlight that we suddenly get. I don’t want to get too hopeful, but I think we just might be getting into spring down here.

So of course, we must continue looking at spring collections! Annnnnnd today, we have the new Zoya Calm collection for Spring 2020.

Calm is the perfect description for this collection. When I look at it, I just feel calm. It’s not going to be super crazy colors and textures, it’s 6 shades of neutrals and light pastels. Sometimes you just need a little palette cleanser and some soft shades.

As I said, this collection features 5 creams and 1 shimmery shade. We have 3 more neutral beiges, and then 3 softer colors. I picked these up when Zoya was having a BOGO sale, so I got all 6 shades for $30. I highly recommend following Zoya on Instagram, and their email lists! They’re constantly having sales and deals, so you can snag their shades at a lower cost, which I love to do. Of course, this whole collection is up on the Zoya website now!

Let’s look at the shades!

Orosa Beauty Desert Garden Trio – Swatches & Review

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 GingerlyPolished6 Comments

GIFTED

IT’S FINALLY GETTING WARMER HERE. Okay, it’s supposed to get up to 50s and even 60s this weekend, and that’s WARM for down here after this long winter. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a spring since I’ve moved down here. I don’t want to hear about you guys already hitting 80s and 90s down in the southern states there, KEEP IT QUIET. The sunshine is more precious up here in this Midwestern little bubble.

But since we’re finally actually getting sunshine, it’s time to continue looking at spring collections! Today we have the Orosa Beauty Desert Garden trio that they’re calling a ‘Pre-Spring’ set. A little transition set to pull us out of these gray days into warmer days. It features 3 cream shades!

Orosa Beauty was kind enough to send these on over to me to swatch up for you guys! I’m still always so thankful when I get polish from brands, and it’ll just never get old. But of course, I’ll always be honest about formulas and performance.

These are available on the Orosa Beauty website for $12 each, or $31 if you buy the set of 3! (And orders over $30 ship for free, just to enable further). But of course, let’s look at the swatches first, and then you can decide if you need them!

Now let’s get into the shades!

Monthly Manis: February 2020

March 6, 2020 GingerlyPolished4 Comments

One of my main goals in my 2020 Resolutions Post was to go through my collection and destash polishes that I just don’t love or aren’t adding value anymore. Now, I’m a person who loves lists and goals, (you should see my blogging notebook), so I gave myself a goal along with that to paint my nails in a full mani at least 3 times a week. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but with how I’m constantly swatching, I’m making a real effort to stop and actually give myself time at night to relax and paint my nails and watch a show. I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot and definitely want to keep it up!

And at the end of each month, I want to sum up the polishes I wore, and whether or not I’ll be keeping them in my collection and why. And you’ll definitely get some stories and old swatch photos with each one! Now, let’s get into this months manis!

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Up first we have ‘Exposed’ from Essie. This came out in the Wild Nudes collection in early 2017. At that point in time, I was just about to graduate from college, and then head into adult life. So I definitely did not have the budget to buy the amount of collections I do now, and ended up passing on it. Looking at em now, of course it’s a lot of neutrals I already have in my collection. BUT, there were still 2 in the collection that caught my eye, and somehow they found their way into my cart when I was ordering a collection off PolishPick.

This is a stunning deep mossy, dusty olive green cream shade. It’s dusty, it’s muted, it’s a green, it’s all the things I love and want. It was a beautiful 2 coat formula as well, so of course it’s staying.

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Essie Flying Solo Collection – Swatches & Review

February 24, 2020 GingerlyPolished4 Comments

PURCHASED

Listen here, I got duped. All weekend, it was up to the 50s and lovely, and so sunny. I had my windows open yesterday, I felt the Vitamin D flowing through me, I even believed for a hot second that maybe spring could be on its way. BUT I KNOW BETTER. I’ve lived in the Midwest all 25 years of my life now, and so I fully know about these ‘Fools Springs’ and I STILL FELL FOR IT. I had hope for a while! I pictured myself with windows open, fresh air flowing through, soaking up the warmth. And now we’re supposed to get snowstorms for the next 2 days. In my heart I expected nothing different.

So while I’m getting buried in snow, it’s fitting that we look at some warm, sunny and bright colors right! Pinks, oranges and yellows will always be there for me to pretend it’s spring.

Today we’re looking at the Essie Flying Solo collection! This is a collection of 9 shades that was officially announced about 2 months ago (where does the time go?). I finally grabbed them all, and am now even more in a mood for bright summery colors so it’s the perfect time to talk about them.

I snatched up all of these bad boys from my fav, polishpick.com. You’ve heard me talk about that place enough now, but as I’ve mentioned they carry the new Essie collections now as well, and I love being able to basically buy all of the new collections in one place at a great discount. (That discount is the reason I can buy all of these polishes and show them to you!) (And as always, if you do buy from polishpick, feel free to put my name into the dropdown at checkout – it’s not at all affiliated, I make no money, but helps to show the website where the traffic is coming from!)

Now let’s get into the swatches, shall we?