April 2020 Favourites

Here we are at the last day of April.  What an interesting month it is has been.  I have officially lost track of days and times - I have to constantly check my calendar to know what it is I am doing.  I am sure I am not the only one that is looking forward to some normalcy but for now I am happy that most people are staying home (if and when they can) to help flatten the curve.  Anyway, before officially moving into May I want to wrap up April (like I do ever other month) with all of the things that I have been loving.

Nail Art

April has been a good month of nail art for me.  Well at least I think it has.  I did go a bit back and forth about the flame mani because I didn't like how the stickers don't lay flat on my nails but I really do like the look of the mani which is why I have included it.
     

Stamping Plates

This month I have been playing with quite a few new stamping plates which has been fun.  I also have some more plates to play with in May which I am also excited about.
     

Uberchic Beauty Business Chic 01 and Simply Organic Stamping Plates

This month Uberchic released two new plates and I am in love with them both.  They are both full of really cool full nail images that there are sooooo many options of ways to use it that it's kinda hard to decide where to begin.

Image from Uberchic Beauty

Image from Uberchic Beauty

What's Up Nails Geo-Radical Stamping Plate

This plate is so cool!  I have never used so many images in one mani before but this plate makes it so easy to do and the result is awesome!  I think this plate also has a really good mix of geometric images.

Image from What's Up Nails

Stamping Polishes

It has been a hot minute since I have played with some new stamping polishes.  I was lucky to be sent a lot of the stamping polishes from What's Up Nails and I am so impressed.  They all stamp beautifully and work over both white and black (although some that are a dark colour don't look the greatest over black).  They also have a great range of both colours and finishes.
     

Indie Polishes

Every month without fail I have Emily de Molly and Grace-full Nail Polish in my indie polish favourites.  Until this month....oh who am I kidding here?  Of course we have Emily de Molly and Grace-full Nail Polish in my favourites for this month.

Emily de Molly April Releases
Really I should be including the full release because I don't love Enjoy The Fall but I do think that this might look really cool with some nail art over it.  Stay tuned for that at some point.  I do LOVE the rest of this month's releases though.  So awesome!

Grace-full Nail Polish Beauty Of The Sea (Polish Pick Up April 2020)
Ok so this polish is seriously amazing and I am totally in love.  It's definitely a very "me" polish.

Grace-full Nail Polish Drag Queen Collection
This month Grace-full teamed up with MckFresh Nail Attire to create the Drag Queen Collection.  I haven't tried the MckFresh polishes so I won't comment on those but there were definitely a couple of favourites from Grace-full - It's Not Personal It's Drag and I Need An Adult.

It's only a small favourites post this month.  Hopefully that will help me come December when I try and narrow down my favourites for the year.

Emily de Molly Faux Creme (Polish Pick Up May 2020) - Swatches & Review

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I can't believe we are so close to the end of April, and more importantly that I talking about things being released in May.  Time is such an interesting thing isn't it?  Anyway, before I start rambling let's take a look at this month's Polish Pick Up shade from Emily de Molly.

Faux Creme is a very pale brown with subtle holo and assorted iridescent flakes.  This is such a pretty shade and perfect as a palette cleanser (but with a little something extra).  The formula is great and applies evenly.  I did find that the first coat was a little on the sheer side but it built up nicely on the second coat.  On shorter nails you can definitely stop at two coats but I added the third coat for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Faux Creme will be available from the Polish Pick Up from 1st May until 4th May (or if you are in Australia you can purchase this shade from the Emily de Molly website).  This polish is capped to 250 (USA) and 30 (UK).

Grace-full Nail Polish Gumpy (Polish Pick Up May 2020) - Swatches & Review

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We're going back to back with some blog posts this week because it's time again for Polish Pick Up.  I have two of the polishes that are being released on Friday - one from Emily de Molly and one from Grace-full Nail Polish which I will be sharing with you today.

Gumpy is a plum burgundy red thermal with chrome chameleon flakes and red aurora shimmer.  I love the cold colour in this polish but not to fussed by the warm colour (I'm not really a red polish fan).  This colour transitions well better each state and has a great, easy to use formula.  My swatch shows two coats.

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken outside in shade (transition)

Picture taken in light box (cold)

Picture taken in light box (cold)

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting (cold)

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting (cold)

Gumpy will be available via the Polish Pick Up from 1st May until 4th May.   This polish is capped to 70 (US) and 5 (UK).

Grace-full Nai Polish x MckFresh Nail Attire Drag Queens (Part) Collection - Swatches & Review

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Two Australian Indie brands have joined forces again to create a limited edition collection inspired by RuPaul's Drag Race.  Grace-full Nail Polish along with MckFresh Nail Attire have created a total of ten polishes between them.  I don't have the MckFresh polishes to share with you but I do have the five polishes from Grace-full Nail Polish.  So let's take a look at their half of the Drag Queen Collection.

I Need An Adult is a pink-burgundy-bronze-orange multichrome and is inspired by Ginger Minj.  I love this polish!  The colours are gorgeous and they shift so well.  The formula is great and is opaque in two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

Picture taken outdoors in overcast lighting

I'm Polish Remover B@#$h is a light teal metallic foil flake with micro red metallic glitter and is inspired by Adore Delano.  I think this is a really pretty colour but I would personally like it better without the red glitters.  The formula is great and applies evenly.  My swatch shows two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

It's Not Personal It's Drag is a vampy red linear holo with holo flakes and is inspired by Alyssa Edwards.  This shade is gorgeous and the formula is amazing.  You could easily just do one coat but I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Not Today Satan is a purple to blue thermal with UCC flakes and silver holo micro glitter and is inspired by Bianco Del Rio.  I think this is such an appropriate name for a thermal polish.  Thermals are my least favourite thing to swatch because they never do what you need them to do but they can be fun to wear.  I like the colours in this polish and it does transition well.  The formula is easy to use but it is a little on the sheer side.   I used three coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken in light box (cold)

Picture taken in light box (cold)

Pond Scum Green is a neon chartreuse with black holo and matte glitter in hex, triangles and rectangles.  This polish was inspired by Michelle Visage's dislike for green.  Now this is a kinda cool polish but I'm not sure I like it so much on me.  I definitely don't hate it though.  The formula is a little patchy and the glitters do drag a little bit.  For my swatch I used three coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

I really like this half of the collection.  I think there is a great mix of polishes so there is something for everyone.  My personal favourites are I Need An Adult and It's Not Personal It's Drag.

The Drag Queens Collection will be available on Thursday 30th April from Grace-full Nail Polish Australian Site and International site.

Emily de Molly April Releases - Swatches & Review

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Isolation time certainly has been interesting.  Sometimes I think time is going really quickly and other times it's really slow.  Why I am mentioning this?  Simply because it seems like forever ago since I swatched the upcoming Emily de Molly releases.  They are amazing!  But let me show you rather than just telling you.

All I See is a steel blue base with copper overlay.  I love this polish!  The base colour is gorgeous and I am obsessed with the overlay.  Love, love, love!   The formula is great and applies evenly.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Enjoy The Fall is a khaki green base with pink/gold/green shifting iridescent flakes as well a gold holographic micro glitters.  This isn't really my sort of shade but it does look really cool in the bottle.  The formula is good and easy to use.  I used three coats for my swatch but you can stop at two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Picture taken in overcast lighting

Here We Go Again is a bright ultramarine blue base filled with pink/gold/green shifting aurora shimmer and silver holographic flakes.  This is hands down one of my most favourite polishes EVER!  I am completely obsessed!  The formula is great and is opaque in two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Ombres And Glitter is a bright pink (warm) to dark purple (cold) thermal with orange/green shifting iridescent glitters.  I love the colours and the glitter in this polish.  Plus it transitions well between both the warm and cold state and is easy to use.  I did find it to be a little on the sheer side so I used three coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box (transition/cold)

Picture taken in light box (transition/cold)

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken in light box (transition)

Picture taken in light box (warm)

Picture taken in light box (warm)

Picture taken outdoors (transition)

Overrun is a dark purple base with blue/purple/red shifting foil type shimmer.  I'm sure this will come as no surprise but I love, love, love this polish!  The shift is awesome and the formula is great and so easy to use.  I used three coats for my swatch but you can stop at two coats (it was just a little too see through at the tips for my personal taste).

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Remote Control is a murky green base with blue/purple/pink foil type shimmer.  Love this one!  The colour is gorgeous and shifts so well.  The formula is great and easy to use.  My swatch shows three coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken outdoors in shade

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

The Journey is a beautiful bright green base filled with silver holographic micro glitters and copper/gold/green shifting aurora shimmer.  Everybody needs sparkly nails and this polish is just that!  It's super sparkly, the colour is gorgeous and I love the aurora shimmer in it.  The formula is great and easy to use.  My swatch shows two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in overcast sunlight

Picture taken in overcast sunlight

Waiting To Happen is a light dusty pink base (slightly neutral brown undertones) with neon pink and gold micro glitters.  This polish is so cool.  It's those old school indie polishes that all made us fall head over heels back in the day.  I love the combination in this one.  It's actually really fun to wear.  The formula is great and easy to use.  My swatch shows three coats.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in direct sunlight

Picture taken in direct sunlight

How awesome is this month's release?  Sooooo many amazing polishes.  I would love to try and narrow down my favourites in order to maybe help you with what to do buy but honestly aside from Enjoy The Fall I love them all.  Nothing against Enjoy The Fall.  It's just not for me and I do think it looks good in the bottle.  Maybe some nail art over it could change my mind...

The April releases will be available on Tuesday 28th April at 10am AEST from Emily de Molly's Australian site and on Monday 27th April at 8pm EDT on the international site.