Polish Bar Holiday Collection

I've been meaning to get this post up for a while because, well, this amazing line is coming out TOMORROW.  I wanted to pimp the hell out of it, but good god, life has decided that I had other things to deal with lately.  And it's a shame, too, because these polishes are just gorgeous.  Let's take a look at three of the Polish Bar's Holiday polishes that come out tomorrow at 3 pm pst here.  Tonight, we have City of Lights, Chocolat, and Jingle Stars!  Get prepared for some serious picture spam!

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received samples of the Polish Bar's Winter Collection for review purposes.  All other polishes in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.* 

City of Lights

Color: Dark teal.

Finish: Holographic – pigment gives polish a rainbow in the sunshine.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three coats.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Fluid – thin but flows easily from the brush but can flood the cuticles if you are too heavy handed.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes.Overall Thoughts:  While the mini bottles are a little tricky to maneuver, this polish was a lot easier to apply than most polishes that come in minis.  It's such a gorgeous dark teal that it almost looks black in low lighting, but once you get it in the sun?  It's this just stunning deep teal.  I don't have anything like it in my collection at all.  Application was fairly easy, but I did have to watch out for flooding my cuticles with the tiny brush.  I could've probably gotten away with using 2 coats, but I used three for the photos.  I wanted to make sure you guys could see the richness of this polish.  Also, I wanted to show you just how shiny the Polish Bar's polishes really are by leaving the pinkie finger free of topcoat, which is why it got a long dry time.  City of Lights and Chocolat are seriously the glossiest holos I own.  They're simply stunning!

Chocolat

Color: Dark chocolate brown.

Finish: Holographic – pigment gives polish a rainbow in the sunshine.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three to four coats.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Fluid – thin but flows easily from the brush but can flood the cuticles if you are too heavy handed.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes.Overall Thoughts:  Application for Chocolat is much the same as for City of Lights, but this time I didn't use topcoat on any of my nails.  See how glossy they are?!  This is all with just the polish itself!  If you're not doing anything for a while, I really suggest wearing this beauty without a topcoat.  If you're in a hurry, though, it does take quite a bit of time to dry, so you'll definitely want to use a quick dry topcoat.  Chocolat isn't as holographic as City of Lights, but it's still very pretty.  Plus, it's darker than any of the other brown holographics that I own.

Jingle Stars

Color: Clear base with blue, black and white metallic and holographic glitters in bars, hexes, squares, shreds, and, of course, stars.

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.  Here, I've worn it over (from thumb to pinkie): Deborah Lippmann Let's Hear it for the Boy, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, OPI Can't Find my Czechbook, Zoya Robyn, and Cult Time Traveler.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Medium – requires the dab method, but glitters are easy to extract and spread evenly.  It's a bit sparse, so these photos are with two coats of Jingle Stars.

Consistency: Fluid – thin but flows easily from the brush but can flood the cuticles if you are too heavy handed.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts:  Jingle Stars is a gorgeous glitter topcoat with such a beautiful array of glitters that I couldn't decide what to wear it over.  Obviously, I chose them all and did a skittle mani!  I think my two favorite colors to wear it over are Let's Hear it for the Boy and Time Traveler because they both showcase the glitters to their fullest extent.  The glitter to base ratio is a bit more in favor of base, so if you try to load up the brush with glitter, you will have issues with pooling.  However, it builds up really nicely if you use two coats, which is what I did here.  If you do get a little pooling, cleanup is quite easy, so no worries there!  The stars were a tad more difficult to get out than any of the other glitters, but they're easier to get out if you flip the bottle upside down for a bit before application.  If you purchase the holiday trio, you will receive a baggie of shaped glitters to help with application since the larger glitters tend to sink no matter what kind of suspension base is used.  Here, I've used some snowmen, a bell, and snowflakes to go with my blue wintry theme.

You can purchase the Holiday Collection at the Polish Bar's Etsy store tomorrow, 12/4/2013, at 3 pm pst.  Follow her on Facebook here for news and updates.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received samples of the Polish Bar's Winter Collection for review purposes.  All other polishes in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

The Polish Bar Fall Collection Part 3: Best Wishes

Ok, so there's something I neglected to tell you guys...  Janice of The Polish Bar is going to give away necklaces to the first 20 orders over $25.  Um.  You should definitely make sure you get to the launch early tomorrow (remember it's 10/4 at 10:00 am pacific!!!  That's 1 pm eastern!!!!) because you'll get a gorgeous necklace made from one of the polishes from the fall collection.  Here's what Janice has to say about these gorgeous necklaces

"The first 20 orders over $25 will receive one of these. Since these are very limited, I won't be offering a choice but they will feature one of five polishes: In Full Bloom, Shiny Pebbles, Rainbow Jello, Best Wishes and Candy Sprinkles."

And here's a photo of what you might get if you're fast enough to grab one!

Well now.  Doesn't that make you want to move as fast as you can to get some pretties PLUS a gorgeous necklace?  I'm sure it does.  If not, then, really?

(Source)

Ok, so, let's get down to business!  The final polish I have from The Polish Bar to review is called Best Wishes.  Of course I adore the name, naturally.  Any guesses as to why?  Heh.  Ok, let's do this.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Color: White crelly base with purple, lavender, teal, and fuchsia hexes and bars.

Finish: Glitter Crème – glitter in a crème base.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three coats.  I may be weird in this, but while I usually enjoy layering glitters over undies, I typically love to layer white crelly glitters over themselves.  This time isn't any different.  I love this polish layered over itself.

Glitter Application: Easy – Spreads evenly without much manipulation.

Consistency: Fluid – thin but flows easily from the brush.

Overall Ease of Application: Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: One of my favorite things in life is a proper white crelly glitter.  The crispness of it.  The beautiful glitters that shine so brightly and vibrantly in a white base.  What could be better?  I wager, nothing.  Best Wishes is no exception.  Application was amazing, and probably the best of the three I received from the collection.  The glitters were so easy to extract that it didn't even require the upside down method.  The soft pastels make for a great contrast to fall's normally vampy and rich colors.  The crispness of this polish could work well for winter, too, so I feel like it has a multiple personality going on here.  And because I've been enviously looking at the amazing waterfall manis from Stephanie of A Little Polish, I've decided to try one of my own using my The Polish Bar polishes!  Here, I've used Best Wishes as a base.  Then, I did the waterfall mani technique over it using Cosmic Glow, Summer Sea, and Oceanic, a special edition made for a swap, as well as Elevation Polish's Dykh-Tau from the Geo Duo set.  I probably should have chosen a base that was less loud for the delicate holos I chose to use on top, but I really wanted to see what this would look like.  What do you think?

You can purchase The Polish Bar polishes at Janice's Etsy store.  Follow her on facebook here for news and updates.  REMEMBER, these go on sale, tomorrow, October 4 at 10 am pacific!  And don't forget the possibility of receiving a gorgeous necklace if you're one of the first 20 people to order over $25!

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

The Polish Bar Fall Collection Part 2: Cosmic Glow

I want to start tonight's post with a correction!  The Polish Bar's fall collection release is October 4 at 10:00 am pacific.  So, you'll have two extra days to gather your money to throw at Janice.  Ok, so let's take a look at the second polish in my review of The Polish Bar's fall line - Cosmic Glow.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Color: Light lavender holo with pink undertones

Finish: Holographic – pigment gives polish a rainbow in the sunshine.  The pigment used is an alternative to spectraflair, so the rainbow is scattered instead of linear.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three to four coats.  On my pinkie and index fingers, I used four thicker coats, which caused bubbling because I'm impatient.  I didn't allow the layers to dry enough before adding the next coat.  On my middle and ring fingers, though, I only used 3 coats.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.  However, like with Summer Sea, it does get thicker the longer you leave the bottle open.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.  I know I said I was going to test for stamping, but I ran out of time.  I fail, I know.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes.  I decided to try out Cosmic Glow without a topcoat to show you just how glossy it is.  Every photo of this polish is without topcoat!  It's shiny as if it has a topcoat, but a topper isn't necessary for shine.  It is necessary, however, for dry time.  It took over 10 minutes before it wasn't tacky anymore.  Just because I didn't use a topper, though, doesn't mean you can't.  I used KBShimmer's Clearly on Top over Summer Sea yesterday, and the holo was still vibrant.

Overall Thoughts:  Much like with Summer Sea, I feel that the milky base adds a bit of uniqueness to this polish.  It is a scattered holo, too, so it's much more subtle than the strict linear holos.  Application was fine, but I kept messing it up while I was waiting for it to dry.  I attribute that to trying to wear it without a topcoat, without using drying drops, and for my general lack of patience.  Because you have to use three to four coats, it takes much longer to dry than most holos.  It also doesn't have the thin almost watery consistency of most holos, thankfully, which adds to the dry time.  All in all, though, I really liked Cosmic Glow.  It's a great palate cleanser to the vampy colors of fall.

You can purchase The Polish Bar polishes at Janice's Etsy store.  Follow her on facebook here for news and updates.  REMEMBER, these go on sale October 4 at 10 am pacific!

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

The Polish Bar Fall Collection Part 1: Summer Sea

Tonight I have the first of three polishes from The Polish Bar's fall line set to be released October 4th at 10 am pacific!  The set features nine polishes with five holos and four crellies.  I received two holos and one crelly for review, so I'm going to show you one of the holos tonight.  Let's get to it!

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.* 

Color: Light cornflower blue

Finish: Holographic – pigment gives polish a rainbow in the sunshine.  The base of this polish, though, is a tad milky versus the normal thin base color of most holos giving it a more saturated look.  Also, the pigment used to create the rainbow is an alternative to Spectraflair, so it provides a less linear and more scattered holo look when in the sun and a silver fleck look in indirect light.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity:  High – opaque at two coats.  I used three here, though, for the photos.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Thick – a bit thick, but is easily remedied with some polish thinner if preferred.  It was actually very manageable for me despite it's thickness.  I didn't add any thinner, but I would note that the base gets thicker the longer the bottle is open.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.  Janice actually states that her holos apply like typical holos, requiring more care in application that normal polishes.  I'll disagree with her here.  The two holos I received have much better formula and application than most of the holos in my collection.  I didn't need an aqua base, so I call that a win in my book!  The first coat was a bit streaky, but it evens out with a second coat.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping, but I'm planning to test stamping with Cosmic Glow tomorrow.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts:  Well, what else can I say now that I haven't said up top?  I was a bit long-winded tonight!  I guess it's because I just missed you guys so much.  Heheh.  Ok, back to Summer Sea.  I have a million blue holos, and several of them are duplicates of each other.  However, Summer Sea is quite unique in my collection.  It has a more opaque base than most holos, and it is thicker than most as well.  Application was easy, and I was able to apply cleanly without much cleanup at all.  I always find that to be highly desirable in a polish.  It also looks pretty great as undies for various glitter toppers.  I've included one example below - Summer Sea topped with Lynnderella When the Moon was a Star.  Just so lovely.

You can purchase The Polish Bar polishes at Janice's Etsy store.  Follow her on facebook here for news and updates.  Get your wallets ready, folks.  These polishes are must haves.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*