March Holo Hookup - Women Stamped in History | Rebecca's Indie Adventure

I tried my very first Holo Hookup! I've been holding out for months and I finally went for it. Holo Hookup is a monthly non-subscription box that features a polish from Glisten & Glow, Cupcake Polish, and Different Dimension with a different guest contributor each month. March's contributor was Ever After Polish. Each month also has a different theme as well, and March's was Women Stamped in History. Each polish is named and inspired by an influential woman.

First up is Eleanor Roosevelt by Glisten & Glow. This is a silvery dusty green. The color and the shift kind of remind me of the way that dollar bills used to shift from bright green to that dusty silver color. 

The holo is absolutely jam packed and is so strong in all lighting. The picture above is with indoor lighting. The green gets washed out into the silver. 

Here is Eleanor Roosevelt up close with flash. Please forgive my not-so-cute-icles. 

Lastly, here is a shot in daylight. 

This is my first Glisten & Glow polish and i thought it was really smooth. The formula is really really thin; I'm not sure if that's consistent with all of their polishes. It took some getting used to, but it had really good coverage and a great coverage. 

Next up is the guest contributor Ever After Polish's  Louisa May Alcott. 

This is a light silver polish with linear holographic glitter. It also looks to have a slight purple flash, but it is hard to pick up.

Here is close up shot with flash. 

Here is a shot in daylight. The formula is really smooth and i had really good coverage in 2-3 coats. This is pretty much your standard silver holo, but it's still a beautiful polish.

Third is Different Dimension Amelia Earhart.

This is a brick/clay red with linear and scattered holographic glitter. The above picture is in indoor lighting. The holo is pretty hard to pick up here.

Here is a shot with flash, but it still is not as strong on the nail as it is in the polish. I guess the red may overpower the shimmers.

Here is a shot of Amelia Earhart in daylight. The holo does come out a lot stronger, but it still is not the intensity you see in the bottle.

Rounding out the holo quartet is Cupcake Polish Susan B. Anthony

 

Susan B. Anthony is a sapphire blue with linear holographic glitter. The above pic is indoor lighting and the holo is pretty strong. This is probably my favorite polish of the group. It dried so smooth and shiny and was super pigmented.

Susan B. Anthony pictured above with flash. The holo gets a little washed out with the flash, but it is still prevalent. 

Here is another shot in daylight. This is really a stunning holo polish. I really love the tone of the blue. 

So, my first impression of this box would be a 3 out of 5. I was drawn to it mostly for the opportunity to get some limited edition polishes by these great makers,but this box kind of had generic colors for the month. I passed on April and May's boxes, but I will still be on the lookout for the more unique months before I purchase again. The box on its own is $40 for the four polishes plus shipping, which is a pretty fair price, as the main retailers' polishes range from $11-$13 each. 

Another thing that was kind of a let down was the packaging and presentation of the box. I'm a sucker for packaging and the way some indie polish makers send out and personalize their shipments. This was definitely no frills - all that was in the package were the polishes and a packing slip. For as much advertising as they do for the polishes, the plain jane packaging was a bit anticlimactic. I mean, I'm not expecting a confetti shower when I open my mail, but putting a little big more into it would get me a little more excited about ordering another Holo Hookup.

Holo Hookup can be purchased here: http://theholohookup.bigcartel.com/

Glisten & Glow: http://glistenandglow.bigcartel.com/

Different Dimension: http://differentdimensionpolish.bigcartel.com/

Cupcake Polish: http://cupcakepolish.bigcartel.com/

Ever After Polish: http://everafterpolish.bigcartel.com/

Star Wars Light Side Duo | Rebecca's Indie Aventure

This is my second year grabbing the Star Wars duo from Native War Paints and Lou It Yourself! They normally come out with a light side and a dark side set, but I was only able to grab the light side this year.  [Sad face]

I was out of the loop for a while and I caught the release at the tail end. I'm still really happy to have snagged these two! I love the idea as a huuuuuge Star Wars fan!

First from Native War Paints is Midichlorian Count.

Midichlorian Count is a beautiful pearly iridescent white with a strong blue flash. 

The color kind of reminds me of the glowyness of the Jedi ghosts' white robes.

Coverage was a bit sheer on the first coat, but it built up nicely in three.

Here is a closer shot with flash. The bright blue shimmers really stands out.

It also has a hint of a holo shimmer that's visible in some angles, but it is still very subtle.

I think we have another silent assasin on our hands! It's got great coverage, and the effect of the polish is so delicate and subtle. 

I'm just now thinking about this as I type this, but it would probably be stunning with a matte topcoat. 

Next up is the polish from Lou it Yourself called Bye, Felucia 

Bye, Felucia is a deep purple almost blurple polish in some lights.

It is packed with holo glitters and also has a hint of gold shimmer, but I was only able to pick it up in lower lighting situations.

In the shot above, the flash really brings out the blue tones as well as the holo and gold shimmer. 

The polish dries to a really smooth and shiny finish with great coverage.

I don't think any more of these are available, but you can find Native War Paints here: http://www.nativewarpaints.com/

and Bluebird Lacquer aka Lou It Yourself here: https://www.bluebirdlacquer.com/

Lou It Yourself Flake it til You Make It | Rebecca's Indie Adventure

My New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to ween myself off the mainstream polish and venture into indie brands more. So I've been putting a lot of effort into following more indie pages - so prepare for a lot more indie brands!

I've gotten a couple polishes from Lou It Yourself aka Bluebird Lacquer through some Star Wars duos, and I've been really impressed. The latest collection is called Flake it til You Make It - a shimmery collection of various flakie polishes. I picked up a three of the six polishes in the collection.

From left to right: Shine Bright Like a Rhinestone, Blank Account, Caviar Dreams.

Second look of Shine Bright Like a Rhinestone, Blank Account, and Caviar Dreams.

Another shot of the trio with flash.

First up is Shine Bright Like A Rhinestone. This is a shimmery silver glitter with purple and teal flakies. 

Formula is great; it applied smooth and dried down nicely. I really like the wide brush and the wide bottle top. I think it really helped in applying the polish.

Macro of Shine Bright Like A Rhinestone. You can see the flakies peeking out here!

Next up is Caviar Dreams. This is a dark coppery gunmetal shade. Honestly, there is so much going on, its's hard to determine what exactly the base shade is. 

There are copper, silver and holographic glitters a long with gold, teal and purple flakies. Again, like the first polish, it had a smooth formula with great coverage. This is one of the polishes I like to call the silent assassins - a neutral looking polish from afar, but it's a glitter bomb when you get up close!

Macro shot of Caviar Dreams. What a stunner!

Last, but definitely not least is Blank Account. The base of this polish is a blue to purple shifting duochrome with teal and silver metallic flakies. The picture above is outdoors in shade.

Here is a close up shot in indoor lighting. The purple shift is a lot more apparent in these shots. Again, like the other two polishes, it applied nicely and had great coverage in 2-3 coats.

Second indoor close up shot with flash. This looks so shimmery and icy and beautiful. I just love the look of this polish!

Here is one last shot in direct sunlight. Heart-eye emoji!!

Overall, this is an impressive collection from Bluebird Lacquer! I really enjoyed the trio of polishes I picked up and can't wait for upcoming collections!

Bluebird Lacquer can be purchased here: www.bluebirdlacquer.com/

Nine Zero Valentine's Day Trio

Nine Zero Lacquer released a super fun Valentine's Day trio this year, and of course I had to scoop it up!

First off is A Night with the Cats. This has pink and purple metallic shards with red and purple glitters in an extremely bright white base. I love these kinds of polishes from Nine Zero, and I try to pick them all up.

This polish has a crelly formula, so it takes a little bit more effort to get fully opaque. Unfortunately, if you have yellow staining on your nails, it's a little more apparent with this polish. I had to pile on three coats to neutralize the yellow. The larger chunks of shard glitters do a good job of covering it up too.

Obviously, with this much going on with a polish, it is going to dry down very textured and the flakies will probably stick up in some instances. Normally I try to trim them down or file them down to get them to lie flat.

I did add topcoat but it still dried down slightly rough. Definitely not a deal breaker, especially with as packed with flakies and glitters as this polish is. 

Next up is A Night Out. This is a very muted medium blue with scattered and linear holographic glitter. It also has a hint of a purple flash at some angles.

The formula is very smooth and applies very evenly. I got it opaque for me in three easy coats. 

You can see the slightest hint of the purple flash in the above flash!

You can see the flash a lot better in the bottle here. 

The last polish in the trio is A Night In. This is a muted pink with scattered and linear holographic glitter. 

The formula is the same as A Night Out - it goes on super smooth with really nice coverage. I also got this opaque in three coats. 

Nine Zero does pinks really well, and this one is another strong showing for the collection. 

This was such a cute and fun collection from Nine Zero Lacquer for Valentine's Day. The colors were great and the names were even better!