For the Love of Polish Aurora Borealis Box

Today I finally have individual swatches of the three polishes I used to create my Northern Lights Nails look to kick off 2021: Tonic Euphorealis, Pahlish Solar Wind, and Polished for Days Polar Lights.

 

I started with Polished for Days Polar Lights. It's got a blue-leaning purple base with shifting flakes in turquoise, pink, and blue along with some silvery holo flakes.

 

I did three coats of Polar Lights for my swatch. Two might have been fine, but I got distracted by the pretty. I added clear topcoat for more depth even though the polish was self-leveled nicely.

 

 

 

Tonic Euphorealis is a warm purple with green to blue shifting shimmer.

 

I did three coats plus topcoat for this swatch as well, and again, two and no topcoat would probably have been just fine.

 

 

 

Here's the embarrassing part: I forgot Euphorealis is a thermal. Since it's winter, my hands weren't warm enough to make it change, so there was no visual indication of its thermal-ness, and the label doesn't say anything about it, so I went about my merry way without capturing the warm state at all. Between the time I did my swatching and the time I sat down to write this post, my nails have taken a beating from the winter weather, so instead of re-swatching, I slapped Euphorealis on a nail wheel to see the shift. Its warm state is a very pale lilac.

 

Pahlish Solar Wind is a dusty green-leaning blue shimmer with plenty of flakes to add even more visual interest: green shifty flake and holo flakes and microflakies.

 

Two coats of Solar Wind was plenty for full opacity, so I stopped there with this one. I did go ahead and add topcoat just because; it was smooth enough on its own.

 

 

 

Here's Solar Wind in direct light, showing off its holo:

 

Being me, I had to play around with layering, even though none of these are technically layering polishes. Why let that little detail stop me? First up I have one coat of Tonic Euphorealis over Pahlish Solar Wind. Euphorealis mostly covers up the flakes in Solar Wind, though one or two of the bigger ones do peek through at some angles. The dusty base of the Pahlish cools down the purple of of the Tonic, makes it softer.

 

 

I tried Euphorealis as a base under Polished for Days Polar Lights, leaving the Tonic on its own on my index finger for comparison's sake (should have done this with the above layering combination, but too late now). The warm purple of the Tonic used as a base does make the Polished for Days warmer, too, though the difference is subtle.

 

Then I was curious how much the base color could change the look of Polar Lights so I did Skittles with China Glaze Plur-ple (medium warm-leaning purple), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Purple Heart (deep blue violet), SinfulColors Roar (medium blue), and SinfulColors On the Prowl (teal), then topped those with one coat of Polar Lights plus clear topcoat. And yes, I'm calling this experiment a success, as the base colors definitely have an effect, pulling Polar Lights more to purple or blue or navy. Purple Heart on my middle finger changes it the least, which makes sense as it's the closest to the color of the base of Polar Lights.

 

 

I'm very glad I bought this box back in November. I'll have to remember the Tonic come summer and hope the thermal won't be dead by then (I don't think it will be but when you see this next Nail Wheel Wedenesday you'll understand my concern).

Northern Lights Nails

I hadn't planned to take last week off from nail blogging, but that's how it worked out. There was definitely a vacation vibe on my ski mountain, with plenty of folks from other areas visiting here (maybe not the safest choice in a pandemic, but at least I'm able to avoid them for the most part). For my first post of the new year, I'm starting as I hope to go on, with a look that was fun to do and let me exercise my creative side. The November 2020 For the Love of Polish box was inspired by the Aurora Borealis. The three polishes in the set: Tonic Euphorealis, Pahlish Solar Wind, and Polished for Days Polar Lights.

 

I used all three polishes sponged over a black base to make a night sky mani that maybe looks a little like the Northern Lights (which I've never seen in person but hope to someday). I did add clear topcoat to level the layers and add shine.

 

 

 

I will have swatches of the individual polishes at some point (I hope next week) but didn't want to wait to share this look. Happy 2021 to all of you reading this!

For the Love of Polish Box for May 2020

Yet another pandemic indulgence purchase today: the May For the Love of Polish box, with the theme Desert Bloom. The three shades in this one are Polished for Days Super Bloom, Lollipop Posse Lacquer Prickly Pear, and Pahlish Sleeping Atacama.



These are all pretty, though it was the Polished for Days contribution that sold me on the box this particular month. Super Bloom is a medium purple with flakes that shift along the pink/purple/green spectrum, shimmer with a pink/blue/teal shift, and holo microflakes. So much pretty in one bottle!



I needed only two coats of this beauty for my swatch. I did add clear topcoat as well to enhance the depth.







In direct light, the holo came out to play.



I didn't get any great shots of the shimmer shift, but here's a blurry one where you can see it doing its thing.



Lollipop Posse Lacquer's Prickly Pear is a bright pink with purple/pink/greenish gold shifty flakies and shifty shimmer in similar shades.



Prickly Pear has a crelly base, so even at three coats (plus the clear topcoat), there was a hint of visible nail line.







I wanted to see how Prickly Pear would look over a coordinating base color, so I pulled Sally Hansen Insta Dri Razzle Dazzle Rose out of my stash.



I did two coats of Razzle Dazzle Rose (probably could have gotten by with one if I'd gone thicker) and added one coat of Prickly Pear (topped with clear once again). This combination was pretty darn close to matching the look of Prickly Pear in the bottle. Obviously the flakies weren't as dense and layered with this approach, which is okay.





Pahlish Sleeping Atacama rounds out this trio. It's a sky blue with silvery pink flakes and green/blue shifting shimmer.









In direct light, the shimmer came out to play and the green shift was evident.



In sunlight filtered through a window, the flakes popped more.



The only problem with this box is that I can't buy it every month. Some months that's more painful that others. June had an absolutely juicy orange from Dreamland that I regretted not getting every time I saw a swatch in the FTLOP Facebook group, for instance. July was easier for some reason, and August I just went ahead and got as there's a swampy green from Pahlish in it that I just knew I'd feel sad about not having.

Pahlish Sky Glass

Today I have another of the treats I've bought for myself online since the stay at home order started: Pahlish Sky Glass, a purple jelly packed with flakes.



As jellies go, this one is pretty pigmented (but no so much that the flakies get buried), so my swatch is two coats plus clear topcoat for extra shine and depth.







I was blessed with a bit of sun the day I swatched this, so I took myself over by the window so you can see it in that light below.



As I did with Celesta earlier this month, I also tried Sky Glass layered over a creme base. In the case of Sky Glass, I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Vivid Violet, a dark purple. I left my index finger with just Sky Glass on it for comparison purposes, then did Sky Glass over Vivid Violet on the other three fingers (skipped the topcoat on those). The deep base does darken the overall look some, and also makes the flakies pop. I like it both ways.







I can't buy every indie shade that turns my head online, but I'm glad I got this one.