To Be Honest, it's Polish TBH

I first heard of Chrissy, the owner of indie polish brand Polish TBH (IG @polishtbh) through a mutual friend, Brandy (@polishednshined) who loves Chrissy's polishes so much, she owns a bottle of each Polish TBH ever released. Wow, very impressive! Little known fact: Chrissy named her indie line "Polish TBH" because she's known for saying the common phrase "to be honest" quite a bit. It was only a natural choice & it's quite catchy. She and I began to talk through Instagram & finally, after months & months, she moved from Northern California to Southern California & we met at Victoria's (@serumno5) "Love Preview" event in November 2013. 

Chrissy is a bubbly person & passionate as an indie maker. She spends a lot of time & effort making sure each polish is just right before releasing them. As an astute Britney Spears fan, she has an entire line dedicated to Britney's fragrances & some songs, of which "Circus" was my first Polish TBH. Now Chrissy is a member of our SoCal-based CaliNailGirls group where we meet up monthly.  I've had the pleasure of hanging out with her multiple times now & can honestly say that when it comes to her handmade polish, Chrissy is very dedicated to quality & creating unique looks with fun twists & names. I was so flattered when she surprised me with her Holiday line to swatch. Soon after, I became very sick with the flu & had personal things to attend to, which ultimately delayed my swatches & postings. Most of these polishes are still available on her website:

www.polishtbh.bigcartel.com

She's currently working on a new line to be released soon. Hopefully you can see the quality she produces throughout this blog post. 

The first three polishes I'll review are (from Top to Bottom) "Sugar Plum Fairy," "Polar Express," & "Blue Balls." Sadly "Sugar Plum Fairy" & "Polar Express" flew off the shelves when Polish TBH had her last amazing sale on Cyber Monday last month. They will all be back next holiday season.  Each polish has a unique look, but all have small shiny glitters embedded in their formula,which make them different from the others I swatched at the end. I'll start with "Sugar Plum Fairy."

I wasn't wowed by this polish when it was in the bottle, but as soon as I got the first & second coat on my nails, "Sugar Plum Fairy" became an instant fave of mine. Such a beautiful cranberry-toned jelly with a constant shimmer from a million tiny gold glitters with tons of sparkling reflections suspended in this almost mauvish-red tone. The bottle macro shot is much darker than the actual polish. It is more true to colour in all the other photos.

Here's a macro shot of it on my nail with two coats, no top coat. Yes, it's that shiny!

I started playing with angles using my macro lens. Haven't seen anyone do this personally (a friend said she's seen it before though), but I love this focal point and angle & will continue to do this with each swatch. Gives you an idea of the macro detail in front while also displaying the unfocused shimmer we try to get with glitter/holo photos.

A side-by-side macro shot of two nails, so you get the effect of the miniscule glitters popping out at you. Pretty amazing perspective.

Here's a final picture of my nail swatch with the back of the bottle so you can see how closely coloured the two are.

Next up we have "Polar Express" which is a navy, blue jean look, has miniscule, but vibrant gold glitters, just like in "Sugar Plum Fairy," but dries with a matte finish. I chose not to top coat mine with  either a shiny nor matte top coat just for pictures, but for added protection  & durability, Polish TBH recommends a matte or shiny top coat, giving you a dual effect for this polish.

Here's a macro shot of the polish inside of the bottle, which again is a little darker than the actual colour. Look at those incredible sparkles, like you're time traveling through space. Like whoa.

A macro shot of my nail with two coats of "Polar Express" & no top coat.

I added gold star nail studs because this polish is not only inspired by the movie "Polar Express" & it's beautiful hues in the animation, but reminded me of the night sky & good ol' American blue jeans & Fourth of July. This is a very versatile polish for many designs all year-round.

My new favourite angle. You can see how wonderful the matte finish really looks with the two out-of-focus nails.

Next up & lastly of the three, I present to you, "Blue Balls." Not only will the name tickle your fancy to say, but this frosty, light blue, slight holographic polish will delight your eyes as well. I felt like I was looking at Cinderella's magical ball gown. No holo polish I own has this same effect. It's enticing. 

The macro shot of "Blue Balls" displays how the linear holo has a slight green shift to the polish & reflects mass amounts of light with a crystalized micro glitter effect & slightly larger blue holographic glitters that pop. 

This nail macro shot looks like Cinderella's glass slipper or the lightest shining glass Christmas ornament on a delicately decorated tree.

Macro shots of holographic glitter polishes always make a visual treat because they look like the polish is twisting & turning in the picture. Such visual movement is stunning.

Prepare yourself, for with the next three polishes, there will be massive amounts of glitters in all shapes, sparkles, & colours. Starting off with "Shelf Elf," I layered two coats of this glitter topper over Zoya nail polish's amazing white lacquer called "Purity." "Shelf Elf" instantly reminded me of peppermint candy canes, which happens to be one of my favourite scents of the holiday season. I used Zoya's "Purity" along with Essie's "Jag-U-are" with a thin striping brush to make the alternating sized lines. I love how my very first peppermint accent nail came out. This polish is very fun & inspiring.

This macro polish bottle shot of "Shelf Elf" displays how it contains glitters of all shapes & sizes, including hex glitters in white, red, holographic red, white, & irredescent. There are also a couple red bar glitters and small squares in an array of colours.

Look at just how many glitters there are with only two coats. Absolutely NO FISHING for glitters at all. So incredible looking! Makes me instantly hungry for peppermint bark.

I added red rhinestones at the tops of my nail beds & love how it created a visual statement. Just check out the blue & purple glowing gleam from the iridescent glitters. I love this combination with the red & white stripes, but I can't wait to incorporate "Shelf Elf" into my designs throughout the rest of the year. So super unique & pretty!

"Reindeer Vomit" is a lot less barfy & a lot more magical than it sounds. ;)  I started off with a coat of Sinful Colors' "San Francisco" because I knew that the dark green metallic polish would help the indie polish with MULTIPLE glitters in ALL shapes and sizes display perfectly. I added a kooky Rudolph on my accent nail. You can find a full step-by-step pictorial of how to make him on my Instagram @peacehappnails.

Too many to even list, I don't think this indie polish even has an inch without sparkle or glitter. Truly only the contents of a magical reindeer's stomach after a crazy, roundtrip world tour with a jolly fat man would create such a wondrously sparkly concoction. "Reindeer Vomit" is kaleidoscopic.

I have a thing for stars, so I tried my best to grab as many holographic stars & place them on each nail along with at least one large red hexagon glitter to accentuate the reindeer art on my other nail. There was a little fishing required, but not too much, as this base is a beautiful moderation between a light clear topper base & a heavy green jelly. It may be the scintillating mini holo glitters suspended in between, but this polish goes on smoothly & there's plenty of awe-factor with each swipe.

This polish is available in both "Christmas Tree" & unscented. Mine was scented, which I expected it to smell like pine scent, but it was more of a sweet smell that once dried, even permeated through the top coat. Definitely a nice touch.

Last, but not least is "Gingerbread House" which was an instant fave of mine even in the tiny bottle. I planned on doing an intricate gingerbread house on at least two of my nails, but went with the accent nail of a little gingerbread girl over Pipedream Polish's holographic "Red Light" using layered acrylic paints on top. Absolutely love how this mani came together. 

The bottle was chalk full of glitters of all shapes in sizes, just like "Reindeer Vomit," but very unique. A range from purple, light pink, green, gold, and white hexes, with teeny little white squares, to medium white circle glitters and then large, red, satiny heart glitters in a light brown crelly with hints of darker brown micro shimmers that make it look exactly like gingerbread.

I used a base polish of one coat of Essie's "Penny Talk"  since it has a similar copper hue, but this crelly polish could easily be layered with itself & have no VNL (visible nail line) in 3 coats. I used 2 coats over the base & then cleaned off the largest glitters with a small brush dipped in acetone so that they would stand out.

I like for my jelly sandwiches to still have some visible glitters, but most nail swatchers seem to like to layer & cover all glitters. To each their own. There's no "right way" to use a polish, while some may say otherwise, but if you like it, you are the only person whose opinion matters. Remember that :)

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more indie brands & makers coming up soon!

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Polish Me To Go, Go Gadget Nail Care

When I saw @polishmetogo's post on Instagram about wanting beauty bloggers to review her new line of nail care products, first of all, I couldn't believe it was the 1st post I saw when I logged on & secondly, that I'd be one of the 1st to kik her. I also couldn't believe I was writing to her. Me... if anything, a personal blogger. I mean, I consider my personal blog highly successful with the overwhelming responses of excitement & relatability I get each time I post, but I barely started painting my nails & getting into makeup just this year. Sure, nail art & polish are definitely a hobby/obsession of mine, yet I had never "officially" reviewed a product before.

Who did I think I was to write her, with over 63K followers, & expect her to pick me out of the over 300 replies she would receive? But I sold myself as an influential IG personality (true), with currently over 3,200 followers on my personal account [IG @peacehapplove] (again, true & very cool), over 2K followers already following my brand new nails account [IG @peacehappnails] (excitingly true), & as the founding leader of the CaliNailGirls (true & now I even have 3 other wonderful leaders to help lead over 75 active CNG members). I felt confident that my bubbly personality & highly interactive abilities would at least get me a foot in the door with this hugely popular indie polish brand owner & that maybe she'd at least be gentle in her rejection response, but no.... 

She chose me! I mean, she actually chose ME! Out of 300+ interested people, she chose only 5 bloggers and, of those, she decided I could do it. I was ecstatic! Still am! Then we both ran into personal issues with her son in the Intensive Care Unit with serious breathing issues & me in Urgent Care & recovering from a physical injury while starting my own business, but now that I'm healing up (& her son's finally back home & healing now), it's a good time for my 1st post. So here goes... 

First off, I received way more in this delightful package than I expected. She sent me (from left to right) Polish Me To Go's Limited Edition "Dear Journal" (black & white glitter bomb), in the round metal tin on top we have the "Vanilla Cuticle Balm," (back underneath) "Top Me To Shine" top coat, 3-Free (meaning free of certain harsh/dangerous chemicals most name brand polishes contain) 7mL mini of "White Undie" (a glowing white polish), "Vanilla Cuticle Oil," & a red & gold tub of "Lemon Lime Cuticle Scrub."

We'll start with the cuticle/nail care products. The first up is the "Vanilla Cuticle Oil." I fell in love with this product instantly, using it multiple times a day. I especially love the fact that it's small & fits in my pocket next to my lip balm, so that way I remember to use it frequently. With how cold & dry the winter months can be, I really never put too much thought into cuticle care all summer. I was busy lathering up with sunscreen & lotion, so it made moisturizing easy. I've been lucky in that my cuticles are naturally pretty presentable, but now that my cuticles are showing signs of dryness & flaking with the weather change, it definitely was perfect timing for these products. I would easily brush on the "Vanilla Cuticle Oil" & in a single swipe, there was plenty of oil for a finger or two. The oil contains a hint of vanilla & is a pleasant smell, not harsh nor overwhelming. It smells like a natural essential oil.

It goes on smoothly & you just "apply to cuticles & massage gently until oil is absorbed." I loved how each of her products have little printed instructions on the labels. That was surely helpful for a nail care newb like me! At first the cuticle oil seems like it will stay greasy on your fingers, but once you're done with your quick massage, you realize that the oil is absorbed fairly quickly & you're back to doing whatever you were up to just minutes before.

 My favourite thing was to bring this on afternoon/night walks & apply it as I walked. Easy peasy! No complaints about this product. I would definitely buy it again & recommend the mini size for ease of portability.

Next up we have the "Vanilla Cuticle Balm." Again, this smells of natural vanilla (but she has other scents available for sale) & isn't highly scented (which I don't like fake vanilla scents, so this was perfect). It even contains cocoa butter, coconut oil, pure lanolin, shea butter, olive oil, vitamin E & flavored essential oil for scent. It smells lightly of coconut & cocoa along with vanilla. Very lightly.

This product comes in a cute metal tin, which is also perfect for on-the-go trips & just sticking it in your pocket or purse & taking off. 

The balm has a hard, waxy consistency & with just a couple rubs, you have enough product on your fingertip to rub along your cuticle & instantly moisturize & protect from the elements. I like how little of this product is actually needed to make a difference. I am not one who usually enjoys balms & having to rub to get product, so of the three, this is my personal least favourite, but I'm also a tid bit lazy, so that may have something to do with it. 

There really aren't any negative aspects to this product either. I like the light weight metal tin & the fact that there's no fear of it spilling in my pocket nor purse. I'm forever spilling things, so this was nice peace of mind.

Last up on the nail/cuticle care line, we have the "Lemon Lime Cuticle Scrub." I was sad that when it was delivered, the container had leaked a bit in the packaging, despite the efforts to tape the outside, & the greasy mess was disheartening, but at least it was contained by the plastic baggy it was sent in. I notified Itzel (owner of Polish Me To Go) & she is aware of the packaging issue, so maybe it will change. I was sad when it couldn't be set down without a grease spot underneath it, even after wiping it off. 

Moving along tho, I used this product daily for a week & it was like a mini trip to the spa each time. The fragrance was fresh, of citrus fruits, & the exfoliants (sugar-like crystals) were invigorating on the skin, like a body scrub for your cuticles. I even brought it into the shower & used it in there (kept away from the water) & it was a nice addition to my normal, shower pampering routine. This was my favourite product of the three & I felt like I was using quite a bit each time, so I'd be apt to buy the bigger container. Definitely used more of this product than the other two & I think it's because of it's soft texture & maybe because I loved it so much. I wish that it would be in a tighter, more seal-safe container. Otherwise, this was cuticle perfection!

I definitely felt a difference in my cuticles & surrounding skin from the first week (of barely any nail care at all, let's be honest) to the 2nd week of feeling less tightness around the nail beds, no more flaky dry skin, & even had a cut on my index finger that healed within a few days. I definitely recommend these cuticle/nail care products. If you have any questions, I recommend you contact Polish Me To Go (www.polishmetogo.com). She's very helpful!
This brings me to the surprise portions of my package. I had no clue there'd be anything more than cuticle care products, so seeing 2 extra polishes & a top coat included were definitely a nice bonus. :)

I will start with the Limited Edition Indie Glitter Bomb Topper called "Dear Journal." She sent me a full-size bottle, so I went to town with some inspired nail art.

She ended up featuring on both the company's Twitter & Instagram accounts & it received over 1,700 likes! Nothing I've ever created has had that many likes on my pages before. I was ecstatic beyond belief! Her enthusiasm for my baby penguin design tickled me pink! I was inspired by the polish the moment I saw it. Blame it on these winter months, but I instantly thought of snow when I saw the iridescent silver flakes which shimmered a rainbow effect much like her fancy bottle labels. When I saw "Dear Journal," I was at first thinking it was quite similar to Hard Candy's coveted "Black Tie Optional," or BTO to experienced polish enthusiasts, but no. While both have predominantly black & white hex glitters in a clear base, "Dear Journal" does not contain black bar glitter. Instead, it has those irregular-shaped iridescent chunks of glitter along with teeny squares of silver reflective goodness. The white & black specks throughout the polish reminded me of the cold, dark, stormy, snowy nights of the Arctic & penguins huddled in large circles for body warmth.

*note my dry & abused cuticles in this photo prior to using her cuticle care products.

I used acrylic paints on my accent nail to create a little penguin face (inspired from a pic found on Google) & then piles of white snow with grey outlining to tie in the other nails. The base for this mani is a dark grey by Nina Ultra Pro called "Ink-ling." I paired these two polishes together because I wanted both the black & white to pop, but to keep that "stormy" effect to create that harsh penguin environment. I really don't know how they survive. I'm freezing in Cali at 50°. Kudos to the penguins! Haha

Decided I would do some swatches of "Dear Journal" over other polishes for  visual sampling. I used it as a topper over Zoya's "Robyn" (a beautiful bright blue) which came out nicely & the glitters really came out on top of this colour. The indie polish itself is VERY easy to apply. It took about a swipe & a half & the brush always came out chalk-full of various glitters. No fishing in the bottle at all. It was amazing. The only negative aspect of this polish is the slight odor. It's a little stronger than regular polishes you'd buy in the store, but it wasn't disturbing, just noticeable.

I followed up the blue with a swatch of PMTG's "Dear Journal" over Pure Ice's shimmery red polish called "Crimson." A GORGEOUS combination! It quite reminds me of Minnie or Mickey Mouse & made me want to do more nail art, but I'm not that skilled to do such detail on my right hand ("Cinderella hand") using my non-dominant hand. I can barely paint a solid colour at this point without making a huge mess, so I was proud we got this swatching to look so nice. 
I am really happy with this polish. It continues to inspire happy design ideas in my mind. I can't wait to play some more with it & it's easy application.

Next up we have a little surprise. Not sure if this is labeled improperly as "White Undie" as on the www.polishmetogo.com website, "White Undie" is a plain white polish used underneath as a polish base for helping to make the glowing neons pop. The glowing white polish she has on her site is called "Snow Glow." Little did I know that once I applied this polish, it would become one of my all-time favourite indies. The application for this white took only two coats. At first, when I'd apply it, it'd seem streaky, but after a couple seconds it would smooth out perfectly with a shimmery, semi-matte finish.
Here it is with only one coat, no top coat:

Here it is with two coats of white, no top coat:

Here it is with 2 costs white & PMTG's magnificent "Top Me To Shine":

I then realized it glowed right after removing my hand from my light box, so I played around with it & BAM!

I have never witnessed a brighter glow from any polish I've ever owned nor held in my hand. It was magnificent. It actually glows a little more green than in this pic, but no picture I've ever tried to take of glowing anything came out this stunningly bright before. I'm astonished! Here is a pic of it glowing in all of its glory.

As soon as I saw this "glowmazingness" in person, I just had to have more & ordered the entire glowing neon collection. I had heard the hype all over Instagram, but having this lit-up power at my fingertips was invigorating! I had to own more! I'm thoroughly convinced she should change her name to "Polish Me To Glow!" ;)

I then decided it was time for more nail art. I have been busy all week long with the opening of my handmade jewelry shop (www.peacehapplove.com), so I needed to de-frag with some fun nail art. I chose the Abominable Snowman/Yeti named "Bumble" from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I remember these Christmas cartoon/claymation specials so vividly as a kid growing up. I love this character!

Here's a macro shot of his face prior to applying a top coat. The entire white background base is "White Undie," along with his eyes & teeth, which glow!
This is a view of the entire Abominable Snowman mani in all his glory:

I then took him on a tour of my dark garage so I could see him glow! What a cool thing to have my designs become negative images like this:

I am in love with this white polish! It's not only smooth & super easy to apply, but when combined with "Top Me To Shine," it's nearly perfect. I am always on the quest for a perfect white polish, as many of my followers know. This one is in the top 3 for sure!

I saved the best for last. Polish Me To Go sent me a mini size (7mL) of the "Top Me To Shine" Top Coat. More important than any aspect of good nail art, is the protective top coat. When I finished creating the adorable baby penguin, I topped him off with 1 coat only of PMTG's Top Coat. It was a little thick at first, but smoothed out & covered the entire design with just a couple strokes. It had no shrinkage. Did you hear me? None! That's the main drawback of my all-time favourite store-bought top coat, Seche Vite, is that it protects like no other, but tends to shrink designs, leaving the tips of my fingertips exposed, so it takes extra effort to learn how to avoid that.

"Top Me To Shine" is now my current favourite top coat, hands down. It literally dries in under a minute with a nice hard & ultra shiny finish. It does not warp my design nor cause any shrinkage. That's all fine & dandy, but does it last? You bet your bottom it does! I tried my hardest to chip or peel or ruin the penguin mani so I'd have a reason to make more nail art, but no, the penguin & glitter from "Dear Journal" lasted days & days. I finally had to peel of my design & lemme tell ya, it was a fight. I am absolutely IN LOVE with this top coat! I just bought a full-size bottle & can't wait to receive it! I am so so happy she included this little surprise. It made all the difference!

Having never owned a single bottle of anything of this brand before, I am now a huge supporter of Polish Me To Go products! I recommend them to everyone I talk to & even purchased some as gifts for nail buddies.

Thank you for reading my very first beauty/nails blog! I will continue to bring you exciting reviews that will never be bland & boring "fluff." Honesty & quality are my two main focuses. In my mind, my followers are my friends who deserve to hear the truth whether I got the products for free or paid for them myself. I promise to bring you delightful reading with reviews you can trust! Guaranteed!