Review: Windestine

(Some products in this post were sent for review.)

Hello!!

Today I have three polishes from Windestine's new Little Women collection to show you. :)

Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time...I've read it more times than I care to admit, and it still brings up emotion for me. Every time I read it, I'm outraged on Jo's behalf when her manuscript gets burned, and I cry my eyes out when...well, you know when, and if you don't, I don't want to spoil it for you. It's a special book that celebrates the unique differences between people, and the bonds they form when guided by love. :)

The first polish she sent me was inspired by Beth, the sister who always sees the best in everyone and has the biggest heart in the world; the polish is called Heartbeat, and it's inspired by Beth's big heart and the light it shines on the world. It's a purple crelly with purple-copper glitter in it, and the glitter seems to glow a beautiful magenta from within:

Windestine Heartbeat, artificial light

This is three coats with topcoat; this applied without problems and built depth with the three coats. The glitter in this is amazing--it's like someone crushed up starlight and sprinkled it into the base. These pictures don't do it full justice; the glitter shines so much brighter and is more magenta that it plays on camera; the glitter tends to look a little more white on camera for some reason. The top picture captures the glow of the glitter most accurately, but is still a little less vibrant than in real life.

Her next polish, Kizuna, represents the bond between the sisters and their mother ('Kizuna' means 'bond' in Japanese). She wanted the polish to represent a tree along with the roots of that tree, to reflect the deep roots of the family that enable these sisters to grow. It's a brown jelly-based polish with purple, green, and copper hex glitter:

Windestine Kizuna, indirect sunlight

This is three coats of Kizuna; it went on well, and the thin layers allow the glitters to develop depth. Three coats should be fine for you, but I had a small bit of visible nail when in direct sunlight; this is probably because I have a bit of a case of blogger-stain-itis! If you don't, you should be fine.

I think brown polishes can be tricky to make look pretty, and I think this one succeeds. It reminds me of a wisteria tree, with green leaves and purple flowers on a brown vine. It was flattering and interesting visually on the nail. :)

Because of the pretty purple and green, I couldn't help wonder what this would look like layered over another polish. I happened to have Finger Paints Isty Bitsy Spider (a lilac purple with blue shimmer), so I threw one coat on to see how it would look:

This feels to me almost like an entirely different polish! Talk about versatility! I love the way the coppers stand out more, and the purples and greens are still strong enough to add pretty splashes of color. I adore this combination. :)

Last up is Peacekeeper, inspired by sensible sister Meg. She's the oldest of the sisters, and the beauty of the bunch. Her personality and importance in the book are subtle, and I believe this polish suits her perfectly. Peacekeeper is a soft dove-gray jelly with pink, purple, and teeeny olive gray glitters:

Windestine Peacekeeper, direct sunlight

Windestine Peacekeeper, indirect sunlight

The pictures show three coats with topcoat; the formula was fine although I did have to be a bit careful about patchiness. This polish makes me think of a beautiful snowmaiden skating across a pond on a cold winter afternoon. The small glitters catch the light in a way that makes them seem almost holographic. I don't think I'd call this a 'milky' glitter; it doesn't have that feel of colored glitter set into white. This is more cohesive; the glitters and base come together in a more muted overall palette rather than being about contrast like milky glitters are. Of course this is beautiful any time of the year, but I can see it being an amazing spring polish, and also perfect for snow manicures in the winter. I see a Sugar Plum Fairy manicure in my future with this...

Each of these polishes is well thought out, and they each have a uniqueness to them that makes them unlike other polishes I've seen. While I do generally prefer polishes that cover in two coats rather than three, I've come to understand the depth you can build with a thinner glitter polish that needs more coats, and these are well-served by that, I think. :)

You can find Windestine's Etsy shop by clicking here; you can find her Big Cartel shop here. Her full-sized polishes are $8.00, and her minis go for $4.00. While you're there, be sure to check out Moana and Leilani, two of my other favorites in her shop. :)

Thanks for reading! Big hugs and much love. :)
M.

(The polishes in this post, except for Finger Paints Isty Bitsy Spider, were sent for review.)