Lacquer or Leave Her!: Review: Spellbound Nails Easter 2016 Quartet

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Review: Spellbound Nails Easter 2016 Quartet

(Press sample)

Hello!

Spring is springing and Peter Cottontail is hop-hop-hoppin' down his bunny trail of awesome, and whatever you have planned for your seasonal activities, I have a sweet, fun quartet that'll keep your fingernails happy along the way: Spellbound Nails' Easter 2016 Quartet.

Spellbound Nails' Easter 2016 Quartet

There are four polishes in this collection, each a play on the spring pastel palette, with glitter thrown in for a fun little kick. Let's jump in with Bunny Butt (love the name, btw), which is a baby pink crelly with hot pink glitters:

Spellbound Nails Bunny Butt

I'm fairly picky about crelly glitters, especially those that are cousins of the milky ilk. Everybody has their own preference about these things, but in my opinion, a top-quality glitter of this kind meets a couple of standards. One, I want a smooth finish, not something that looks lumpy and glumpy. Two, I want to be able to see the glitters well. I want the top coat of glitters to be visible, and the glitters from lower coats to just have a difference in shade, like a pond manicure. I don't want to see tons of polish just sitting on top of the glitters, with only their little edges sticking out. These glitters meet and exceed those criteria; the glitters show through beautifully and the surface is pristine.

This is three coats; I had a little bit of unevenness on the first couple with this one, so I'd recommend three thin coats rather than two thick ones. Formula was excellent.

I love the shades she put together here (and in the other polishes). The softness of the pink crelly is jazzed up by the hot pink of the glitters, and the hot pink is smoothed by the softness of the crelly. I also love that the glitters have nice density and cover well without fuss. Is it weird that this combo makes me think of peppermint?

Next up is Hare-Brained, which is a powder blue crelly with bright, almost cerulean, blue glitters:

Spellbound Nails Hare-Brained

This is two coats, great formula and application. The gentle blue with the blue speckle on this one one makes me think of robin's eggs; it's feminine and has that quintessential spring feel. I love how that blue just jumps out at you--how can this not brighten your day??

Then we have Peep Show, a dusty lavender crelly with plum glitters:

Spellbound Nails Peep Show

This is two coats with excellent application and formula. Oh-My-Gosh, how pretty are these colors together?! This is my favorite of the four, and I can't say enough about the combination of the dusty base with the deep glitters. This has a flirty, happy feel to it that just makes me smile--I didn't want to take it off, and I can promise you'll be seeing this on the blog again soon.

And to cap off the quartet, we have Who Cracked One? a dusty light sage with kelly green glitters:

Spellbound Nails Who Cracked One?

This is three thin coats; I had just a titch of unevenness with the first coats so I'd recommend three thin coats rather than two thick, and you should be fine. This is a close second favorite for me; I love that she chose a more subtle green for the base and I think that really plays up the deep green of the glitters--they just pop right out at you. This makes me think of Ireland and moss and heather, so not surprisingly, I think this is also a great look for St. Patrick's day. Maybe I'll be back with a St. Paddy's nail art look for you...

What do I think of the collection overall? I love the quality of these glitters, smooth and beautifully layered, and I love that the combinations of colors jazzes up the traditional spring pastel offerings. I adore the Easter egg feel (they also make me think of the special speckled whopper eggs you can get at Easter time, nom nom nom), they're a subtle, serene way to celebrate the season, bright and fun without going over the top. Spellbound Nails is quickly shooting to the top of my favorite indie brands list.

The targeted release date for this collection is March 1st, although this may be delayed for a day or two (for a medical procedure). You can find the Spellbound Nails shop here, and don't forget to follow on Facebook for news and updates.

Happy polishing!
M.