Review: Penny Bloom build-your-own polishes!!

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


Have you ever wanted to make you own polish? Have you ever looked into making your own polishes, and discovered how expensive buying all the stuff is, buy it anyway, get it home and realize you don't know nearly enough about what makes a decent suspension base or how to make a crelly and then somehow managed to end up with glitter all over your table and carpet and cats?


I haven't, that's for sure. *Ahem*


Okay, I might maybe have done that a little. And while glittery cats are pretty to look at, I admit I learned the hard way that there's a lot more to making a decent glitter polish than I thought. But I still get that creative urge, and that's why I love Penny Bloom--formerly known as Nayll--because I can go there, play around creating polishes from a wide variety of glitter and colors, and none of it leaves a titch of mess on my carpet (or my kitties).

My Penny Bloom creations!!

You all know I have strange feelings about Valentine's Day--I'm much more likely to do an anti-Valentine's mani than one with hearts and flowers. So I jumped on this opportunity to create my very own semi-anti-Valentine's polish, called Don't Break My Heart:

My creation: Penny Bloom Don't Break My Heart over Girly Bits Irreplaceable

My creation: Penny Bloom Don't Break My Heart over Girly Bits Irreplaceable

These pictures show two coats over Girly Bits Irreplaceable.  Application was very good; I did have to fish for the dots and the skulls, but I expect that with large glitters.

Recipe for Don't Break My Heart:
Base: Red
Glitter 1: Large black dots
Glitter 2: Medium red holo Squares
Glitter 3: Medium gray hex
Glitter 4: Extra-small red holo hex
Glitter 5: White skulls

What I think about how it came out: I love it, however, if I had it to do over again, I'd include a note asking for a a higher percentage of black dots. Which is an important point--you absolutely have the ability to include notes about your polish, so take advantage of that if you just want a sprinkling of something or want to be sure you get a lot of something else. I made no special requests for these polishes so you can get a sense of how much you're getting of each size glitter.


Next up is Go Sharks!, a polish I created in Penny Bloom's new 'Design your sports team' section. She has a selection of ingredients available for a huge selection of sports teams--even hockey, something that often gets short shrift here in the USA. So of course that's what I selected--I'm a hockey fanatic, and I love my San Jose sharks. Their colors are primarily teal, white, and black:

My creation: Penny Bloom Go Sharks over Girly Bits Yes, We Can!

My creation: Penny Bloom Go Sharks over Girly Bits Yes, We Can!

This is two coats over Girly Bits Yes, We Can!. Application was excellent; you will have to fish for large dots.

Recipe for Go Sharks!:
Base: Clear
Glitter 1: Large black dots
Glitter 2: Silver flakes
Glitter 3: Medium turquoise holo squares
Glitter 4: Extra-small turquoise holo hex
Glitter 5: Extra-small grey hex


What I think about how it came out: I adore this!! I love how the black dots look like little hockey pucks, and I'm so glad I chose silver instead of white shards, because it still feels like my team, but it has a celebratory, flashy feel to it.


For my next creation, I wanted to do something that captured the bright, happy, warm feel of summer, so I made Summer Sunshine:

My creation: Penny Bloom Summer Sunshine

My creation: Penny Bloom Summer Sunshine

This is two coats, that built to a jelly-leaning crelly base. Application was excellent--because I had so many dots in this, I didn't have to fish, but if you want to be sure to get a certain color balance, you may want to.

Recipe for Summer Sunshine:
Base: Orange
Glitter 1: Large red holo dots
Glitter 2: Large peach dots
Glitter 3: Large orange dots
Glitter 4: Large banana yellow dots
Glitter 5: Extra-small gold holo hex


What do I think? This is tied for my favorite of the bunch--I love how the teeny gold hex glint like sun off the side of a building, and perfectly set off the larger size of the dots. I can practically feel the glow of the sun on my skin.


Following the summer vibe, I wanted to make a polish that looked like a slice of the sea, so I chose a blue jelly base and went to town for Under The Sea:

My creation: Penny Bloom Under The Sea

My creation: Penny Bloom Under The Sea

My creation: Penny Bloom Under The Sea

This is two coats of squishy goodness. Application was perfect, and no need to fish for anything.

Recipe for Under The Sea:
Base: Dark Blue
Glitter 1: Green flakes
Glitter 2: Aqua flakes
Glitter 3: Turquoise holo flakes
Glitter 4: Small silver holo hex
Glitter 5: Medium violet holo squares


What do I think? I'm so pleased with the balance here. I wanted different shades of blue to give lots of depth, but also threw in some green to look like seaweed, and some purple to give a hint of pretty fish or anemones. I love this all on its own, but can't wait to do some stamping with this--a few fish maybe?


For my final polish, I stayed near the ocean, and came up with Waves On The Beach:

My creation: Penny Bloom Waves On The Beach

My creation: Penny Bloom Waves On The Beach

This is two coats, and it applied like a dream--a wonderful surprise for a light crelly.

Recipe for Waves On The Beach!:
Base: Beige
Glitter 1: Medium sea blue holo squares
Glitter 2: Medium turqoise holo squares
Glitter 3: Medium caramel squares
Glitter 4: Large powder blue dots
Glitter 5: Aqua flakes


What do I think? This one is a close second to Summer Sunshine for my favorite. I wanted to create a polish that looked like water and sand and sea glass washing off the sand back into the ocean, and I love how this captures those colors. This polish makes me want to stroll along the beach.


Tip: Some of the bases will give you a jelly while some will give you a crelly, and some are in between. To figure out which is which, check out the brush inside the pictured bottle on the website--if you can see it clearly, you'll get a jelly finish, if you can't really see much, you're on the crelly side.


So what do I think overall? I loved creating polishes with this brand before, and I love it still. The only issue I had was two of the brushes I got were wonky--if you have an issue with that, let her know, otherwise everything was excellent. Sara has a very nice selection of base colors and glitters to choose from, and the $15 price tag is a huge savings over what I shelled out trying to make my own glitters. She makes it easy to create something you'll be proud of, and the process is just plain FUN.


You can make your own polishes at Penny Bloom here; while you're there, also check out her pre-made line of polishes, and the pages where you can design polishes specifically for bridal or baby events (love this idea for favors!). You can also check out her Facebook page and her Instagram page for inspiration. If you liked any of my designs (you can also see my previous creations here and here), please feel free to steal my recipe or improve on it and show me the results! If you don't, that's the beauty of it--you can design something completely different. Tag me on those, too! :)


Happy creating!
M.