Hi guys, I've got a mega post for you tonight! That's right, I was honored to be asked to review June's box which was inspired by the Borderlands games. While I don't play the game, my husband owns all of them (and I've watched him play plenty). As such, I've asked my husband to give a little blurb about the game:
"Hey folks! This game is full of wild and irreverent characters. Soldiers, gamblers, tyrants, dinosaurs, gunzerkers, and one little Cl4p-tr unit to tie the franchise together. It's full of wild creatures and wild raiders and plots and caricatures. This is a cool collection, and it's fun drawing the parallels between the polishes and what they're meant to represent. -Mike"
New to the Polished Gamers Box? I'm here to answer some of your questions!
What is the Polished Gamers Box?
The Polished Gamers Box is a game themed box featuring several makers each month. Each box will have a gaming related theme and feature different types of indie products that include nail polish, nail care, body care, wax, and other handmade items.
What if I don’t want to order everything in the box?
That’s the beauty of the Polished Gamers Box! You can pick and choose what you want to order. No minimums or maximums, just order what items you want!
When can I get the box?
The box will launch on the 15th of every month and will be available for preorder until the 20th.
Preorders will open at 12:00PM MST / 1:00PM CST / 2:00 EST
The turn around time will be approximately 2-3 weeks after the box preorder ends on the 20th of each month.
Where do I go to order the box?
Is there Polished Gamers social media I can follow?
There is!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polishedgamers/
How much is shipping for the box?
Domestic: $4 flat rate shipping
International: At cost shipping (website will calculate at checkout)
If you do make multiple purchases, shipping overages can/will be refunded if the multiple purchases are made using the same name
Are there caps on items?
Each maker will set caps for their items and things can sell out! Caps are all listed in their respective listings.
The box will be live here on Monday, June 15th at 2 PM EST and go through Friday, June 20th. This is going to be extremely pic heavy, so you may need to give your device a few extra moments to load. Without further ado, let's look at these beauties!
1422 Designs A Fedora for Fiona (3 coats)
Inspiration: Fiona's hat from Borderlands 3
Price: $10.50
Cap: 24
A Fedora for Fiona is a lavender crelly with black and holographic micro glitter with a black sparkle. I used 3 thin coats for my photos and it dried with no texture even with that glitter. If you use thick coats you may be able to get away with 2 coats.
Alter Ego Body Care Products Salvador (3 coats)
Inspiration: A photo of Salvador fighting enemies in ankle deep water
Price: $10
Cap: None
Salvador is a light blue base with steel grey micro flakes, and red/white micro glitter. It's a little grey, a little blue, and a little metallic. I had to go a little darker with the swatches because the metallic flakes wanted to overpower to micro glitter. I used 3 thin coats for my swatches, but you could get away with 2 thick ones. It had an easy formula and it dried with minimal texture despite the glitter.
Atomic Polish Gigamind (3 coats)
Inspiration: Gigamind, the amazing brain boss in Borderlands 3
Price: $12
Cap: 100
Gigamind was hard to capture. Neons are notoriously hard to accurately show. I did a little color correcting so I think it's really close now. Gigamind is a neon hot pink crelly, the same vibrant pink of Gigamind's pretty brain. It is filled with chameleon flakes that shift from blue/green/purples and holographic flakes. I used 3 thin coats and it had a perfect formula. It also dried with no texture.
Bonparsco Rich Body Lotion in Cucumber Mint
Inspiration: Cucumber & Mint Cocktail served at Moxxi's bar
Price: $6
Cap: 35
Ingredients: Water, Glyceryl Stearate, Isopropyl Myristate, Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides, Stearic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 20, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Dimethicone, Sunflower Oil, Aloe Vera, Disodium Benzophenone-4, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance, Skin-Safe Colorant
This cucumber & mint-scented aloe based lotion with shea butter and cocoa butter that absorbs quickly when applied. This body lotion is thick, but with a little bit of a gel feeling from the added aloe. I think it's that aloe that helps it absorb faster. The cucumber is prominent and the mint adds some extra "green" undertones. It's a fresh scent that I find to be unisex.
By Vanessa Molina LILITH (3 coats)
Inspiration: The character Lilith, a siren
Price: $12
Cap: 50
LILITH is a medium purple jelly base with holographic pigment, pink shimmer, and tons of iridescent flakes. It's beautiful both glossy and matte. I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it dried with texture, so you may need a second coat of topcoat.
Chirality Soften Your Tips Nourishing Cuticle Oil
Inspiration: Lemon Lime & Bullets Moxxtail
Price: $9
Cap: 75
I've used Soften Your Tips previously and was a big fan. It is full of nourishing oils such as jojoba, apricot kernel, rice bran, and avocado oil. It has a doe-foot applicator and I really like the shape of the tube. The large cap makes it easier to hold, especially if you have slippery fingers. Lemon Lime & Bullets is a citrus lemon/lime blend with cucumber slices and a hint of sweetness. It's a clean scent that my husband also enjoys. It's definitely scented, but it's not overpowering.
Color Spectrum Polish Lock, Load, Loot!
Inspiration: Red roses from the Borderlands 3 cover
Price: $11
Cap: 40
Lock, Load, Loooot! is a deep red rose holo with gold micro glitter. The holo finish is even more evident in real life. I'm back to work now, so I get home after it's dark so I couldn't capture this in the sun. I used three thin coats for my photos, and it dried quickly with no texture.
Colores de Carol NOPE (3 coats)
Inspiration: AVA
Price: $11.50
Cap: 50
NOPE is a hot magenta pink with aurora shimmer and holo purple glitters in various shapes and sizes. For some reason this one didn't make my camera go crazy. Colores de Carol is well-known for her crellies, and I can see why. I used three thin coats for my photos, but you may be able to get away with 2. It dried with some texture, but only one coat of topcoat smoothed it out.
Shop | Instagram
When I first applied Live Screaming, I had no idea it was a thermal, so I kept adding coats. Each time I started a new hand, I saw clear spots on the other hand. Oops. I ended up using 4 coats before I figured it out. Don't worry, you will only need 3 coats for yourself. Live Screaming is a clear (warm) to deep green green that leans a bit grey (cool) with tons of green/purple/blue multichrome flakes. I love the large bottle they use...it's like the old Bees Knees Lacquer before they changed over. The formula was good and it dried with no texture.
Crystal Knockout Double Darkness (3 coats)
Inspiration: The Calypso twins
Price: $11
Cap: 45
Shop | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Instagram
Double Darkness is a black jelly base with a red aurora and orange highlight, platinum silver flakes, and purple-blue iridescent flakes and micro glitter. It has a beautiful green/gold shift at extreme angles. I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it dried with a little texture that 1 coat of topcoat smoothed out.
Copacetic Cosmetics Live Screaming (4 coats)
Inspiration: Live screaming sign in borderlands concept art piece
Price: $10
Cap: None
Shop | Instagram
When I first applied Live Screaming, I had no idea it was a thermal, so I kept adding coats. Each time I started a new hand, I saw clear spots on the other hand. Oops. I ended up using 4 coats before I figured it out. Don't worry, you will only need 3 coats for yourself. Live Screaming is a clear (warm) to deep green green that leans a bit grey (cool) with tons of green/purple/blue multichrome flakes. I love the large bottle they use...it's like the old Bees Knees Lacquer before they changed over. The formula was good and it dried with no texture.
Inspiration: The Calypso twins
Price: $11
Cap: 45
Shop | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Instagram
Double Darkness is a black jelly base with a red aurora and orange highlight, platinum silver flakes, and purple-blue iridescent flakes and micro glitter. It has a beautiful green/gold shift at extreme angles. I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it dried with a little texture that 1 coat of topcoat smoothed out.
Ethereal Lacquer Brainstormer (2 coats)
Inspiration: Brainstormer weapon from Borderlands 2
Price: $13
Cap: None
Brainstormer is a light periwinkle base with different holographic pigments to create a mega holo effect. Full disclosure, when I first received my bottle, I found the formula too thick to work with. I contacted Meagan and she looked at her batch and it was fine. Our guess is that the cap was a tiny bit loose in shipping which caused it to be thicker. I've used Ethereal Lacquer polishes before, and I never had any issues, so I think that's what happened. When I was adding a few drops of thinner, a little bit got on the outside and I ruined the label. After a few drops of thinner, it was back to being perfect. I only needed 2 coats for full opacity, and it dried with no texture.
Fangirl Polish Crunk Bunny
Inspiration: Tiny Tina
Price: $8
Cap: 20
What adorable earrings! Fangirl Polish has 2 pairs for us inspired by everyone's favorite Tiny Tina. One pair of studs features Mushy Snugglebites, Tiny Tina’s main squeeze. Lady's got a gut fulla' dynamite and a booty like POOOW! One pair of studs features the Vault symbol. These are the perfect size...not too large and not too small. Each earring post has hypoallergenic stainless steel butterfly backings that didn't cause any irritation to my ears. I can be sensitive to nickel, so I'm glad these worked well for me.
Geekish Glitter Lacquer And Claptrap as a Mistake (3 coats)
Inspiration: Claptrap
Price: $10
Cap: 50
Claptrap, more like Craptrap. Oh man, Claptrap is my favorite character. I'm so glad Lexi gave us a Claptrap polish. And Claptrap as a Mistake is a mustard-leaning yellow jelly base with black shreds and micro glitter. I can easily say this is completely unique to my collection. It looks more like a true yellow in the bottle, but my nails made it a little more mustardy and I'm totally ok with that. I used 3 thin coats for my photos and the formula was slightly thick. It dried with a small amount of texture, but only 1 coat of topcoat was needed.
Indie by Patty Lopes Tanis & the Vault (3 coats)
Inspiration: Dr. Patricia Tannis
Price: $12
Cap: 50
Tanis & the Vault is a pale yellow jelly base with aurora shimmer, pink holo micro glitters, and multichrome flakies. The bright lighting for the photos makes the visible nail line stand out, but it is barely noticeable in person. I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it dried with a little bit of texture.
Inspiration: Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot
Price: $12
Cap: 50
Shop | Facebook Page | Instagram
Ready to Bring Down the House, Sugar? is a purple (cold)-blue (medium)-magenta (warm) tri-thermal with violet to magenta shimmer, pink & purple iridescent flakies and gold flakes. I love how the flakes look different under the various colors. With thicker coats you could get away with 2 coats, but I used 3 thin ones. It dries a bit dull, so definitely bust that topcoat out.
Dr. Zedd Necklace by Jewelry by RPF
Inspiration: A photo of Dr. Zedd
Price: $11
Cap: 15
This Dr. Zedd necklace is set in a 1" round, black pendant setting and uses an aqua green polish with pink and gold flakies and some blue shimmer. There is also a small stamped red heart on the cabochon. It comes with an 18" black faux leather cord with a silver chain link extender and a lobster claw clasp. It's made from a zinc alloy metal and is lead and nickel free. I believe in the photo I had it set in the middle of the link extender. It's a stunning piece that can be dressed up or down for sure.
Inspiration: Tiny Tina
Price: $15
Cap: 20
Shop | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Instagram
Crumpets. Tea. And bombs. Who’s ready to blow something up? I’ll have some freshly baked crumpets ready for when you’re done!
This fun necklace features a maniacal pastel pink bunny charm that is spotted with black, pink and white glitter. There’s also a little tea cup, perfect for when you’re ready to take a break from all of those explosions.
The bunny charm measures 2” tall and 1 1 ¼” wide and is made from lightweight resin. The charm and chain are sterling silver plated and the chain measures 24” long. I found the necklace long enough to put over my head without needing to unclasp it. It doesn't have an extender, so it will always be 24" in length.
Leesha's Lacquer Stacks on Stacks on Stacks (3 coats)
Inspiration: Stacks of Eridium from Borderlands 2
Price: $11
Cap: 100
Stacks on Stacks on Stacks can be a topper or built up to opacity. I chose to wear it on its own and I have no regrets. It's a super sparkly purple polish with a dash of holo pigment and flakes. Since it can be a topper, it was a bit sheer, but any visible nail line seen here is not really noticeable in person. This is 3 thin coats and it had a smooth formula and dried with no texture.
Lollipop Posse Lacquer Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est? (3 coats)
Inspiration: Blue artwork of the female psycho
Price: $12.50
Cap: None
Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est? is an electric blue jelly base filled with dark blue to purple shifting iridescent flakes, blue aurora shimmer, and holographic micro flakes. I tried to capture some of the purple shift, but it just didn't want to cooperate. I used 3 thin coats for my photos and it dried with texture, so you may need a second coat of topcoat to smooth it out. It's totally worth it!
Manis & Molotovs Legendary Loot Ring
Inspiration: Borderlands legendary class loot
Price: $10
Cap: 10
This legendary loot ring has a glass cabochon with reddish orange and gold flakes and a white vault symbol. I didn't need to readjust the size, but it appears you can do so with a little elbow grease. It's a statement piece and those flakes have dimension to them.
MLF Lacquer The Gunner (3 coats)
Inspiration: Moze
Price: $10
Cap: 100
The Gunner is a coral red crelly base with black and silver holographic glitters. Sometimes colors like these can stain the cuticles when removing, but I had no issue with this one. I find it to be more red than coral with my skin tone. It basically applied itself in just 3 thin coats.
Moon Shine Mani Eden 6 (3 coats)
Inspiration: The swampy wilderness moon Eden-6
Price: $12
Cap: None
Eden 6 is a lime green holo base that leans a bit chartreuse packed with green/gold/blue shifting shimmer and copper/silver/gold micro holo glitters. I thought this was going to be full of texture and a pain to remove, but it was surprisingly not! I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it had a great formula.
MTK Design She's More Than Just a Pretty Everything (3 coats)
Inspiration: Mad Moxxi from Borderlands 2
Price: $12.50
Cap: 50
She's More Than Just a Pretty Everything is a magenta (warm) to vibrant purple (cool) thermal with gold holo micro glitter and an intense shifting shimmer from pink-purple-violet creating an almost glow from within. The shimmer in this one makes it difficult to show that thermal shift, but you can see it in the first photo. It truly glows on the nail. I used 3 thin coats and it dried with no texture.
PI Colors Dinosaur Tyrant
Inspiration: Dino tyrant concept art
Price: $6.25
Cap: 25
This soap is a vivid orange red topped with a teal swoopy swirl and brushed with golden shimmer. The shimmer will rinse off after a use or 2, and it didn't stick to my skin. It's scented with a fruity mix of bergamot, lemon verbena, lemongrass, and honey with an earthy note of eucalyptus, and musk. When my husband smelled this, he pretty much claimed it for himself. I wouldn't call it a masculine scent as I really enjoyed it, but more of a unisex scent. We love bergamot, and while I couldn't have told you this soap had it in it, I'm not surprised we loved it so much. Some bar soaps don't suds up much, but this one had a nice and creamy lather. I will be picking up some more PI Colors soaps in the future.
Psyche Minerals Loose Eyeshadow in Lilith
Inspiration: Lilith
Price: $7.50
Cap: None
The top swatch is over an eye primer, while the bottom is on my clean skin. I tend to use primer on my eyes as they can get oily, and as you can see, it accentuates the color even more. Lilith is a grungy pinky brown with a subtle sparkle. It's also safe for all cosmetic applications. This loose eyeshadow is NOT vegan as it has carmine in it, and I really appreciate the head's up. There have been issues with larger cosmetic brands changing their formulas and not brining it to the attention of consumers. It's good to know indie brands are up front with the ingredients. I found this to be the perfect all over eye color. My skin tone is NC 20 which has warm undertones.
Red Eyed Lacquer Twinsies (3 coats)
Inspiration: The Calypso Twins
Price: $11
Cap: 30
Twinsies is a deepened teal jelly base with gunmetal micro flakies, rose-gold micro flakies and pink/champagne color shifting flakies. Those iridescent shifting flakies are the star of the show and they almost glow in that teal base. I used 3 thin coats for my photos, and it dried with a little bit of texture that smoothed out with 1 coat of topcoat.
Saki Lacquer Siren (2 coats)
Inspiration: Maya fan art
Price: $9.50
Cap: 35
Up next we have Siren which is a cerulean blue base with bright white shimmer. The white shimmer gives it almost a metallic feel to it. It was extremely pigmented and easily covered with 2 thin coats. It looks really cool mattified, too.
Sassy Cats Lacquer The Cartels Mansion (4 coats)
Inspiration: The Cartels Mansion
Price: $11
Cap: None
The Cartels Mansion is a delicate lavender/lilac intentionally sheer polish with purple glowy shimmer. I didn't show it that way, but you can also use this as a topper over a darker color for a different look. As you can see from the bottom photo, the matte look really subdues the shimmer and makes it look almost pearly. This one is supposed to be sheer, and I used 4 thin coats for my photos. If you use thick ones, you may want to leave a minute between coats so to make sure it doesn't get too thick to get even drying.
Sassy Shark Charms Borderlands Logo Keychain (also available as a magnet)
Inspiration: Borderlands Logo/vault symbol
Price: $6.50
Cap: 15 keychains / 15 magnets
I purchased the Fallout keychain from this maker a couple months ago and I love it. If I didn't receive this to review, I would have purchased this for my husband (it's currently on his keychain now). This is an epoxy resin keychain in an amber color with the vault symbol and a sprinkling of iridescent glitter for good measure. It's a good size; not so small that it gets lost, but not too bulky to get in the way.
Swamp Gloss Like, Follow & Obey (3 coats)
Inspiration: The Calypso Twins
Price: $14
Cap: 60
Like, Follow & Obey is a super chameleon that shifts royal blue/purple/orange/gold filled with linear holographic pigment and UCC flakes that shift red/gold and purple/orange/gold. This one is a rainbow full of multichrome goodness. It has a ton of expensive ingredients so I'm not surprised this one is $14. It had a great formula and needed 3 thin coats for full opacity. It also dried with no texture at all.
Sweet Heart Polish Constant Battle (3 coats)
Inspiration: A Borderlands photo
Price: $9.50
Cap: 30
Constant Battle is a black jelly base with red/green/gold aurora shimmer, blue flakies and holo glitter. The star of the show are those large blue flakes. I just love them. I used 3 thin coats for my photos. It dries with lots of texture, so you need a thicker topcoat, or use 2 coats of a thinner one to smooth it out.
Treo Lacquer Butt Stallion (3 coats)
Inspiration: Butt Stallion is a unicorn made out of diamonds! Not just a statue but a real living diamond unicorn
Price: $11.50
Cap: 75
BUTT STALLION!! I know lots of people were hoping for a Butt Stallion themed item. It's sparkly af and is gleaming white, accented by scattered holo, and a subtle shimmer that is pink, purple, and blue. This is such a statement polish. It's just so shimmery! I used 3 thin coats for this one, and it dried without texture. I have an April birthday, so this is perfect for my birthstone.
Whew, I think my hands are going to fall off! I hope you were able to make it this far. It was such an honor to work with these makers, and I hope you found a couple (or 20) items you'll be picking up. Remember, this one starts on Monday, so set a reminder.
Where to Buy: https://polishedgamersbox.com/
Pre-order dates: June 15th at 2pm MST (1pm CST/ 2pm EST)- June 20th
Polished Gamers Social Media: Facebook Group and Instagram
*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*
1 comment:
Wow! So many polishes! Love them all!
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