The first thing that'll snag you is the packaging, and Philly Loves Lacquer's founder and artisan Esther, a self described cat-mom and former nail biter, makes quite the pretty package. You don't have to worry about your polishes breaking on their way to you, because each one is hand wrapped in the most ridiculously adorable little tissue paper roll. The look of the bottle is classic, clean, and perfectly representative of the brand, so even when you unwrap your goodies, the aesthetics remain pleasing.
(All wrapped up.)
(Unwrapped. The temporary tattoo looking thing is actually a pretty sweet decal!)
In the order above is the Valentine's Day Trio of mini polishes, one of the many holiday special Philly Loves Lacquer releases, and the wrapped tissue is holding a mini of Sister Cities and a full-size of Wooder Ice. Right there in your box you're also getting all the info you need about your polishes, an awesome silver holographic glittery decal, and PLL's social media details.
Now, a great looking package isn't actually a great package if it's filled with crap, so it's a good thing Philly Loves Lacquer also produces a pretty awesome artisan polish. Their small batch colors are edgy and fun, with a particular emphasis placed on sparkle, and I was pretty pleased with how nice it is to wear and easy it is to remove. The microglitter used in many of the polishes isn't the nightmare sort of glitter you'll need to turn yourself in to Edward Tinfoilhands for, and a cotton pad with remover is usually completely sufficient.
Philly Loves Lacquer also touches on pretty much all cosmetics concerns in one little package - they're vegan, 5-free, and completely cruelty-free as well.
The Colors
The colors are really spectacular with Philly Loves Lacquer, and the line really embodies one of the biggest perks of indie polish. These small batches take risks the big guys don't, and you reap the reward with some seriously edgy and unique manicures.
First up is Wooder Ice, probably the one that made me invest. As a Philadelphia area native, I totally fell for the cheeky name, and I'm sure anyone who's ever heard a Philly accent can figure why! The polish is a blend of pastel shade microglitters with a touch of holographic sparkle thrown in, and in my opinion, almost looks a bit like a fuzzy TV. It's a bit textured, and will require a topcoat if one wants a smooth finish.
Next up is Sister Cities, which uses the same sort of microglitter and texture as Wooder Ice, but in a black and pink combination rather than pastels. What really struck me about this one is that you're not sure what to make of the color at first, but it's so evenly blended that it's never too pink or too black. Like Wooder Ice, you're also going to get a hint of sparkle here and there, but it's far from too much.
I figured I would do the Valentine's Day 2016 Trio as a set, like it's intended to be, and showcase each one a little bit.
The first is Hearts on Fire, a true red crelly creme polish with a really gorgeous, rich, and superfine microglitter. The glitter is so fine, it's almost like a dusting of sparkle situated into every layer of polish.
Next is Pink Me, an ultra-dense glitter topper using microglitter, larger sized glitter pieces, and even a few glitter hearts thrown in.
Lastly, we have A Heart Shaped Love, which was my personal favorite of the three. I did have a swatched photo on the nails, but it seems to have disappeared into mobile cyberspace somewhere, unfortunately. This is a white crelly filled with red multi-sized and multi-shaped glitters, that in my honest opinion looks a bit like blood splatter on a white background. Not very romantic, I know, but it looked awesome and would fit right in with Halloween as well as it did for Valentine's Day!
Application And Wear
Philly Loves Lacquer wears pretty well, but I will say that it does chip a little quicker than other indie polishes I've tried. Not super-fast, but don't be surprised if you see a small bit of chipping after 3 or 4 days. By the end of the first week, I had enough chipping that it was time to change polishes, but that's pretty standard, I've found.
Pictured below is the This Much is True-oo shade created for the March Magic 8 Box:
What it is is a smoke grey crelly with a nice touch of holo microglitter and a touch of wee gold flake, and on the nail it's nice and smooth with good color saturation and light reflection. What I noticed during application with this shade, and with the A Heart Shaped Love crelly, is that it does thicken up a bit as it's exposed to air, so I had to close the bottle and give it a little shake every other nail or so. It was a bit of a pain, but I believe a couple drops of nail polish thinner would fix that immediately.
The glitter, while on, was actually quite subtle, so you get a bit of sparkle without being "in your face" about it.
Chipping started slowly at the tips of the nail, so an extra layer of topcoat to that portion, I believe, could really prolong your wear by quite a bit. I, however, opted out of adding an extra layer of topcoat (probably out of laziness), and I did start experiencing chips around day 3.
Removal
As I said before, Philly Loves Lacquer is pretty nice to remove, which was both refreshing and convenient. I found even shades like A Heart Shaped Love, which has significantly larger glitter pieces when compared to the microglitters of Hearts on Fire or This Much is True-oo, came off when I wanted it off, and I had no need for awful foil fingermittens.
Get It
Probably one of the best aspects of Philly Loves Lacquer is that it's a seriously affordable polish, and new shades are always brought in and out. Almost all shades are available in both mini and full sizes, with minis running around $6 for 8mL and full sizes around $12 for 15mL.
The best way to see and purchase their full range of polishes is on the shop section of their webpage, and Philly Loves Lacquer also does custom orders, which can really come in handy for weddings and other special occasions.
PLL's social media pages are updated often, and a great way to keep up with the brand. They can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/phillyloveslacquer/, and Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/phloveslacquer/, so you can browse a bit of their past collections, current polishes, and sneaks into what's coming next!
Conclusion
Philly Loves Lacquer is an indie polish brand worth looking at, and for those just starting out in artisan cosmetics, they're also a really affordable way to give handcrafted polishes a try. With nicely sized minis at only 6 bucks, and full sizers at 12, you're not risking much more than you would on a drugstore brand. Size-wise, the mini bottles are more than double the size of OPI minis (8mL compared to 3.75mL), and the full size bottles are the same size as a standard OPI polish
With a ton of colors, finishes, effects, and textures to choose from, PLL offers a little bit of everything, at the right price, and with incredible care.
