I think all but one of these are holo because obviously those are my favorites. But when it came to the polishes I chose I was aiming for polishes I've seen featured a lot this season and colors I've been gravitating toward from the latest collections (and a few from older collections).
Full disclosure, some of these were sent as press samples, those will be denoted with a *. So let's get to it shall we?!
For my sanity's sake, I'm not going to link to each individual polish here (to be honest maybe one or two of these aren't available to purchase any more) but I'll post to the brand's sites so you can peruse at your own leisure if you'd like. Also I'll just be discussing color and consistency of these polishes, but there were no difficult formulas and I think all were 1-2 coaters!
First up we have some of my favorite vampy shades, the wine colored holo.
From thumb to pinky we have: Pahlish The Heavenly and Primal, Darling Diva Polish BEWBS!!!, Fair Maiden Polish Just A Mirage, Glam Polish Forbode and Polished by KPT Selene.
The closest here is definitely BEWBS!!! and The Heavenly and Primal, with BEWBS!!! leaning just slightly more plum and The Heavenly and Primal being darker. Just a Mirage has blue iridescent flakies with give it a lovely blue flash. Forbode has larger micro glitter in it and golden flakies giving it a lovely golden glow – also dries to a gritty texture (but smooths with top coat). Selene is the lightest of this group, with a slightly faded red vampy shade to it.
Next up we have the plum to violet shades of vamp!
From thumb to pinkie: Darling Diva Polish Have You Ever Been Mistaken for a Man?, ILNP Poetry, Smitten Polish Something Wicked This Way Plums, Great Lakes Lacquer The Animal Advocate* and Indigo Bananas Polish of Unusual Quality.
While all of these, except for Polish of Unusual Quality, are similar in color they all have something which sets them apart. Have You Ever Been Mistaken for a Man? is a lovely plum holo and Poetry is similar but has a more metallic finish. Something Wicked This Way Plums is made of three different sized holo glitters (including larger microglitters) and The Animal Advocate has matching plum flakies. Polish of Unusual Quality is the pinker violet of the mix, but has an amazing blue flash in its linear holo finish.
Next up we have our garnet/red/brick polishes, this is another color family I gravitate heavily toward this time of year!
From thumb to pinkie we have: Darling Diva Polish The Grand Rite, ILNP Diablo, Glam Polish Road Kill, Indigo Bananas Synonym Bun* and Darling Diva Polish Did IQs Just Drop Sharply While I was Away?
Here the finishes and the colors all vary. The Grand Rite is what I would call a true vampy blood red holo. Diablo has a touch of violet tones in it, but leans very vampy red as well with holo shards. I pick up more red orange in Road Kill, with microglitters to boot (dries textured but will smooth out with top coat). Synomyn Bun is a red leaning brown holo. Did IQs Just Drop While I Was Away is clearly the odd duck out in this bunch, but I had to include it. It is a dark polish that has red flashes, violet flakies and holo microglitters.
Now we have the color of the season popping up in every collection – browns!
From thumb to pinkie: INLP Overnight Bag, Darling Diva Polish Malum, Pahlish Hundred Eyes, Great Lakes Lacquer The Traveling Linguist* and Smitten Polish Can You Beleaf these Puns?*
Overnight Bag leans the most warm to me in this grouping and has the typical ILNP holo shards. Malum leans a bit dark and purple to me, but also has lovely golden metallic flakies in it. Hundred Eyes it the truest brown in this group, also has golden flakies. The Traveling Linguist is not holo, but jelly in finish with golden and red flakies. Can You Beleaf these Puns is a brown jelly with microglitters (dries textured, top coat will smooth it out).
Next up we have the ultra dark almost black vampy holos.
From thumb to pinkie: Darling Diva Ashes Ashes, Smitten Polish Black Mamba*, Cupcake Polish Coffin Break, Elevation Polish Saif al Jabbar and Fair Maiden Polish Throwin' Elbows.
To start, Ashes Ashes has a deep dark purple base but ends up looking pretty black on the nail. Black Mamba is made up of two different sizes holo glittlers. Coffin Break and Throwin' Elbows are near dupes in my opinion, with Coffin Break leaning slightly warmer and Throwin' Elbows leaning having a slightly stronger golden flash. Saif al Jabbar stands out in this group as it has a clear red/violet flash to its finish.
Now we have the oranger leaning polishes of the group.
From thumb to pinkie: Darling Diva The Arcanist, Indigo Bananas Volcanic Corruption*, Smitten Polish Bengal Tiger, ILNP Atomic Sherbet and Literary Lacquers Greatest Treasures.
The Arcanist clearly looks the most out of place among these polishes, but has a nice darkened brick color. Volcanic Corruption is a bright red orang holo. Bengal Tiger is a true orange with the strongest linear holo finish. Atomic Sherbet leans red orange and has golden glow. Greatest Treasures is the palest of the bunch, but is a lovely red-orange holo.
Next up, another color I will buy until eternity is the teal holo. Now in the fall these lean a lot darker, more vampy and subdued, but lovely all the same.
From thumb to pinkie: ILNP Mountain View, Pahlish Eternal Blue Sky, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer No Wane, Darling Diva Polish Long Live the Queen and Glam Polish Hostile.
Now while all of these are similar in color family, they are all a bit different in finish. Mountain View is a jelly polish with holo shards and copper flakes. Eternal Blue Sky has a beautiful blue flash. No Wane is a straight linear holo but has the strongest holo flash. Long Live the Queen! has cool colored microflakies in it and Hostile has microglitter pieces that give a pink flash (and textured finish, smoothed by top coat).
And finally we have made it to the final comparison the bright purples and blurples, colors that are always highly sought after in the indie world.
From thumb to pinkie: Cupcake Polish Berry Good Looking, Indigo Bananas Rhythm & Booze*, Great Lakes Lacquer Coral*, Indigo Bananas Indigo Montoya* and Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Go Deep.
Berry Good Looking is probably the least fall-like in my opinion, but everyone is talking about it and it is an awesome polish. The brightest of the group and gives a gorgeous blue holo flash. Rhythm & Booze is a more deep royal purple, but also bright in its own right. Coral gives a gorgeous pink glow in its finish. Indigo Montoya is obviously more blue, but not in navy territory. Go Deep is a more vibrant blurple, a bit darker than Indigo Montoya.
So there you have it! Boy was this post time consuming but in the end I know it was worth it. The thing I love most about indies is even though these were all similar, each had their own little characteristic, making them different and special. I hope I've helped you sort out your lists and probably added a lemming or two – sorry!
Which of these color families do you gravitate to most in the fall? Which of these 40 shades is your absolute favorite?! Please share with me in the comments, I'd love to know what you think! :-)
