Hi guys! I was surprised with some polishes this week from the lovely Annette over at Rainbow Connection. She and Leah Ann, of Colors by Llarowe (CbL), had been working on something secret and oh-so-special, a duo of holo thermal polishes. Yes, that’s right, THERMAL! These are the very first thermals that Leah Ann has ever released and let’s just say, they are very impressive!
I love my CbL polishes, they are the largest group of indie polishes in my collection and they are just so well formulated.
The new duo is a set of holographic polishes with added multi-chrome flakies and of course, that all important thermal pigment. Let’s take a look…
The first polish is called ‘Peek A Boo’ and is a purple to green thermal. I love this colour combo as is it unusual and is very stand-outish. It covers quite nicely in one coat but two coats makes the colours really pop. A single coat of top coat smooths out the tiny amount of texture from the flakies.
This picture shoes the full colour change: warm-transition-cool.
These macros show off the flakies a little better, there’s a lovely range of colour from them. I’m not sure if the same flakies were used in both polishes but in this polish they seem to shift between green, blue, pink and purple with some orange or gold thrown in. It’s a very pretty mix.
The second polish in the duo is called ‘I See You’. This is a blue to colourless polish, again with holo and flakies. This time the flakies seem to shift between red, gold, green and blue. Both polishes are very mesmerizing. When not quite in a full ‘warm state’, this polish has a hint of grey/blue to it but in full warm mode the hue is from the holo and flakies alone.
Colour change: warm-transition-cool.
Macros again showing the rainbow of holo and flakies.
I’ve added in these pictures of the polishes with white stamping on top for a little something different and just to show how gorgeous they look!
Ok, it’s that time again! My thoughts on these polishes:
- Formula – as I mentioned above, the formula of CbL’s is generally flawless, as are these beauties. As you lift your brush from the bottle and slide off the excess you may find you still have a large glob of polish. Do not worry, that’s just the flakies bulking out the bead and it applies so very smoothly with no effort or over-brushing needed.
- Finish – they dry with a very slight texture from the holo and flakies, and with a slight satin look. A quick lick of top coat makes them smooth and shiny. I always use a good top coat with holo polishes as it accentuates the holo, so top coating is not a big deal for me, plus it will make your mani last longer!
- Colours – the colour choices are beautiful! I will admit that I was a little unsure of the blue to colourless change as I’m not one for very light or sheer polishes, but when ‘I See You’ is warm it allows the flakies and holo to really shine so it’s a win in my opinion. ‘Peek A Boo’ is definitely my favourite, only as my favourite colours for polishes are green and pink and well, this is close enough!
- Thermal – these polishes are VERY reactive. I had my nails in ice water to get the cold pictures as my living room is like an oven at the moment and as soon as I took my hand out of the water, I barely had time to pick up the bottle and pose before the polish started changing! They’re that reactive!
Overall, I think this duo is a winner. I love the colours, the names and the flakies. It is nice to see something so different from a long standing indie brand, I’m hopeful for more thermal polishes in the future!
If you would like your own duo, these will ONLY be available form Rainbow Connection (link here). They are due to be released tonight (27th of June) at 8pm. Grab yours while you can as they are attracting a LOT of attention in the nail community and this is one set that you will not want to miss!
Thank you for reading! Which is your favourite? Why not share your thoughts in the comments below and ’til next time… x x
***These polishes were sent to me free of charge for the process of swatching. The review above is my own thoughts***
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