My lovely friend Lakeisha of Refined and Polished sent me a package brimming with indies to try, since I try to stay as indie-ignorant as possible (more on that later). Shimmer Karina stood out to me the most, so it's the first I tried.

3 coats Rouge Dada, 2 coats Karina

Karina is such a pretty glitter mix, but I could live without the black glitter. It seems a bit incongruous. None the less, it complemented my Rouge Dada mani perfectly.



There are two main reasons I've stayed away from indies. First, it's kind of the same reason I stay away from drugstore polish. I have a Pokemon mentality when it comes to polish, and I decided early on in my collecting that I would focus on higher end and salon brands. Second, buying indies seems like a lot of work. I see posts about certain brands restocking, and people having to refresh for twenty minutes just to check out...ugh. No thanks. I know that craziness doesn't happen with every brand, but the fact that it happens at all is a huge turn off. Plus, I prefer to buy my polish in person. I'm so enjoying the polishes Lakeisha shared with me, but I think I'm still fine admiring indies from afar. Mainstream seems to be catching up quite nicely, anyway



YSL Rouge Dada retails for $25 and is available at Bloomingdales.com

2 coats, Nfu.Oh 50 accent

Ciate Pool Party is a vibrant cobalt blue crelly. It's a little darker than my photo in most lighting, but it looks like this in direct light. Talk about stunning, right? This is my favorite shade of blue. I just love how clean and focused the color is. Pool Party dries matte, so I'm assuming there's some neon pigment involved.



The formula is outstanding! It applied so well, and it is quite pigmented. Perfect consistency, too.



Ciate Pool Party retails for $15 and is available at Sephora

3 coats

 Marc Jacobs Fluorescent Beige is an iridesent pinky mauve with a slightly crelly finish. This automatically reminded me of Essie Demure Vixen, but the base colors are different. The formula on this is nice but not spectacular. It does dry with a shiny finish, but I don't think I'll ever understand the "30 coats of lacquer" claim.



Marc Jacobs Fluorescent Beige retails for $18 and is available at Sephora.

In case you missed it, check out part 1.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Lara's Theme is a bright orange creme.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Scream & Shout is a midtone pink creme. It has just the slightest bit of squishiness. I like the finish a lot.

2 coats

Deborah Lippmann One More Night is a plum creme. Such a luscious color.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Girl on Fire is an oxblood jelly. This girl is on fiyahhhhhh!

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Invincible is a vampy maroon crelly.





I'm kind of in love with all the shades in this batch. Well, except Lara's Theme. It's a beautiful color, but orange looks horrible on me. Anyway, the formula on these is okay, nothing to rave about.



I have two more shades to show you from this set: Sweet Life and Sunshine Superman. I need to reswatch both of them because my current pictures are inaccurate as heck. I'll get those up asap. Update: Sweet Life and Sunshine Superman swatches are up.



Overall, Big Bang is a cute set, but I don't love enough of the shades to say this is a must-have. It's not even a great representation of her formula, so it wouldn't make the best gift for a DL newbie in my honest opinion. I'm praying to the polish gods that she makes Green Eyed Girl, One More Night, Girl on Fire full sized and permanent. I'd be in there like swimwear!





Deborah Lippmann Big Bang retails for $78 and is available at Sephora.com

The Deborah Lippmann Big Bang set is a collection of 12 mini polishes. All of them are new shades with the exception of Lara's Theme. I'd love to know her reasoning behind repromoting only one color and why she chose that one. Anyway, onto the swatches.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Harlem Shake is a pinky purple crelly. It's super shiny and vibrant.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Bad Moon Rising is silver frost.

2 coats

Deborah Lippmann Green Eyed Lady is green shimmer. Gorgeous! One of my favorites.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Big Blue Note is a vibrant midtone blue creme.

2 coats, with 2 coats Dior Gel Top Coat

Deborah Lippmann Sparks Fly is a deep navy base with bright blue glitter. This dries matte and gritty. It's also pretty thirsty.



The formula on these is just okay. Not a very good representation of DL's typically amazing formula.



Check out part 2, here.



Deborah Lippmann Big Bang retails for $78 and is available at Sephora.com

Ur Square is part of the Formula X Lusters collection.

2 coats

Formula X Ur Square is a shimmery beige base with rosy pink microglitter. It's a beautiful, complex shade. So complex, in fact, that I didn't even realize it was a holo until I'd been wearing it for a few hours.






The holo is weak, but it's definitely there. What a gorgeous polish! Ur Square's formula is really nice. The application was easy. My only gripe is that all the Formula X polishes I've tried so far have had stuck caps due to leaked polish in the bottle threads. No new, shrink wrapped polish should have this issue. It's annoying that I have to clean the necks of the brand new polishes. Has anyone else experienced this with these polishes?



Formula X Ur Square retails for $12.50 and is available at Sephora.