Good afternoon fine readers! Boy do I have a doozy of a post for you today... ten Serum No. 5 swatches! Before we get started, I want to tell you that I wrestled with how I wanted to swatch these. Many of them have similar formulas -- glitter polishes with a shimmery or lightly tinted base -- and a lot of these could definitely be built up to opacity alone.
In the end, though, I chose to layer them all over cremes. Hopefully putting them over cremes helps you see the amount of shimmer in one coat. If you'd like additional swatches, the listings in the Serum No. 5 shop are very thorough in showing you coats and combinations!
First up! Call It a 'Treuse over American Apparel Crescent Heights. I love the chartreuse base of this polish, and wanted to amp it up a bit by layering it over this electric lime shade. The hot pink glitters are the perfect contrast and I love the glitter sizes. Definitely one of my favorites by this brand.
Here we have Fallen over China Glaze Igniting Love. This one was a bit indulgent too, in that layering it over red makes it hard for you guys to see the red shimmery base of the polish, but I just loved the way the gold works with this color!
Girl's BFF is a silvery topcoat composed of glitters and microflakes. It's very dense, in a good way. This is just one coat over Ulta Smoke Screen!
Girl's Gotta Eat feels like a natural pair for Girl's BFF. It's a gold microflake base with gold and silver glitters; think Essie As Gold As It Gets PLUS glitter! I've paired it with American Apparel Berry.
Forest Lights is a mix of greens, golds, and whites in a green shimmery base. I did have some minor troubles with brushstrokes here, but they were barely visible in person. Shown over China Glaze Westside Warrior.
Okay, this combo? I loved it, it's like a beautiful robin's egg. Shown here is Pretty Blue over Zoya Blu. This mix of blue and purple glitters also seems to have a bit of white microflake to it, too? Like diamond shards, almost.
Rise and Grind is an interesting blend of white, brown, gold, and copper glitters. It was inspired by coffee/espresso, but when layered over China Glaze Kalahari Kiss, it reminded me of a sandy beach sprinkled with sand dollars. I used two coats of Rise and Grind in this swatch.
Stormy Weather, shown here over LCN Tokyo Expression, begins with a silver microsparkle base and adds blues, blacks, and silver bars ("lightning"). The bars did have a bit of a curve to them, but they were manageable. I love the density of the silver sparkle.
Starry Nights is a really fun topper. It starts with a shimmery blue base, and then adds squares, gold and lavender glitters, and stars. I layered it over American Apparel Mount Royal for the swatch below. This one also looks beautiful and rich layered over black (check the listing in the Serum No. 5 shop for a photo)!
Finally, we have Barely There. This polish is the only one I chose not to layer, and I needed three coats for the photo below. It's a pretty pink toned nude polish with silver glitters and silver sparkle. Very delicate and feminine.
Phew! So much glitter, I think I have been blinded by the awesome sparklies! Which ones are your favorites? I definitely love Call It a 'Treuse, Pretty Blue, and Fallen.
Serum No. 5 polishes can be found in their Etsy shop and Mei Mei's Signatures. Be sure to like Serum No. 5 on Facebook and follow on Tumblr to keep up with new releases and other pertinent information. 20% of all Serum profits go to charity.
Product provided for review.
In the end, though, I chose to layer them all over cremes. Hopefully putting them over cremes helps you see the amount of shimmer in one coat. If you'd like additional swatches, the listings in the Serum No. 5 shop are very thorough in showing you coats and combinations!
First up! Call It a 'Treuse over American Apparel Crescent Heights. I love the chartreuse base of this polish, and wanted to amp it up a bit by layering it over this electric lime shade. The hot pink glitters are the perfect contrast and I love the glitter sizes. Definitely one of my favorites by this brand.
Here we have Fallen over China Glaze Igniting Love. This one was a bit indulgent too, in that layering it over red makes it hard for you guys to see the red shimmery base of the polish, but I just loved the way the gold works with this color!
Girl's BFF is a silvery topcoat composed of glitters and microflakes. It's very dense, in a good way. This is just one coat over Ulta Smoke Screen!
Girl's Gotta Eat feels like a natural pair for Girl's BFF. It's a gold microflake base with gold and silver glitters; think Essie As Gold As It Gets PLUS glitter! I've paired it with American Apparel Berry.
Forest Lights is a mix of greens, golds, and whites in a green shimmery base. I did have some minor troubles with brushstrokes here, but they were barely visible in person. Shown over China Glaze Westside Warrior.
Okay, this combo? I loved it, it's like a beautiful robin's egg. Shown here is Pretty Blue over Zoya Blu. This mix of blue and purple glitters also seems to have a bit of white microflake to it, too? Like diamond shards, almost.
Rise and Grind is an interesting blend of white, brown, gold, and copper glitters. It was inspired by coffee/espresso, but when layered over China Glaze Kalahari Kiss, it reminded me of a sandy beach sprinkled with sand dollars. I used two coats of Rise and Grind in this swatch.
Stormy Weather, shown here over LCN Tokyo Expression, begins with a silver microsparkle base and adds blues, blacks, and silver bars ("lightning"). The bars did have a bit of a curve to them, but they were manageable. I love the density of the silver sparkle.
Starry Nights is a really fun topper. It starts with a shimmery blue base, and then adds squares, gold and lavender glitters, and stars. I layered it over American Apparel Mount Royal for the swatch below. This one also looks beautiful and rich layered over black (check the listing in the Serum No. 5 shop for a photo)!
Finally, we have Barely There. This polish is the only one I chose not to layer, and I needed three coats for the photo below. It's a pretty pink toned nude polish with silver glitters and silver sparkle. Very delicate and feminine.
Phew! So much glitter, I think I have been blinded by the awesome sparklies! Which ones are your favorites? I definitely love Call It a 'Treuse, Pretty Blue, and Fallen.
Serum No. 5 polishes can be found in their Etsy shop and Mei Mei's Signatures. Be sure to like Serum No. 5 on Facebook and follow on Tumblr to keep up with new releases and other pertinent information. 20% of all Serum profits go to charity.
Product provided for review.
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