Polished by Alexandra, Summer 2013: Island Oasis, Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! Work has been busy these past few days, so I haven't had a chance to post, but I'm hoping soon my schedule will ease up so that I can do more nail art and swatches.

Several days ago, I posted a gradient I did with a few polishes from new indie brand Polished by Alexandra. And today I have swatches and a review of her first collection. Alex contacted me some time ago about reviewing her polishes, and I was intrigued by her background: she's a professional opera singer who has been making soaps for the past few years and selling them on her Etsy store Soaps by Alexandra.

She is launching her first polish line after experimenting and learning to make nail polish for the past several months. One thing I'm impressed with is the professionalism with which she approaches her new polish business. Her promotional photos are well done and she is very clear in her communication to bloggers - samples come with information about the collection and her polishes. I wish all indie makers were this clear with bloggers!

Polished by Alexandra, Summer 2013: Island Oasis

This collection takes on the theme of the island vacation. I'm not much of a beach getaway person but I've seen enough promotional/travel photos that I get the point! It contains two sheers, two cremes and one glitter.

Beach Glass is a pale pastel blue creme. Unfortunately the promotional photos make this look like a light aqua blue, but it is definitely a pale pastel blue and is not aqua. The formula on this one was amazing - I had no issue with streaking and it was perfectly self-leveling. This was two coats and it was so opaque it was almost a one coater. I love pale blues and this was hands down my favourite. I'm really impressed because the formula is better than some mainstream nail polishes!

Polished by Alexandra Beach Glass

Polished by Alexandra Beach Glass

Fiji Sunset is a sheer sienna shimmer. This is much too sheer to wear on it's own, so it's better layered over another colour. While you can layer it over lighter, matching colours, it is amazing layered over darker colours. This is two coats over Nicole by OPI Black Cat-Cha Later, a black with subtle red shimmer. Although there's a red shimmer in the base polish, the shimmer you see is all from Fiji Sunset - you would get a very similar effect layering this over black, maybe even slightly more dramatic. I absolutely love how this looks over dark colours and I'm going to be wearing this one again! Formula wise I had no issues.

Polished by Alexandra Fiji Sunset

Polished by Alexandra Fiji Sunset

Polished by Alexandra Fiji Sunset

Hawaiian Hibiscus is a pale yellow creme. It is a bit too bright to be a pastel yellow. Again, the formula on this one was amazing. This was two coats and I had no issues with streaking. It went on smooth and was perfectly self-leveling. It's very opaque and pigmented, and like Beach Glass is almost a one coater. I find this to be a very fun colour for spring and summer!

Polished by Alexandra Hawaiian Hibiscus

Polished by Alexandra Hawaiian Hibiscus

Sparkling Sands is a clear-based glitter topper with small silver and blue metallic square glitter and small fuchsia metallic hex glitter. I did one coat over Beach Glass and Hawaiian Hibiscus. The formula on this was great and there's good glitter payoff. In the bottle it looks like the glitter is slightly curling, but it laid flat on the nail.

Polished by Alexandra Sparkling Sands

Polished by Alexandra Sparkling Sands

Watermelon Sangria is a sheer watermelon pink shimmer. It can either be worn on it's own or layered over another colour. This was four coats on it's own, and I found it to be too thick. I'd recommend three coats (if you don't mind visible nail line) or layering it over a matching creme. The application was great, but one problem I had was bubbling. It may be user error, however, when there is bubbling it is much more visible than with a creme polish. :/

Polished by Alexandra Watermelon Sangria

Polished by Alexandra Watermelon Sangria

My favourites are Beach Glass and Fiji Sunset, with Hawaiian Hibiscus coming in at third place. As a collection it's very cohesive, but I think there will be something here for everyone. I am slightly concerned about the reflecting curling in Sparkling Sands, so I will follow up with Alex on this one.

The Summer 2013: Island Oasis collection launches tomorrow Friday, June 21st. It will be available on Alex's Etsy shop Soaps by Alexandra, or you can go to www.polishedbyalexandra.com, which will also link to her Etsy store. Follow Polished by Alexandra on Facebook or Instagram (@polishedbyalexandra) for updates and info.

*Polishes were provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*