Hey everyone! I'm so excited to show you these polishes! Indie perfume lovers may know the fabulous Ajevie, the woman behind the long running perfume decanting resource called
Ajevie's Circles. I started participating in Ajevie's decant circles earlier this year. I was so impressed by her professionalism and customer service in the perfume world that I didn't hesitate to say yes when she asked if she could send me some of her nail polishes for consideration. I received five shades, which I believe are in 1/8oz bottles:
Dolly's... Polish is Ajevie's budding new business, and I'm already a fan. These polishes are easy to work with, and even though the line is just getting started, they already come in a fabulous variety of colors, finishes, and opacity options. Dolly's... Polish is currently sold through through the Google Docs site linked above, which contains helpful information about the polishes and a ton of swatches on nail wheels to give you an idea of the products before you buy. The Dolly's team is also working on a website at
www.dollysgoods.com. You can't order anything there yet, but you'll find a writeup about the current state of the brand launch, some details about the polish, and a beautifully written origin story. I loved this paragraph in particular, describing the person who inspired the line:
The company is named for my paternal grandmother Mary "Dolly" Espenschied. A pillar of unconditional love who never wanted me to apologize for who I was or what I wanted and lived as a perfect example that sharing and acceptance are the true keys to happiness. In her honor, Dolly's... is about making beautiful things that celebrate everything you and I are. Inspired by everything from our most dashing victories and treasured memories to our thousands of awkward moments and our unapologetically fanatical obsessions. You can change your polish and you can change who you are, but never apologize for either.
And a quick note about ingredients:
All of Dolly's polishes are "Five Free". This means none of our recipes contain formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene, formaldehyde resin or camphor. They are also cruelty free and vegan.
As of writing this post, you can purchase a 1/8oz bottle of any polish for $3, a 1/2oz bottle for $7, or write in your own size request in the "Other" option under each polish. You can also customize, or "tart", any available polish for $0.50 per change. I think Ajevie is really smart to offer a variety of sizes and price points, because I know I'm not the only person a little averse to indie polish collecting when your average indie polish is $10-$12 for a single bottle (and no samples!). These minis, though? I'm totally game. Conservatively speaking I think I'll get at least 5-10 manicures out of each of these mini bottle depending on the color, and though the brush is small, I found it quite easy to work with.
Ajevie also offers the very cool option of custom polish! She showed off one of her favorite custom polishes
here on Reddit, which got me dreaming about ordering a custom of my own... but I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's take a look at some swatches!
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Dolly's... Polish Creamcicle Surprise - four coats, no base or topcoat
From the website: An orange thermal polish that turns pink when warm, packed full of pink and orange shimmer.
Personal Comments: This was the first Dolly's... Polish I tried on, and it instantly knocked me head over heels for the brand. Let's start with a quick drawback - it took four coats (plus some extra dabbing at the tips) to totally cover the whites of my nails for the swatch post above, so folks who prefer quick manicures might find that a little cumbersome. That said, I think this polish is worth the extra effort. The formula builds very nicely, so I didn't have trouble applying multiple layers. The semi-translucent layers also gave it great dimension, especially since it's full of really fine shimmer that glows beautifully when your fingers catch the light. Check out this macro for an eyeful of the shimmer:
This polish also has a really fun parlor trick - it's a thermal polish! We're right in the middle of 80 degree weather right now, so this polish was light pink the moment it hit my fingers. But after a few seconds on an ice pack, my nails turned bright orange:
The orange shifted back to pink within a few seconds as my nails heated up, either from the weather outside or possibly just my own body heat. I'll need to try this out in the winter, but for now, I will tentatively say I wouldn't recommend picking up this polish if you're only interested in it for the thermal effect. Fortunately, the polish is still complex and beautiful even without the color shift, so I'm not disappointed in the slightest. This is my favorite of the bunch and I will likely purchase a bigger bottle.
Purchase Link
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Dolly's... Polish Strawberry Shortcake - three coats, no base or topcoat
From the website: A white thermal polish that turns pink with cold. Speckled with red, pink, green and yellow hex glitters.
Personal Comments: I've tried glitter polishes that are a pain in the butt to apply, but I'm happy to report this isn't one of them! I applied this polish just like any other polish and found the glitters distributed themselves evenly. The only extra effort I needed to put in was pushing the occasional glitter into place if it ended up on the edge of my nail.
I find bright white polishes are a little stark against my skin tone, so I actually preferred how this looked at two coats, when the white was a little softer and not quite opaque. However, the photos here show it fully built up at three coats.The glitter in the top layer seemed firmly anchored but it was not quite level with the rest of the polish, so I'd recommend a thick top coat to smooth everything out and make it look more finished. Check out how fun it looks with all the glitter pieces sandwiched between the layers of polish:
Unfortunately, even accounting for the 80 degree weather, I don't think the thermal aspect of this polish is up to snuff. I found it quite difficult to snag a photo of the effect before it disappeared, even sitting in the sun with an ice pack in my lap and camera at the ready. Here was my best shot:
As with Creamcicle Surprise, I think this polish stands up nicely on its own, but I wouldn't recommend buying it if you're most interested in the thermal effect. Since glitters can be notoriously difficult to remove, I want to note this one gave me no trouble when using my acetone-free remover on a cotton pad.
Purchase Link
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Dolly's... Polish Velvet Chocolates - two coats, no base or topcoat
From the website: Velvety brown with shimmer finish.
Personal Comments: This is a really pretty brown! True to the name it is indeed reminiscent of rich milk chocolate, and it has a fine golden shimmer running through it to add depth and interest. The swatch picture shows two coats, which was enough to make it smooth and opaque. The shade showed very slight brush strokes, but they weren't noticeable enough to bother me. The formula was neither thin nor thick and quite easy to work with. The angled photo above is a little unconventional, but it was my best shot for showing the true color and beautiful gold glow in this polish. Speaking of which, check out the gorgeous shimmer running through it:
I would happily recommend this shade to lovers of brown nail polish; I think it will especially suit folks with warm undertones.
Purchase Link
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Dolly's... Polish Chirp, Chirp - two coats, no base or topcoat
From the website: Pink and yellow micro glitter in a cream base with yellow shimmer.
Personal Comments: This is in the Past Seasonals section, which means it's only available while supplies last. If you love it, make sure to pick it up soon! It's a really adorable pastel pink with itty bitty glitters in a medium pink shade, plus very fine yellow gold shimmer that catches the light. My swatch above doesn't do them justice, so let's take a closer look:
One thick coat might be just enough to cover the whites of your nails. I'm still novice enough at painting my nails that I needed two coats, as seen in the swatch above, for even color. This shade is thicker than the other polishes, but remarkably resilient - I actually managed to bump one of my wet nails, forming a little lump of polish on the end of my fingernail... which self-leveled within a few seconds! It was really cool to watch, and a huge relief, since I thought I'd need to redo the nail. That said, I did notice some unevenness in areas where I hadn't been quite as careful with the thickness of the coat (you may see it if you look closely at my middle finger in the first photo above). I love the shade against my warm-toned skin, but it's thick enough that I'll have to use it a few more times before I decide whether to purchase a full size.
Purchase Link
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Dolly's... Polish Autumn - three coats, no base or topcoat
From the website: Red/green shifting micro glitters with gold and red glitter.
Personal Comments: Like Chirp, Chirp, this is in the Past Seasonals section and is only available while supplies last. Make sure to order it soon if you want it! The swatch here shows three coats, which was enough to even it out and cover the whites of my nails. My camera decided it was going to pull orange no matter what, but in person it's more of a warm-toned red. It's translucent enough that it kinda wants to be a jelly polish, but I don't think it quite crosses the line to be a true jelly.
This polish is very shiny as well - it reflected the light in every photo I took of it regardless of the angle. As such, I don't think any of the macro shots I took are worthy of posting. Fortunately you can get a pretty good sense of the shimmer and glitters in this polish from the shot above - they're by no means densely packed, but there's enough in there to add some interest to the shade. I found the formula easy to work with and the final shiny appearance quite nice, no matter how tough it was to photograph! True to the name, I think this would make an especially beautiful fall polish, and I'm really looking forward to wearing it when the leaves start to change color.
Purchase Link
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And that's a wrap! Thank you so much to Ajevie for giving me the opportunity to test out these shades. I'm really impressed by most of the shades I tried, and I think Dolly's... Polish is off to a fantastic start. I'll definitely be back for big bottles of some of her current line, and I'll be watching eagerly for future releases.
What do you think of these shades? Do smaller bottles and lower prices make you more likely to buy indie nail polish? Are the macro shots helpful to give you a sense of the nail polish? Let me know in the comments!
