REVIEW: Serum No. 5 Spring/Summer 2014 Collection
My, oh my! I am so excited to publish this review of Serum No. 5's Spring/Summer 2014 collection consisting of glow-in-the-dark neons, tropical-inspired polishes, AND a very special new silver top coat. I will save that special somethin'-somethin' for the end of this post, but if you are following me on Instagram, you may have already seen what I am talking about (wink, wink, I described it as "Edward Cullen sparkling on my nails"). Let's get going with the swatches!
We will start with the 7 glow-in-the-dark (gitd) neons. Victoria from Serum No. 5 is the master of gitd polishes and she has successfully created extremely bright neons that not only wow your eyes in the day, but they actually glow stunningly in the dark. For all 7 of these gitd neons, I "charged" up my nails under a lamp for 30 seconds before going into a dark room to photograph the swatches.Ā
First up isĀ Solar Power. This highlighter yellow polish dries to a rubber finish, so I added a top coat to make it shiny. Pictured is three full coats for opacity. The polish glows green in the dark.
Orange You Sunny is a beautiful neon orange (also has a highlighter look) that is opaque in two coats. I was expecting another green glow, but to my surprise, it shines a stunning sparkly yellow in the dark! How did Victoria make glow in the dark actually sparkle?! So cool!
I Gleam in PinkĀ is a bright, bubblegum pink neon. I got nail polish all over my hands (I was swatching rather late at night and got klutzy, whoops), so you can see specks of polish all over my fingers. You will also notice that I forgot to top the polish off with top coat, so my swatch looks a bit bumpy. The bumps are part of the glitter for the sparkling gitd effect. Does the glow remind you of fire? ;)
Infrared is an orange-red neon. Unfortunately, my camera kept freaking out on me when it came time to photographing this in the dark. This polish has a very faint (not as bright compared to the others in this set) red gitd effect and my camera could not capture it. Rather than post a picture of darkness, I decided to leave it to your imagination (or actually, for you to witness the glow for yourself in person). Pictured is two coats.
Krypton-BriteĀ is definitely a favorite of mine! This eerie, Frankenstein-like color is just gorgeous for the summer! Two coats + top coat is shown.
Indi-Glo is a deep, royal blue. I wouldn't quite call this neon, but it sure is bright in the dark! It glows blue. Since this polish is darker and more pigmented than the others, I used just one coat for full coverage here.
The final neon gitd polish isĀ Ultra VioletĀ (man, how does Victoria come up with such fitting names?). This purple is more on the side of an orchid-purple than pictured. The powder-blue glow is to die for! Pictured is two coats.
Now let's move on to the tropical-inspired goods! There are 4 polishes in this set consisting of a variety of glitter, holo, and gitd.
Isle Live is a cute springtime mixture of matte pink, green, and yellow glitter in a pale yellow creme base. This polish reminds me a bit Ā ofĀ Second Spring from Serum No. 5's Fall/Winter 2013 collection. Pictured is two coats. It also glows an amazingly bright green in the dark! I like leaving this bottle of polish on my nightstand, so when I am getting ready for bed, it charges under my lamp. Once i get into bed, it glows for several minutes so I can stare at it before I fall asleep, hehe.
Just Add Water is a gorgeous holo aqua jelly polish packed with turquoise, green, and white glitter in various shapes and sizes. I can tell that Victoria put a lot of thought into mixing this polish up because I really do feel that this polish resembles the ocean. And mermaids! :) Pictured is two coats, though now that I am looking at the picture, I should have used three coats to cover up my nail lines.Ā
Off Tropic is a golden yellow shimmering polish. It does have a subtle holographic effect, but you will need to look up close in order to catch it. Pictured is two coats and no top coat.
Sand-tastic is a polish that I really wish I could show you in person. It is densely packed mixture of micro rainbow glitter and matte black glitter to resemble sand. I have posted a blurred motion shot of this polish on Instagram. Click here to see the sparkling goodness! Pictured is two coats.
All polishes above will be available for pre-order beginning on May 23 (that's this Friday) at 12PM PDT and ending on May 25 at 3PM PDT/ They will be generally released on June 20 at 12PM PDT.
Victoria included some extras for me to try out! The release dates may be different for these than the ones above, so I'll include information after each polish.
What a Blast is a patriotic blend of red, white, and blue glitter in a clear base. There are also some silver star glitter in there! I have one coat layered over a white creme. Oh, and guess what? It also glows in the dark! ;)
This polish will be available on June 1st at 12PM PDTĀ as part of a collaboration for July 4th between Serum No. 5 and Polished by KPT. It will also be sold individually, but if you purchase the box, you will get two polishes (one glow and one thermal), a cuticle oil (varies depending on which store the box is purchased from), and four various charms or studs. The box will retail for $27.50.
Lei Down the Law is a fun mixture of bright neon matte glitter along with gray. Pictured is two coats alone! Look at how dense that polish is. :) It glows white in the dark. <3
And of course, I have saved the best for last. This is certainly a new thing in nail polish for me and I would not have tried this if Victoria didn't mention in the description that there was something special about this polish. This is Flashing Lights, a shimmering silver top coat. Even though it is a top coat, you can layer it until opaque as i have done above. This is three coats with no top coat. Looks simple in the day time, but .. go into a dark room with your camera and ..
BAM! I must note that this only works with ONE coat of Flashing Lights over your bare nails. When you take a picture with your flash on, this polish reflects the light back to you like there's no tomorrow. This picture is NOT photoshopped (I wouldn't even know how to achieve that effect on computer). Amazing, right?! And of course, I shot a short video of this polish in action. Click here to see!
Flashing Lights will also be available for pre-order this Friday, May 23 at 12PM PDT. Get ready! This is so cool and you really need to try this polish for yourself to understand how giddy I am inside. ;)
Wow! This is one of the longest posts on mandie's manicures in a long time. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have an awesome day!
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Disclosure: Products provided for an honest review.
