Review: Polishes from Emerald & Ash - Life in Color Collection!

*Press Sample*

Hi everyone - happy Tuesday! I have been trying to get this blog post up all day, but I am on vacation in Myrtle Beach and the wifi here is spotty at best. Plus, I've been at the beach and pool soaking up the sun! But I couldn't wait to get this review posted. 

I recently was given the opportunity to try some new polishes from Emerald & Ash. I have never tried their polishes, but I had heard about them and seen pictures, so I was SO excited. Even better when I found out that Ashley and Nate are former Daytonians, AND one of these upcoming polishes had a Something Corporate reference!! These guys are awesome.

Here is the amazing package I received in the mail. I love the branding on everything - there was a stamp on the box, and a clear branded business card. There was also a set of helpful instructions and tips about application and glitter removal, including some felt strips for taking the glitter off. 

My cat Trixie was a big fan of the eco-friendly packaging. She wanted to make sure it tasted okay before I got any further opening the package. :)

I saw three regular sized wrapped bottles and one small one...

...and I unwrapped full size bottles of Elevendy Seven, Zetus Lapetus and (!!!) Confusion with a K! Also, Ashley and Nate included a bottle of their cuticle oil in Fresh Cut Grass scent (Ingredients: Jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, meadowfoam seed oil, fractionated coconut oil, tea tree oil, vitamin A oil and vitamin E oil).

First, here is some information on the Life in Color collection, releasing July 10, 2014 at 9am MDT as a pre-sale. Here is some information from Emerald & Ash about the inspiration behind the Life in Color collection:
"The 14 polishes in Life in Color were created because we absolutely love color and sometimes the colors we wanted to make just didn’t fit into a collection. This was our chance to play and make things we’ve been thinking of for the past year, as well as allowing us to to play with different finishes we haven’t used before. Seeing as this was our chance to play with color, we decided to take this opportunity to give names to the polish that make us laugh while mixing in some that have personal meaning to us.

All of these polishes are highly pigmented, so as always we recommend a good base coat to wear with them."

These are the 14 shades being released - SO.MUCH.COLOR!!!!

First up, I have swatches of Elevendy Seven. Here is Emerald & Ash's description and inspiration for the polish:
"Growing up when I used to ask my mom about an amount of something, quite often the reply would be that we need “elevendy seven”. So maybe we needed elevendy seven of...eggs, or...dogs, or who knows what. It’s a term that stuck with me into adulthood and is a fitting name to go on a color that was my mom’s favorite (green, that is). A beautiful grass green stain crelly that is filled with yellow shimmer, rainbow flakies and a touch of holo. You might just want to pull your shoes off to run your feet through it. Due to the pigments used this polish will dry to a stain finish, if you like a glossy look add a top coat to it to make it shine. Depending on your application 2-3 coats will bring this polish to full coverage."

My camera had a hard time capturing the true color and shimmer of this polish, and an even harder time showing the flakies - I swear, they were SO obvious in person! I tried getting a bottle shot to show you what I mean.

So, I used my Yellow Stopper base coat, and then did 3 coats of Elevendy Seven over that, topping it off with Seche Vite. Without top coat, it had a really cool almost matte finish, but I prefer a glossy look, so I topped it off. For shorter nails and nails that aren't stained, 2 coats of polish would be plenty! Application was great. The first coat went on fairly sheer, but built up wonderfully with the second coat. It is very highly pigmented, so E&A recommend a base coat. I had zero staining on my nails or cuticles, though! :)

I also applied the Fresh Cut Grass (July scent of the month) cuticle oil before taking photos of all these polishes. I fell in love with it! The oil is highly moisturizing, but absorbs quickly and never feels greasy on the skin. And the scent is to die for - it just smells like summer - very clean and fresh! :)

I took one final shot, using flash this time, as an attempt to try to capture all the shimmer. This polish is really the perfect grass green but with so much more added to it. The blue and purple flakies make it truly unique, and the shimmer give it so much depth. 

Next up is Zetus Lapetus! From Emerald & Ash:

"A lipstick pink shimmer that just screams wear me! We felt that wasn’t enough so we tossed in some bright blue micro flakies and a smattering of holo. Sassy, fun and reminiscent of our favorite, always up to something, girl of the 21st century. Depending on your application 2-3 coats bring this polish to full coverage."

This polish is extremely bright and in your face - I love it! And, when I was younger, I was obsessed with the Zenon movie - the first one haha, I wasn't a fan of any that came after that. So, I was happy to see a polish inspired by the movie, and such a great summer shade too! I definitely think "sassy" was the perfect word to describe this one.

Again, I used 3 coats, but someone with shorter or less stained nails could easily get away with 2. I used Yellow Stopper base coat and Seche Vite topcoat. I applied some Fresh Cut Grass cuticle oil and rubbed in before taking photos. The shimmer in Zetus Lapetus was super strong too - and I love the holo sparkles!

I took another shot with flash to show off the micro flakies and the scattered holo. I love the bright berry colored tone of this one! :)

Last, and probably my favorite of the group - though it's hard to decide - is Confusion with a K! I could be biased because I adore the Something Corporate song that it is named after...but anyway, description and inspiration from Emerald & Ash:

"Once upon a time we found an ottoman that had beautiful bright colors and it needed to come home with us. It also needed to be made into a polish. After many trials and errors it decided to be a fun, festive glitter topper. Because it said so. And so, Confusion with a K was born. A glitter topper full of neon pink, neon green, metallic navy blue, grey and white glitters of all sizes. It wants to go on top of ALL of your polishes and maybe even be sandwiched between them as well. You’re good to go with one to two coats, depending on how glitter-hungry you are!"

First, I tried one coat of Confusion with a K over Elevendy Seven - I thought it was a great combination!

The shimmers and flakies in Elevendy Seven went great with the tiny matte microglitters in Confusion with a K. It was a nice contrast that felt really fun and eye-catching to me! In my opinion, you really don't need more than 1 coat of Confusion. I let my bottle sit upside down for about 15 minutes before applying, and I had no trouble at all getting any of the different glitters out, even the big ones.

I experienced no problems with glitters clumping, bare spots, any curling - actually, application was a breeze, especially for such a packed and diverse glitter topper. A lot of times, those big hexes can be a pain, but not this time. :) Here's a shot with flash!

For something different, I tried one coat of Confusion with a K over Zetus Lapetus. Again, the shimmers and the matte glitter contrasted in a really cool way. I wasn't sure if this combination with work, but it ended up being a really cool look for summer, in my opinion! :)

Last shot, one with flash to really show off all the different colors of glitters!

Overall, I was hugely impressed with my first Emerald & Ash experience. All three formulas were on point; I had no issues with dragging, bald spots, clumping, anything. The colored shades were highly pigmented, but I personally experienced no staining.
Again, the Life in Color collection releases on July 10th at 9am MDT as a pre-sale. In the meantime, check out the other polishes they have in stock and the other 85 scents of cuticle oil to get an idea what you want to order when Life in Color releases!! Click the links below to see the E&A shop and their different social media sites to keep up to date on new colors and releases! :)
Emerald & Ash shop
Emerald & Ash Facebook
Emerald & Ash Instagram
Emerald & Ash Twitter

Thanks for reading!
<3 Kelly

These products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I am not being compensated for this post. Please see my Disclosure Statement for more information.