UK Indie Box: ‘Tropical Getaway’ – Swatch and Review

Hello everyone! Today I have a blog post for you that I have been very excited to share with you all. At the start of the new year, I had a little discussion on my Instagram story about things we want to see more of in the Indie Nail Polish community and something I mentioned was more indie boxes and group customs specifically for the UK, and now we have a UK Indie box to dive into! Although it originally first launched at Christmas, I had to give that box a miss, however this box had the theme ‘tropical getaway’ and with each reveal I became more and more excited for this box and had to get my hands on it. On the day it arrived, I was so excited I ended up swatching them all in one day and decided I’d write a blog post too. I just wanted to share my thoughts on these beautiful products and my excitement for this indie box, so let’s get started.

Please note: This is not a PR post, these polishes were not sent to me. I purchased this box myself and these are my own thoughts and opinions. 

‘Sea, Sand and Nail Polish’ from Danglefoot Nail Polish. 

Starting with the polishes, we have the ‘Sea, sand and nail polish’ from maker Danglefoot. This polish was described as a delicate purple tri-thermal with iridescent flakies. I was very excited for this polish because this is my very first polish from Danglefoot and I have been enjoying thermal polishes very much recently and was very excited to have one in the box. Personally, this shade felt the least like a tropical holiday shade, but it was still very pretty. Initially, this thermal was not the most transitional on me, obviously the weather here is still in Winter and it was incredibly cold on the first day I swatched this and unfortunately I was unable to capture this shade in the warm state outdoors. However, when I wore this polish for the second time I managed to capture the transition around the free edge of my nails and I was surprised by how nicely all states suited my skin tone as I very rarely gravitate towards light purple shades. In the photos you can see the warmest state on my nail bed, then a lighter purple-toned periwinkle shade at the start of the free edge and the tip of the nails in the deepest state which is also the same shade as the bottle appears. The iridescent flakies in this are on the slightly larger size which I enjoyed and this reached my desired opacity in two coats. 

 ‘Tropical Shores’ from Ard As Nails. 

‘Tropical Shores’ is an aqua blue to purple shifting base accented with copper flakies. I definitely was not expecting to love this polish as much as I did! This polish felt the most in tune with the theme, for me personally. It really reminded me of a beautiful sunset sky setting over the sea. The base colour has a somewhat metallic finish and really leapt of my nails with how glowing and ethereal it appears and the copper flakes really elevate the polish. I do, however, wish the copper flakies were slightly bigger and more pronounced on the nails. For some nails I did let the brush sit on the neck of the bottle to let the excess polish pour off in order to get a better flakie pay-off, but this is just a matter of personal preference and did not affect the quality of the polish at all. This was fully opaque in two coats and very unique to my collection and definitely a polish I could see myself wearing on my own tropical getaway. 

‘Paradise Sands’ from Polished Cosmetics. 

Another brand first for me! ‘Paradise Sands’ is a gold metallic base featuring silver holographic flakes. This polish was quite sheer on the first coat but thankfully was fully opaque in two coats. The brush is a bit shorter and thinner than I would prefer but again, this is just personal preference and did not affect the quality and application of the polish. This gold is a very rich and warm-toned shade of gold and felt very regal on the nails, which I enjoyed as usually gold polishes tend to blend in on my skin tone. I had no problem getting any of the holographic flakies out of the bottle and onto the nail, however they do leave a slight bit of texture when polished on but they are easily smoothed out once glossy topcoat is applied. My photos probably did not do this polish also felt very much on theme; the base colour is a beautiful yellow reminiscent of beautiful golden sand on a tropical beach and the flakies give the impression of shells scattered across the beaches. 

‘Island Breeze’ from Télle Moi. 

This is the one polish in the box that I was most excited for! I must admit, the fact that there was a black-owned brand in the box made me much more excited for this and was made even more excited knowing this shade was blue and sparkly, which for me is just perfection in a bottle. ‘Island Breeze’ is a vibrant metallic blue base with a silver shimmer and a light holographic effect running through. This was not the medium cobalt blue shade I was expecting it to be but it definitely did not lessen my love of the shade and gives it a much more tropical finish. The aqua-based blue really stood out against my skin tone beautifully. This had a great application with a long, wide brush and very good opacity too, it was completely opaque in two coats, and was almost a one-coater. The shimmer and light holographic effect had a really subtle but beautiful sparkle in the sunshine.

Wax Melt in the scent ‘Lime, Basil and Mandarin’ from The G Man.

Alongside the four polishes were the inclusion of two other products. The first of the two was a wax melt from a UK-based small business called The G Man. I really enjoy wax melts and burners, they are much more efficient in distributing scents around your living areas and I was incredibly excited to have one in this box. I was very excited for the scent of this particular wax melt as I love citrus scents the most. Initially, before I lit the burner I was surprised by how the basil scent was at the forefront; it’s light and refreshing without being overpowering or making the room smell too savoury. I lit this wax melt after the I had finished swatching all of the polishes in order to lift the heavy scent of the four polishes from my room and was very happy with the result. Once lit, this wax melt was very refreshing and light, it was not overpowering and so far has lasted five burns. I always love finding new brands to try products from and I really loved the packaging this came in too. 

Cuticle Oil in the scent ‘Lime and Coconut Milk’ from A Certain Becca Lacquer.

I must admit, many of my UK-based fellow nail addicts have tried Cuticle Oil from A Certain Becca Lacquer and they have been on my list to try. I love cuticle oils and really can never get enough of them. It’s really important to oil your cuticles and nails everyday and have a selection to choose from and have handy is always a great help. For starters, I love the doe-foot applicator and clear component; this made it much easier to control the amount of oil I applied to my nails and allows me to see how much product is left in the bottle too. In regards to the oil itself; it has a nice, smooth consistency and was not too thick or too viscous and the scent was delicious. The coconut milk was the dominant scent, for me personally, but it made the smell very sweet and warm and the dash of lime gives it the tropical essence which makes it a perfect addition to the box. I used mine for the first time after I finished swatching the polishes and my nails were quite gross and dehydrated; I gave them a good soak in this oil and they smelled divine and gave them all the moisture they needed. 

And that’s the box! To share some of my own thoughts; I am really happy with this box! The theme was perfect as I think many polish lovers are ready to move out of winter shades and enjoy light pastels and vivid bright shades for the upcoming spring and summer and this box gave us some truly vibrant and beautiful shades. Personally, I really would have loved a loud, neon pink shade just to bring a dash of obnoxiously loud holiday colours to the box, but otherwise no complaints. It was also a great chance to discover and try out new UK-based brands that I, personally, had not heard of or tried before and definitely something that creates much excitement for us UK nail addicts; if I’m not wrong the box sold out in a matter of days so there is definitely demand for this box too. Alongside this, four full-sized indie polishes as well as a cuticle oil and a wax melt in a box is great value for money too and it feels really great for us UK indie lovers to have our own brands, polishes and box to get excited for every few months! Particularly when the world of indie polish can sometimes feel quite USA-dominated. Overall I’m really loving our UK Indie box and very excited to see where this goes and what the next instalment will bring us. 

What did you think of this box? Did you pick one up? What are some of your thoughts? Let me know in the comments and as always, 

Thank you so much for reading! 🙂