Hubby bought himself a huge set of golf clubs for the golf he might want to play one day.  Which means from this point forward, all polish related incidents, either intentional or 2 am shopping with your eyes closed accidental, are hereby 100% completely and totally JUSTIFIED.  Cuz if I’m going to count on ONE finger how many times my husband has golfed in the last six years, at least that fingernail can be painted by a 1000 bottles of nail polish, at the minimum.  Who’s making a whooooole lotta sense right about now?  (Me, to be clear.)

Of course, you gotta appreciate a man who makes an effort.  Last time I attempted golf, there was less riding around in a cart holding a wine cooler than expected.  But if you’re into humiliating yourself by the sheer amount of not hitting a ball anywhere well then I’d say SUCCESS doesn’t even begin to describe this scenario.  Cuz I was busy being Spelling Bee Champion of 1987, that’s why.  The opportunity to get good at sports kind of passed me by a little bit.

Not that I didn’t try or anything.  I mean, who was that 7 year old girl by the side of the pool blowing bubbles in the water like a dadgum champion?  No, not her.  The other one, the crying one.  I’ll admit, I quit swimming lessons about 17 times that day.  Pretty sure even a participation trophy had to get committee approval at that point.

After that, the most action I got was in 9th grade when I joined the track team long enough to take a picture for the yearbook.  Considering how many times I got “period cramps” while trying to do a relay race and all the not winning I did, pretty sure it didn’t matter much anyway.  And of course, Lazy, Level EXPERT doesn’t just happen overnight.  No, I’ve had 42 years worth of practice on that one.

While you sit there feeling like suuuuuuuper normal in comparison right now, let’s look at pretty things.  I received this awesome collaboration box to review for you today.  If you’re in the mood for a thermal polish EXTRAVAGANZA! then today’s your lucky day.  Let’s get this drool party started, then!  Here is the Holy Shift: Shift Into Spring box, down below:

If you guessed this was the culmination of 27 hours with my hand in a glass of ice water, having anxiety, you guessed correctly. Nothing gets the OCD going quite like taking pics of thermal polish.  There’s only roughly 2786 other photos I could show you right now, you know, if you’re not busy.

This collaboration box is the brain child of those over at the Holy Shift Thermal Nail Polish group on Facebook.  Four indie brands have come together and created some perfect pretties for spring.  Currently the box is bi-annual, which means there won’t be another for six ENTIRE months (i.e., lightyears with eons and eternities on top), so now’s a good time to get your thermal fix.  Seriously.  I checked.

First up is from Cupcake Polish:

Well, no sense in being gentle about it.  Cuz, BAM!, there’s bling and it’s everywhere.  Not that I’m complaining.  Anything to distract from the sausage fingers is tops in my book.

This one is called Shift Stirrer, an orchid purple-y/pink that shifts to silver when warm.  It’s so girly and sparkly and a complete driving hazard, in case you prefer to know these things ahead of time.  Cuz potholes come out of nowhere.  And curbs, which is an even better surprise.  Ooops.

Took some photos showing the polish in each thermal state.  Please enjoy and then send kudos and congrats and quite possibly some hives cream cuz I was a dang sweaty mess by the time this was done.  Welcome to the big ball of anxiety called Photographing Thermals.  I do it so you don’t have to.  Best blogger ever, is what you’re thinking.

Here’s the warm state, i.e., sparkling diamonds:

This was the easiest photo to take.  The polish is this color on me naturally.  Until I get to work and freeze to death for 9 hours straight, that is.

Transition shot, between warm and cool:

Finally, the cool state:

Complete with water droplets by the cuticles.  Yay for not seeing THAT until many days later.  Ugh.  Who’s the best professional you know?  NOT ME.  Moving on.

Time for drool!

Oh yes, we’re gonna need some buckets in here.  Someone get on that, stat.

Next up is this beauty from Pretty & Polished:

I love everything Chelsea makes, and this little lady is no exception.  And if you love thermals, like hardcore love them, then this one is your best friend.  Cuz she’s a THREE PART CHANGER, like the most ambitious of all the thermals.  Although kinda braggy, being all over-achieving and not lazy and whatnot, (or opposite of me, if we’re honest) but we still love her anyway.

The last time I ever remotely excelled at anything – well, did I tell you I was Spelling Bee Champion of 1987?  Yes, like a hundred times?  Okay, well that was pretty much the end of all that then.  Unless you count my 2nd place award for Machine Transcription, a thing that doesn’t even exist anymore.  Yep, that’s what I’m good at: things that aren’t actual things.  Sounds about right.

So this polish is called I Have Better Shift To Do, and it changes from gray to pink to purple at varying temps, plus a light dusting of holo and loaded with flakies for extra specialness.

Here’s those transition shots you forced me into.  First, the warm state:

This is the polish in it’s natural state on me.  I do love the gray because there’s hints of a purple tone plus all those flakies stand out so well.

Now here’s all three colors in one shot, otherwise known as a lifetime of anxiety shoved into roughly 15 minutes:

You better believe the ridiculous amount of high fiving happening right after this.  It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t out in public, as strangers don’t wanna look at mah nails! quite like you’d expect.  However, I just captured the most elusive of all elusiveness, a triple thermal in action, so toots on the ole horn for me then!

Lolling tongues ahead:

The flakies!  The flakies got me, guys.

Now here’s one from Different Dimension:

Okay it’s getting serious.  I’m not sure what plans you have later, but buying this box needs to be at the top.  Cuz how you’re able to turn your back on these four beauties defies alllllll the comprehension.  Would you walk away from a basketful of kitties or a Leonardo handing you a Starbucks?  NO YOU WOULD NOT.  In the shopping cart it goes, then!  Look at you, making good decisions.

This polish is called Getting My Shift Together, a denim blue holo that changes to silvery nude, filled with slight purple shimmer and silver galaxy glitters.  It’s so super pretty and sparkly and ugh … that’s it, I’m buying 27 boxes for backup, just in case of accidental painting of all the surfaces.

In its warm state:

This is the polish color on me the majority of the time.  Described as a nude, but it looked more silver to me.  But nude, silver.  Potato, french fry.  Either way you look at it, it’s all good.

Transition shot between warm and cool:

At this point in the game, my reaction time between ice water, towel, and hands in the light box, was approximately NASCAR pit crew changing a set of tires plus trying to get a bee out of my car during lunch break divided by  scrolling by a surprise photo of a snake coming out of a toilet on Facebook.  Seriously, it was boom, boom, boom DONE.  Really quite amazing if it didn’t involve so much moving around.  I don’t sweat like a lady, let’s just say.

Here’s the cool state:

Such a pretty blue!  I think the denim shade is probably my favorite kind.  Pastel is nice and so is navy, but denim is a little more unique and (I think) pretty flattering on my pale skin.  You agree?  Yes? Yes.

Someone’s about to get suuuuuuper unattractive:

Gah!  Drool buckets, everywhere.

Lastly, here’s this one from Top Shelf Lacquer:

Might as well end this blog on a a big ole exclamation point.  I mean, what other choice did I have?  Cuz purple, cuz pink, cuz lots and lots of happiness.  Also, pretty good lookin’ cuticles, if we’re gonna start putting things on a list.  You know, I don’t excel at much as we’ve quite clearly determined, but I can spot a wonky cuticle from a mile away.  Not sure that’s a talent that pays very well – certainly I’d be President of the Universe by now if it did – but I’m pretty proud of it nonetheless.  I can also fold my tongue back onto itself and make it stick, which is another talent that doesn’t pay well, although WHY?! is the actual question.

This polish is called Shift-Faced, an eggplant purple that changes to bright pink when warm, and is loaded with holo and flakies.  Want, want and need, that’s your new motto.  We’ve basically just sealed the deal with this one.  You’re about to spend some money, I can already tell.

Transition shots!  We’re gonna make all 18 hours spent on this blog WORTH IT.  Here’s warm:

This is the polish in it’s natural state on me.  I really love this.  It’s very bold and a touch edgy, but still pink enough to be girly.  Perfect color for a bit of hand modeling as well, in case of impromptu appliance fondling scenarios or the need to hold tiny sandwiches.  As happens to ALL OF US from time to time.  

I’m not crazy, you’re crazy.

Transition shot between warm and cool:

I swear that tastes good.  I mean, I’m not gonna lick it or anything, cuz society says NO and brain says POISON.  But I kinda wanna think about it for a second at least. Is it raspberry? Or is it wine?  Maybe even raspberry wine?  But we’re too busy being normal to ever find out for sure.  And the judgy eyes, well the judgy eyes are everywhere.

Finally, the cool state:

Are you sweaty?  Cuz I’m sweaty.  Better have your smelling salts handy and a cute boy holding a big leaf fan, cuz I don’t know about you, but it’s about to get a little pass-out-y over here.

Now for a ridiculous display of pretty:

Seriously, you died.  You done did.

The round up:

So this box goes up for presale on April 1 at 8am EST and will close on April 8 at 8pm EST.  In case you don’t math well, that’s 7 days of panic, so you better get your priorities organized properly.  If you miss it, it’ll be a sad state of affairs for you.  Here’s the order deets:

Cost is $39.95 plus shipping.  Expected ship date is roughly April 22 – 29th.  So plenty of time to get worked up into a frenzy, in case you’re due for one.  I mean, it’s bound to happen.  This box is insanely pretty and we’re all legit psychopaths anyway.  No one stalks a mailman quite like us.

Click here for shopping!

To connect with the Holy Shift Facebook group and be in the loop of all things thermal, click here to join.  For real, DO IT.  It’s the logical next step.

Okay gang, that’s it for now.  It’s a busy blogging week, so I’ll be back tomorrow with more nail polish pretties.  Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom.  Internet high fives for you (and kisses for the cute ones).

Later, loves!