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Well hello there, and welcome to another post from the Great 2024 Backlog! We have a fall collection here, but the shades are all very much available on the Whats Up Beauty website, so this obviously means it can be spooky all year round. Keeping it short and sweet with my yapping (at least in this introduction), so we can dive right on in to my other yapping.
Today we’re looking at the ‘Spooky Spice’ collection from Whats Up Nails, which is a sub-brand under the Whats Up Beauty umbrella. If you’ve never shopped on Whats Up Beauty, they sell nail polish, makeup and various tools, both from their own brand as well as from many other indie brands. It’s a good little website, and if you’re looking to try out a variety of indie brands, this is a good way to purchase individual items and save on shipping! (They’ve also recently been putting out the most gorgeous makeup products and I just might have to get my little hands on some soon). They don’t release new nail collections too often, so I was so excited to swatch these up.
This release features 9 new polishes. We got a nice little range of colors here overall, and the use of shifty, sparkly flakes connects them all. This whole time I’ve been pondering and wondering how it’s a Halloween collection – but then Whats Up Beauty themselves doesn’t even fully call it a Halloween release, it just happened to release around then, so okay that’s on me. Some of the polish descriptions clearly indicate this collection spans all of the fall events and feelings of the season and that makes more sense to me. You know smart that that’s what they went for the whole time.
Okay I’m done pondering, let’s get on into the swatches!
We start out with ‘First Dash’ and Whats Up Nails says this shade ‘evokes those first feelings of fall and being cozy’. This almost feels like winter to me on the nails, so either way we’re evoking those beginning chillier days. This polish is an off white crelly base filled with both deeper blue flakes as well as iridescent flakes.
Overall, I noticed this first trio has the same sort of flakes and formula to them. They have a squishier crelly base filled with larger flakes. The flakes pick up well from the bottle, but because of their larger size, they can take some moving with the brush to spread them out and place them. It can take 2-3 coats depending on your application to get a fully opaque look like this – but I do recommend thinner coats overall or else the polish can get a little thick and goopy. So when in doubt, thin it out (that almost makes sense, I tried). A top coat will also help smooth over any bumpiness you get from those larger flakes as well. It’s just a fun little finish overall, and I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this one.
First Dash • I Yam Too Much • Pinkoween Party • Live Swatches
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We continue on with ‘I Yam Too Much’. This is absolutely my favorite name of the bunch because I yam guilty of typing too many messages that start out with “I yam” – is that Millennial of me? Not quite sure how “spooky” this shade is – it’s just reminding me of Thanksgiving, though I guess dealing with extended family members can be spooky. And you know, I hope you use some spices for the big meal. (I cannot promise I won’t connect the set name to every single polish).
This shade has a sheer, super soft blue jelly base that can be harder to see behind all of those flakes and shimmer. Scattered throughout that jelly base, we have larger black flakes as well as larger iridescent ones. And then somehow there’s even more in there, with a shifty shimmer that goes from a gold to red to a green. As I mentioned with the previous shade above, these shades will build up to opaque, even when using thinner coats. Depending on your nails and preferences, it takes 2-3 coats. The flakes can take a little moving around to make sure they’re not sticking up, but they pick up from the bottle easily.
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We finish out this first trio of flakey shades with ‘Pinkoween Party’. It’s not even close to the same, but my brain just wants to immediately sing “Pink Pony Club” every time I see that name. This is a squishy bright pink jelly base filled with: 1. iridescent shimmer; 2. larger multichrome flakes and 3. different sized purple hexagon glitters. You already know these shades aren’t going to be “simple”.
The same notes for the previous 2 shades applies to this shade as well, and that’s why, you know, I swatched them in a little trio. The base builds up to full opacity with 3 thinner coats, with a little swiping and placing for those flakes.
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I combined these next two shades into a duo of “purple and flakey”. We start with ‘Leaf Me Out of It’ which is the last of the “regular finishes” and it’s the warmer and deeper of the 2 purples. It’s an almost mauvey purple base filled with those larger multichrome flakes – they do remind me of fallen autumn leaves – and a shifty blue to purple shimmer.
This one painted on well with the base building up to opaque with 2-3 coats. Again I recommend thinner coats, as it can easily get too thick and affect the drying time. The only finicky thing with this application were the flakes – as you can see they’re the largest ones we get in this collection, so they take the most maneuvering with the brush to make sure they’re not overhanging the nail. But if that’s the only issue, it’s not a rough one to deal with.
Leaf Me Out of It •Early Night • Live Swatches
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Within our “purple and flakey duo” we also get our first “special effects” polish, with the inclusion of reflective glitters. This first one is called ‘Early Night’ and wait I get it, night comes earlier in fall, I see what you’re doing there. This one has a softer and dustier blue toned base, as well as those larger iridescent flakes that we’re used to at this point. It also features a blue to purple shimmer as well as subtle blue reflective glitters. Whew.
This base felt a little more sheer than the previous shades so I used 3 coats to fully build it up. Again those larger flakes can take some placing, and laying your brush parallel to the nail as you apply can help them stick onto the nails. They can also use a little bit of moving around to make sure they’re not overhanging.
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with reflective glitters, they’re larger glitters that sparkle especially bright within a flash. They can often be seen better within an iPhone camera, but with some glitters, you’ll really get a flashing effect. And I wish that’s what we had with this shade. However to me they were so small and subtle in this polish that I didn’t notice the effect on the nails at all. I think they could have been left out here if they’re going to be this unnoticeable.
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For the next duo, we have two thermal shades. As you might be able to guess, these polishes will change color depending on your body temperature – as well the temperature of your environment if you have a longer free edge. This first one is ‘Spicy or Icy’ and listen, that would be quite the choice in life (I’m terrible with spice, hello Midwestern upbringing, and my sensitive teeth say no to full icy). This is a light blue jelly base filled with iridescent flakes as well as smaller purple metallic flakes.
It’s a light blue in its warm state as you see in the first swatch (clearly I was quite warm and cozy while doing these swatches) and it then shifts to a warm toned almost berry purple shade when it’s cold (see the 2nd and 3rd shade). I dunked my nails into a bowl of ice water and I was able to get some pictures before it fully shifted back to light blue, so the effect does show up well. I found this shade to build up well with just 2 coats, though a 3rd does continue to layer up the color and flakes. The flakes are smaller in these next shades, so they only need a tiny bit of placing.
This one is a fun little polish, and especially if you have longer nails it’ll feel even more magical and shifty – as you can see a tiny bit on my ring finger.
Spicy or Icy • Goopy Goblin •Live Swatches
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The 2nd thermal is called ‘Goopy Goblin’ and WHAT A NAME, what a visual. It’s truly the spookiest polish of the set, and helps us celebrate Halloween, an essential of the fall season. This has a lime green jelly base that’s just jam-packed with iridescent flakes and metallic purple hexagons. Is purple and green a cliche for Halloween? Who cares, I love it every time.
Now this base is very jam packed with those flakes, but I did still notice it changing. However, the change is much more subtle than ‘Spicy or Icy’, just because the two color states are very similar. When cold it shifts to a deeper, cooler toned green, which you can see in the 2nd photo. I do wish the two states had more contrast, maybe if one was a true teal or even a blue.
The base on this one is more sheer, and is the least pigmented of the jellies, so I needed all 3 coats. There was a tiny bit of nail line still, but it’s pretty well covered by those flakes and glitter pieces. You might need to place the flakes a touch with the brush, but overall I found these smaller ones easier to pick up and spread evenly on the nail to create that opaque look. It looks almost scaly, like a dragon on the nails and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!
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Our final duo of the group is the 2 magnetic polishes. We start with ‘Featured Creature’. This one is a very interesting sort of magnetic and a finish that’s more unique to my collection. It starts with a deep purple jelly base, and then the magnetic effect comes from bright metallic teal flakes all throughout the base. The magnetics I’ve swatched up before have had smaller and smoother magnetic shimmer, so this was the first time I’ve seen a polish with a larger, more flakey shimmer – you can really see those individual flakes in the first coat in the swatch video. There is also larger scattered multichrome flakes all throughout, scattering through the magnetic finish.
With another jelly base here, it’s a touch sheer on the 1st coat, and the magnetic effect is a little more subtle. But a 2nd coat builds up that base and color, and layers those magnetic flakes up more and really brings it out. It just adds a super shifty look to the shade, even without duochrome pigments. Once again, I suggest a thinner application as it can get too thick on the nails and almost too goopy – something I’ve noticed with all of the polishes specifically in this collection. It’s nothing that’s an issue, just something that will drive your application.
Featured Creatue • Foliage Folie • Live Swatches
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Last but certainly not least, we end off with ‘Foliage Folie’ (this one does feel a touch more spooky as well). This is a blackened blue jelly base – you can see those little peeks of blue right at the edges of my nails – filled with the same magnetic flakes as ‘Featured Creature’, instead in a bright orange-red shade. It also has iridescent flakes scattered through as well – so truly the same as ‘Featured Creature’ but in a different color combination.
And this was also a similar magnetic formula to ‘Featured Creature’. The 1st coat is sheer, with a subtle magnetic effect – though this one is more apparent because of that contrast between the dark base and fiery magnetic pigments. The 2nd coat comes in and really brings it all to life, building up that dark base and layering up that magnetic stripe and it’s just GORGEOUS. I really enjoyed this shade, and it’s almost as if it’s glowing on your nails.
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And that’s the set! As I kept mentioning, I don’t know if this quite hits the theme of ‘Spooky Spice’, maybe spicy, but not spooky – but in general I think they do fit together and look cohesive with those flakies running through each shade.
I was able to get all of the shades opaque with 2-3 coats, though with most I do suggest using a thinner application so they don’t get too thick on the nails. The flakes overall picked up easily from the bottle and apply nicely to the nails. Some of the larger flakes will need more placing with the brush than others, but it was nothing I ever found to be too difficult. They’re all super interesting formulas and finishes so I always love a brand trying something new. I’m intrigued to see what Whats Up Beauty, and Whats Up Nails continue to release!
Have you tried Whats Up Nails before?
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PR Disclosure: Though the shades in this post were sent to me, I was under no obligation to post from the brand. I never guarantee positive reviews, and all thoughts and opinions are my own. I review these shades thoroughly and in the same manner as I would with any polishes purchased with my own money.
