PR SAMPLE / PAID PGB EMPLOYEE
BOY!
That’s it. Kratos yelling “Boy” at Atreus. That’s my intro.
Also it may be good to mention, I will be taking off at least January and February from swatching! I’m very excited for a little bit of a much needed break. <3 I will still be around helping out with my normal admin duties though. 🙂
As always, first up is that sweet sweet FAQ then all the fabulous items!
What is the Polished Gamers Box?
The Polished Gamers Box is a game themed “box” featuring several makers each month. Each box will have a gaming related theme and feature different types of indie products that include nail polish, nail care, body care, wax, and other handmade items.
Every month a Facebook Event is created within the Polished Gamers Facebook group and within that event, a post is made for each item. Each month an album is also created that features a collage of each item.
What if I don’t want to order everything in the box?
That’s the beauty of the Polished Gamers Box! You can pick and choose what you want to order. No minimums or maximums, just order what items you want!
Where do I go to order the box?
polishedgamersbox.com
When can I get the box?
The box will launch on the 15th of every month and will be available for preorder for a five day period.
Preorders will open at 11:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM MT / 1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM ET on the 15th
Preorders will close at 9:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM MT / 11:00 PM CT / 11:59 PM ET on the 20th
What is the Turn Around Time (TAT) of PGB orders?
The TAT will be through the 20th of the month following the sale.
Example: The March PGB sale is March 15th – 20th, and the TAT would be through April 20th.
Shipping will start as soon as possible. Items begin shipping to PGB headquarters around a week after the sale ends and orders that can be shipped are shipped first.
NOTE: There are an extreme amount of shipping delays currently. Items may take longer to reach PGB headquarters and they may take longer to reach you once they ship.
If the TAT ever needs to be extended, posts and updates will be made in the Polished Gamers Facebook group.
Is there a support email if I have questions about my order?
Yes! Feel free to email polishedgamers@gmail.com if you have questions about your order or the box!
Is there Polished Gamers social media I can follow?
There is!
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/polishedgamers/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polishedgamers/
Discord (This is the invite link to the channel): https://discord.com/invite/TQhTYcJ
How much is shipping for the box?
Domestic: $4 flat rate shipping
International: At cost shipping (website will calculate at checkout)
Customs forms are auto generated for international orders and will not be changed or adjusted to reflect a different price other than the real full cost of your order.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CHANGES:
With changes to the VAT rules in the UK, PGB will unfortunately have to discontinue shipping to the UK for orders under £150. We would encourage group buys to the UK. Unfortunately we are unable to hold multiple orders so that once combined, the orders reach that total. Changes could occur in the future but for now unfortunately this is the solution.
If an order accidentally makes it through, unfortunately we will have to refund it.
If you do make multiple orders, shipping overages can/will be refunded if the multiple purchases are made using the same name. Shipping overages are refunded when orders are actually packaged up. Combining orders is a time consuming and manual task that the system does not just automatically do for us, so this does take a little extra time. But we do know it helps take some pressure off of releases with low cap items.
Are there caps on items?
Each maker will set caps for their items and things can sell out!
Can items return and be sold again?
All Polished Gamers Box items are exclusive to the month’s box. BUT a monthly “respawn” began late 2020. Each month a handful of makers will bring back an item that was released in a previous Polished Gamers Box. These items can be the original formula, or a 2.0 new formula.
The items that return are up to the makers, but be on the look out in this group or in brands’ fan groups for polls on what could / should return!
Link to the monthly Canadian Group Buy: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsugVqCy9KZVOEWYR2D_qXKG3jWt2Kr4vLPweSxVr8w-IQaw/viewform
All of my swatches are using Cuticula’s peel off base coat (unless otherwise noted) and are topped with Vapid Lacquer’s Quick Dry Top Coat
I also top that with Red Eyed Lacquer’s Tips Matte-r Matte Top Coat
My glitter grabber top coat is the Geekish Glitter Lacquer Criminally Smooth Glitter Smoothing Topcoat
1422 Designs
Cursed to Hold Up the Sky
“You are strong, but you are far too small, even for an Olympian, to be a god”
Shop | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram
Description: A medium blue jelly with blue-purple micro flakies and pink-orange-gold-green iridescent flakes
Price: $12.00 USD
Cap: 100
Inspiration: Atlas, the titan
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
Ooooo this is a super deep gorgeous blue! It reminds me of the ocean! I love it! I love the various shades of flakies mixed in and oh my gosh this one matte is great. The blue-purple flakies almost blend in but the blue flakies are a little bit lighter than the blue of the polish itself so I love how it shimmers in brighter light especially.
I did 2 coats of polish for full coverage. I recommend thicker coats of this jelly polish and I definitely gave it a little time to dry in between each coat and before top coating just to avoid any smooshing like I always do with jellies. Everything evened out really well and I felt no texture after 1 coat of top coat!
Adored Colors
God of All Wars
“I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal, Kratos. Flesh that burns, bones that break. But to break a man’s spirit, is to truly destroy him.”
Shop | Etsy | Facebook Group | Instagram
Description: God of All Wars is a pastel red orange crelly filled with black triangles, black holo shreds and copper microglitter. This is a dark red orange glow in the dark polish
Price: $11.50 USD
Cap: 30
Inspiration: A fire image of Ares
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of glitter grabber top coat and 1 coat of glossy quick dry top coat.
I’ll start with stating that I don’t think you’ll always need a glitter grabber top coat for this polish! The smaller shreds did seem to lay down nice and flat on their own, but I had a larger shred and glitter sticking out on my middle finger so I went with using a glitter grabber top coat just incase. I did feel a little bit of texture on that one nail but nothing crazy. Definitely just depends on if you think you need it or not. 🙂 I do also suggest giving this polish a good shake before use! I always suggest that for any glow in the dark polish just to make sure the GITD pigment is shaken up really well and so it applies, and then glows, evenly!
This polish did apply quite nicely and dried quickly too! I also didn’t fish for glitters or shreds for these photos. You can definitely get a decent amount on your nails with just a normal application. If you are having trouble getting flakies on your nails though (or this works for any polish with glitters or flakies or shreds), try to hold the polish brush as close to flat as possible while painting your nail. This way more will come off of the brush and stay on the nail. I know sometimes things like to cling to the brush so hopefully that tip helps!
Alchemy Lacquers
Lord of the Dead
“I will see you suffer as I have suffered! Your soul is mine!!“
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Description: Lord of the Dead is a lavender jelly nail with gold/green/shifting shimmer and red/black shifting flakes
Price: $12.50 USD
Cap: 100
Inspiration: Inspired by a picture of Hades, Lord of the Dead
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
Oh my gawsh the shift! This is such a gorgeous polish. I cannot believe how many shades this one becomes but I love it. I’m going to just let the photos speak for themselves. This polish does look like this in person as well–I don’t think this is any camera trickery–it just really is this shifty. Sitting next to my light box I think I see the green and gold shifts the most, but while putting it on my nails, I saw the purple the most from a different angle. It is just so crazy all over the place! It applied ultra easily and went on like butter. I cannot wait to wear this one again soon!
BCB Lacquers
Destructive Little Brother
“Now, it falls to me to collect payment for the pain you have wrought.”
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Description: Described as purple polish with a strong pink/orange/green shifting shimmer and holo flakes
Price: $13.00 USD
Cap: 150
Inspiration: Fan art of Hades from God of War 3
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
SURPRISE! BCB has new bottles and brushes and they are FABULOUS!
This polish applied effortlessly and I love how much shift there is in this one! I had to take quite a few photos to make sure I even got close to capturing this as well as I could. I love the flakies and especially the pink shimmer. I think it goes great with the purple, and as you may know, I am a huge fan of purple. The holo flakies are also my newest obsession so I’m really glad to see them in this polish too!
Black Dahlia Lacquer
Elven Light
“Other spirits. The Lake of Nine is full of ‘em!”
Shop | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Description: Elven Light is a smokey teal jelly with green/blue/teal/pink shifting iridescent flakies
Price: $12.00 USD
Cap: None
Inspiration: We were inspired by the Lake of Nine
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
This is a flakie lovers dream! This polish is just 100% packed with flakies and it applied quite easily for being so. I did 2 thicker coats and just sort of evened things out with a few brush stroked down my nail and everything laid down nice and flat. I don’t feel any texture after 1 coat of top coat. I also love this shade! It’s a perfect mix between green and teal to my eye and this one is especially awesome matte! It just looks like an ocean of flakies! The shimmer and shine is fabulous as well!
Color Spectrum Polish
Don’t Be Sorry, Be Better.
“Don’t be sorry. Be Better”
Shop | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram
Description: A red holo with gold & copper aurora, gold holo, orange to green shifting iridescent hex glitters, iridescent shifting flakies and holo microflakies
Price: $12.00 USD
Cap: 75
Inspiration: Kratos
My swatches are 1 coat of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
Yes no kidding, my swatches are ONE coat of this gorgeous red polish! This is the perfect thickness and I didn’t see a need to use any more for another coat (yes, I’m a polish hoarder that likes to save as much as I can 😉 ). I imagine another coat might darken it a little bit but I love this shade and how it looks right now with only the one coat. Be sure to check out all the other fab swatchers as I imagine someone will do more than one coat!
One of my favorite parts of this polish is the little hex glitters! They blend in so well that you almost can’t see them but they do definitely stand out at some angles. I think you can see them best in my tilted nail swatch photo below. So this may appear to be just a simple red, but it definitely is way more than that. It applied super easily and I love this one matte so much too! It really makes the flakies stand out and shine!
Geekish Glitter Lacquer
Truth Will Only Bring You Pain
“You shame Sparta, oath-breaker. You think you want truth, but truth will only bring you pain!”
Shop (this is an affiliate link) | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Description: A black jelly with silver holo flakies and silver 5D magnetic pigment
Price: $12.00 USD
Cap: 100
Inspiration: Alecto, Queen of the Furies
My swatches are 2 coats of polish when magnetized and topped with 1 coat of top coat. For my swatches of the polish not magnetized, that is one more coat of the polish over the top coated original 2 coats of polish.
I think I finally got decent magnetic polish swatch photos! WOO! So I adore this polish. I am a huge fan of silver polishes and this one looks great either magnetized or not. This is also a 1 coater! I still see a decent pull after just one coat and this polish is thick enough that you don’t have to do another coat if you don’t want to!
BUT I will go over some of my magnetic polish tips and tricks I try to use / follow.
1. Use thick coats.
I tried my best to use thick coats of this polish, but I think I could have gone thicker! This will get plenty of magnetic pigment on the nail.
2. Shake the bottle in between every coat.
Now I can’t prove this one or anything, but my thought here is that if you shake the polish bottle in between every coat it will mix up the magnetic pigment and make sure it’s evenly spread in the bottle for you to pick up with the brush!
3. Hold the nail under the magnet for 30-60 seconds after every coat.
So I now always make sure to do this. I usually go for the full 60 seconds after each coat AND I hold the magnet over the nail even after top coating. If the top coat isn’t floated on and the polish isn’t dry it seems that the top coat can spread out the magnetic pigment more. I need to try letting the polish dry more before top coating net time I wear a magnetic though. For this polish I probably did around 45 seconds each coat just because it seemed to be pretty “stable” after a short amount of time.
I do also think the pigment is easier to see at almost every angle BUT the one that I hold my hand at for my typical main photos (lol!), so I tried to take a few different photos and with different lighting and poses. Otherwise the polish applied ultra easily and I really may try to do a skittles mani with this one magnetized and not magnetized sometime soon because I can’t decide which way I prefer!
The below photo is just ONE coat of this polish magnetized. As you can see, there is still full coverage with just one coat magnetized. If you are better with magnetics, I bet it will look even better!
Jen & Berries
Land of the Gods
“Tell Him He Is Not Safe While I Walk The Earth!”
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Description: Soft coral linear holographic with red to gold Aurora shimmer, gunmetal microflakies and pink metallic flakes
Price: $12.50 USD
Cap: 100
Inspiration: Game landscape
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
OH YES! Another J&B holo. I seriously cannot get enough of these. Every one of them is just so great and this one is perfectly dainty and stunning! The mix of microflakies is perfect and I love how they blend in but also stand out (maybe a little better in person than in my photos). This is just a great polish!
It applied ultra easily and there may be a little visible nail line with only 2 coats but that’s okay! I think it looks great! I bet it could even be used as a topper!
Red Eyed Lacquer
Ragnarok
“The prophecies say Fimbulwinter leads to Ragnarok”
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Description: A cornflower blue crelly with black flakies, a blue shifting shimmer and holo micro flakies
Price: $12.50 USD
Cap: 100
Inspiration: Ragnarok
My swatches are 2 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of top coat.
This may be one of my new favorite polishes. The flakies and shimmer used are perfect together and this is just the perfect shade of blue to my eye and for me personally. It applied ultra easily and everything laid down nice and flat. I am just a huge fan of this polish! There is also like, a trio of shades I can see in the shimmer in this polish and that was so hard to capture! I think one of the bottle shots above I was able to capture it a little bit at least! It’s definitely just one you’ll have to see in person!
Squeaky Peach Soap
Athena’s Lament Wax Melt
“Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want, it changes nothing.”
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Description: Get transported to the snowy forests of Midgard with this cool and crisp fragrance.
Scented in a blend of bright oranges, green foliage, winter pine, cedar, cinnamon, warm clove, a dash of vanilla, and Amber.
Inspired by the beauty of Athena’s spirit, coming back to remind Kratos of his mistakes.
Label artwork done by myself. (The maker/owner)
Price: $6.50 USD
Cap: 55
Size: 3.0 ounces
Inspiration: Athena’s spirit from God of War (2018)
Ingredients: ParaSoy blend wax, candle dye, synthetic mica, glitter, fragrance oil
Last month Squeaky Peach created a fantastic soap for us and this month a fantastic wax melt!
I think the cool and crisp mentioned in the description is the perfect descriptor for this wax melt. I definitely pick up some subtle, maybe spicier sweetness? I imagine that is the vanilla and cinnamon. There is also some pine and cedar that are nice and not overbearing at all. I do actually pick up a hint of citrus so that must be the oranges mentioned! I would say I pick up the sweet pine scent the most in this one. It’s really nice and subtle and no one scent is overbearing.
As for how much to melt, wellllllllllll 2 cubes may have been a little too much for my poor little melter, but it worked out in the end. The glitter and mica swirling while this one was melting is just gorgeous! Be sure to check out the video below.
Also, if you notice some of the dried wax along the sides of the melter in some of my photos, that’s just from my candle not being super strong and that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the wax. 🙂 You might also only need 1 cube for a good melt and scent throw. This wax also had a good scent throw and wasn’t overbearing!
Swamp Gloss
I’m Your Monster No More
“But there is one unavoidable truth you will never escape: You cannot change. You will always be a monster.”
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Description: A darkened jelly packed with violet/red/gold/green aurora and matte hexes
Price: $13.00 USD
Cap: 200
Inspiration: God of War
My swatches are 3 coats of polish and topped with 1 coat of glitter grabber top coat and 1 coat of glossy quick dry top coat.
Oh my the shimmer in this one! I actually want to start off by saying I don’t even think I needed the glitter grabber top coat. I used it just incase, but right before I put it on, everything appeared to be pretty flat so this polish definitely settles down very evenly on its own. I feel no texture at all after the glitter grabber and top coat. It applied very easily and I just gave it a little bit of time in between coats to dry.
I especially love the contrast of the light blue glitters to the dark vampy red shimmer. This one is just super fun!
Tonshi Mountain Studios
Freya
“You are just an animal, passing on your cruelty and rage. You will never change.”
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Description: Evergreen, Woody Pine, Cedar, Berry, Vanilla
Price: $4.50 USD
Cap: No cap
Size: 3.0 ounces
Inspiration: Freya
Ingredients: Parasoy Wax, Fragrance Oil, Colorant, Mica
This month’s wax melt from Tonshi is outdoorsy but with a sweet kick! This is definitely a bright and sweet scent! I will say that it’s not like, cookie or chocolate sweet, but that nice tart fruity sweet scent. There is pine, evergreen, and cedar for sure as this one reminds me of a forest as well, but I think the pine may stand out just a little bit more. I imagine the vanilla also helps add a little sweetness to the semi-tart berry. This one is also filled with mica so get ready to watch that shimmer swirl as this one melts! It’s so pretty!
The scent throw on this one is great and definitely filled up my basement! One square is plenty for a great throw for sure.
And don’t forget, I also like to always mention to check out the “melt after” date just to make sure you’re melting the wax once is it ready to be melted! I haven’t had an issue melting before this date, but I am sure the maker knows what they are doing. 😉
Polished Gamers Box Respawn
The Polished Gamers Box Respawn continues!
Each month a handful of makers will be bringing back an item that was released in a previous Polished Gamers Box!
These will be available on the site during normal preorder times.
Red Eyed Lacquer
Silly Old Bear
*Originally a PR Sample
Original Box: Kingdom Hearts
Description: A mustard yellow crelly with red/orange/green/gold shifting mulitchrome flakies and blue/green shifting flakies
Price: $12.50
Cap: 100
Other December Respawn items:
-Penelope Luz – Game Room (A Night At The Arcade) ($13.00, cap 400)
Inspiration: Neon light picture
Description: Purple neon base with intense duochrome pigment (blue/purple)
-Sweet & Sour Lacquer – Choose Your Fighter (Mortal Kombat) ($12.50, cap 50)
Inspiration: Choose your fighter screen from the 90s
Description: Gray crelly with blue, yellow, pink, black, purple, and lime green matte and holo glitters in various shapes and sizes
-Sassy Cats Lacquer – Amazing Kirby (Retro Games Remastered) ($12.00, cap 50)
Inspiration: Kirby
Description: A pink creme with copper shimmer, rose gold micro flakies, gold fine holo, plus gold flakes
Don’t forget!
When can I get the box?
The box will launch on the 15th of every month and will be available for preorder for a five day period.
Preorders will open at 11:00AM PST / 12:00PM MST / 1:00PM CST / 2:00PM EST
The TAT will be through the 20th of the month following the sale
Where do I go to order the box?
polishedgamersbox.com
