So Susan LacquerLove - UK Nail Varnish Subscription Box!

I was contacted recently by Susan, the founder of brand new UK company So Susan, asking if I wanted to review one of her nail varnish subscription boxes. I LOVE the idea of a nail varnish subscription box, but so far they've not been available in the UK, so I jumped at the chance!

So Susan doesn't just sell nail varnish, as you can see by the website here, but the nail varnish subscription box is the bit that interests me! For £14.95, you get a box every month containing 4 items, of which at least 3 are nail varnish (postage is free).

The box itself is a lovely solid one, in a pretty pale Tiffany green. Rather than being just a box with a lid that lifts off, the lid kind of wraps round and closes with magnets! It's really cute and clever.

Inside this launch box, there are 4 polishes, and also an eyeliner/eyeshadow pencil in a dark greeny-brown colour. I'm not much of a make-up wearer, but I do sometimes wear eyeliner, so I'll definitely try this out.

The nail polishes each come in a nice box with all the details, and a little window to see the colour.  So Susan nail lacquer is 4-free, so does not contain DBP, tuolene, formaldehyde or formaldehyde resin.  It also contains rosehip fruit oil to moisturise and strengthen your nails and the skin around them. The packaging also confirms that these contain no parabens, no sulfates, no mineral oils, phthalates, triclosan or animal by-products, and that the polish is cruelty-free.

The 4 colours in this box are (left to right) Raspberry, Mimosa, Silver Clouds and Pink Guava. I have to be honest - my first reaction on opening them was that they looked smaller than I was expecting (they're billed as 'full size') and that the colours didn't look particularly unique. However - on the size, these are 9ml, which is 1ml more than a standard Rimmel bottle, and 1ml less than a Barry M bottle, so they definitely are full size. The bottles look smaller than say, Barry M bottles because when you hold them side by side, you can see the glass is much thicker on the Barry M ones, making them just look bigger. 

On to the swatches!

This is Mimosa, two coats, no topcoat.  The first coat went on very streaky, and I was a bit worried that this wouldn't look good. However, as if by magic, it dried non-streaky! I really like this colour - it's a soft, delicate, sheer pale pink, with a lovely glossy finish.

The application was nice - the polish is smooth and even, goes on well and dries quickly.  The brush is a touch on the short size for my taste, which is inevitable with the small shape of the bottle, but it's not difficult or awkward to use. 

Next up is Pink Guava. This is ONE coat (yes, really!) with no topcoat. 

Pink Guava is a fabulous bright pink, highly pigmented and very glossy. Excellent formula, application was easy peasy.  It's a lovely squishy-looking colour and finish, so shiny and happy. I love this one!

This is Silver Clouds, which is my least favourite of the four (not that I dislike it!)  This is two coats, no topcoat again.  Silver Clouds is a silvery grey polish with a pinky shimmer, a little bit like Barry M Dusky Mauve, but much nicer. 

This is a touch on the brushstroke-y side when it dries; not hugely so, but enough to make application a little fiddlier than the other polishes in the box. The shimmer is really pretty though, and this is very nice. It's just not as much MY sort of colour as the others in the set. 

Last up is Raspberry, a gorgeous red-pink polish. This is two coats, no topcoat. 

Raspberry is not quite a crème, not quite a jelly, what some bloggers refer to as a 'crelly'. It is a little bit sheer and you can still see some visible nail line - I'm fine with that.  The red is a gorgeous bright shade. Again, like Pink Guava, it's highly pigmented and very zingy and glossy. I really love this one too. The brights are definitely very me!

Overall, I think these are excellent. Very good quality formula and application, and the presentation of the box is really good.  For £3.75 per bottle I'd be very happy to pay for this. Now, my absolute favourite thing about this box is that you don't have to take it every month!  When you sign up, you get a preview of the next box, and if you like it, you do nothing, and it arrives. If you're not so keen, you just opt out that month, and you won't pay. Or you can also choose to send it to a friend, which I think is a really cool option!  It's a really neat way of sending a present to someone.  I think the box would make a great Christmas present for a nail varnish lover!   Mind you, from a preview, I would probably not have bought this box as the colours look similar to others I have (but then I have way too many polishes!) but on actually trying them, I really am impressed and will definitely keep all of them, and use them. 

You can sign up to buy this LacquerLove subscription box on the So Susan website, details here Oh! Another really cool thing about this - when you buy from So Susan, you get loyalty points, which you can collect for money off future purchases. There isn't enough of that sort of thing around in the nail varnish world!


This box was provided free of charge to me for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more information.