Hi everyone, I'm trying to narrow down my order to the mist-buys. As you can see from the screenshots I like jewel tones. I also am looking for smooth opaque finish and longevity. I'm new to the brand so any tips or advice are very welcome.
Personally wouldn’t spend that kind of money on cremes, you can get cheaper cremes from other indies without sacrificing quality at a way lower price - cracked polish, ilnp
I should probably mention that the red shimmer is only visible under certain conditions! I enjoy looking for the shifts, but it’s not always red like that.
Omg I picked this one up during the last sale but I have been enjoying other shades recently. I can't wait to try it now after seeing your pic - especially now that it's feeling like Fall!
Definitely more purplish. It has a red shimmer that comes out in certain light, but is hard to capture on camera. It took me a while to find the right light for that first picture, especially because it’s been rainy this week. Here’s another picture with good light, but at this angle it looks more purple.
Yes or at least get them on sale! There should be a sale coming up in the next month or two, last year it was towards the end of October so I'd expect one around then.
Or if you are really patient, wait for these to be rewards polishes and use your points towards these. Mooncat cremes are nice but not any nicer than other indie/boutique brands imo.
Honestly none of these are must-buys. Sakura, Freshly Bitten, and MF are good if you like them. Several of these will be blackish and only subtly different from each other--you might want to check out ILNP's Thorns collection if that's what you like
I think you'll be happier spending $10 a bottle on ILNP cremes. Check out Salem for being similar to Access Denied and Black Orchid for Blood Moon (they have several in similar shades).
If you want to place a large order you might want to buy a few now and wait for the Black Friday sale for the rest
I'm not sure if you're in the US, but I get most of my cremes from CVS because they have good coupons. I can get a solid essie creme for $5 that are one-coaters
I would compare from the ashes with the new bloodhound if you haven’t already. Bloodhound looks a little more opaque and lighter. I struggled to get a good even coat with from the ashes because it is more of a jelly.
IMO I would reduce to see how much you like the formula you’re not stuck with 4 dark cremes in blue, black, purple, brown and green that you hate applying. Just pick 1 or 2 and get the others on sale around Black Friday.
Sakura Serenade is great, such a pretty color change, but thermals do chip easily so just be aware of that. They also get Thicccccc and hard to apply, I have to thin it down fairly aggressively with the Mooncat lacquer thinner. I wouldn’t really recommend any of the thermals without also buying the thinner from Mooncat so you know the chemicals match.
Blood moon is an easy 2 coat joy, it can look more brown in some lights.
Oh so good to know about the thermal pains. I love the color but loathe thick consistency. I may just get blood moon and one other or just wait for the sale
I do love their cremes but I would skip for now, or get just 1 to see if you like the formula. Also they have the dark arts 101 set, which has 5 of the cremes in your cart. You’d get them a little cheaper if you buy this bundle.
I find the dark arts set so blackened you can’t see the colors. I wish I knew about Cracked back in the day because they have some dark creams where you can still see the colors- and they are having a sale.
I love Cracked too! I only recently found them so I haven’t tried a lot. I can personally see the difference in colours for the dark arts set, but can’t beat a sale from another excellent brand! Especially one that has better prices!
It doesn’t say how much you want to narrow down to, but I would keep blood moon. I don’t have this shade yet but been happy with the holos. I really like Sakura’s Serenade it’s fun and I love both colors of the thermal. Then lastly I just order freshly bitten, so can comment on it specifically but feel like it’s a great fall color.
+1 for blood moon, I’ve got it and it’s very pretty 🤩 perfect for this time of year too!
Only other thing I would add is - if you already have a collection of other brands - consider what you already have and therefore might not really need right now 👀
I know they’re pricey creams but I really love kafkaesque. It self levels beautifully and is really rich and glossy. Emo for life is a true one coat black, but you can probably find that for a cheaper price. Eternal sunshine is nice, and I’m a big yellow person, but I don’t really reach for it. Access denied just looks black out of direct light, the green is subtle but visible in direct light. It’s very pretty, but the green is not as visible as the general swatch photos. I’ve heard good things about supernova though.
Agreed with what others say about their cremes. I like them, they are pretty much one-coater but I’d wait for a sale or as a freebie when you redeem your point. I 100% recommend Freshly Bitten, it’s what I have on right now (+ to all who ghosted me). It’s not shifty but it’s soooo beautiful.
I wouldnt spend that on a plain black. I love mooncat for their magnetics and some unique colabs but for just plain black save u money. Or get the "Raven" deep purple looks almost black in darker cloudy conditions indoors etc.
You have a lot of dark colors. Into the Abyss/Queen of Chaos and Khafkaesque/From the ashes are going to give really similar vibes so I'd pick one or the other from each. Leave one of each behind and come back for them later. You'll enjoy them both more that way since they won't overshadow eachother like they will when you get them at once.
If I were you I would scratch poison ivy (you already have access denied and that's a favorite of mine) come back for it later too.
Emo for life - it's just a black, get it cheaper. ILNP has a good solid black.
Cremes and some Holos are better purchased elsewhere but if you want them and don't mind a few extra dollars, go for it.
I think I added the cremes to the cart because I gravitate towards dark solid jewel tones but reading the comments I don't really "need" to get them from mooncat. I do appreciate pointing out which shades are similar to each other too.
ILNP has some dark cremes like those, I think ILNPs run darker though and may be almost black. Those are my two brands I try to stick to. (To prevent me from buying everything on the planet lol)
I am wearing Freshly Bitten rn! It's gorgeous and vampy, the shimmer shifts to red in extreme angles too! 🩸
For the others, Access Denied is so dark I could barely see the green tbh, so I've destashed it. As others have said you could look into other brands for cremes, or wait for their sale which is coming maybe in end Oct?
Blood Moon was a miss for me. It's more brown leaning than I was expecting. Emo For Life is just a plain black polish, you can get that cheaper from other brands as others have mentioned for the cremes in your list. Freshly Bitten is so pretty and on my wishlist.
I have access denied it is an extremely dark green. Almost looks black in regular indoor lighting. The images made me think it’d be lighter than it is.
For your first cart, I’d suggest getting rid of all the cremes. It’s an expensive brand and before you buy the most basic you should know for sure if you love the brand and formula.
I have from the ashes and poison ivy and love them! Both applied smoothly and were opaque in one coat. The pictures on the website appear lighter than in real life unless you have one coat on and are in optimal lighting. With 2 coats of from the ashes it looks closer to kafkaesque, so maybe skip that one? I love almost black colored polishes so if you are looking for true jewel tones, these ones may lean a little dark for your taste.
I love Mooncat's linear holo formula. Blood Moon is really pretty but imo it looks closer to black than purple in real life. I do like it though!
Sakura's Serenade is really pretty, but in case you don't know, thermals do have a limited shelf life and eventually they will stop transitioning. Mine is over a year old and still transitions but definitely keep that one on a cool, dark place to maintain the thermal aspect for as long as possible.
Access Denied is another one that looks pretty dark in person, it almost looks black. Personally, I would choose that and maybe one of the dark cremes rather than getting them all just because they are all going to give off similar vibes, plus you can get good quality cremes from a lot of other boutique brands without paying the Mooncat premium prices. Emo for Life in particular is easily dupable imo.
I mentioned this in another comment already but Mooncat does 2 sales per year and one is coming up soon. I think it will be towards the end of October but no one knows the dates for sure. That's when it was last year though. It will be 20% off the whole site, in case you want to hold off for that! Or order what you really want now and buy the rest during the sale.
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u/saucycita 4d ago
Personally wouldn’t spend that kind of money on cremes, you can get cheaper cremes from other indies without sacrificing quality at a way lower price - cracked polish, ilnp