Hi, I’m Coco and I’m a chronic destasher 💅

I buy and destash a lot of polish. Like… a lot. Since discovering indie polish at the start of 2024, I’ve probably bought and destashed hundreds trying to figure out what I actually like. 🤡 If you’ve ever bought from the destash subreddit, there’s a decent chance you’ve grabbed one of my pretties before! Slowly I am becoming more selective about what I bring home, and I'm becoming a little more organized with my collection.

Thought it would be fun to post my process and share what shades I’m testing this weekend to put in my destash post.

Once my Helmer starts getting full, that’s my sign it’s time to destash because I refuse to go over one Helmer. That’s the rule.

When I order polish, I make a swatch stick label for each bottle and toss it into a little cup on my desk. That cup helps me see how many polishes I’ve ordered that haven’t arrived yet.

I try to keep it under 20 sticks in there. Right now I’ve got 40… sooo it’s probably time for a no-buy month while I let everything come in. I’ll be attempting to skip HHC this round because I went feral buying Lurid and Potion Polish. (Added a pic of my wishlist. Feel free to de-influence me.)

When nail mail shows up I swatch everything as soon as it comes in.

If I love it, it goes straight into my Helmer.

If I don’t love it (or it’s too close to something I already own), it goes in my “potential destash” drawer.

About once a month, I go through that drawer. Some polishes didn’t sell in my last destash post, so they’ll hang around for a while. I pull shades out that I'd like another look at and do a few skittle manis, and spend a weekend testing them out. I use a peely base coat for this — shout out to my GOAT peely from Cosmic Polish. 🙌

I usually wear a 10-polish skittle for 12–24 hours to see how each shade feels.

Pic 1 (pinky to thumb):

Essie Pucker Up

BKL Unreleased Prototype

Dam Dragon

Dam Dani Cali

Sweet & Sour Oh My Lantana!

Pic 2 (pinky to thumb):

EDM Hear the Silence

EDM Alone in a Room

Sweet & Sour Windy City Magic

Rogue Lacquer Strong AF

Sweet & Sour Cosmic Crimson

I ask myself:

• Does the shade suit my skin tone?
• Do I like the formula?
• Does it bring me joy?

If any of those answers are no, it’s going in the next destash post. The two EDM and Sweet & Sour Windy City Magic will be destashed. I'm still undecided on Rogue Lacquer Strong AF.

If all three are yes, back into the Helmer it goes. I've had bottles that never sold in my destash post that I end up keeping. I put the entire Pic 1 shades back in my Helmer – I loved that skittle so much! Sweet & Sour Cosmic Crimson also went back in the Helmer.

Honestly, I love destashing almost as much as collecting and painting my nails. There’s something really satisfying about boxing up pretties, mailing them off, and knowing they’re going to make someone else happy.

If you’ve ever bought from me, I hope you loved opening your pretties … and the little handmade cuticle oil I always tuck in. 💗