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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora 💗🌌

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful sunny–but chilly–day here on the East Coast. They keep telling us that Spring is on its way, but I won’t like… it’s getting harder, & harder to believe it. (Especially when they’re calling for over 20cm of snow at the end of the week)

But never the less, I’ll keep trying to summon Spring with whatever is on my nails, & today I was feeling something pink! Pink is not a colour I often reach for as a single manicure, but it does feel very Spring-y to me, so I thought I would grab for one in my stash. & as soon as I saw this sparkly pink looking back at me, I knew it would be perfect for today’s Swatch Sunday post.

This is Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora.

3 coats + top coat

I always do love a sparkle, & this sheer pink jelly is full of iridescent & holographic glitters. The jelly base is thin–very thin–so multiple coats as necessary for even a hint of opacity. Personally, I feel like I’m more likely to use this as a glitter topper rather than on its own, but I wanted to swatch it as it comes.

The sparkle on this beauty is lovely. I feel like from far away, it could come across as more subtle, but you can see it much more prominently unclose. I will say though –this shade was not easy to photograph at all. I tried in both my lightbox & outside & it was a struggle.

This shade is part of the Primsmatic Shine line of InstaDri, & I’m pretty sure I picked up my bottle 2+ years ago. I’m not sure if it’s still available in store, but I did find it on the Sally Hansen website–however it didn’t have an option for buying, so I’m thinking it’s probably discontinued unfortunately.

(I also found this Reddit thread looking for dupes which has some great alternative polish options.)

What do you think of Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora? Do you like this sheer sparkly pink? Would you wear this shade on its own, or as a topper over another pink?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

♥︎

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Pretty Spring Floral (with Butter London) 🌸

*contains PR/gifted items

Hello beauties & happy Wednesday!

We are back up & running, & I’m trying my best to keep my posting routine going.

I’m hoping today’s nail art look is going to encourage Mother Nature to get her stuff together. The calendar may say Spring, but the weather is screaming December. So maybe. simple floral look will encourage some warmer days — because I want to wear my Spring dresses again!

Today’s look uses my two new Butter London shade for Spring 2026 — Bloomsbury & Posh Petal.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Maximum Growth
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Gel Like Top Coat
  • Butter London Pure Colour 21X Bloomsbury
  • Butter London Pure Colour 21X Posh Petal
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Small Nail Art Brush

I love floral nails so much! These were done while I was away from my stash, so I used acrylic paint for my floral instead — because that’s what I had available. I also didn’t have my usual favourite nail art brush from NailStuff, but I think I this look really came together for a beautiful Spring look. I love love love Posh Petal as the sheer base for my flowers, & I think it works perfectly for this naked, but not really naked, effect.

What do you think of this floral look using my new Butter London Spring 2026 shades? Do you like this combination as much as I do?

Sadly, this was my last look I did before breaking two of my long nails, & needing to trim them all down to a much shorter length! I enjoyed having my nails super long, but it’s fun to start over & come up with some cute nail art looks for my baby nails.

Happy Wednesday!

♥︎

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Spring Robin’s Egg Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Monday.

Starting off this full first week of Spring… with a snowstorm. & oh, how I wish I were kidding. But it isn’t going to stop me from rocking some Spring inspired nails! & what is more Spring like than some robin’s eggs? I recently score a killer deal on an Essie shade at my local Shoppers ($1 clearance!), & it was the perfect Spring-y blue, so I knew it would be perfect for some speckled egg nails.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Maximum Grow
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Gel Like Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: NailStuff Essentials Matte Top Coat
  • Essie You Do Blue
  • OPI That’s What Friends Are Thor
  • Small nail art brush

I won’t lie, these nails are actually super super easy to do. All you need to do is create some messy specks using a nail art brush — the messier the better. But the real trick to this look is obviously the matte top coat to give it that eggshell finish. & bam! Instant Spring inspired Robin’s egg nails.

&, obviously, if you paint you nail a selection of pale pastel shades, you could create Mini Egg inspired nails easily (as I have done in years past).

What do you think of my Robin’s Egg nails? Would you wear a simple nail art like this to channel Spring? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Butter London Spring 2026 | Posh Petal & Bloomsbury 🌸🪻

*contains PR/gifted items

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s… been a while.

I apologize for my very sudden, & somewhat lengthy hiatus. It wasn’t entirely planned. But I’m back & ready to get back into posting.

& what better way to jump back in than with some gorgeous new shades from Butter London, just in time for Spring. I was super excited to find two brand new Pure Colour 21X shades waiting for me, & now that the calendar is reading Spring, maybe some pretty Spring nails will help encourage Mother Nature a little more.

Check out these gorgeous new shades down below!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Butter London Spring 2026 | Posh Petal & Bloomsbury 🌸🪻”
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SWATCH SUNDAY — ACO by Ardene Bonne Nuit

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. We’re halfway through January & that’s kind of crazy.

But everyone in my social media feeds keep taking nostalgic trips back to 2016, so I thought I would do the same — only with nail polish! & back on 2016 I was all about the Ardene brand of nail polishes, so I thought I would share a beauty from that time: Aco by Ardene Bonne Nuit.

1 coat over Rimmel Blue Eyed Girl + top coat.

So yes, I did use some under-polish for swatching this beauty because it. is. thin. But I think it applies beautifully & you really get that shift of colour from blue to a purple hue. There is a nice micro glitter shimmer as well, which I remember loving a lot in the mid-2000s!

Now this shade is definitely a relict of another time, because Ardene no longer sells this brand of nail polish. I still have a drawer of this brand in my stash, that I stare at frequently, & every so often pull out for nostalgia sake. I also love that they were so trendy when it came to finishes, at a very affordable price point!

What do you think of this very mid-2010s nail polish? Do you remember what shades you were obsessed with circa 2016? Let me know what shades you were obsessed with back then, & if they are still top of your list 10 years later!

Happy Sunday loves!

🖤