Red, Navy & White

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Can’t believe this week is going by so quickly. But also, I have the next two days off work so I have big BIG plans. Cupboard organizing plans. It’s very exciting.

But first, how about some nail art? That’s what you’re all here for, right?

I finally decided to pull out my nail vinyls, because it’s been a while, haha. I was feeling coral/red with some stripe-y accent nails, so that’s exactly what I did. Actually I was inspired by this look after some Pinterest-ing, & thought it was be an excellent nail art combo.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Illamasqua Aorta
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • SnailVinyls straight nail vinyls (multiple thickness)

Such a classic combo, & I really like it. I feel like I’ve been neglecting my vinyls so much so it was nice to pull them out again. Plus I could never even attempt to freehand lines this straight. I also really like how simple this colour combo is, but that the red gives you that bright pop of colour. It’s definitely a fun combination. I might not wear a head to toe coral suit with striped shirt, but I can definitely achieve a similar look in my nails!

What do you think about this look? Wojld you wear a combination like this? Let me know in the comments below. & speaking of nail vinyls — I just stocked up on some mermaid vinyls from Beyond the Nail, so stay tuned for some fun mermaid nails to come!

SWATCH — Beyond The Nail Paparazzi Flash (May 2021 PPU)

<<Gifted/PR Sample>>

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

Today, I’ve got a very exciting Swatch to share with you. I know, Thursday is an unusual day for a Swatch Post from me, but to be completely honest—lockdown #3 has me feeling seriously unmotivated & defeated. But I really, really wanted to share this beauty, so let’s break with tradition!

So today’s nail polish beauty I’m sharing is Beyond The Nail Paparazzi Flash from the May 2021 Polish Pickup drop.

2 coats, no top coat

Paparazzi Flash is described as “a blue based microglitter bomb in a clear base with flashes of holographic multicoloured microglitter” which fits it pretty well. The glitter is definitely dense, which creates that great flash of different colours. I applied two coats of polish, but I definitely think I could have benefitted with three thin ones — out on the go, especially in the sunshine, it wasn’t as noticeable, but in my swatch photos you can definitely see a bit of my natural nail peaking through. Next time I wear it, I think I might sponge the polish on instead of strokes to really get the glitter dense. I think it would look amazing.

You can really see how dense the different glitters colours are in this bottle shot. There are so many different glitters–it’s a gorgeous combination. & obviously, you cannot go wrong with holo. That’s pretty much just my life motto at this point–just add holo. It makes everything better. I’m also really curious to see this shade in a glitter gradient & used as a topper over another shade. I think both will look amazing!

As I mentioned, this shade is an exclusive release as part of the May 2021 PPU drop, so it is officially available tomorrow (May 7th) until May 10th via the Polish Pickup website for $11.50. So if you need to grab yourself a bottle, definitely pop over to PPU tomorrow, & add one to your cart.

SWATCH SUNDAY — Julep Hallie

Good morning lovelies! & happy Sunday.

I hope you had a lovely, lovely week. I wish I had good things to say about my week, but after the announcement of lockdown #3 (&some very public evidence of people partying regardless), I’m feeling a bit down with everything.

But you know what makes me happy? Nail polish! & sharing fun nail polish swatches. So I dug through my stash & found a fun shade to share.

2 coats, no top coat

This is Julep Hallie which is from their It Girl line (I… think). It says 2015 on it, so I’m assuming that’s the year it was released? I don’t have much experience with the Julep brand, aside from one of their shades that I found at Winners for like $2 about 10 years ago. So I’m not sure how their releases went, & to be honest Google was not the most helpful haha.

As you can see, this is a beautiful ocean blue holographic polish (that leans a little turquoise). The holo was a bit more subtle than other holos I own, but pretty nonetheless. I did take my swatch photos with flash to try & get it to show up better, but I feel like sunshine shows it off best of all.

Overall, the formula was really smooth & easy to apply. A little less rainbow as other holos, but the colour is beautiful so it makes up for that. & if I’m really wishing for more of a holo punch, I can easily apply one of my holo toppers over top to add some extra rainbow.

What do you think about Julep Hallie? Do you own this shade in your stash?

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

Pretty & Bright Spring Floral

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Can you believe it’s Tuesday already? Hope everyone had the most lovely weekend. I was so into family time this weekend, that I totally forgot that yesterday was Coffee & Nail Polishes’ 7th birthday! So happy birthday to this fun little blog of mine. 🥳👑🎂

I would say I celebrated with cake, but all I wanted after the last 4 days was a huge salad.

But today I have another Spring floral to share with you! Will floral ever get boring to me? Nope! It’s still my absolute favourite design to do, & that hasn’t changed in 7 years.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Icing Matte Effect 60217
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Peony Origins
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Racing Rose
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Purple
  • Essie Go Ginza
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

So, so many polishes but the end result is absolutely perfect. The colours are so bright & eye catching, which is my favourite kind of floral. We’ve had way, way too many days of clouds & rain, so we could really use some bright & sunny days. Maybe this manicure will encourage Mother Nature a little bit to send some sunshine our way.

&, if not, at least there is a little bit of sunshine on my nails to cheer me up.

What do you think about this design? Are you sick of the floral yet? (I hope not!) let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! & share what Spring nail art trends you’re loving right now.