Category: Blue Nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essence You Belong To Me

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday.

I’m finally starting to feel a little better from my awful, awful cold last week, so I’m hoping to get some good blog content done this week! Especially since we’re going to keep as close to home this week with March Break & the fear of Covid-19 looming. I hope everyone is staying healthy — both physically & mentally!

But in the meantime, let me distract you with some pretty nail polish… because that’s what I’m doing to distract myself!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is over 8 years old–this is Essence You Belong to Me. I picked up this Essence shade from their Colour & Go line back in 2012, when they were still in these cute little round mini bottles. I do believe this was one of the first Essence nail polishes I ever bought, this & Wake Up! & yep… it’s another blue-ish shade because that is just what I’m loving right now!

For these swatches, you’re looking at 2 coats of polish plus top coat (Essie Gel Setter). & I’m not going to lie: application was not easy. First coat on each nail went on really easily, & I thought I was in the clear, but as soon as I attempted my second coat everything went lumpy & thick. & it took FOREVER to dry, even with my quick dry top coat. But given the age of this polish & the size of the bottle, I feel like that isn’t really it’s fault. & while it did take a bit of work to get on, the end result it a beautiful shade. I’m obsessed with a good robins egg blue, & this shade is no exception. Hello Spring!

There is also a really pretty shimmer you can see in the bottle, (& if you look closely at your nails), but was pretty much impossible to pick up on camera. It’s very very subtle. But this doesn’t stop this shade from still being absolutely beautiful & very perfect for Spring!

Sadly, this shade is way way way discontinued, & I doubt you’d likely to be able to find it online, but I did see some posts online saying it was a dupe for China Glaze For Audrey, so if you absolutely need this blue in your life, there is an easily found alternative! I didn’t paint them side by side on the nail, but I did hold the two bottles up beside each other & the only difference seems to be that For Audrey doesn’t have the subtle shimmer that You Belong To Me does.

 

What do you think about this shade? Have you started breaking out some lighter shades to rock on your nails (& maybe cheer yourself up during the hectic scary time?) Let me know what you think, & what colour family you’d like me to grab from next! Also for anyone who might be struggling with high anxiety during this scary time, here is a picture of our floofy boy sticking out his tongue to distract you, even for a minute. ♥

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Hard Candy Sky

Happy Sunday lovelies! Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Today I pulled a shade from deep in my stash to share with you — Hard Candy Sky. This beauty was released in early 2015 as part of the 20th Anniversary re-release & it’s still one of my favourite sky blues part of my collection.

If you’ve been around this blog a while, you know one of my favourite nail polish shades of all time is light blue. I have a lot of blue nail polish in my stash, & I don’t foresee it being a shade I’m like “nah, I have enough” any time soon. & now that I’m really craving Spring, I’ve found myself pulling out my baby blue nail polishes a lot more frequently.

You’re looking at 2 coats + top coat (Essie Gel Setter).

For a 5 year old polish, the formula on this shade is still pretty easy to work with. A little thicker than I remember, but that happens. However the colour itself is so beautiful, that I’ll take a little bit more caution to be able to wear this shade. The polish itself is a pale blue with the gorgeous blue shimmer that you can see really well in the bottle, but I struggled to capture in my light box but to does show up on the nail depending on the lighting.

This nail polish is so late 90s/early 2000s… which means it’s cool again right, since everything 90s is cool again, right? Seriously though, I feel like this nail polish would fit in so well in an early season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I could wear this while patrolling before hitting the Bronze. (& if you didn’t get that reference, you’re missing out!)

Sadly it doesn’t appear that Hard Candy even makes nail polishes anymore, which explains why I haven’t been able to find it at my local Walmart in forever.

Do you have this beautiful shade? What is your favourite baby blue nail polish? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Groovy Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone has had a lovely start to their week. We had another beautiful almost Spring like day yesterday, which gives me hope that maybe — maybe — one day soon, Spring will be here to stay. I just keep longingly staring at the clothes in my closet, dreaming of the day when it’s warm enough to wear them!

In the meantime, how about some Spring on the nails! I’ve definitely been feeling myself drawn to my more Spring looking nail polishes. I just need a little brightness in my life!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (the blue version)
  • Essie Splash of Grenedine
  • Essie Blank Page
  • Essie Bobbing for Baubles
  • Nailstuff.ca 11mm Liner Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%) {gifted}

I love abstract stripe designs so so so much, especially when they turn out as perfect as these did! These totally remind me of one of those gorgeous abstract Pucci designs. The swirly lines & bright colours — perfect for Spring! Also I love the brighter pop of pink over the paler blue base. What is it about this colour combo? It makes me so happy!

If this doesn’t make you feel ready for Spring, I don’t know what will. I also just feel so proud of how these turned out too — it might just be the best version of the abstract stripe design I’ve done yet! & yeah, it kind of makes me want to do another!

What do you think about this look? Are you feeling these Spring-y colours? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Secret Per-wink-le

Happy Sunday lovelies! Is anyone else seriously craving Spring?

Today, I thought it would be nice to get a little Spring-y & share one of my favourite Spring nail polishes (& blue shades in general) — China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le. According to my internet, this shade dates back to 2008, & was part of the China Glaze Operation Color collection, or at least that was the earliest post I could find.

For my swatches, I did 2 coats of polish & finished with top coat.

This shade & China Glaze Fancy Pants are probably my two all time favourite blue shades ever — Fancy Pants to me is more a Fall-ish shade, & Secret Peri-wink-le is definitely perfect for Spring! It’s no secret I love, love, LOVE a good blue & this shade is no exception. I love the formula isn’t too thin, I love that it applies easily (even though my bottle is over five, maybe six, years old), & I love that whenever I wear this colour I just instantly want to start wearing all my favourite Summer dresses, regardless of how much snow may be on the ground.

Ah, it’s just so pretty! Seriously, like how can you not love a blue polish like that?

So, according to my internet there are a few places that this polish is available, although I’m not sure if you can still find it in stores (I looked it up on the Sally Beauty website, but no listing.) However, there are a few places you can find it, such as:

I have no doubt there are probably a few Ebay listings for it as well!

So what do you think about China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le? Are you already craving Spring, like me, or do you think it’s just too soon? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below! & let me know what shade you always pull out when you start feeling like you need a little Spring in your life!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Garden Variety

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is excited for the LAST week of January! It’s also our last Swatch Sunday of January, which means we’re that much closer to Spring. & oh boy am I ready to get into Spring. So that means it’s time to dive into my nail polish stash & start pulling out my favourite blues!

I did an Instagram poll yesterday on my Instagram stories — @coffeeandnailpolish — & asked which of two Spring-y blue polishes people wanted to see for today’s post, & with a 58% of the vote Essie Garden Variety was the resounding winner!

2 coats

Essie Garden Variety was originally released as part of the Spring 2015 collection, but has stayed on as part of the permanent collection. It has the most incredibly smooth formula, so it applied in just two easy swipes. This is pre-top coat, but still super glossy & shiny & perfect.

Now this is definitely a very difficult polish to capture on film — it can lean really blue at time which is hard to avoid. It’s definitely a little bit darker than you’re seeing in my pictures, but I tried not get the photos to show as close to reality as possible because it really is one of the prettiest teal-y blues that I own. & I don’t have anything else quite like it.

Just look at that beauty — it’s perfect! Oh man, doesn’t it just make you think of Summer dresses & sunglasses & the beginning of flowers budding in the garden. I know we’re only at the end of January, but I need to dream of Spring days to get me through these dreary snow filled grey days. It gives me something to look forward to! (Like the days when I don’t have to worry about layering as many pairs of tights under my jeans as I can fit… & wearing something other than layers of sweaters.)

Like I mentioned, Garden Variety is part of the permanent Essie collection, so you can find the beauty whenever Essie is sold. For those who don’t feel like venturing out to the store, but need this bright beautiful shade in your life there are a few online places you can purchase Essie:

What do you think about Essie Garden Variety? Do you have this shade in your collection? What is your favourite Spring-y blue? Let me know down in the comments below!