Category: Duocrome

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Poison Apple 🍎

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful Autumn Sunday, cool & crisp. It’s also the last Sunday of October, if you can believe it. How is this month almost over?

Even though I have some really exciting shades from Ella + Mila to share with you, I wanted to close off this month with a slightly Halloween adjacent shade with Claire’s Poison Apple.

This shade was the third in the collection they released in the early 2010s as dupes for the MAC Villainous collection — click to see the swatches of Evil Queen & Venomously.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful foil red takes a few coats for perfect opacity, but it’s worth the work (& dry time). The formula is a metallic red with micro flakies. It has a subtle gold shift, although it shows up better in the bottle on the nail (as is the trend with this mini collection). For an almost 15 year old nail polish, the formula is still great & I had no issues with application.

Look at that metallic finish—so pretty! I love colour for this time of year. I do wish that you see that gold shift on the nail like you can in the bottle, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. & I’m so happy that I have all three in my stash, especially because I didn’t original think that I did have a full set.

What do you think of Claire’s Poison Apple? Do you like this villainous red? Do you think Claire’s should do another release like this? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Evil Queen 🖤👑

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! Can you believe it’s already the middle of September. Like how did that happen? I’m in full cosy Fall mode 24/7, so obviously that means pulling out a fun Autumn shade to show off. & this shade from the early days of my nail polish stash is perfect!

This is Claire’s Evil Queen.

1 coat over Hard Candy Scam + top coat

This beautiful shimmery duochrome has thin dark maroon vase packed wth a thick sea of shimmery fuchsia & blue glass flecks. Unfortunately it does show up better in the bottle than on the nail, but it does have a beautiful finish that I’m obsessed with (& is why I’ve held onto this bottle for over 15 years!)

Check out that shimmer! It’s just so beautiful. 😍 I love how it shifts in the sunshine. Obviously, if I had applied another coat I could have had it a bit thicker. I have also worn it on its own without any undies, but I do find you need more coats than you might want to deal with to get full opacity.

What do you think of Claire’s Evil Queen? Do you remember when these shades were released, all the way back in the late 2000s? They were alleged dupes of the MAC Villainous Villains collection — although I sadly never got to compare (although Throwback Lacquer has a fantastic post about the original polishes!)

Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

🖤

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) — Moroccan Tile

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope you’re having a beautiful week. Today is the 2nd prompt of Glam Nails Challenge August & I’m very, very excited for this prompt & manicure! The next prompt is Moroccan Tile & I think this stamped design perfectly incapsulates that!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Joe Fresh Quartz
  • Essie No More Film
  • Starrily Space Debris
  • Born Pretty Store stamping plate B-12
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio

Oooooh I’m so so so in love with this manicure! It turned out so much better than I even imagined it could be. Sadly, the new base coat I used did not agree with my body chemistry so these started popping off (the full nail!) half way through work! To say I was devastated would be an understatement — I had fully intended to wear these for a few days.

Thankfully, I still got some great pictures of this design. 🖤

What do you think of this Moroccan Tile design? Do you love them as much as I do? I hope you’ll keep following along with the challenge this month & all the fun designs I’ll be sharing. You can also follow along with the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug24 on Instagram.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Pacifica Plant Magic Tangerine Pop 🍊✨

Good morning & happy Sunday!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. & happy Mother’s Day to those who celebrate & are celebrated. I know I’ve continued to be quiet on here, but it’s been a rough week. But I’m here, & I have a beautiful Spring-y shade to show off for this week’s Swatch Sunday: Pacifica Plant Magic Tangerine Pop.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful shade was picked up on clearance at Shoppers Drug Mart when they were clearing out their Pacifica shades.

The formula on this beauty is a a kind of shimmery frosted pale orange with a gold & faint green flash of shimmer. It is thin though, so I really had to build my layers in order to cover my nail line fully. You want to be careful about this though, because the formula has that frostiness to it that shows mistakes easily.

The colour is such an unusual choice for me—I’m not really an orange polish girlie—but I thought the shimmer was so pretty on this one I had to get it! It definitely takes some work & patience for a pretty application, but I also think with its thin formula you could get away with using it as a topper as well.

As I mentioned, I purchased my bottle at Shoppers Drug Mart before my location discontinued it. However, it is still available c/o: the Pacifica website for $10.00 USD so if you need this shade in your life, definitely check it out. I would imagine it is also available at other locations where Pacifica is sold.

What do you think of this pretty & unique orange polish? Have you tried any of the other Pacifica shades before? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Cadillacquer Lavender Sunset (NailStuff Exclusive)

•contains pr/gifted product•

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Sorry for another week of radio silence — I had a massive allergy attack on Sunday that turned into a brutal sinus infection, so I’ve been trying my best to recover from that which is why my nails have taken a back seat unfortunately.

BUT I’m so excited today because I have a polish to share with you that I’ve been keeping a secret for months! NailStuff just released a brand new exclusive shade on their website from Cadillacquer & I’m absolutely in love with it! This is Lavender Sunset.

2 coats + top coat

How to describe this complex polish? It’s a stunning duochrome with a dark blue base with the most incredible shimmer that gives it flashes of purple & pink, & is finished off with a scattering of holographic flake glitters. The formula was thin, so you definitely need to add a few coats to build up your opacity. However, because of the beautiful finish, I find you can get away with a thin application & it still looks beautiful on the nail.

Depending on the lighting, it can appear golden, pink, purple, or even show off flashes on green. I can definitely see the inspiration, which is described as being inspired by the “beautiful lavender fields in Provence, France”.

How gorgeous!

I’ve worn this polish ( in secret) a few times over the last few months, & I always get fabulous compliments! It really does look like magic on the nail. I’m also very impressed with the formula, as I’ve worn this polish 4+ days more than once, without expirencing major chipping of my nails — which is always impressive when you’re working in retail.

As mentioned, this is a NailStuff exclusive polish, so it can only be purchased via their website. It retails for $19.99 CAD. As well, like all Cadillacquer shades, it is 5-free, & cruelty free.

If you’re looking for a super unique shade to add to your collection for the Summer, I definitely recommend picking Lavender Sunset up! It’s absolutely eye-catching, & will get your nails noticed! I also haven’t tested it yet, but I feel like with it’s thin formula, you could use it as a topper on other shades for some unique looks!

Let me know what you think of this shade down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! ♥︎

Products featured in this post were provided in exchanged for content. 

All thoughts are honest & my own.