SWATCH SUNDAY — Joe Fresh Quartz

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope you’re all having a beautiful & fantastic weekend so far. The weather here has been beautiful so far, & I got to enjoy a lovely Saturday off work (that never happens) so I’m feeling refreshed for the week ahead.

So lately I’ve been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I’m on season 2. Which mean, obviously, I’ve been obsessing about her nail polish. In particular, I noticed this metallic grey shade she’s been wearing a lot this season. So I decided to take a look into my stash, & found this beautiful Joe Fresh shade I’ve owned since 2015-ish or so: Quartz.

3 coats + Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat

Yes, so this shade is pretty sheer upon first, & even second, application. I ended up with three thin coats for full opacity. However, they applied with minimal streaking & brushstrokes, so I was pretty happy with that. You can also apply this over a darker shade with lesser coats as well. I do believe that will bring out the duochrome effect a bit more dramatically as well.

A macro shot for good measure. The shift is very good on this shade, depending on which was you move your fingers. I love the purple to green shift on this — it’s beautiful.

But just for a fun, I thought I’d add a little sparkle to this beauty which has been in my stash just as long: CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance. This shade has a similar colouring, but with some added holo sparkle! & the results was perfect.

Adding Dazzling Dance definitely changed the switch from a greenish to a blue/silver, but I love the end result. That sparkle definitely makes up the duller duochrome shift. But I totally think this polish is giving me late 90s, early 2000s vibes & I’m totally here for it.

What do you think about this week’s Swatch Sunday pick: Joe Fresh Quartz. Do you prefer it on it’s own, or with the the added sparkle of CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance?

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

Spring-y Pastel Sponge (Happy 8th Birthday Coffee & Nail Polish)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

Sorry for being MIA this week, so far. It’s been rough — the kids have been & fighting some viruses which has led to a couple hospital trips. I actually originally had planned on posting this look yesterday, but spent the previous evening in the ER with my daughter (she’s fine!), & didn’t get home until 7am.

So not a lot of nail posting was happening yesterday. Just napping. & a very sleepy day at work.

But I did do these fun pastel sponging nails with the intention of sharing for my 8th Blog-iversary yesterday, so I really wanted to share these with you! Especially because they’re pretty, & springy, with just a sprinkling of holo glitter.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sun-showers
  • Sally Hansen MG She’ll-ebration
  • Londontown Lakur Mint No Chip
  • Essie Playdate
  • OPI Gelato on my Mind
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

Such an easy look to do, & I always love these spongy designs for Spring. They make a great base for other nail art designs, or they’re just pretty on their own! & a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust is pretty much mandatory, especially when sunny days are expected.

I’ve been doing these sponge nails a long, long time. When I was looking for a nail design to celebrate my blog-iversary, I wanted a look I’ve been doing a while, & this one just felt right!

Can you believe this blog has been around for 8 years now? While I’ve been blogging since it became a thing, 2003 or so, I don’t think I’ve had a continuous blog for this long. So it’s so exciting! & here is to many more years—as many years to come as the internet will have me.

Have a lovely day 💕

SWATCH SUNDAY — Glam Doll Electronica

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

There is nothing more that I love than discovering a new to me nail polish brand! It’s quite exciting, like finding buried treasure or something. Truly, it’s very exciting to be perusing a store & stumble upon a polish brand I’ve never discovered before.

That’s what happened last week when I stumbled across this pretty bottle of polish while checking out a pharmacy I never go to. & I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you, especially because my Google research couldn’t find much at all about this nail polish brand.

2 coats over a base of Essence Take Me To Heaven

The second I saw those beautiful glittery shade, I was smitten. The formula is pretty a pretty thin cruelly, with a lot of pf glitter crammed in. There are metallic fushica micro glitters, slightly larger neon green & blue glitters, & then larger cobalt blue hex glitters.

I chose to apply it over some baby blue undies, to cut down on coats I needed to apply, but I would assume you would need 3 or 4 coats for full-ish opacity. You could also get away with one coat over a blue base, if you were feeling a less concentrated glitter look. For me, 2 coats over some undies was perfect

This polish seems very Spring-y & fun. It reminds me a bit of the Nails INC Sprinkles collection that was released around 2012. In fact, when looking them up online it is awfully similar to Pudding Lane — which of course was the only one from the collection that I didn’t find back then so I can’t do a proper comparison. But from looking online, I’d say they’re pretty darn close.

What do you think about this polish? Have you ever heard of the brand Glam Doll before? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you’re a fan of this summery glittery polish pick?

Matte Spring Floral Accent Nail

Hello lovelies & happy Friday!

The weekend is finally here, which is always exciting. Of course, I work all weekend, but that is besides the point . The weather is finally beginning to feel more Spring-like around here, on occasion, so naturally I want to match that mood with my nails.

Especially since around here, it can turn back to Winter in the matter of a few hours.

I’ve really been craving Spring florals so much lately. Floral just makes everything better. & I just thought a floral would look so beautiful as an accent to this new glittery polish I recently picked up.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Glam Doll Electronia
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen MG After Alter
  • OPI Two-Timing the Zones
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses 
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • L’Oréal Pistache Royale
  • Sally Hansen MG Blacky-O
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

How cute does this mani look paired against the flowers I got at work? Give me all the florals!

I really like the simplicity of this floral over the glitter, & the matte top coat brought everything together. It gives the glitter polish the look of almost robin’s eggs–serious Spring vibes–& the white flower pops against the blue base. I love it.

What do you think about this Spring-y accent nail? Are you a fan of simple accent nails like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Maybelline Color Show Blue Marks The Spot

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s another snowy Sunday here, which is not what I was hoping for. But it matches well with the nail polish I picked for this week’s Swatch Sunday pick: Maybelline Color Show Blue Marks The Spot. This shade is actually a super oldie, going back to (I think) 2013! I picked my bottle up on Clearance a few years ago, after Maybelline had stopped making the Color Show brand.

3 coats, no Top Coat.

The first thing about Blue Marks The Spot is that it is very, very thin. This is 3 coats of polish, & you can still see the nail below. I’m not sure how many coats you would actually need for full opacity, but I’m going to guess it’s more than I would want to do haha. You could definitely do a white or blue base, though, if you wanted to the sheerness.

The formula is sheer, like I said, but other than that it’s not too hard to work with. The coats dry quickly, & the glitters are very well dispersed so you don’t have to worry about digging around trying to find them.

Obligatory macro shot.

I used to be so, so scared of glitter nail polishes & never want to wear them because removal would be impossible. Obviously, taking off glitter polish isn’t my favourite thing, but I’m not quite so scared of wearing my glitters like I used to be. Which, is good, because I love, love, love these spotted polishes & have quite a few in my stash from different brands.

What do you think about this fun spotty nail polish? Do you remember the Maybelline Color Show line, & these spotted polishes in particular. I also have the green one, Drops of Jade, I’m kind of sad I didn’t get the whole range of these shades were they were out, but maybe some day I’ll discover more in the bottom of a clearance bin to complete my collection haha.

Have a lovely Sunday!