SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Infinite Shine Shaking My Sugarplums (2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection)

Good morning lovelies & Happy New Years Eve! Can you believe today is the last day of 2023?! This year has been a whirlwind for sure. So much has happened, but I’m excited for what 2024 will bring!

Today I’m excited to share a brand new polish which I received as part of my Christmas gift from my kids. All I asked for this beautiful OPI share, & I was excited to receive it — along with 3 other gorgeous shades I’ll be sharing soon!

This is OPI Shaking My Sugarplums from the 2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful metallic periwinkle shimmer has a beautiful flash of pinky purple. The second I saw swatches of this shade, I knew I needed to have it. & of course, the hilarious name really sold it!

The formula was a bit thin on this one — I could have gotten away with 2 coats, but opted for a 3 for really solid coverage. It dries quickly, so the extra coat wasn’t an inconvenience at all but really helped with that flash of shimmer.

Macro shot to show of the depth of this beautiful shade. I can’t get over how beautiful it is! I am so happy to be able to add this shade to my collection (as well as the 3 other shades I was gifted)

The OPI 2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection can be found anywhere OPI polishes are sold. For fellow Canadians, I know they are currently on sale at Chatters & Chatters.ca for 50% off!

What do you think of this beautiful OPI Holiday shade? Did you pick up any of the beautiful shades from this collection? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & I hope you have the most wonderful New Years Eve!

See you next year!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Better Not Pout

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday.

Today is the first Sunday of December, so it only seems fitting to share another holiday shade from my stash! Today’s shade was also part of the 2015 China Glaze Cheers collection, like last week’s Swatch Sunday pick I Soirée I Didn’t Do It.

This is China Glaze Better Not Pout.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful metallic berry applied in two smooth coats. It dried down a little less shiny, so I applied a coat of top coat to give it some extra gloss. The colour itself is very festive, & a great alternative to red or green for the holiday season. The dark berry colour is definitely one I enjoy wearing (I kept this shade on for 3 days!)

You could also do some great holiday nail art with it as well.

Like last week’s pick, this shade was originally released as part of the holiday collection, so it’s no longer in permanent circulation—however, you can buy the Gelaze version on the China Glaze website for those who use gel nail polish.

What do you think about this beautiful holiday berry? Do you have Better Not Pout in your nail polish stash? Would you wear this shade to a holiday party? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday 💗

Jewel Toned Stained Glass Nails 💎

Hello my loves! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far. It has been absolutely freezing here on the East Coast of Canada. I’ve been wearing legging under my jeans & over the knee socks just to keep warm — crazy! Winter is definitely just around the corner, & I’m never ready for it when it comes.

Today though, I have a beautiful jewel toned design to share with you. I used to do stained glass nails a lot when this blog first started, but it’s been a while since the last time. After finding a few beautiful China Glaze polishes I haven’t worn in a while, I knew I wanted to pair them together in a stained glass look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze OMG
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • China Glaze First Class Ticket
  • China Glaze Don’t Get Elf’d Up
  • China Glaze Pull Me Close
  • Sally Hansen Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 9mm Mermaid Tail Liner Brush

How freaking pretty is this! These shades juts compliment each other so well… it makes me so happy! Originally I had just started with a simple colour block, but it really felt like I was lacking in something, so I decided to add on another colour (Pull Me Close) & the black outlining, & it just brought everything together perfectly.

Even though I’ve been wearing a lot of red nails just on their own, I’m trying really hard to not go too hard on the Christmas nail art\ quite yet. A little sprinkling here & there, but I know that December will be Christmas nail art heavy (I’m doing Glam Nails Challenge December again!), so I’m trying my best to get in everything else in the meantime.

What do you think of this beautiful jewel toned stained glass design? Do you think this is a fun look or do you prefer more simple nail art? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

&, to all my American followers, Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your Wednesday lovelies ♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Is it too early to start sharing some very holiday appropriate nail polish shades? I mean — the holiday parties are already starting, aren’t they? So some jewel inspired red nail polish is just what I need in my life. Today’s pick is another oldie from the stash, from the now defunct ORLY Color Blast line: Garnet Luxe Shimmer.

2 coats, no top coat!

This stunning shimmery cherry red applied to the nail beautifully in two smooth coats. The formula was smooth, & easy to apply, & self levelled without any need for top coat. It also had a beautiful shine without any need for top coat.

This shade is 100% a Christmas red if I ever saw one. I’m not even sure where I originally picked this polish up — I don’t see a Winners/Marshall’s tag on it, so I’m assuming (maybe) Sally Beauty, but I honestly don’t remember. All I know is it is a great red, & I’m sure happy to have it as part of my collection.

Sadly, as mentioned, the Color Blast line is no longer in production — however I did find a few similar ORLY shades on their website which are very similar: Stronger than Ever, Crawford’s Wine, & Cran-Barely Believe It. I only have Stronger Than Ever in my own stash, so I’ll have to do a comparison to see how close they really are!

What do you think of ORLY Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer? Are you feeling the holiday vibes with this shimmery red polish? Are you ready to jump head first into all the Christmas/Holiday polishes I can share?

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

SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Venomous

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s an especially beautiful Sunday because it’s my birthday! Okay, so I’ve never really been a birthday person — even before I hit my 30s — but I do love a free Starbucks drink so I’l celebrate it slightly.

Today though, we have another Swatch Sunday & I dug & dug through my nail polish stash to find an Halloween-esque nail polish shade, & I found this very special shade circa 2010/2011. This is Claire’s Venomous.

2 coats over OPI Black Cherry Chutney + top coat

So a little back story on this shade. I purchased this during the beginnings of my nail polish addict stages. I remembered reading this Claire’s (which I worked at during this time) had released some nail polishes that were dupes for the MAC Venomous Villian’s collection, so naturally I knew I needed them. I only have 2/3 shades (I believe) but they are prized treasures in my nail polish stash.

Now, for my swatches I did two coats over a one coat of Black Cherry Chutney. The formula is very, very thin — requiring 3-4 coats — so I always prefer to add some undies. (If you want to see swatches on this shade layered, check out Deez Nailz post. ) I love the foiled finish of this shade, & how the polish shifts depending on how you move your hand. Depending on the undies you choose, you can bring out more of the green shift you see in the bottle.

As above, you can see a good example of how the shade shifts on the nails. I wrote in a previous post about Quo by ORLY Wrong so Right that they were dupes, but looking at the close up above I feel like you get a lot more of the gold/green flash with this shade which I quite like. This was actually the colour I chose for my nails for a wedding I attended this weekend, & I thought it was the perfect colour for Autumn. & the nail is very Halloween-y, obviously.

What do you think about Claire’s Venomous? What is your oldest/most prized nail polish in your nail polish collection? Do you think this is a great Halloween-y polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday Everyone. ♥︎