Category: Nostalgia

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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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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue (OG Formula!) 🌊💙

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re having a beautiful weekend. It’s been a bit of everything this weekend — rain, sunshine, wind. That’s Nova Scotia weather for you!

Today though I have a special cult classic polish to share with you that I think most will definitely recognize! This the original Sally Hansen Pacific Blue.

1 coat + Top Coat

You may remember I did a comparison post featuring this shade circa 2019, but I never realized that I hadn’t shared full swatches of it! Considering we’re coming up on ten years since the untimely formula switch of Pacific Blue, I really wanted to throw this beauty on.

For those who don’t know the backstory, in 2014 Sally Hansen reformulated the original Pacific Blue, going from the beautiful creamy cobalt blue to.. something else. & nail polish aficionados were mad. We also scrambled to find as many back up bottles of the original shade to hoard.

The formula on this shade is about as close to perfect as you can find. One coat of creamy beautiful blue goodness. Even after 10 years, it still applies flawlessly. & unlike some similar shades—*cough* Butler Please *cough*—I never have any issues with premature chipping. & it kind of makes me remember why I fell in love with nail polish & nail blogging in the first place.

Do you remember the original Pacific Blue? Do you have a bottle of this beauty in your nail polish stash? Sadly, after 10 years since of being discontinued, I think the only place you might find a bottle of the OG is on EBay, or places like Poshmark where I found a bottle of the Original formula for $20.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

🖤

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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. ♥︎

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Embracing the Nostalgia with Crackle Nail Polish

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday. I decided to throw things back a bit (& embrace the crazy nostalgia taking over my life thanks to my very own mid-2006 emo playlist) with a fun look featuring a very nostalgic nail polish finish— crackle.

For anyone not around during the early 2010s, crackle nail polishes became huge around 2012, & by 2013 everyone & their mom was coming out with their own version of the crackle (or shatter) effect. Black was the beginning shade I remember being everywhere, followed by a whole assortment of different colours & finishes.

Recently I was going through my stash, & found a bottle of Avon Mosiac Effects Top Coat — aka their version of the crackle nail Polish — & decided to give it a little shake to see if it was still good. Sure enough, the formula is still perfect! So I had to give it a try to see how it looked after all this time.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Illamasqua Aorta
  • Avon Mosiac Effects Top Coat Black

I still have a couple crackle/shatter shades left in my stash, although most have long since dried up to be unusable. For this look, what you’re seeing is one rather thick coat over my base shade. I waited about 5 minutes for the cracked effect to set before applying my top coat, & I thought the end result was pretty perfect. I prefer my cracks to be larger so you can see more of the base shade underneath.

Is crackle/shatter nail polish going to make a comeback? I don’t know. I feel like these shades are so controversial, even 11 years later. You either love them, or hate them, & obviously I am firmly planted on the love side. I also think it’s a nostalgia thing, as I remember crackle being the first “nail art” trend I really feel in love with.

What do you think? Do you think crackle is due for its revival? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Rimmel London 660 Climax

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend & is excited for the week ahead. I’ve had a very busy 4 days, so I’m exhausted, but I did manage to take a very quick trip down memory lane for this week’s Swatch Sunday post.

Today’s pick is another super oldie from my early nail polish obsession days: Rimmel London 660 Climax. You might remember from a few years ago I featured another one of these Rimmel London shades called Pulsating, & shared how obsessed I was with them. So I thought it would be fitting to share its sister shade.

2 coast + Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat

How pretty is this purple? I love how it’s shimmery, with that beautiful pink glow. The first coat was pretty good coverage, but I found the formula needed another coat to be safe. I can’t remember how it applied back when I first bought it, so it might be an age thing (this bottle is about 12 years old) so I didn’t mind adding a second coat, & a little top coat to smooth things out very nicely. & to be truthful, for a polish that is older than my oldest nephew, I think she’s looking pretty good.

For fun, I decided to add a bit of extra sparkle with a pretty flakie topper by Essence called Essence Galaxy Flakes Rock My World.

This is one coat of Essence Galaxy Flakes Rock My World over Rimmel London 660 Climax. The flakie glitters add a pretty extra sparkle which I very much enjoy. The purple probably doesn’t show up as much over this lighter purple as it would over a darker shade, but it definitely made the perfect base for some nail art I’ll share this week!

What do you think about this nostalgic polish? Do you remember Rimmel London nail polishes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.