SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Shocking Pink

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s the first week of June, which means it’s only a couple weeks of Summer here in this part of the world. & that means I want all the neon I can get my hands on!

Todays Swatch Sunday pick is a classic from my stash: Shocking Pink. Yep… we’re all about the pink again!

3 coats, matte top coat

First things first, the formula on this shade was a bit complicated to work with. I ended up needing 3 coats for full coverage, but it was a bit thick, & had a little bit of trouble smoothing (you can see it a bit in some of the pictures.) Like many neons, it does dry to a soft matte on its own. I added matte top coat to smooth things out while keeping the matte finish the polish has.

The colour is definitely tricky to photograph. If you look online, I feel like everyone’s swatches of this are just a little bit different. It looks lighter, or darker, depending on the lighting. The colour though, is definitely Summer in a bottle. It’s bright & blinding, & the kind of pink you throw on your toes while laying on the beach, sunglasses on, soaking in the Summer (while wearing a high SPF, don’t get too crazy!)

This was the first time, that I can remember, I’ve put this shade on as a full manicure — I’ve usually only grabbed it for nail art accents. With the bit of trouble I had applying it, I’m not 100% sure it would be my first pick for my nails, as I change them so often. But I definitely think it is a great pedicure choice, & I’m definitely saving it for my next one.

I found a few places where you can purchase Shocking Pink:

Do you have China Glaze Shocking Pink in your stash?

Let me know what you think about this shade down in the comments below, & share your favourite neon shade for Summer!

Pink & Purple Leopard Print

Hello lovelies & happy end of May!

Can you believe this month is officially on its way out? Summer is here — & I’ve been living for these warm Summer dress worthy days. Today I’m showing off a fun, bright look to perfectly compliment the weather: a pink & purple leopard print.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top
  • LA Girl Extreme
  • Essence Lilac Vibes
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky-O
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I love how this pink pops against this grey-ed out purple. It makes it look really vibrant. I featured this purple base for Swatch Sunday a few weeks back, & I’m glad I decided to do some nail art with it! It was the perfect base for this leopard print. This colour scheme is great!

What do you think of this leopard print look? Are you a fan of the pink against the purple base? What are you wearing to celebrate Summer days? Let me know in the comments below!

Bright & Summery Saran Wrap Splatter

Features Gifted Product in Exchange for Content

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! It’s a beautiful sunny Thursday here, which is super exciting! It’s actually supposed to be warm & sunny. So naturally that means I need nails that are bright & fun to match.

Recently I teamed up with TradeSecrets.ca, which is a Canadian based online seller, & I picked a few new fun Spring/Summery nail polishes to add to my stash (along with a base coat & top coat). While I’ve followed along with TradeSecrets on Instagram, mostly for their hair products — because we all know I’m hair product obsessed — I was really excited to see all the fun nail related items they sell as well. They also have free shipping on all orders.

For my first look using these shades, I decided to go with a fun & easy Saran Wrap Splatter look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: OPI Nature Strong Top Coat
  • OPI Nature Strong Make My Daisy
  • OPI Nature Strong Cactus What You Preach
  • OPI Nature Strong Emflowered
  • Saran Wrap or some kind of crinkled thin plastic (I used some of an apple bag)

I really, really need to do a video tutorial for these, but I keep forgetting I want to until after I’ve painted my nails. But how fun did these turn out? I’m really loving these three shades! When I was browsing the TradeSecrets website, these were the three colours that screamed Summer to me most, so obviously I needed them in my life!

I definitely suggest trying out TradeSecrets.ca if you’re looking for a new place to easily pick up nail polish. They have a huge selection of OPI polishes, but also sell ORLY & Dip polish kits for those who like a longer lasting manicure. They were also kind enough to send along some hair products my way, so let me know if you’d like to see my thoughts on those as well!

What do you think about this cute design? Are you feeling these bright summery colours? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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

All thoughts are honest & my own.

Pink on Pink Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. I hope it’s a beautiful Tuesday where you are. We’ve got some serious, almost Summer-like temperatures headed our way this week, so I’m pretty pumped!

Today though I’ve got a fun pink look to share with you I wore last week.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat
  • Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart.
  • Deborah Lippman Between the Sheets
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge pink nail polish fan — which is funny, because I lived 2+ years of my life with pink hair. But I really, really like this pink tonal look.

What do you think about this pink on pink abstract stripe design? Do these say “Summer” to you?

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

EDIT — realized after I posted that this is my 1000th post on Coffee & Nail Polish which is so crazy! Here is to 1000 more! ✨💕💗🌸

SWATCH SUNDAY — Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday & happy May 1st! Can you believe it? Summer really is almost here.

Today I thought I’d show off a Springy & pretty pink shade for this week’s Swatch Sunday post, which is by Deborah Lippman: Groove is in the Heart. I feel like pink is not one of those shades that I wear a whole lot, but when looking through my pick this week, it caught my eye, & I had to show it off.

2 coats, no top coat.

You’re looking at two coats of polish for full coverage. In the bottle, the shade has a pretty shimmer, but on the nail, it gets hidden, & comes across looking more cream. The colour itself leans a bit peach to me, which I think compliments by skin tone quite nicely. It’s a very unassuming colour, which means it would be suitable for a variety of occasions.

The formula wasn’t too difficult to work with, but did require a careful hands just to make sure the polish went on level. I feel like this could easily be solved by the application of a top coat which always smoothes things out nicely.

I am still bummed about the shimmer though — that’s one of the reasons I picked this polish to wear, but it didn’t show up on the nail at all.

All in all, I think this is a very pretty shade. Even though I own a ton of it, I’m not usually a pink nail polish on its own kind of girl. This is definitely a shade I think would be awesome on my toes, especially with a bit of a tan. & I could definitely see myself using it as a base for an assortment of nail art!

What do you think about this polish pick? Do you have Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart in your polish collection? I tried to find this shade online, but being a released from Spring 2013, I don’t think it’s still available, with the exception of an Ebay listing I saw.