SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze BFF

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s been a week of beautiful sunny Spring days here on the East Coast, & you know what that means: let’s bring out the holo!

Today I have an oldie from my stash to share: this is China Glaze BFF from the OMG! Flashback 2018 collection. This was gifted to me a few years back, & I often forget just how darn beautiful these holo shades are! The perfect shades from when the sun is really shining.

2 coats, no top coat.

Look at that rainbow! It really, really shows… even under my the light in my light box. It’s very prominent, which you want in a holographic nail polish. The formula was also really, really easy to work with — two shades, no top coat. It dried really quickly, but thankfully didn’t drag when I applied coat #2.

& again: look at that linear holo! In my macro shot, you can really see how beautiful it truly is.

Sadly, this collection was a limited edition redo of an old collection, & isn’t available everywhere. But! I did find a few listings on Amazon & eBay for it, so it definitely is possible to find if you have to have it. I’m definitely lucky to have 5/6 of these shades in my stash, & I’m already planning a skittlette design in my head using them!

What do you think of China Glaze BFF? Do you have this shade in your nail polish stash? What is your favourite liner holo? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond The Nail Butterfly Clips (April 2021 Polish Pick Up)

{PR Sample/Gifted}

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their day.

Today I’m super excited because I have an amazing polish to share with you from an awesome (& local to me!) nail polish brand: Beyond the Nail Butterfly Clips. This shade is actually being released as part of the April 2021 Polish Pick Up, which is a 90ies theme.

According to Beyond the Nail:

Inspired by the butterfly clips that we used to (or still do😏) wear in our hair. This nail polish has a holographic purple microglitter base with hints of holographic blue microglitter and lots of metallic magenta hex glitter.

2 coats, no top coat

If you’re looking for a glitter bomb of a polish, you are in luck because Butterfly Clips is all about the glitter! & I can totally feel the nostalgia that inspired the shade. It reminds me of one of those inflatable couches that were very popular in the 90ies & of which I totally owned.

The formula itself is pretty thick for application, which is why I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. It was also very quick drying, which I thought was amazing for a polish with so much glitter.

Look at all that glitter! It’s seriously amazing. ✨ you can see above the gritty finish of it dried down without top coat. It reminds me a lot of the textured polishes that used to be popular years ago, & I’m really obsessed with it.

But just for fun, I wanted to add a little top coat so you could see both smoothed out & not smoothed out. Quite honestly, I love it both ways! I feel like you do see a bit more of the holo once you’ve applied top coat though, which I can’t help but love.

So what do you think about this beauty of a nail polish? As I mentioned, Butterfly Clips will be available to buy through the PPU website, starting April 2 until April 5th for $11.50. It’s an exclusive shade, so I definitely suggest picking it up if you live it as much as I do!

& let me know down in the comments below which polish takes you back to your teenage years!

Spring Gradient Dotticure

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I’ve very much been enjoying the warmer days around here—I even wore a jumpsuit the other day, & it was really exciting. & that means I’ve been enjoying all the pretty spring nail polishes in my stash. Although, I’m not going to lie… I feel like I’ve been grabbing the same Spring-y shades over & over. Haha.

But I was really feels some sanity polka dots, & I decided that some pretty pastel gradient polka dots would be perfect!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Sally Hansen In The Sheer
  • L’Oréal Colour Riche B01 Pistache Royale
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Aside
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • China Glaze Shocking Pink
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Oh man, this was such an easy look to do, although a bit time consuming.

It gives you that gradient effect without having to go through all the time consuming effort of sponging on colour & cleaning up around the cuticles. Because, I won’t lie, even though I absolutely love gradients, I just don’t always have the time (or energy) to go through all the effort of doing one. But this totally makes me happy & feels like a perfect gradient alternative!

What do you think about this pretty pastel gradient dotticure? Would you wear this look? Do you think it would work for Easter? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Spring Floral with Peak-a-Boo Holo

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

I’ve been slacking a bit on my posting this week, haha. Sometimes real life just gets in the way of blog life. But I’ve got a big, big coffee to start my day, & I’m finally sharing this floral I teased on my Instagram stories last week. 💗🌸

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel In The Sheer
  • Starrily Eclipse
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Aside
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Pink
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Blue
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri VaVa Violet
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Thyme is Money
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie In The Cabana
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Whew, this was a lot of polishes to bring it alive, but the end result…. well I think it speaks for itself! Also check out that peak-a-boo holo! I’m kind of a obsessed with dainty holographic looks over a nude-ish base. It’s a nice introduction to Spring, & since here on the East Coast it’s apparently going to be above average temperatures for the next 3 months, I think we’re going to have an early Spring! Which, you know… I’m okay with. Give me Spring dresses, no snow, & pastels, & I’ll be happy. It’s the least 2021 can do for us after the dumpster fire that was last year.

What do you think about this Spring floral, & it’s sneaky holo base? Are you, too, ready for more Spring? Let me know what you are looking forward to the most about Spring down in the comments below!

#GlamNailsChallengeFeb — Hearts 💕

Hello lovelies & happy day after Valentine’s Day (aka 50% off Chocolate Day!).

Today I’m sharing my design for yesterday’s prompt for GlamNailsChaengeFeb: Hearts! Which is a very fitting prompt for February 14th. 💗 This look was one of those ones that kind of just came to me as I was doing it, which are definitely the best kind. & I just adore the end result.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
  • OPI Koala Bear-y
  • L’Oréal Royalty Reinvented
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Delightful
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

As you can see from my close up, this isn’t the most perfectly clean freehanding, but I kind of like it. It works with this kind of design. It sort of reminds me of another Valentine’s Day nail art look I did a few years back which was inspired by napkins I saw out & about.

What do you think about this hearts look? I’m definitely ready to be done with pink for a while — I think I’ve pink-ed myself out. Haha. But I’ve got a whole bunch more prompts to come, so stay tuned for some beautiful (not pink) nail art looks to come!