Category: Sally Hansen

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SUNDAY SWATCH POST: Quo by ORLY Sweet DreamĀ 


Like any nail polish addict, when I go into a store that sells nail polish (pharmacy, grocery store, department store, Dollar store) always have to look at the polish selection. Even though I’m trying not buy polish I don’t need, I like to know what’s available on the off chance there something I absolutely need right now, or something on an awesome sale. 


While shopping at my local Shoppers the other day, I was checking out the Quo by ORLY selection & came across a colour I hadn’t seen before: Sweet Dream. I picked it up & immediately noticed the pretty pink shift in it. Suddenly I realized I needed this colour. Of course, not before I picked it up & put it down a few times trying to decide. Pretty sure the girl in Cosmetics either thought I was crazy or trying to shoplift. 

Sweet Dream is a pretty pearlescent blue with a subtle pink & turquoise shift that is sadly much more evident in the bottle than on the nail. But, when you hit the right light it is hard to not get distracted! The polish is super sheer–I used 2 coats over a single coat of Sally Hansen Babe Blue undies (& there is still some visible nail line happening.) I’m not sure how many coats it would take if you wore this polish on its own, but I bet it would be a few, so I definitely recommend using it over undies. I’d be interested in seeing how different undie bases would bring out the shimmer. But even with the extra work, Sweet Dream is so, so worth it.  

I mean, check out that shift:

I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this blue. It’s like Unicorn Nails in a bottle! All it’s missing is a flakie top coat, which I wish I had though of! Next time. I’ve been trying really hard to not buy polishes I already have 1000 versions of, & I can safely say I have absolutely nothing like this colour in my stash already. (trust me, I went home & tried to find a dupe. Nothing!)

Quo By ORLY polishes are available for purchase at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada. For my international friends, I know sometimes Quo polishes are recreations of ORLY polishes that already exist, & from my Quick internet search I believe that Sweet Dream is a dupe of ORLY Angel Rain from the Fall 2013 Surreal collection. Looking at swatches in Google, I’m pretty convinced these are dupes. 

So what do you think of Quo by ORLY Sweet Dream? What has been your latestest have to to have polish buy? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Turquoise on Turquoise DotticureĀ 

Are you in the mood for another dotticure, because I definitely am! You can never go wrong with Polka dots, & unlike my last dotticure these dots turned out much more neat & tidy. I was also feeling something brighter because we’ve had a couple sunny days that always inspire my nail polish choices. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Garden Variety
  • Sally Hansen I ā™„ļø Nail Art Pen in Turquoise

Oh man, I don’t know what I would do without these Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens. They make creating dotticures so damn easy, & cut the time to do them to basically nothing! Don’t get me wrong, I love my dotting tools. But sometimes you’re tired & you just want to bang out some polka dots really quick & these pens are perfect for that. 

I seriously forgot how pretty Essie Garden Variety was. I can’t even remember the last time I wore it! That’s the problem with owning an excessive amount of nail polish… you just forget sometimes the colours you own (even when you’re trying to shop your own stash). 

What’s your favourite dotticure combination? I love pairing together similar shades because they compliment each other so well. Let me know your favourites in the comments below! 

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Chevron Accent Nail featuring Pacific Blue.Ā 

I’ve written before about my unrelenting love for the original formula Sally Hansen Pacific Blue. So much so I still search for back up bottles when I’m looking through clearance. I don’t wear it a whole lot, but when I do I am reminded why I love this polish so much.  The other night I was looking for something to put on my nails, & immediately reached for my old trusty favourite. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Sally Hansen Montley Hue
  • OPI Angel With A Lead Foot (under Montley Hue)
  • Snail Vinyls Staggered Chevron Nail Stencil

Sometimes I love wearing a simple colour & sprucing it up with a simple accent. If I’m remembering correctly, Pacific Blue was one of my very first Sally Hansen X-treme Wear polishes. I’ll never not love it. Even if it didn’t have this elusive Unicorn status, it would still be one of my favourites. 

What do you think of this mani? Do you have Pacific Blue in your stash? I’ve been going through my stash &  found some potential dupes, so I’m going to post a comparison post coming up! šŸ’™

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Desert Sunset inspired nails

Coachella is finishing up this weekend, which means lots of festival inspired nails have been popping up in my feed! I’ve never been to Coachella, but I DO know it takes place in the desert so I thought these desert sunset gradient nails would be perfect to channel my inner festival goer (instead of what I’m actually spending today doing which is cleaning my bedroom & putting away way too much clothing while simultaneously trying to convince the baby to nap.)


For this design, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • Color Club Almost Famous 
  • OPI Where Did Suzy’s Man-go?
  • Essie Play Date
  • Color Club Pucci-licious
  • Sally Hansen I ā™„ļø Nail Art pen in Black. 
  • Latex Free cosmetic sponge 
  • Born Pretty Store Liquid Latex Peel Off Tape

My bottle of top coat is reaching the bottom which lead to some weirdness & shrinking. Never the less, I really love the colour combination of this gradient with the desert landscape. I could totally see these fitting in at Coachella, or another similar music festival! šŸŒ„ all I need is a flower crown & some cut off denim shorts & I’d fit right in! 

I think I’ve rediscovered my obsession with gradients, clean up be damned. (Thank goodness for Liquid latex.) & I think I’m slowly getting better at them! They make me happy. This colour combo worked out so well, I just can’t stop staring! Even my husband commented how wicked these were (& without asking even!)

What do you think of this design? Let me know in the comments below!

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Earth Day nails with #thenailartsquad


For Earth Day 2017 I joined up last minute with a couple members of #thenailartsquad–@25sweetpeas & @nbnailart–for some Earth inspired manicures! Each one of us had a cute, unique take on the idea & all the designs turned out so awesome! 

For my Earth Day inspired manicure, I had an idea to create a drip marble that would look like the Earth, & I’m so happy with how it turned out! 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat 
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Coat. 
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Boho Blue
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Babe Blue
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Jazzy Jade
  • Silicone Craft Mat


To achieve this design, I used the same technique as my last drip manicure. The more I practice this technique, especially applying the decals, the easier it gets! Also I think it actually looks like the Earth, which makes me so happy! I wasn’t sure if this idea was going to turn out, but it actually worked so well! 

What do you think of this Earth inspired design? Let me know in the comments below. šŸŒŽ and don’t forget to check out #thenailartsquad on Instagram to see these designs, as   well as all past collaborations!