Category: Sparkles

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora 💗🌌

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful sunny–but chilly–day here on the East Coast. They keep telling us that Spring is on its way, but I won’t like… it’s getting harder, & harder to believe it. (Especially when they’re calling for over 20cm of snow at the end of the week)

But never the less, I’ll keep trying to summon Spring with whatever is on my nails, & today I was feeling something pink! Pink is not a colour I often reach for as a single manicure, but it does feel very Spring-y to me, so I thought I would grab for one in my stash. & as soon as I saw this sparkly pink looking back at me, I knew it would be perfect for today’s Swatch Sunday post.

This is Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora.

3 coats + top coat

I always do love a sparkle, & this sheer pink jelly is full of iridescent & holographic glitters. The jelly base is thin–very thin–so multiple coats as necessary for even a hint of opacity. Personally, I feel like I’m more likely to use this as a glitter topper rather than on its own, but I wanted to swatch it as it comes.

The sparkle on this beauty is lovely. I feel like from far away, it could come across as more subtle, but you can see it much more prominently unclose. I will say though –this shade was not easy to photograph at all. I tried in both my lightbox & outside & it was a struggle.

This shade is part of the Primsmatic Shine line of InstaDri, & I’m pretty sure I picked up my bottle 2+ years ago. I’m not sure if it’s still available in store, but I did find it on the Sally Hansen website–however it didn’t have an option for buying, so I’m thinking it’s probably discontinued unfortunately.

(I also found this Reddit thread looking for dupes which has some great alternative polish options.)

What do you think of Sally Hansen InstaDri Pink Aurora? Do you like this sheer sparkly pink? Would you wear this shade on its own, or as a topper over another pink?

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

Happy Sunday

♥︎

Posted on

Red & Gold Shattered Glitter Placement ✨❤️

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! It’s another chilly wet Winter day, & the January vibes are just not it. Have I mentioned I’m not a fan of Winter?

But I have just the thing to cheer myself up… new (sparkly) nails! There is nothing that I love more than some sparkle when I’m feeling down, & I recently pulled out a glitter topper I had almost forgotten I owed. The end result was another perfect glitter placement design.

I’m never going to get tired of these!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Gel Like Top Coat
  • Orly Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer
  • Sinful Colors Twilight Twinkles
  • Small dotting tool

I know this isn’t a super complicated look — still trying to ease myself back into nail art inspiration — but I love how these look. They’re just fun, & pretty, & I never get tired of red nail polish. I also feel like these would be so pretty for February & Valentine’s Day nails!

What do you think about these red shattered glitter nails? Do you love? Also — as always, if you can think of any glitters similar to these in different colours, let me know. I used to have a holographic silver one by Color Club that dried up that I’m desperate to replace!

Happy Wednesday

🖤

Posted on

Icy Blue Glitter Placement 💙❄️

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. Oh boy is it a cold one today! It felt like -25 degrees (Celsius) this morning — which is too cold for my delicate little self. But it fits with today’s nail art look, because I used some older Christmas shades of mine to create a beauty of a nail art look!

I wanted something winter-y, & Christmas adjacent, & I think I achieved that! ❄️

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Morgan Taylor Baby It’s Bold Outside
  • Morgan Taylor Silver in my Stocking
  • Small Dotting Tool

So I totally forgot I had this fun Morgan Taylor silver shatter glitter I was gifted all the way back in 2017 — so naturally I needed to pull it out for some kind of icy glitter placement look. I decided to use another shade from the same collection (Little Miss Nutcracker) as the base for this look. & this beautiful cobalt blue was calling me!

The base of this silver has a bunch of silver micro shimmers, so it made for an interesting look. I think it gives it even more of an icy effect. &, like I said, Christmas adjacent. If you really wanted to amp up this look, you can paint on some snowflakes to give it the full ice queen effect!

What do you think of this icy blue look? Is it giving ice queen? Does it match our (very) frigid weather outside? Let me know what you think of this look, & if you would wear it yourself!

Happy Friday!

💙

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Avon Stardust Collection Silver Crystals

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st — we officially have 32 days of 2025 left. That is just crazy!

Today I have another throwback shade from my stash to show you. I’ve been feeling glitter (a lot) lately, so that’s what I’ve been wearing! Trying to get myself hyped up for the season. & when I saw this glittery textured Polish on my stash, I knew I had to share!

2 coats + top coat

Hello textured glittery perfect. This is Avon Stardust in Silver Crystals & it’s a beautiful grey with lilac undertones & large & small glitters. It dries down to a rocky texture, but I did apply top coat to mine which smooths that texture out some, but helped with wear.

The colour is really pretty. It’s silvery, but it’s lilac, & those multi sized glitters really pop. This shade was released around 2014 (I believe) at the height, or near the end, of the textured polishes boom. I’ve always been a huge fan of these glittery textured polishes, so I’m glad I’ve kept this beauty in my stash all these years.

The close up really shows off all those beautiful glitters. & you can see that even with the layer of top coat, the textured finish comes through — just not as roughly.

The removal was a bit tricky & needed a lot of strong nail polish remover. I had glitter all over my hands afterwards, but nothing a little soap & water can’t fix. & it was totally worth it for that sparkle.

As I mentioned, this shade was released around 2014 so it is no longer available. I’m not even sure if Avon still makes nail polish anymore. But I am certainly glad to have this shade in my stash, & wearing it did make me feel a little festive.

Also: nail polish companies — bring back textured nail polish! It’s such a fun finish to wear, & I would love more shades in my collection!

What do you think about this textured shade? Do you enjoy textured nail polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday!

🖤

Posted on

Pink Glitter Snowflakes

Hello lovelies!

Happy day after (American) Thanksgiving to my American readers, & happy Black Friday! This is my first year in a while I’m not working in retail for Black Friday sales, so I’m kind of enjoying the breather.

But we can’t deny — Christmas is coming. & even though I’m feeling less than zero Christmas spirit this year, I figured it was time I at least tried to summon some Holiday/Winter spirit. So naturally I thought we’d dip our toes in with some snowflake nail art stickers.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wrapped in Love
  • Ardene Dancing Queen
  • NailStuff.ca Snowflake Nail Art Stickers

First off, I’m officially petitioning for glitter pink to become an official Christmas colour. Secondly, I love how cute these are! I’ve had these nail art stickers in my collection forever, & I love that they’re still being used for cute nail art looks.

& it was way simpler than me trying to hand paint snowflakes on my nails! The white of the stickers just pop so well against that pretty pink. Definitely giving Christmas vibes — at least for me.

What do you think about these pink glittery snowflakes? Are they giving holiday vibes? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below! & how you’re getting your nails into the festive spirit.

Happy Friday

🖤