Category: Spring

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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!

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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!

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Pretty Spring-y Stripes

Hello Lovelies & happy Tuesday!

I don’t know where you are, but here it’s feeling so Spring-y. Yesterday I work flats & a jean jacket to work, & even enjoyed an iced coffee. It was so amazing — I have so missed the warmer weather. The next couple days are supposed to be lovely, & then it’s going to get colder & rainy, so I’m going to soak it all in as long as possible!

I’ve also been wearing a lot of Springy nail polishes, like this stripe-y design from last week.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • China Glaze Boho Blues
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Art Club Nail Art Striper in Paisley Blue
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

Oh yes, these brighter colours just feel so good to wear again. & stripes are so easy to incorporate all sorts of colours at once.

Now… it’s time to pack away all the winter sweaters, & move all the Spring dresses to the front! Bring on sunshine, the beach days, all the sundresses — I just can’t wait! & of course, all the Summer nail polish collections which always make me so happy. Maybe I’ll even start sharing Fashion Friday outfits again, now that every outfit doesn’t consist & 15 layers & a scarf. Haha.

What do you think about this nail art look? Are you a fan of easy freehand stripes like this? Let me know what colour combination you would pair together in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Scenic Route

Hello lovelies, & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is enjoying the first weekend of Spring. We’re supposed to have some actually enjoyable Spring-like weather today, so I’m very excited for warmer days… I might even wear a Spring dress!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is another oldie from the stash: ORLY Scenic Route, which was originally released as part of the Summer 2016 Pacific Highway Collection. I originally picked up my bottle at Winners, when it was originally released.

2 coats + Essie Good To Go Top Coat

The formula on this lilac purple cream is smooth to apply. I did need some top coat to really level everything out, but for the most part it was quite easy to work with. The colour is also fantastically bright; a perfect pop of colour for Spring into Summer. & I think we all need a bit of brightness in our lives right now! (Or, at least, I do.)

Even more exciting, Scenic Route appears to now be part of the permanent ORLY line, & is listed at a variety of different places for sale:

I also saw listening on Amazon, & eBay, although I would say these are more official listings. So if you’re seeing my swatches, & thinking “oh man, I definitely need to pick up ORLY Scenic Route to complete all my Spring nail polish dreams!”, you’re definitely in luck.

What do you think of ORLY Scenic Route? What you wearing for the first weekend of Spring (unless of course, you’re in a different hemisphere so the first weekend of Fall?)

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

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Boho Blues

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

After a few days of warm, Spring-y days, I’m living for all things Spring. & what is more Spring than a beautiful cornflower blue? You know how much I love a good blue!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is China Glaze Boho Blues. This shade was originally released circa Spring 2015 as part of the Road Trip Collection, but I do believe it’s now part of the permanent collection as it’s currently listed for Sally on the Sally Beauty website & a few other websites where you can purchase China Glaze polishes.

2 coats + Essie Good to Go

The cream formula is really easy to work with, & I managed 2 coats for full coverage. It does dry fairly gloss on its own, althouh didn’t completely level out — but that could be because this is an older bottle. I did apply top coat to kind of smooth things out a bit (& also because I was planning on some nail art).

As you can see, this is just such a smooth, beautiful, vibrant blue. It is definitely a perfect colour for Spring. I’ve always had an affinity for this shade of blue, or so says my nail polish collection, so they tend to be the first ones I’m drawn to in a nail polish collection.

What do you think about this beautiful shade? Do you have Boho Blues in your nail polish stash? Let me know in the comments below!