SWATCH SUNDAY — Icing Stores Starlight

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s a rainy, grey, & extremely blah day here on the East Coast — & it’s starting to feel like we’ll never see the sun.

I needed some cheering up after this blah, blah week so I started digging through my Claire’s/Icing drawer & found this old school beauty! & I just knew that I had to pick it for this week’s Swatch Sunday.

This is Icing Starlight.

3 coats + top coat

The formula on this beautiful jelly glitter is thin thin thin, but it builds to nice coverage. & because the formula is so thin, each coats dries down quickly before you apply the next one. It also means you can see each & every silver & holo glitter suspended in the base, which I love.

Truthfully, I could have applied a forth coat for a bit more opacity, but with the exception of my tips (where it shows of a bit of my natural yellowing from my nail polish obsession) I really love how this looks. & that could easily be corrected with a colour correcting base coat. Or, by using it as a topper over another blue polish.

In the bottle it reminds me a bit of China Glaze Dorothy Who? but the base is much thinner leaving the colour on the nail much, much lighter. However, it has those beautiful holographic glitters that really show up, so I can’t be mad about it. It’s a beautiful shade all on its own.

Sadly, this colour is long long out of circulation. If I had to hazard a guess, based just on the bottle shape, I would say I purchased this bottle somewhere between 2009-2011. The brand has gone through quite a few bottle changes since then, but I’m happy to see even a decade later, this shade applies & wears beautifully.

& sometimes it’s just fun to take a walk down nail polish memory lane with a shade you haven’t seen in a while.

What do you think about Icing Starlight? Do you have any oldies in your stash you haven’t pulled out in a while? This Sunday is a great day to find a shade you haven’t worn in a while, & pull it out!

Have a lovely day! 🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Willow in the Wind

•PR/Gifted•

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend so far. We celebrated my daughter’s birthday this weekend (her birthday is today) with a mermaid themed party, so it’s definitely been busy! But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have time to paint my nails for this weekend’s Swatch Sunday — especially since I received the most epic nail polish package from Essie on Friday! So obviously, I couldn’t let this weekend pass by without painting my nails with at least one colour!

Today’s pick: Essie Willow in The Wind from the Swoon in the Lagoon collection (I also received Swoon in the Lagoon & Frilly Lillies as well.) This colour is so out of my usual comfort zone, but I couldn’t get past how beautiful & unique this shade was, so I had to wear it first!

2 coats + top coat

I would describe this green as a kermit green, which is so far outside my usual go to shades, but there is something so vibrant & fresh about this shade! This is two coats, but the formula was pretty flawless, so I feel a bit like my second coat was more of a “comfort” coat than anything else — with the except of a few sparse spots that needed another coat. The wide brush on the Essie bottle made it easy to apply the polish to my whole nail in one quick swipe, which is always a good thing.

So squishy & lush! This is definitely going to be a part of my regular nail art arsenal for floral, because I feel like this is the perfect green for leaves! Is it a shade I’m going to wear on it’s own on the regular? Probably not. But as part of some nail art, I think it’s going to be amazing. & who knows… maybe I’m becoming a green girl!

Essie Willow in the Wind should be available anywhere Essie shades are available, including these online stores:

What do you think of this lush green shade from Essie? Are you as obsessed with Willow in the Wind as I am? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Have a fantastic Sunday! ♥︎

Products featured in this post were provided in exchanged for content.  All thoughts are honest & my own.

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI (Fall/Winter 2015 Venice collection)

Good morning loves & happy Sunday. It’s kind of a dingy gross morning here on the East Coast, but the weather later this week is supposed to be absolutely beautiful so I’m going to try to not complain!

Today I’m sharing a swatch of a shade I’ve loved for years, & recently came back into my life: OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI. This shade was originally released as part of the OPI Fall/Winter 2015 Venice collection, which was originally where I fell in love with it. I used up my bottles of it a few years ago, & didn’t realize it was readily available until I stumbled across it a few days ago at a local Winners location.

2 coats + top coat

This is a beautiful greyed white that applies easily on the nail without ending up looking like you’re wearing white-out. It’s a creamy colour that benefits from a nice coat of top coat over top for some extra shine. I ended up wearing it alone for 2 days before adding some nail art to extend my wear another couple days.

I’m not going to like — when I first saw this shade at Winners I got really excited, but Tom Sandoval had kind of ruined white nail polish for me a bit (for those who don’t know what I’m taking out, or don’t watch Vanderpump Rules, here’s a funny Glamour article). But I’ve loved white nail polish as long as I can remember, & have specifically been longing for this one, so I wasn’t going to let this shade get away!

& I’m so glad, because I love everything about it. It’s just so perfect.

For anyone who might be looking for this shade, it’s listed as available on the OPI Website, as well as Beyond Polish. I also found an Amazon.ca listing for it as well.

It is also available in Gel Colour, for those who prefer gel.

What do you think of this beautiful white shade? Are you a fan of white nail polish? Let me know your favourite white nail polish down in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Revenge’s a Beach (Summer 2022)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far & that the weather, where you are, is not apocalyptic.

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is decidedly Summer appropriate. I posted last weekend about the other polish I picked up during my small Shoppers haul, & here she is: Essie Revenge’s A Beach from the Summer 2022 collection.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve been eyeing this shade in their clearance bin for a month or so, but I’ll be honest — the price wasn’t right. But when I saw it for $3 on my last visit, I knew it was coming home with me.

Formula is pretty good on this one — I could almost do one coat, but I applied a second for full coverage. It dried down a bit flat, but adding top coat gave it that glossy finish you see. The colour is a beautiful blue leaning teal that you just know needs careful removal because it’ll be a stainer. I’m still wearing this shade, so we’ll see how it goes when I attempt to remove it tonight!

It really is a beautiful colour. Definitely a little bit bluer than Essie Garden Variety & a little more teal & darker than Essie Strut Your Stuff. It also definitely appears lighter in my light box versus natural lighting. Not necessarily a colour I immediately reach for in the Summer, but I very much get the beach vibes they were aiming for.

Obviously, as this was part of last years Summer collection, availability is limited. I did find it still available on NailPolishCanada.com, & I have no doubt if you Google around you can find more. My best advice is check the clearance section at your favourite place to buy nail Polish — that’s where I usually score finds like this. It’s also possible it will pop up at your local Winners/Marshal’s, as mine always seems to get in these previous collections.

What do you think of Essie Revenge’s A Beach from the Summer 2022 collection? Are you feeling the beach vibes? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! 🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Pacifica Plant Magic Mermaid Tail

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday. This weekend has been a bit exhausting, but I did managed to get a brand new polish to share for this week’s Swatch Sunday.

(& one for next week too — stay tuned!)

I was perusing my local Shoppers Drug Mart & noticed that they are clearing out their section of Pacifica nail polishes. I’ve been curious about these shades for a while, but the price tag was a bit steep, so when I saw them for 50% off, I decided now was the time! & the shade I picked? No surprise there: Mermaid Tail.

2 coats + top coat

The formula on this shimmery shade is pretty thin. The first coat is almost Smokey, but the second coat definitely builds. Personally, seeing it under my light, I kind of wish I had done one more coat, just because I feel like it would have built the colour a bit more solidly.

If your nails are longer, I would definitely recommend a third coat.

The base is a deep green, with a bright turquoise shimmer. The bottle shows off a bit of purple shift too, but that never showed up on the nail sadly. However — the colour is very pretty, & I can see why it has the name Mermaid Tail. It’s very fitting.

Not a colour I would usually pick, but it is very pretty. & I like the fact it’s 16 Free, so I feel safe using it on my little girls nails (she’s who I really bought it for — she’s obsessed with all things mermaid!)

The Pacifica Plant Magic shades are currently $7.49 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart. It’s categorized as clearance, so it definitely looks like a deal you want to take advantage of while you still can. I didn’t see Mermaid Tail listed online, but they had plenty in store, so if you have a Shoppers near you, I’d definitely check out the selection.

Have a lovely Sunday! 🖤