Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe this is the last week of April? Didn’t this month just start?
Today’s Swatch Sunday post is going to be a little bit different! I was recently sent the most amazing PR package featuring the new Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengtheners.
According to the Essie Website:
born from breakthrough and brand new nail bonding technology, hard to resist is here to help bond weakened nail surfaces to improve fragile, brittle nails.
Both base coats are vegan, formulated without formaldehyde & are supposed to help your nails feel less brittle in three days.
I thought for this week’s Swatch Sunday, it would be fun to do a post showing off a before & after of how these tinted base coats work, featuring something I don’t show off very often: my naked nails.
Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! & happy Easter. I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday (if you celebrate). Today I’m celebrating another week, & another Swatch Sunday post!
This week, I pulled out this Essence beauty: Lilac Vibes. I found this shade at my local Shoppers Drug Mart last Summer, & I have been meaning to share it ever since! But I thought since Spring is in full swing, it would be a great colour pick for this week’s Swatch Sunday post.
2 coats, no top coat
The formula on this shade is super creamy, & easy to apply. I possibly could have gotten away with one coat, but I applied a second to hide a few patchy spots on the nail. It dries to a beautiful shine, as pictured, without any top coat needed — although if I’m wearing long term, I always had top coat to help my polish last.
The colour is really pretty, & vibrant. It’s not quite pink, not quite purple. But the soft shade is enough you could get away with it for a variety of occasions. It also reminds me a bit of one of my favourite ORLY shades: Scenic Route — although Violet Vibes seems to lean a bit more on the blue side.
As mentioned, I picked this shade up at my local Shoppers Drug Mart last Summer. It wasn’t part of the core Essence display, but one of those little separate displays for limited edition shades. Like all Essence polishes sold at Shoppers, it was $2.99 CAD, which is a very good price.
It’s no longer listed as available on the Shoppers Drug Mart beauty site, but I did find the shade also listed on the Essence website as available so I’m not 100% sure if it is a core shade or not, but it does look like it is still available for purchase — although I do believe that is the US site, so shipping would not be available for Canada.
What do you think about this Essence shade? Are you a fan of Essence nail polish? Let me know what you think about this fun shade down in the comments below, & what your favourite Essence shade is!
Hello lovelies & happy Sunday? Can you feel that in the air — it’s the feeling of Spring in the air! Which means it’s time to break out the pastels.
Recently I was at my local Winners, & I happened to see some cute nail polish duos by Londontown. I’ve purchased some of their nail polishes before, so I was excited to get some more nail polishes to try. I decided on a set featuring two very Spring-y shades — Mint No Chip & Briolette.
Today I’m excited because I’m sharing a fun purple OPI that I recently found at my local Winners. I love how I’ve been finding displays with full previous season collections, which I may have missed on the first go around. This is OPI The Sound of Vibrance that was released as part of the 2021 Malibu collection released last Summer.
3 coats, no top coat
The Sound of Vibrance is a beautiful pink toned purple with shimmery blue glow & small glitters. Obviously, I’m drawn to purple easily (heck, even my hair is purple!) but this one really caught my eye because of that glow. It gives me so many nail art colour combination ideas, but also — it just looks really pretty on its own.
The formula was a wee bit on the thinner side. It wasn’t 3 coats on every nail, but I did need to do 3 coats on a few nails when I had some patchiness. However, the polish levels on its own very easily. & the beautiful colour is definitely worse a few extra swipes of polish.
You can definitely see why this was a part of a Summer collection, because it’s giving me all the Summer-y, beauty vibes.
Also, lately, I’ve been really finding myself drawn to a lot of red polishes, so it was nice to go back to an old favourite colour, & remind myself that Summer is coming, even if these chilly rainy days are making me feel otherwise.
What do you think of The Sound of Vibrance & it’s beautiful colour? Did you get any shades from this Malibu collection for Summer 2021?
Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!
You might be wondering why my Swatch Sunday is a polish released almost 8 years ago, but I recently watched Spider-Man: No Way Home (yes… finally. I know I’m behind on the times) & it reminded me of the Electric Chrome collection released for the Amazing Spider-Man 2, which I was obsessed with. So I thought it would be fun to share a swatch for my favourite from the collection: Spidey Sense. 🕸
2 coats + Seche Vive Top Coat
This is such a funky red — sometimes it looks more coppery red, but other times that pinky undertone comes out, & it leans more fuchsia. I love the shimmery finish a lot, as it gives your nails that glow-y effect. Like you’re a superhero. & we all know how much I love Superheroes.
It also is a fancier red shade, thanks to that metallic finish, so it’s a great dress up option.
I think I have 4 total of the originally Revlon collection — looking back, I wish I had bought them all, but that’s okay. Even after all these years, the formula is still really nice when applied, & still fun colours to wear.
This red is nice & vibrant & fun.
& is timely to wear after finally getting to watch Spider-Man: No Way Hone. I can’t believe how long it took me to finally watch the movie, but I was so pumped through the whole thing, squealing several times. While I’ve always been more a DC fan girl, Spider-Man is my one exception. & No Way Home exceeded all my expectations.
In natural, outside light.
Do you remember this beautiful red from Revlon’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 release?
I never got any of the OPI Spider-Man releases, which I’m sad about, so I’m glad I have a few of these shades. Also makes me realize we haven’t had a Superhero Polish collection in a while… what the heck!? Someone needs to jump on that!
What do you think of this red? Who is your favourite Spider-Man? Let me know in the comments below!
Coffee & Nail Polish 