Category: Swatch Sunday

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SWATCH SUNDAY: Finger PaintsĀ 

Happy Swatch Sunday lovelies! I was recently in my local Sally’s beauty & noticed they were having a Buy 2 Get 1 Sale on their Finger Paints polishes. I was late to discovering the Finger Paints love, but once I did I fell in love. So when I came across a deal like that, I knew I had to get a couple colours to add to my stash (even though I totally don’t need more nail polish). So I thought I would Swatch my new shades immediately, so they don’t sit in the back of my stash untried for the next year. 

Dimensional Design

Dimensional Design is from the Summer  Chromaticity collection. In the bottle it comes across as a green-ish chrome shade that shifts to a peacock blue in the bottle. For my swatch, I used two coats. Sadly, I couldn’t escape the streaks on application which kind of took away from the chrome like finish. The shift is also much less on the nail than in the bottle which was a bit sad. But overall, Dimensional Design is still a very pretty polish. 

Hues Blue

Hues Blue is part of the Finger Paints core line & this was the last bottle left at my local store & I totally understand why! This gorgeous blurple shade is packed full of pink & blue micro glitters & took two coats to build opacity (although you can see a hint of nail line), but you could also use it as a topper over some undies. & oh my is it pretty–I just can’t even deal with how pretty this shade is! It reminds me a lot of Finger Paints Gorgeous Graffiti which is another favourite from this brand. 

Piece De Resistance

Can we just talk about this deep red shimmer, also part of the core Finger Paints collection? It’s pretty isn’t it? You know how much I ā™„ļø a good red polish, & even better it only took ONE COAT for these swatches. One coat. I don’t think I own another red polish that takes only one coat & it makes me squeal. The polish has an awesome shine to it which really shows off the lighter shimmer. Such a perfect Fall shade. šŸšŸ‚


& that’s it for today! Which of the three shades is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts (or your personal favourite Finger Paints shade!) in the comments below. 

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SWATCH SUNDAY: OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection Swatches Part 1!

Good Morning lovelies. It’s my favourite day of the week (& not just because the Mr takes Little Bubs to watch cartoons so I can sleep in!)… it’s Swatch Sunday. & it’s so exciting that I actually had to break it up into two days because I have the entire OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection to share with you. I’ve been obsessing about Fall shades for a few weeks now, so it makes me so excited to get to show off some finally! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program, as well as OPI’s natural base coat & top coat which I used for all swatches! 

 Icelanded a Bottle of OPI

Okay I’ll be the first to admit this kind of shade is not my usual go to polish grab, but once I put it on I really liked it. & as far as a Fall shade, this taupe-y brown is perfect. This was two coats, & the formula dried down really nice. If someone was looking for a great neutral shade that was office appropriate but not a simple nude, this would be a great choice for them! 


Iā€™ll Have a Gin & Tectonic

Oooooh this pink leaning peach shade is very pretty. & it definitely brings out the yellow/olive undertones in my skin. It took 2 coats to opacity & top coat is a necessity to avoid any streakiness. It’s a gorgeous shade, although I do think more Spring than Fall when I see it. Paired with one of the darker shades in the collection in a half moon or chevron moon & I bet it would look lovely & more Fall appropriate!


Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots



Hello frosty pink rose gold perfection. Whatever you want to call this shade, it’s very pretty! It’s also 3 coats which I’m okay with because of the end result. There are some streaks but I feel like that’s part formula & part my lack of carefulness. This one definitely feels very Fall to me & even though it’s been forever since frosted polish was part of my collection, I can definitely see myself featuring this shade a lot this season! 


Aurora Berry-alis

You know sometimes when you see people posting swatches of a shade & you think it’s so pretty but figure it can’t possibly look that beautiful in real life? Well this berry shade is actually as gorgeous as it looks. It’s slightly dusty but rich at the same time. I used 2 coats for my swatches below. It’s juicy & the formula is flawless & I never wanted to take it off. Expect to see me wearing this shade a lot this Fall! (Definitely going to need a back up bottle!)


Check Out The Old Geysirs

Now this shade screams Iceland! For my swatch, I needed 2 coats of this greyed blue for full opacity. I was quite impressed the shimmer showed up on the nail as well as it showed in the bottle. It gave a little extra pop on the nail! You know how much I love a good blue shade, & this shade was very very pretty. Reminds me of icicles! 


 One Heckla of a Color!

& finally for today’s swatches we have this 2 coated purple creamthat as you can see dries slightly darker than the bottle colour. OPI describes this shade as a “frosty purple” on their site which I would necessarily agree with the frosty part, but it does have that little bit of underlying dusty-ness to it that a lot of these shades have that works really well to bring the whole collection together. 

& that’s it for today? What do you think of the OPI Fall/Winter collection? Any favourites you see already that you have to have? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

I hope to have part 2 of the collection (the much darker shades!) up either tomorrow or Tuesday! 

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SWATCH SUNDAY: Wrenn Polish!Ā 

Good Morning & happy Sunday! Today I’ve got a really exciting swatch Sunday post for you featuring three very gorgeous shades from Wrenn Polish. You have no idea how excited I was when my package from Alissa showed up on my door step, & I couldn’t wait to swatch these gorgeous shades to show off to you! 

A little preemptive warning–this post is going to be long & full of pictures of these stunning polishes. 

Wrenn Polish is a subset of Shop Wrenn which encompasses both these beautiful 5-free vegan & cruelty free nail polishes & their hand made Druzy stone jewelry which inspires it. I was lucky enough to receive three shades for review: Passionfruit Pink, Peri*twinkle* & A Pirates Life. 


Passionfruit Pink

Passionfruit Pink is a dusty dark blush shade that is infused with the most vivid gold shimmer. For my swatch, I had perfect opacity in 2 coats. As soon as I painted Passionfruit Pink on my nails, I knew this was going to be a go to shade for Fall. The pink on its own is a lovely, girlie shade but with the gold shimmer it becomes so much more. & unlike a lot of other nail polishes, this shimmer does not hide on the nail. As you can see from my pictures, it’s in your face & just as present on the nail as it is in the bottle! You can easily understand how these are inspired by Shop Wrenn’s beautiful stone jewelry. 

Peri*twinkle*

Peri*twinkle* is a blurple beauty that took three thin coats for full opacity. The formula on this shade was a little bit thinner than the other two, which was the reason for the extra coat, but I feel like if you were just looking for a sheer polish to add a little shimmer to your nails, one coat would be perfect for you. Depending on the angle, you can get flashes of pink, purple or blue & it’s so distractingly beautiful. I also would be very curious to see what it would do layered over some dark undies! The flash of different colours just makes this shade so beautiful & unique. I thought it might be similar to Quo by ORLY Sweet Dream, but Peri*twinkle* has a much more vivid shift & is much more blurple. 

A Pirates Life

A Pirates Life, the final shade I received for review, is absolutely my favourite. That’s two coats for opacity & honestly they went on like a dream. The formula on all these polishes are incredibly smooth & easy to use & A Pirates Life is the most perfect of the three I tried. The flash of turquoise shimmer just makes it the perfect beach blue–you can’t help but think of Caribbean waters when you stare at it (which makes the name very fitting). You can easily see how these shades are inspired by the Caribbean Druzy stone. 


Now I couldn’t not pair all these shades together, so after failing at a gradient I decided my next best option was a colour block! & oh boy did it turn out pretty. I used Essie Sweet SoufflĆ© for my base (because of its own underlying shimmer) & the straight vinyls from Xroma Polish & Vinyls to mark off my blocking. 

All three Wrenn Polish shades went on easily & levelled well even before top coat. The shades are unique & it is so easy to see where they draw their inspiration from! If you’re interested in picking up these shades for yourself, you can buy them from the Shop Wrenn Website. & don’t forget to check out her gorgeous jewelry designs to compliment your nails! 

What do you trying of these Wrenn Polish colours? Which shade is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Sweet SoufflĆ©Ā 

I’ve mentioned previously that the whole reason I’m a nail polish addict today is the fact that I spent a good chunk of my preteen & early teenage years on the hunt for the perfect white nail polish ala a certain 90s vampire slayer. Even though my days of wear giant bubble rings & cutting my hair like Sarah Michelle Gellat circa 1997 are pretty much over, that doesn’t my I still don’t have an appreciation for a good white nail polish every so often. So when I saw Sweet SoufflĆ© from the Essie Summer 2017 collection–described by Essie as a creamy white with golden glow–it was pretty much assumed I was going to have to add it to my collection. 

To achieve opacity, this took 3 very careful coats for the polish to level & hide any streakiness. The shimmer definitely translates to the nail, even if you can’t see it in photos. & I love everything about it. This is the kind of white shade I used to dream about at 13, instead of the chalky whites that looked more like I was wearing white out on my nails! 

I really love the golden orange shimmer of Sweet SoufflĆ© & the more I starred at it, the more it reminded me of the shimmer of another Essie polish: Shine of the Times. So obviously I had to pair these two together. 

Two coats of Shine of the Times over Sweet SoufflĆ©. Yep, pretty much the best polish combo ever. It’s like you’re wearing opals on your nails & as an October birthday girl I love opals. Also reminds me why Shine of the Times is such an incredible shade & cult favourite. Takes a gorgeous polish & brings out the inner sparkle. 


Do you have a favourite from the Essie Summer 2017 collection? What do you think of this polish combination? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY: Madam Glam One Step Soak Off Gel PolishĀ 

Happy Sunday everyone! Kicking off this Swatch Sunday with my first expirence with soak of gel polish! Madam Glam was kind enough to send me these one step soak of gel polishes to try out & review & I’m excited to show off these swatches & share my expirence. 

As someone who has never really used soak off gel polish, I wasn’t quite sure to expect. I decided that the one step gel polishes would be perfect for me to try out as they don’t require a base or top coat–all you need to apply is the colour which makes it quicker. & as you know, with a teething almost 6 month old I’m all about the quicker the better when it comes to my nails. Even better, these one step gels are similar in formula to real nail polish. Most of the shades took 3 coats to reach opacity & you cure each coat with your LED Lamp. 

Lime Mint


Lime Mint is a neon mint shade that took three coats with a little bit of streakiness (you can see it a bit on my ring finger). That could be attributed to my total lack of gel polish expirence. The colour though is awesome & as vibrant on the nails as you see here. This would definitely be a great shade to slap on your nails for Summer vacation! 


Anytime

Anytime is a shimmery pink leaning purple shade that also took 3 coats for the swatches you see. I’ll be honest–this is the shade I thought I was going to love the most, but it was also the shade I had the most trouble applying. It was definitely a bit more watery compared to the other two shades (maybe because it was a shimmer as opposed to a creme like the other two?) & took a bit more care for application. The shade though is gorgeous. I love purple & this purple is perfect even if it takes a bit more work to get it right. 

Confidence 

Confidence is a light lilac purple & of the three shades I revived it’s definitely my favourite. I managed to get it opaque & levelled in two even-ish coats. This is a great shade for those who want a fun gel colour, but still need something that can be worn everyday to work. It’s not boring like nude, but also isn’t crazy bright like a green. It also would make a great base to add nail art over top! 

As far as lasting, I wore Confidence for almost two weeks while on vacation. I had good growth at my nail beds but the polish had held up pretty good with a little dulling to the shine. Removal was pretty easy–all you do is buff off the shine with a nail file & let it soak in foil wrapped nail polish pads for 10 minutes or so to loosen up the colour enough to peel/rub off. I personally didn’t have any trouble with removing the gel using these remover pads that I received along with the polishes. 
All in all, I think these are great colours for those looking to try out soak off gels, but are a little nervous. Because there is no base coat or top coat required, it’s great for a newbie. An even application takes a minute figure out, but once you do the end result not only looks great, but lasts much longer than your typical non gel polish. Check out Madam Glam’s crazy range of polish options yourself! They have even colour you could possibly dream of to chose from. 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own.