Category: Swatch Sunday

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SWATCH SUNDAY: Wrenn Polish! 

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 Soufflé 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 Soufflé 

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 Soufflé 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 Soufflé & 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 Soufflé. 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 Polish 

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. 

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SWATCH SUNDAY: ORLY Bailamos

Do you remember you very first polish of certain brands? I posted my very first Essie a while back, so I thought it would be fun to swatch another first polish… my very first ORLY! I picked up this shade (ORLY Bailamos) back in 2010ish at Winners. According to my internet googling abilities, it was originally released as part of the Summer 2010 collection. 

Bailamos is a stunning turquoise shimmer that screams Summer. Most importantly, it’s opaque in two easy coats. & considering this polish is 7 years old, the formula is still as flawless as when I first bought it. Obviously my weakness for a good blue/teal/turquoise polish has lasted a long, long time. 

Do you have this gorgeous ORLY shade in your collection? After searching this shade, I’m bummed I haven’t pulled it out of my stash to wear my often. Truthfully it did spend a good 2 years sitting in my parents addict (more props to that awesome formula for lasting!) but even still I can’t believe I haven’t reached for it more often. It’s just so pretty. Also I can only imagine how gorgeous this shade would look matte! Must try that next! 

What was your very first ORLY shade? Let me know in the comments below! 

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI?

Happy Sunday! Today I have some shots of one of my favourite OPI shades–Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? which was originally released as part of the OPI Spring 2012 Holland Collection. This shade was on my “gimme” list a long time, & I finally scored it at Winners last year which was super exciting! I love the fact you can find so many hidden polish gems, especially those shades which are harder to find. 

Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? is a shimmery dark grape-y purple that takes 2 coats for total opacity. There are gorgeous magenta & golden shimmers that catch under the light. It also wears very well on its own–I managed to keep this polish on for 2 days with just minimal tip wear. 

This is one of those shades that I love to wear on it’s own without any need to nail art (which doesn’t happen too often with a non-holo shade!) There is just something about the pinkish golden shimmers against the grape base that makes me swoon. Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter this shade is perfect every season. It’s a particularly favourite shade on rainy days like I recently wore it. 

Do you have a favourite shade you love to wear on its own? Let me know your go-to shade in the comments below!