Category: Swatch

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Bare With Me

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. I hope everyone had a wonderful week — & is ready for the new month! I truly can’t believe it’s almost August. Wasn’t it just June? This Summer is definitely speeding by & I’m trying to soak in every sun soaked moment.

After a whole lot of neon, though, I thought I’d switch things up a bit with a more neutral shade. I recently picked up 2 new shades at my local Shoppers Drug Mart that were on clearance for $2! As soon as I saw this blushy neutral I knew I needed it in my collection.

2 coats + top coat

According to my internet research, Essie Bare With Me was released in 2017 as part of the Wild Nudes collection — & is now, sadly, discontinued. Online, it’s described as an apricot, but I feel it’s more pinky/blushy myself.

The formula was easy to apply & smooth, & dried down without much patchiness. I did smooth things a bit with top coat, but it does dried relatively shiny on its own. I just much prefer my nail polish with top coat.

Bare With Me is a very complimentary to my own skin tone, which I really like. It’s nice & subtle — which is not a look I tend to go for, but sometimes you just need to switch things up. I actually ended up wearing this shade for a few days with a coat of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlit Top Coat over it, & it looks absolutely gorgeous together.

Unfortunately, like I said, this shade has been discontinued— probably why I scored it for $2 — but if you do track it down it’s definitely a lovely soft shade to have in your collection. I also think it’ll make a great base for some naked, but not really naked, floral designs.

What do you think of Essie Bare With Me? Do you like a good neutral shade on occasion? What is your personal favourite neutral to wear? Let me know down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday!

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Neon Stained Glass (featuring Sally Hansen Miracle Gel 90s Collection)

•contains pr/gifted product•

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! It’s a fantastic Friday here… especially since the countdown to our family vacation has officially hit one week, & I could not be more excited! It’s also been hot & beautiful this week, meaning I’m all about the neon. Good thing I reverently received a fun package from Sally Hansen, huh? I wanted to create a beautiful stained glass inspired look since the formula on the shades I received would be perfect for it… & I was not disappointed.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen MG Toadally Buggin’
  • Sally Hansen MG Did I Blue That?
  • Sally Hansen MG Nostalchick
  • Sally Hansen MG Beet Me At The Mall
  • Sally Hansen MG Mixtape
  • Sally Hansen Instadri Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Liner Brush

I’m not going to lie, I’m absolutely obsessed with this nail art look. I wore it from Tuesday to Thursday, & was actually sad to take it off! This is not my first version of this design, but it might be my most favourite I’ve done.. at least in a while! The colours blended so beautifully together, & I think my lines turned out really good. Anytime I freehand a clean line manicure, I always feel some crazy pride!

Especially since it doesn’t always happen, haha.

What do think of this fun stained glass look? Are you feeling the neon shades this weekend? Would you wear a bright & eye-catching look like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel 90s Collection (& new Miracle Gel Top Coats)

•contains pr/gifted product•

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re ready, because I have quite the swatch heavy post ready for you today. As I’ve previously mentioned, I was gifted part of the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel 90s collection, & I’m really excited to share these shades with you!

As a child of the 90s, this collection hits me right in the nostalgia. So I was pumped to be able to share these shades with you. The actual collection contains 8 funky 90s inspired shades, & I have 5 of them to share today! I was also lucky enough to receive two of the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel special effects top coats, to add a little extra sparkle to your manicure.

These limited edition 90s shades can be found wherever you buy Sally Hansen. I’ve found them at my local Shoppers Drug Mart & Walmart stores — both in special edition displays.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel 90s Collection (& new Miracle Gel Top Coats)”
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SWATCH SUNDAY — Olive & June Summer 2023

•pr•gifted•

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Today I’m super excited because I have a brand new (to me) nail polish brand to share with you that was recently gifted to me.

Olive & June is a nail polish brand that sells both nail polish & press on nails. They have an extensive range of 15-free nail polishes in a ton of exciting colours, so I felt super blessed to be send their Summer box which contained everything I need for the perfect summer manicure. While I’ve used their nail art stickers before, I’ve never tried their nail polish!

The summer collection contains 6 polishes — 5 cream/crelly shades, & one shimmery topper.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Olive & June Summer 2023”
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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! 🖤