Category: Textured Polish

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Avon Stardust Collection Silver Crystals

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st — we officially have 32 days of 2025 left. That is just crazy!

Today I have another throwback shade from my stash to show you. I’ve been feeling glitter (a lot) lately, so that’s what I’ve been wearing! Trying to get myself hyped up for the season. & when I saw this glittery textured Polish on my stash, I knew I had to share!

2 coats + top coat

Hello textured glittery perfect. This is Avon Stardust in Silver Crystals & it’s a beautiful grey with lilac undertones & large & small glitters. It dries down to a rocky texture, but I did apply top coat to mine which smooths that texture out some, but helped with wear.

The colour is really pretty. It’s silvery, but it’s lilac, & those multi sized glitters really pop. This shade was released around 2014 (I believe) at the height, or near the end, of the textured polishes boom. I’ve always been a huge fan of these glittery textured polishes, so I’m glad I’ve kept this beauty in my stash all these years.

The close up really shows off all those beautiful glitters. & you can see that even with the layer of top coat, the textured finish comes through — just not as roughly.

The removal was a bit tricky & needed a lot of strong nail polish remover. I had glitter all over my hands afterwards, but nothing a little soap & water can’t fix. & it was totally worth it for that sparkle.

As I mentioned, this shade was released around 2014 so it is no longer available. I’m not even sure if Avon still makes nail polish anymore. But I am certainly glad to have this shade in my stash, & wearing it did make me feel a little festive.

Also: nail polish companies — bring back textured nail polish! It’s such a fun finish to wear, & I would love more shades in my collection!

What do you think about this textured shade? Do you enjoy textured nail polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday!

🖤

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Black Friday Half Moons 🖤🌛

Happy Black Friday lovelies!

I suppose “happy” is a subjective term. But it is Black Friday, & that means that the holiday season is about to kick into high gear. I work in retail, though, which means I’m just trying to survive the weekend! So in honour of this crazy day, I thought I would create a black manicure to represent the day.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Mary Kay Salon Direct Moonlight
  • Essence Here’s My Number
  • Paper Hole Reinforcements

I wanted black nails, but with a twist, & I think this nail art look was just what I needed. I used a lot of top coat to smooth out Essence Here’s My Number as it’s a sparkle sand effect polish. I think the subtle pearlescent shimmer of Moonlight pairs really well with the more obvious sparkle of Here’s My Number. It’s a very chic look, which half moon designs always are to me, but then you have the black & white pairing, which just makes it feel even more chic.

Also it’s a very easy look, that anyone can do. The perfect nail art look for going into battle for retail war.

What do you think of these Black Friday half moons? Do you think this is as chic a look as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Shopping darlings! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Peeps x InstaDri 717 PEEPS Classic Chick 🐥

Hello lovelies & HAPPY EASTER! I hope the Easter bunny found you okay, & that you’re getting to enjoy some family time on this lovely Sunday. Today, I’m keeping the Easter vibes going with a nail polish I have been searching for, ever since I saw the swatches of it: The Peeps x Sally Hansen InstaDri collaboration for 2023.

If you didn’t know — Sally Hansen has once again teamed up with everyone’s favourite Easter candy for some fun nail polish vibes. & even more fun; they’re textured. I’ve been on the hunt for these polishes for weeks, but they kept seeming to allude me. I finally tracked down a display at my local Shoppers Drug Mart, but sadly it was very picked over so I was limited in my choices. I decided finally on a classic Peeps look: 717 PEEPS Classic Chick.

4 coats, no top coat.

These brand new Peeps polishes are textured, so the formula is very, very thin. Normally I would say no to any polish that requires FOUR coats of polish, but because of the thin form, it dries down very quickly, leaving you with a fun textured finish that is designed to mimic your classic Peeps marshmallow. The yellow, too, is spot on to the yellow of those Peeps chicks & bunnies, which made me super happy. The finish is also kind of semi-matte, which adds to the Peeps effect.

I was very impressed, too, by how quickly these dried. Obviously, I’m used to applying a quick dry top coat to my polish before wearing it, but where I wanted to let the textured finish show, I needed to let it dry on its own. But I had no issues with sheet marks, or smudging, even though I did these about an hour before I went to bed.

A close up of the textured finish. This is giving me 2012 textured polish vibes, & I’m not mad about it. In fact, it’s reminding me of a LA Girl Sand Blast polish I used to be obsessed with (Green Sand) & it kind of makes me wish this nail polish trend could make a resurgence.

I’m not usually a yellow kind of girl, but I actually really enjoyed wearing this polish. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I started working in a candy store before Christmas, & so with Easter we’ve been selling a ton of Peeps! So it was fun comparing my nails to those classic yellow Peeps.

I think I might be a yellow girl now. At the very least, this will not be the last time I rock this yellow polish in the coming weeks.

& for fun, my nails & the freeze dried birthday cake Peep I enjoyed while at work.

Have you seen these Sally Hansen Peeps x InstaDri shades in store? Were there any you were desperate to get your hands on. I’m still kind of bummed my store was out of the pink, blue & purple shades but they did have Cotton Candy so I might have to go back & grab that one too just because I forgot how much I love textured shades!

Happy Easter loves ♥︎ I hope you have the most beautiful Sunday.

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SWATCH SUNDAY— OPI Infinite Shine Heart & Coal

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. The last Sunday before Christmas! Can you believe that Christmas is only 6 days away? That means its time to kick the Christmas designs into high gear!

But, in the meantime, I have a fun Christmas related polish to shade for Swatch Sunday: OPI Infinite Shine Heart & Coal from the 2020 Shine Bright Holiday Collection. I found this beauty at Winners, during my Christmas shopping adventures this past week, & kind of couldn’t leave without it! They had a few a the shades from the collection left, but I decided to be good & just buy this one.

This is also, somehow, my first full sized Infinite Shine shade which is also really exciting!

2 coats + 2 coats OPI Infinite Shine Gloss Top Coat

Heart & Coal is a beauty black with an abundance of tiny holo scattered glitters. A lot of holo glitter. The first coat of this shade was a bit thin, but the second I applied the second coat, it was perfect opacity. The formula can be a bit grainy–thanks to those thickly packed holographic glitters–but applying two coats of top coat definitely smoothed things out a lot. A part of me would be curious to see how it would look without top coat, & if it would dry similarly to those sand effect shades of a few years ago.

Look at that macro shot! You can see those beautiful shimmers, plus you can really see that the black base has a bit of a shimmery finish to itself as well. A lovely holiday polish to wear! Especially if you’re not in the mood for a traditional red or green polish to wear to celebrate.

I also like the lasting power of the Infinite Shine line. According to the OPI site, it’ll give you up to a 11 day lasting manicure. I’m not sure about that, but I did get a good shift out of these where I was unpacking boxes & being all around rough on my nails, & my nails looked as good as the beginning as at the end.

What do you think about this polish? Do you have OPI Heart & Coal, either regular or Infinite Shine, in your stash? What is your holiday manicure you’re wearing right now? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Cactus Accent Nails 🌵💅🏻

Happy Thursday! It’s been a while since I rocked any cactus nails, & I was craving some vibrancy. I don’t often reach for green polish when painting my nails, but I’ve been trying to get out of my comfort zone. Keeping with that, I decided to pull a green (textured) polish from deep in my stash that I haven’t worn in too many years to count, & paired it with some cute cacti on my accent nails!

Polishes I used for this design were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • LA Girl Sand Blast Nail Polish in Green Island
  • China Glaze What’s She Dune?
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy
  • Essie A-List
  • OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster
  • Small detail brush (from Bundle Monster)
  • Small dotting tool (from Bundle Monster)

Sadly I kind of hid the texture of LA Girl Green Island with my top coat, but it came through a bit. This was my very first textured polish, back in the very early days of my nail art. It was also the beginning of my obsession with finding nail polish deals at Lawton’s—I remember scoring it & a blue Sand Blast Polish for only a dollar. & so began my obsession with finding old polishes at awesome deals. & I still hate spending full price for polish to this day!

Also I love creating these little freehand cactus. Still on the search for some cactus nail vinyls, because I’m a little cactus obsessed, but in the meantime I don’t mind freehanding my cacti. I also just picked up a new stamping plate from Essence with a cactus on it, so stay tuned as I plan on trying it out soon (hopefully this weekend!)

What do we think of this design? Do you still have any textured polishes in your stash? Let me know down in the comment below!