SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Koala Bear-y

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! We’ve almost reached the end of January— can you even believe it? Which means it’s time to start thinking about some pink polish for February! So I decided to grab a pretty pink shade from my stash I have yet to wear in a full manicure: OPI Koala Bear-y.

2 coats + Essie Good To Go Top Coat

Originally released as part of the OPI Spring 2007 Australia collection, it then became part of the core collection. I picked up my bottle at my local Lawton’s on clearance, which meant I scored it for a steal at $4.99. I love when that happens!

The polish itself is a beautiful magenta berry cream, that pops against skin tone. It definitely feels like more of a Spring/Summer shade, which makes sense considering the collection it was released as part of, but I do think it’s a great pink for Valentine’s Day. & it’s dark enough that it’s fairly versatile as well.

Check out that close up. Glossy & beautiful! I did smooth things out with top coat, but the polish itself looks beautiful on its own as well. I’m definitely sad this is my first time actually wearing this polish, considering I’ve owned it for a few years now. Truth be told, I’m not the biggest pink polish person, unless I’m pairing it with something else. But once a year — when February approaches — I feel the need to rock some Barbie nails.

What do you think about this beautiful OPI pink? Do you have this shade as part of your nail polish stash? Also let me know what pinks your pulling out for Valentine’s Day! 💕

Pinky Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy, happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a lovely day.

This week is almost over — & so is this month! Hard to believe we’re already a month in 2021. But I’m very excited it’s almost February because that means all the Valentine’s Day looks! I’m also planning on participating in GlamNailsChallengeFebrury which has some pretty awesome prompts!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Londontown — Jane Austen
  • Londontown — Bell Flower
  • Londontown — Opal
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Clean Slate
  • Sally Hansen CSM Ruby Doo
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10% on your purchase!)

Vertical stripes are such an easy & cute nail art look — plus they have the added bonus of giving your nail the illusion of looking longer! Which I’m always here for, especially right now when the Winter cold is leaving my nails brittle & peel-y, so they’re not growing long like I would like. I also feel like this colour combination is a great one for Valentine’s Day, with the combinations of pinks & purples.

This time of year is the only time of year when I wear this much pink on my nails. But I’m definitely not complaining! Also currently planning another Valentine’s Day inspired Swatch Sunday post with some shades I’m loving for the big day!

What do you think about this stripey look? Would you wear an easy stripe design like this? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

Matte Gold Shatters Glitter Placement

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Hopefully you’re having a wonderful start to your Monday, & not a rough one! I have today off, so the plan is to be productive—we’ll see how successful I end up being!

Today though, I have some nail art to show you! As I mentioned a few post backs, I’ve really been wanting to return to trying out some old nail art techniques I have done in forever. I used to love doing shattered glass glitter placements, like this one Here, but it’s been a minute since a did one. So it was definitely, definitely overdue.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: Butter London Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen CSM Belle of the Ball
  • YSL Beauty Feuille D’Or
  • small dotting tool (mine are from NailStuff.ca — save 10% using COFFEE10)

I’m really quite obsessed with these, especially with the added effect using matte top coat! It really feels like absolute ages since I pulled out any shattered glitter like this a glitter placement look, & it was long overdue. Plus the gold looks so beautiful over this pretty navy base shade.

I also really like how this manicure has a bit of an edge to it! I feel like it needs to be worn with a leather jacket &, maybe, a pair of motorcycle boots.

What do you think about this glitter placement look? Are you a fan of these kinds of designs? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze For Audrey

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Today we are throwing it way, way back for our Swatch Sunday pick is a nail polish classic: China Glaze For Audrey.

This shade was originally released way back in 2007–NailPolishCanada.com says it was part of the Something Blue collection. Nowadays, it is part of the permanent core collection, which means it’s easy to find pretty much anywhere China Glaze nail polishes are sold.

I originally bought it back in 2011 of 2012, when Sally Beauty opened near us. Naturally, as soon as I saw the name I knew I needed to own it, as Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of my favourite movies.

2 coats + Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat

For Audrey is a beautiful robin’s egg blue that is as close to Tiffany blue as is legally allowed. There is some confusion online on whether or not it is an exact dupe to that little blue box, but I feel like I’ve real online (somewhere… can’t remember now) that only Tiffany can use that specific shade of blue as they have legal ownership. I don’t have anything from Tiffany’s, so sadly I cannot confirm just how closely the two match.

Either way, For Audrey is a beautiful shade, with a smooth & creamy formula. I applied everything in two coats, but I did need to add some top coat in order to smooth things a bit — that could be the polish formula, or it could be the fact my bottle is 10 years old, but I feel like having to add a bit of top coat is kind of a non-issue, especially since I always add top coat to my manicures anyways.

& the colour is perfect for dreaming of Spring. It’s just a bright, vibrant colour. It has me thinking of those warmer days to come!

What do you think of China Glaze For Audrey? Do you have this beautiful blue is your nail polish stash? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Metallic Smooshy Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. Today I have some more nail art to share with you that I recently did. I’ve been experimenting with different nail art techniques that I either haven’t done in a long time, or never tried. Today’s look is inspired by a technique by @grapefizznails — smooshy nails using a stamper!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Nail Primer
  • Color Club Silver Lake
  • Color Club You’re My Soul-Matte
  • Color Club Matte About You
  • Color Club Put A Ring On It
  • Bodico small clear stamper
  • Silicone nail art mat

So I definitely love how these turned out, but I don’t think trying to do a marble look like this is easiest with matte shades, which I decided to use. They tend to try faster than non-matte shades, so you get more blob-ish smooshes instead of the delicate effect that I see in a lot of others smoosh looks. I’m going to try it out again for sure, with a different variety of polish formulas. I

t was definitely an easy look to do, which I always appreciate, & I always love seeing other people’s smooshy nails, so I’m dedicated to nailing this technique! I’m already imagining one using a Valentine’s Day inspired colour scheme.

What do you think about this nail art look? Do you enjoy smooshy nail art looks? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & share any other nail art techniques you would like to see me try out!