SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze BFF

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s been a week of beautiful sunny Spring days here on the East Coast, & you know what that means: let’s bring out the holo!

Today I have an oldie from my stash to share: this is China Glaze BFF from the OMG! Flashback 2018 collection. This was gifted to me a few years back, & I often forget just how darn beautiful these holo shades are! The perfect shades from when the sun is really shining.

2 coats, no top coat.

Look at that rainbow! It really, really shows… even under my the light in my light box. It’s very prominent, which you want in a holographic nail polish. The formula was also really, really easy to work with — two shades, no top coat. It dried really quickly, but thankfully didn’t drag when I applied coat #2.

& again: look at that linear holo! In my macro shot, you can really see how beautiful it truly is.

Sadly, this collection was a limited edition redo of an old collection, & isn’t available everywhere. But! I did find a few listings on Amazon & eBay for it, so it definitely is possible to find if you have to have it. I’m definitely lucky to have 5/6 of these shades in my stash, & I’m already planning a skittlette design in my head using them!

What do you think of China Glaze BFF? Do you have this shade in your nail polish stash? What is your favourite liner holo? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond The Nail Butterfly Clips (April 2021 Polish Pick Up)

{PR Sample/Gifted}

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their day.

Today I’m super excited because I have an amazing polish to share with you from an awesome (& local to me!) nail polish brand: Beyond the Nail Butterfly Clips. This shade is actually being released as part of the April 2021 Polish Pick Up, which is a 90ies theme.

According to Beyond the Nail:

Inspired by the butterfly clips that we used to (or still do😏) wear in our hair. This nail polish has a holographic purple microglitter base with hints of holographic blue microglitter and lots of metallic magenta hex glitter.

2 coats, no top coat

If you’re looking for a glitter bomb of a polish, you are in luck because Butterfly Clips is all about the glitter! & I can totally feel the nostalgia that inspired the shade. It reminds me of one of those inflatable couches that were very popular in the 90ies & of which I totally owned.

The formula itself is pretty thick for application, which is why I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. It was also very quick drying, which I thought was amazing for a polish with so much glitter.

Look at all that glitter! It’s seriously amazing. ✨ you can see above the gritty finish of it dried down without top coat. It reminds me a lot of the textured polishes that used to be popular years ago, & I’m really obsessed with it.

But just for fun, I wanted to add a little top coat so you could see both smoothed out & not smoothed out. Quite honestly, I love it both ways! I feel like you do see a bit more of the holo once you’ve applied top coat though, which I can’t help but love.

So what do you think about this beauty of a nail polish? As I mentioned, Butterfly Clips will be available to buy through the PPU website, starting April 2 until April 5th for $11.50. It’s an exclusive shade, so I definitely suggest picking it up if you live it as much as I do!

& let me know down in the comments below which polish takes you back to your teenage years!

#GlamNailsChallengeFeb — Hearts 💕

Hello lovelies & happy day after Valentine’s Day (aka 50% off Chocolate Day!).

Today I’m sharing my design for yesterday’s prompt for GlamNailsChaengeFeb: Hearts! Which is a very fitting prompt for February 14th. 💗 This look was one of those ones that kind of just came to me as I was doing it, which are definitely the best kind. & I just adore the end result.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
  • OPI Koala Bear-y
  • L’Oréal Royalty Reinvented
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Delightful
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

As you can see from my close up, this isn’t the most perfectly clean freehanding, but I kind of like it. It works with this kind of design. It sort of reminds me of another Valentine’s Day nail art look I did a few years back which was inspired by napkins I saw out & about.

What do you think about this hearts look? I’m definitely ready to be done with pink for a while — I think I’ve pink-ed myself out. Haha. But I’ve got a whole bunch more prompts to come, so stay tuned for some beautiful (not pink) nail art looks to come!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Deborah Lippmann 99 Luftballons

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday! & happy Valentine’s Day! 💗💕 Hope your day is filled with every kind of love — from Friends, from Family, from Pets. & if you’re just not into the holiday what so ever, don’t forget: tomorrow is 50% off chocolate day.

Today I’ve got one more pink polish to share— Deborah Lippmann 99 Luftballons!

3 coats, no top coat.

Base is a beautiful, but sheer, fuchsia pink jelly with an assortment of multi coloured glitters. Like with most polishes like this, I would usually layer it over a corresponding shade to cut down on coats required — & keep clean up from being as complicated & frustrating. But for my swatches, I wanted to show the polish in its true glory.

I will say, I have a few glittery shades like this from Deborah Lippmann, & this shade versus Stronger was definitely a little less packed with glitters. If I wanted to wear this shade on its own, & cut down on coats, I would probably sponge the glitter on instead.

I would just make sure to wear a peel of base coat first!

I originally got this mini bottle as part of a bigger set via Winners a few years ago. From the looks of things, this shade was originally released in 2013, so the only listings I could find for it were via Ebay & Poshmark. It could also pop up at places like Winners, Marshall’s or TJMax as those stores seem to get old school shades like this all the time.

It’s definitely a pretty glitter to wear for whatever occasion you may need a little extra sparkle.

What do you think about Deborah Lippmann 99 Luftballons? Would you wear this pretty pink glitter? What is your favourite glitter polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — ACO by Ardene Love Potion No.82

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! We’re officially a full week into February now, & a week away from Valentine’s Day. Here in Halifax were also anxiously awaiting not one, but two big Winter storms this week. Which kind of sucks, after a couple days of beautiful almost Spring like weather! I was really looking forward to maybe pulling out a few of my dresses.

But let’s not dwell on that, & instead concentrate on the important things—like today’s Swatch Sunday pick: Ardene Love Potion No.82! I’m still feeling all the pink love, so naturally I had to dig deep into my stash to find something perfect for Valentine’s Day, but with a twist. & I think this oldie shade was the perfect pick!

Two coats + Essie Good To Go

For those who don’t know, Ardene is a Canadian clothing store that used to be more of an accessory story, & sold a ton of fun nail polish. Having used to work for the company, that meant I got first peeks at all the polish, which is why I own so many. This particular shade entered in my stash pre-2014. For a lesser expensive brand, I actually think a lot of the shades they used to introduce were really funky & different, with lots of glittery shades—like this! & considering they used to sell for $3.99 a bottle, or 3/$10, that’s a pretty good deal.

As with most glittery shades like this, the formula is cruelly, which allows you to see the layers of glitters. However, two coats does coat the nail well, showing off the multi coloured, multi sized & multi shaped glitters which I’m very happy about! No visible nail line peaking out.

This is definitely a fun shade for Valentine’s Day, especially with a name like Love Potion No.82. But it could also be a fun shade for Summer, or just when you’re feeling funky. I did add some top coat (Essie Good to Go) to smooth things out a bit because the layers of glitters can be a bit bumpy. I also think that a little matte top coat would also look incredible over this polish.

This is definitely one I think I need to wear more often!

What do you think about this old school Ardene shade? Do you think Love Potion No.82 is a fun Valentine’s Day shade? What is your favourite pink glitter bomb polish? Let me know in the comments below!