SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI All About The Bows (Holiday 2019 Hello Kitty Collection)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s a beautiful Sunday here, albeit a little bit chilly. But the sun is shining, & that is nice to see for a January day. I thought I would match the brighter days, while also getting a little a little Valentines-y with some pinkish nails. I fee like end of January into February is the only time I really wear a lot of pink, so I’ve got to share when I do!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is OPI All About the Bows from the 2019 Hello Kitty Holiday Collection. Technically this shade is kind of enigma, because I feel like sometimes it leans hot pink, & sometimes it looks more reddish. Getting the right lighting for these nails was definitely a bit of a challenge, but I tried my best!

1 coats, No Top Coat

Hello beautiful! & hello one coater. I was super impressed with the smooth formula of this shade because it applied effortlessly in one coat. The formula itself has a syrupy feel, but with a good opacity. I was actually really, really impressed with how easily it applied. & the dry time was super quick as well, probably because I only needed one coat to reach full opacity.

I will say though, if my nails were longer, I might need two if I wanted a little more coverage. You can see a bit of visible nail line on my ring finger — but honestly, it’s barely visible unless you’re really looking for it.

I love how this shade is somewhere between a hot pink & a red. We all know how much I love a good red, but it still gives off the Valentine’s vibes I was hoping for. After all, it’s just a little over 2 weeks away so it’s time to start really getting my manicure & nail art ideas into action.

What do you think of OPI All About The Bows? Are you a fan of a hot pink shade like this? Let me know all your thoughts about this shade, & which shades you’re already planning on wearing for Valentine’s Day (& black totally counts!)

Have a happy Sunday loves.

♥︎

Hot Pink Stamped Floral

Good morning loves & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone survived the weekend & Monday relatively unscathed. It was rainy here all weekend which absolutely sucked. It was absolutely torrential.

Spring… you can come anytime!

So I’m honour of our cold & wet days, I decided I needed some hot pink nails. & why not throw some floral stamping on there too, just for fun.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • China Glaze Strawberry Fields
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Discontinued Born Pretty Store floral pattern stamping plate (featured here)
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set

How pretty are these? I hope they’re pretty because oh boy did I struggle with clean up! I don’t know what was happening, because usually I don’t have so many issues, but my cuticle line just wanted to be stained black.

& also I’m so over this both of Seche Vite & it shrinking every manicure I do. I’ve never had a bottle shrink so bad! Look at my middle finger! So beyond frustrating. But regardless of the issues, my nails did turn out pretty. China Glaze Strawberry Fields is so pretty, I can’t believe I don’t wear it more often!

What do you think of this floral design? Are you feeling early Spring vibes in the middle of January? & to my friends on the other side of the world in the middle of Summer… how is it there? Is it nice?

Have a lovely Tuesday darlings!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Shocking Pink

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s the first week of June, which means it’s only a couple weeks of Summer here in this part of the world. & that means I want all the neon I can get my hands on!

Todays Swatch Sunday pick is a classic from my stash: Shocking Pink. Yep… we’re all about the pink again!

3 coats, matte top coat

First things first, the formula on this shade was a bit complicated to work with. I ended up needing 3 coats for full coverage, but it was a bit thick, & had a little bit of trouble smoothing (you can see it a bit in some of the pictures.) Like many neons, it does dry to a soft matte on its own. I added matte top coat to smooth things out while keeping the matte finish the polish has.

The colour is definitely tricky to photograph. If you look online, I feel like everyone’s swatches of this are just a little bit different. It looks lighter, or darker, depending on the lighting. The colour though, is definitely Summer in a bottle. It’s bright & blinding, & the kind of pink you throw on your toes while laying on the beach, sunglasses on, soaking in the Summer (while wearing a high SPF, don’t get too crazy!)

This was the first time, that I can remember, I’ve put this shade on as a full manicure — I’ve usually only grabbed it for nail art accents. With the bit of trouble I had applying it, I’m not 100% sure it would be my first pick for my nails, as I change them so often. But I definitely think it is a great pedicure choice, & I’m definitely saving it for my next one.

I found a few places where you can purchase Shocking Pink:

Do you have China Glaze Shocking Pink in your stash?

Let me know what you think about this shade down in the comments below, & share your favourite neon shade for Summer!

Pink on Pink Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. I hope it’s a beautiful Tuesday where you are. We’ve got some serious, almost Summer-like temperatures headed our way this week, so I’m pretty pumped!

Today though I’ve got a fun pink look to share with you I wore last week.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat
  • Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart.
  • Deborah Lippman Between the Sheets
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge pink nail polish fan — which is funny, because I lived 2+ years of my life with pink hair. But I really, really like this pink tonal look.

What do you think about this pink on pink abstract stripe design? Do these say “Summer” to you?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

EDIT — realized after I posted that this is my 1000th post on Coffee & Nail Polish which is so crazy! Here is to 1000 more! ✨💕💗🌸

SWATCH SUNDAY — Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday & happy May 1st! Can you believe it? Summer really is almost here.

Today I thought I’d show off a Springy & pretty pink shade for this week’s Swatch Sunday post, which is by Deborah Lippman: Groove is in the Heart. I feel like pink is not one of those shades that I wear a whole lot, but when looking through my pick this week, it caught my eye, & I had to show it off.

2 coats, no top coat.

You’re looking at two coats of polish for full coverage. In the bottle, the shade has a pretty shimmer, but on the nail, it gets hidden, & comes across looking more cream. The colour itself leans a bit peach to me, which I think compliments by skin tone quite nicely. It’s a very unassuming colour, which means it would be suitable for a variety of occasions.

The formula wasn’t too difficult to work with, but did require a careful hands just to make sure the polish went on level. I feel like this could easily be solved by the application of a top coat which always smoothes things out nicely.

I am still bummed about the shimmer though — that’s one of the reasons I picked this polish to wear, but it didn’t show up on the nail at all.

All in all, I think this is a very pretty shade. Even though I own a ton of it, I’m not usually a pink nail polish on its own kind of girl. This is definitely a shade I think would be awesome on my toes, especially with a bit of a tan. & I could definitely see myself using it as a base for an assortment of nail art!

What do you think about this polish pick? Do you have Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart in your polish collection? I tried to find this shade online, but being a released from Spring 2013, I don’t think it’s still available, with the exception of an Ebay listing I saw.