Tag: Purple Nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Grape Juice

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! & happy first day of August!

How is everyone’s weekend — is it a long weekend where you are? It is here in Nova Scotia, & (I think) most of Canada? It also always feels like the beginning of the end of Summer. I know that we still have 4 weeks left, but man, there is something about August which always gets me in an Autumn mindset.

Today’s polish pick for Swatch Sunday still feels Summery enough though! & it was originally released as part of the China Glaze Summer Days (2009) collection: China Glaze Grape Juice.

2 coats

This polish went on easily in 2 coats, although the formula went on a little thicker for coat #2. The colour is a really vibrant, although slightly darker, purple with a beautiful silvery shimmer — I also saw some flecks of blue in there too.

You can really, really see all the shimmer in the macro shot. It’s very densely packed, which I really like! I also can’t believe I haven’t featured this yet for Swatch Sunday! It’s been in my stash for years, but with the exception of nail art, I haven’t worn it a to. Which is actually a travesty, because it is such a fantastic colour! It’s also just dark enough to keep me from full out craving Autumn, while also keeping bright-ish for Summer.

Sadly, it looks like this shade has been discontinued, but I did find a few listings online for it like Sparkle Canada but I don’t think it’s an easy find. However, if you do happen to come across it, you should totally pick it up because it’s such a lovely shade.

What do you think about China Glaze Grape Juice? Do you have this purple beauty in your stash? Which shades are you loving as we inch towards Autumn? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to know what you’re wearing right now.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Yves Saint Laurent Violine Surrealiste

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Today we’re starting off a brand new week with another polish swatch: Yves Saint Laurent Violine Surrealiste. I’ve had this shade a long, long time in my stash, but I’ve never done a legit swatch post for it, & it’s such a fun shade for (almost) Summer, so I wanted to share!

3 coats + Essie Gel Setter

Originally, this shade was gifted to me circa 2014 by a family friend, along with a great selection of other YSL nail polish shades. I think it was originally released in 2013, but I’m not 100% sure.

The formula itself is crelly-like — it’s not quite a jelly, & not quite cream. I applied 3 thin coats for full opacity, although you could probably get away with two with just a hint of visible nail line. Obviously you can see my nails are very short right now, so I don’t have very much nail line going on. That being sad, I liked the almost gel like finish I got with 3 coats, finishing off with my Essie Gel Setter.

I’m not going to lie, trying to photograph this colour was a bit tricky, but I think I captured it the most accurately. I really do love this fuchsia shade a lot as well — it’s a beautiful much needed pop of colour that my itty bitty nubs need badly. I’ve been really uninspired since I broke my nail & had to file the rest down, but this colour makes me very happy! & hopefully I’ll feel like some real nail art very soon!

What do you think about this gorgeous vibrant shade? Are you a fan of YSL nail polishes? Would you like to see more shades from my collection? Let me know in the comments below!

Sadly this particular shade is no longer available, as far as I could find, but you can find a ton of other gorgeous shades via YSLbeauty.ca if you’re in the mood for some high end nail polish!

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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!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Scenic Route

Hello lovelies, & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is enjoying the first weekend of Spring. We’re supposed to have some actually enjoyable Spring-like weather today, so I’m very excited for warmer days… I might even wear a Spring dress!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is another oldie from the stash: ORLY Scenic Route, which was originally released as part of the Summer 2016 Pacific Highway Collection. I originally picked up my bottle at Winners, when it was originally released.

2 coats + Essie Good To Go Top Coat

The formula on this lilac purple cream is smooth to apply. I did need some top coat to really level everything out, but for the most part it was quite easy to work with. The colour is also fantastically bright; a perfect pop of colour for Spring into Summer. & I think we all need a bit of brightness in our lives right now! (Or, at least, I do.)

Even more exciting, Scenic Route appears to now be part of the permanent ORLY line, & is listed at a variety of different places for sale:

I also saw listening on Amazon, & eBay, although I would say these are more official listings. So if you’re seeing my swatches, & thinking “oh man, I definitely need to pick up ORLY Scenic Route to complete all my Spring nail polish dreams!”, you’re definitely in luck.

What do you think of ORLY Scenic Route? What you wearing for the first weekend of Spring (unless of course, you’re in a different hemisphere so the first weekend of Fall?)

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

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Purple & Gold Drag Marble

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope everyone’s day is off to a lovely start. It’s super freezing here in Halifax today (-8 degrees BEFORE wind chill), & I am not a fan of the cold at all. But at least I got to start my day off with a sugar free caramel hazelnut soy latte.

Today’s nail art look was a random decision. I actually had originally planned on doing some floral nails, but it was late, I was tired, & I needed something faster. I haven’t done any marble nails in a while, especially a drab marble, so it felt like a good time to do them.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Beyond the Nail Flowing Unicorn Mane
  • Sally Hansen CSM Pat On The Black
  • Essence Best Dressed
  • Essie Mosiac On Down
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Please excuse my dry cuticles. No matter how much hand cream or cuticle oil I apply, I just can’t seem to keep up with this horrendously cold weather/hand sanitizer combo. Ugh. But, at least my nails look pretty!

& that’s what is most important, right?

Really loving the end result of this marbling. I always have a bit of trouble with the first few nails, but we always get it figured it. Also I love the purple & gold colour combination forever. I don’t think I could ever get tired of purple nail polish! Plus I don’t think I’ve ever worn this pretty purple I won from Beyond the Nail a few years ago (via Instagram). They actually moved bases to my city, so I’m excited to start purchasing more shades from them in the future because they make gorgeous polishes!

What do you think about this purple marble? What nail art are you planning for this month. We’ve got St Patrick’s Day & Easter at the beginning of next month, so lots of fun nail art to come!

Have a great day lovelies! 💜