SWATCH SUNDAY — Ella + Mila Enchanted Collection (B)

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Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful chilly Sunday here. November is definitely in full swing. Today I have a long awaited swatch post to share with you. I originally had planned to share it last week, but I was super sick so I wasn’t up to blogging of any kind. So, without any further a due: The Ella + Mila Enchanted collection (B).

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Essie Fall Skittle 🌈🍁🍂

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

I’m feeling rested from having the whole weekend off work, & ready to take on another week. Now it’s time to ready for (Canadian) Thanksgiving next weekend! Maybe I’ll sneak in some kind of Thanksgiving themed nail design sometime this week.

Today, though I’m sharing a super easy Fall design with you all. It’s been a while since I rocked a skittle look, so I thought I would pull out a few Autumn-esque Essie polishes for a quick skittle look!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Frock n Roll (thumb)
  • Essie For The Twill of It (pointer)
  • Essie Cross Body Heat (middle)
  • Essie Back in the Saddle (ring finger)
  • Essie Vested Interest (pinky finger)

How well do these shades pair together? I always find that’s my struggle when I’m trying to create a skittle look, is finding the shades that look best together. I think this collection of shades really flatter, & I love it. The colours are slightly muted, with a few bits of shimmer thrown in. I’m actually obsessed with how well they go together!

What do you think of this Essie Fall Skittle look? It’s like an Autumn rainbow!

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & I hope everyone had a lovely start to their week.

♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Evil Queen 🖤👑

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! Can you believe it’s already the middle of September. Like how did that happen? I’m in full cosy Fall mode 24/7, so obviously that means pulling out a fun Autumn shade to show off. & this shade from the early days of my nail polish stash is perfect!

This is Claire’s Evil Queen.

1 coat over Hard Candy Scam + top coat

This beautiful shimmery duochrome has thin dark maroon vase packed wth a thick sea of shimmery fuchsia & blue glass flecks. Unfortunately it does show up better in the bottle than on the nail, but it does have a beautiful finish that I’m obsessed with (& is why I’ve held onto this bottle for over 15 years!)

Check out that shimmer! It’s just so beautiful. 😍 I love how it shifts in the sunshine. Obviously, if I had applied another coat I could have had it a bit thicker. I have also worn it on its own without any undies, but I do find you need more coats than you might want to deal with to get full opacity.

What do you think of Claire’s Evil Queen? Do you remember when these shades were released, all the way back in the late 2000s? They were alleged dupes of the MAC Villainous Villains collection — although I sadly never got to compare (although Throwback Lacquer has a fantastic post about the original polishes!)

Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars 🌌

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a surprisingly sunny day considering it was full on torrential rain yesterday. today, I dug deep into my stash to pull out a favourite Fall nail Polish to share with you for this week’s Swatch Sunday — this is China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars from the Fall 2015 The Great Outdoors collection.

1 coat (!) + top coat

This beautiful dark navy blue really comes alive in the sunshine to show off the beautiful shimmer scattered throughout. But, sadly, it is much more hidden than it appears in the bottle which is a bummer.

Nonetheless, this shade is still an Autumn favourite & you can definitely amp up with the shimmer with a fun topper like Essie Shine of the Times or Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlight top coat. Plus the fact it only requires one smooth coat really makes it a shade I love.

For those curious, this beauty is still available on the China Glaze website, so I’m guess maybe it’s transitioned into the core collection — although I haven’t checked to see in person if it’s available where they usually sell China Glaze, but it does seem to be available at quite a few online retailers.

What do you think about China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars? Do you have the Autumn beauty in your collection? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Happy Sunday 🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Khaki Green

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! Another beautiful sunny Sunday. I know we still have a little under a month of Summer left (according to the calendar) but man oh man, do I feel the Autumn polish vibes calling. So I decided to pull out one of those more Fall-esque shades for today’s Swatch Sunday post. 🍂🍁

This is Claire’s Khaki Green.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve written before about my absolute love of Claire’s polishes, even after all these years. Working for the company really introduced my absolute nail polish obsession, especially they were always very good for duping current trends in their polish brand — like crackle, feather, etc.

Khaki Green is a beautiful olive geeen with a stunning shimmer of golden bronze that really pops on the nail, especially in the sunshine. It is definitely giving late Summer/early Autumn, & would be the perfect addition to any Fall nail polish collection. & I love how the shimmer actually shows up better on the nail than in the bottle, which I feel like is virtually unheard of (it’s usually the other way around.)

Seriously — look at that shimmer. It’s just so stunningly beautiful!

The formula on this guy was good & easy to apply. It actually had a good shiny finish, although I did add top coat to really gloss it up. Over all, a good shade from a mainstream brand that isn’t necessarily known for their nail polish. I always love when you kind find hidden gems where you wouldn’t normally think to look.

Sadly, this shade is a few years old now so (I’m guessing) no longer in rotation. But I definitely recommend checking out the shades they release, because there are always fun colours & finishes you wouldn’t expect.

What do you think of Claire’s Khaki Green? Do you like this shade of olive green with shimmer? Is this kind of colour one you would reach for come Autumn? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday 🖤