It’s been super quiet on the blog front this week — there was a lot going on behind the scenes, so nail polish had to take a bit of a step back. But I’m super excited because not only am I starting with a very exciting Swatch Sunday post, but I’m starting with a very exciting, absolutely jammed pack Swatch Sunday post featuring the brand new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel x Friends collection!
To say I’m excited would be an understatement. As soon as I saw the collection being released — and heard the names — I was so hoping I would get a chance to get my hands on some of this collection. & Thanks to the absolute dolls at Sally Hansen, they gifted me with the most amazing PR package featuring all these beautiful shades. CLICK HERE to see a InstaReel featuring the whole fun package they sent me!
Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope you’re all having a beautiful & fantastic weekend so far. The weather here has been beautiful so far, & I got to enjoy a lovely Saturday off work (that never happens) so I’m feeling refreshed for the week ahead.
So lately I’ve been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I’m on season 2. Which mean, obviously, I’ve been obsessing about her nail polish. In particular, I noticed this metallic grey shade she’s been wearing a lot this season. So I decided to take a look into my stash, & found this beautiful Joe Fresh shade I’ve owned since 2015-ish or so: Quartz.
3 coats + Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat
Yes, so this shade is pretty sheer upon first, & even second, application. I ended up with three thin coats for full opacity. However, they applied with minimal streaking & brushstrokes, so I was pretty happy with that. You can also apply this over a darker shade with lesser coats as well. I do believe that will bring out the duochrome effect a bit more dramatically as well.
A macro shot for good measure. The shift is very good on this shade, depending on which was you move your fingers. I love the purple to green shift on this — it’s beautiful.
But just for a fun, I thought I’d add a little sparkle to this beauty which has been in my stash just as long: CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance. This shade has a similar colouring, but with some added holo sparkle! & the results was perfect.
Adding Dazzling Dance definitely changed the switch from a greenish to a blue/silver, but I love the end result. That sparkle definitely makes up the duller duochrome shift. But I totally think this polish is giving me late 90s, early 2000s vibes & I’m totally here for it.
What do you think about this week’s Swatch Sunday pick: Joe Fresh Quartz. Do you prefer it on it’s own, or with the the added sparkle of CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance?
Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!
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:
Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I’m super excited to share some beautiful PR I received recently! As I mentioned in this post, this collection is a collaboration between Essie & Révolutionnaire.co, a brand & platform committed to celebrating diversity and inclusivity, and fighting for social justice.
The two gave teamed up with Essie for a beautiful collection of Expressie shades — Take the Espresso, Cold Brew Crew, Buns Up, Millennium Momentum, Daily Grind, & Always Transparent. This was my first experience with the Expressie line, which is an 8-free, vegan formula, formulated without any nasty ingredients that can sometimes be found in nail polishes.
I’m going to be honest — originally I had a different polish plan for this Sunday — new shades from the Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure. reformulation, as well as the OPI Nature Strong shades featured in my previous post. But I’ve been struggling with the cold from Hell this week, which means I’ve not been up to much, especially swatching 9 polishes, & wasn’t able to get the shades swatched.
I didn’t want to skip this week entirely though, so I decided why not go with my all time favourite OPI red: OPI Race Red.
2 coats, no top coat
This collection was originally released as part of the 2014 OPI Mustang Collection. I have a few of the shades from the collection in my stash that I’ve picked up over the years, either on clearance or at the Dollarama, but Race Red has always been my favourite. In fact, it’s probably one of my favourite red nail polishes of all time.
The colour itself is an orange leaning red. It’s a beautiful cream that applies in 2 easy smooth coats. Even after 8 years, & a whole lot of wears, it still applies like perfection for me.
Look how pretty that colour is! It’s actually very similar to the colour of our Suzuki, which is another reason why I love this shade so much. But my love of red nail polish knows no bounds, & this is no secret.
Obviously, my bottle is looking a little dusty & worn, but the polish is still perfection. My only sadness is that I only ever bought one bottle of this beauty.
As mentioned, this OPI Mustang Collection was released circa 2014, so these shades have long since gone out of mainstream circulation. I did find a few spots online, like Ebay, with bottles listed. I’m definitely going to need to find myself a dupe soon, because I’ll be very sad when my polish officially runs out.
What do you think about this OPI shade? Do you have OPI Race Red in your stash? What is your favourite OPI shade? Let me know down in the comments below!
Also stay tuned this week, because I’m determined to get those other shades swatches this week, which might mean this whole week will see some beautiful shades featured on this page!
Coffee & Nail Polish 