SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Not A Phase

*pr/gifted

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful Autumn Sunday. Today I’m sharing a lovely new shade with you I was recently gifted by my friends at Essie. They were kind enough to send me a whole slew of beautiful polishes, & as soon as I saw the dusty red (& the name!) I knew it was going to be the first swatch I had to share with you.

This is Essie Not A Phase.

2 coats + top coat

Okay, we all know my love for red is undying. What you might not know is my love of Emo & Pop punk music (especially between 2002-2010) is equally unwavering. So when I saw the name of this shade, I knew that it was going to become a favourite.

The formula on this polish is fantastic. It’s very opaque. I did two coats, but honestly I probably could get away with one with careful application. The shade is a nice change from the usual cherry red, which it’s more dusty colour. Very fitting for this time of year & the changing leaves on the trees.

Oh man, I’m kind of obsessed with this shade. It would be so fitting in an Autumn toned skittle which I may have to do soon! So if you’re looking for a different shade of red — I definitely recommend searching this one out!

Even better, this shade is in the current core collection, so you’re able to pick this polish up wherever Essie nail polish is sold.

What do you think of Essie Not A Phase? Do you love this red as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

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SWATCH SUNDAY — NailStuff Essentials Treatments (New In-house Line from NailStuff.ca)

*paid PR

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is a super exciting one because I have the opportunity to share with you soon to be launched (aka launching tomorrow!) products from NailStuff.ca — their very own in house brand: NailStuff Essentials. & I was lucky enough to be able to be invited to swatch these new products to share with you!

The new line contains 4 products: base coat, top coat, matte top coat, & holographic top coat. Each bottle contains 15ml of product, & is cruelty free, vegan, non-toxic & made in the USA.

You can tell that a lot of love & dedication went into the creation of this treatment line, so let’s take a look!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Color Club What’s The Matte-r?

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful October Sunday. The Fall vibes are really vibing as of right now, & I just want to drink all the pumpkin spice & eat all the candy corn! I also want to wear all sorts of great Fall nail polishes & colours.

I was perusing through my nail polish stash, looking for a good Autumn shade to share, & found a set of a Color Club mattes that I realized I’ve never shared those shades! I love a good matte nail this time of year, so I decided to grab the most Autumn-esque shade to share.

This is Color Club What’s The Matte-r?

2 coats

This beautiful metallic olive green is a super unique colour I definitely wouldn’t buy on its own in the store — but I happened to get it as part of set at Marshall’s with other Color Club mattes. & honestly, I think I need to be less judgemental about colour because this shade is freaking gorgeous!

Seriously, the olive green somewhat gold shift is super stunning & unique. You also get flashes of a darker green in some light — it’s just flat out beautiful. & I think it’s a great Autumn shade which is an alternative to my usual dark purple, blues & maroons that I tend to reach for this time of year.

Up close you can see that lovely matte finish. It self levels really well, dries down very smoothly, & doesn’t show brush strokes too badly.

& just for fun, I wanted to see how it looked with a glossy top coat applied. & honestly, I prefer the matte version more. It’s much more striking & beautiful! Just feels like a crispy Fall leaf that has fallen on the ground.

Looking online, it appears to still be available on the Color Club website, so if you’re looking for a beautiful unique Autumn shade option, I would say snatch it up!

What do you think of Color Club What’s the Matte-r? Would you wear this matte beauty? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen InstaDri HoloGlow Holo-Back

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The last Sunday of September, which is absolutely mad!

Sorry for missing out on Swatch Sunday last week — I’ve been dealing with absolutely horrendous allergies lately, & I was full on wrote off last Sunday. I could barely think, let alone write a blog post! So I hope a brand new (still in stores) nail polish pick for this week’s Swatch Sunday will make up for my absence last week.

This is Sally Hansen InstaDri HoloGlow in Holo-back.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve been seeing these Sally Hansen InstaDri HoloGlow shades in store lately, & absolutely obsessed with them. so when I needed a new polish to cheer myself up I was immediately was drawn to this new collection. Because… you know: holo. & when you can find holographic nail polish at your local drug store, you need to try it out!

The Sally Hansen InstaDri line boasts a 60 sec dry time. For application, I did need to have 2 coats, so I feel like that adds a little time. While it did dry quicker, I’m not sure if it was only 60 seconds. I will say, I could see it drying down to a kind of textured finish (I’m assuming because of the scattered holographic glitters) but I don’t know if I would say it was only 60 seconds.

I did end up adding some top coat to smooth out (& glossy up) the finish. I’ve read online about people complaining that top coat removes the holographic finish but the top coat I used (Essie Speed Setter) didn’t cause any issues like that, as you can see.

Lots of scattered holographic glitters!

Obviously, I was drawn to this beautiful darker blue shade but the collection does boast 8 holographic shades in the line–although, I think my local Shoppers Drug Mart was sold out of a few of them. I was torn between this shade & Chrome Zone, which was a dark almost black holo. I would definitely pick of that one next!

The Sally Hansen InstaDri HoloGlow shades can be found whenever you buy your Sally Hansen polishes. I picked up this bottle at my local Shoppers Drug Mart on sale for $5.99 CAD though they’re regularly $10.99 CAD.

What do you think about this beautiful Sally Hansen InstaDri shade Holo-back? Do you love being able to find holographic nail polish in mainstream stores? Have you tried the Sally Hansen InstaDri HoloGlow shades — which one is your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Happy Sunday

♥︎

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!

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