SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Poison Apple 🍎

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful Autumn Sunday, cool & crisp. It’s also the last Sunday of October, if you can believe it. How is this month almost over?

Even though I have some really exciting shades from Ella + Mila to share with you, I wanted to close off this month with a slightly Halloween adjacent shade with Claire’s Poison Apple.

This shade was the third in the collection they released in the early 2010s as dupes for the MAC Villainous collection — click to see the swatches of Evil Queen & Venomously.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful foil red takes a few coats for perfect opacity, but it’s worth the work (& dry time). The formula is a metallic red with micro flakies. It has a subtle gold shift, although it shows up better in the bottle on the nail (as is the trend with this mini collection). For an almost 15 year old nail polish, the formula is still great & I had no issues with application.

Look at that metallic finish—so pretty! I love colour for this time of year. I do wish that you see that gold shift on the nail like you can in the bottle, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. & I’m so happy that I have all three in my stash, especially because I didn’t original think that I did have a full set.

What do you think of Claire’s Poison Apple? Do you like this villainous red? Do you think Claire’s should do another release like this? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

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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Autumn Colour Blocking 🍁🍂

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! I hope everyone is having the loveliest of Fridays… the weekend is almost here! I thought I would break up the Glam Nails Challenge content with something different. I’m full into the Autumn vibes now, so a Fall inspired colour blocking was exactly what I was feeling!

As I mentioned in my Swatch Sunday post, I’ve really been digging into my China Glaze stash lately & really loving all the polishes from Autumn collections past. So I pulled out a few Autumn shades to enjoy.

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
  • China Glaze Mind The Gap
  • China Glaze a Whole Latte Fun
  • China Glaze Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em

Don’t mind those bit of wrinkles — I may have been rushing a smidge when I was doing this mani, so I did muck it up just a smidge. But it still turned out beautifully, & I think these colours just go together so beautifully. I’m definitely going to need to remember this colour combo so I can use it again, maybe in a stripe or chevron look!

What do you think about this Autumn colour block? Do you like this combination of colours? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

& happy Friday!

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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 — Essie All The Wave 🌊

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! After a bunch of rain, it finally looks like the sun is coming out today! Now, if only my allergies would give me a break!

Today I’m grabbing another fun shade from my stash to share with you today. This time, I dig into my Essie stash. This is Essie All the Wave, originally released in 2017 as part of the B’aha Moment collection.

1-2 coats + top coat

This shade is a beautiful dusty blue was almost a one coater on my nails, but I did have a few nails I had to go back & add swipe to cover up some streak-age. I chalk that up to my own error rather than the polish itself. With top coat added, it does smooth down very nicely.

This colour is just amazing. I love how dusty the blue is. It’s great for Summer but also that transition into Autumn. Can you imagine it paired with like a burnt orange? Beautiful.

I looked online to see if this shade is still available, but aside from some Amazon listings, it seems to sadly be no longer be in the core rotation.

What do you think about Essie All The Wave? Do you have this shade in your collection? What is your favourite Essie blue? Let me know in the comments below!

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