Imperial

Hi all – I am back from my vacation and it is great to be home. I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas holiday and have spent some quality time with your loved ones. Here is a swatch and design I did once I got back because I was so eager to try out the new Konad plate I bought!
Joe Imperial is a gorgeous deep purple shimmer that comes from their Christmas trio set. It takes 2 coats to be opaque but I put on three because I saw some streaks. The brush still takes some time getting used to as it is a bit stubby but the color is undeniably gorgeous. I used Konad Special Nail Polish in white to stamp a design on after from plate m64. I really like this pattern and it is one of the main reasons I chose this plate.
Happy New Year’s everyone! What nail colour will you be wearing to ring in the New Year?

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Sparkling Christmas nails

Here is a quick design I did for a Christmas dinner. I was trying to do a gradual gradient but the two pinks I used were too similar so it is hard to tell in the pictures. I used The Body Shop Twinkling Pink and Canmake 32. Afterwards I added circular silver glitter near the tips in a random pattern. I will be going on a short vacation so I will not be blogging for a bit. Thanks so much for reading and staying with me. I really appreciate it! Talk to you soon. Have a wonderful Christmas holiday J

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Starry Night and Twinkling Pink

I am excited to share 2 nail polishes that I was fortunate enough to purchase this weekend. They are from The Body Shop and their seasonal nail polishes never fail to get me excited. They released 2 colors this Christmas and here are the swatches!

First up is Starry Night, which I find is very appropriately names. It is a black nail polish with multi-sized circular silver sparkles in it. This applied pretty smoothly and only took 2 coats to be opaque.

Next up is Twinkling Pink whose name is pretty self explanatory. It is a lighter pink shade with lots of sparkles. It reminds me a bit of OPI Princesses Rule (which is a favourite of mine) but the sparkles in this one seem to be a bit denser. This took 3 coats to be opaque and I would add a 4^th if you are doing thin coats.

Both these nail polishes delighted me and are a perfect addition to my Christmas nail polish collection. These polishes retail for $8 Cdn each, but I got these on sale during the weekend. I believe the sale is still on now so it would be the perfect time to get them! While you are in, also take the time to sign the petition that they have going on to help stop sex trafficking of young people. You can also click here to sign the petition online. It is such a great cause and it is something so important.

Happy Holidays!

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Water Marbling with Vaseline

Here are 2 water marble designs that I tried a couple weeks back, sorry for the lack of clean up around the nails, I was too excited to wait and take pictures! This time I covered my fingers with Vaseline and this method seemed to work the best. Previously, I had tried taping my fingers here, and using cuticle oil here. For both water marbles, I used Sally Hansen White On as my base coat.

For the blue water marble, I combined Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money and Sally Hansen Xtreme Ivy league together. For the pink water marble, I used Nox Sangria and Sally Hansen Xtreme Twisted pink. I find that most Sally Hansen Xtremes work really well for water marbling and it is a cheaper nail polish to boot, so even though you are using more nail polish than usual, it is not that bad.

PS – I finally got my hands on Nox nail polish! Who knew twilight could contribute such a nice color and packaging? The silver crest on the bottle makes it look so pretty.

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Bring on the Bling

Another Christmas mani!

I mixed it up by using 3 coats each of Orly Rockin' Rockette and Sally Hansen Xtreme Emerald City. Both have shimmer inside of them and applied smoothly with no problems at all! I followed each up with a coat of OPI Bring on the Bling which consists of gold, red, and green sparkle flakes inside. It is truly a very nice Christmas color! The removal of this was not too difficult either, just soak cotton pad in remover and hold onto the finger for two seconds before wiping off. To make things even more Christmassy, I stamped on a silver Christmas tree and a pair of bells with OPI Birthday Babe, a silvery frosty color that stamped quite well. Hurrah for the holiday season! Christmas songs are on permanent repeat on my ipod playlist :) Happy Holidays!

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Sephora by OPI Swatch Part IV

Last row for the Sephora by OPI set! Are you ready? It is full of shimmer. Here it comes…From left to right, 3 coats each unless otherwise specified:

Leaf Him at the Altar – a nice shimmery leafy green

Mermaid to Order – reminds me of mermaid scales; shimmery aqua blue color

Opening Night – GORGEOUS shimmery dark blue that reminds me of the night sky

Already Famous – shimmery gold/silver color that seems appropriate for the name albeit a bit sheer (4)

Dating the Drummer – Nice shimmery dark brown color

2^nd picture – ring finger

Never enough shoes – very nice shimmery black, reminds me of a magic cape J

Phew! All done! What do you think now readers? Will you splurge for this set? The last row was my favourite I think, but most of the colors I would definitely wear. Will this be on your Christmas wishlist?

PS - I had a party this week and my secret santa got me the Glee season 1 gift set. It is awesomeness in a box.

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Golden Child

We take a break from finishing off the swatching of the last row to bring you some Christmas swatches! Don’t be mad~ I promise you the last row will come. Things have just been a little hectic with snow, working, and graduation. It is finally December 1^st! It seemed to have snuck up on us. So in honour of the first day of December, here is my first Christmas swatch. Sally Hansen Golden Child is from their Xtremewear line and is a gorgeous bright shimmery gold with glitter and sparkle strips inside. Application was smooth and although the polish was opaque in 2, I am wearing 3 coats in the picture. If you can tell by the background, it was also snowing when I took this! My hands were cold, but it was worth it! I am so excited for Christmas nail designs~ Have you done any yet?

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Sephora by OPI mini bottle comparison

By request, here is how the little bottles of the Sephora OPI polishes measure up to the regular size-

From left to right: Sally Hansen Xtreme wear 11.8mL, China Glaze 14mL, OPI 15mL, Sephora by OPI 3.75mL

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Sephora by OPI Swatch Part III

Here is part three of the Sephora by OPI gift set (again, 3 coats unless otherwise specified)! From left to right:

Special Request – (4) pretty bright pinkish coral which applied well but is a bit on the sheer side

High Maintenance – glossy red that applied smoothly

Sample Sale – shimmery shade of red that is perfect for Christmas! Love it.

I’m with Brad – black with red shimmer, this is one of the most intriguing nail polish yet. I think I like it.

One more row to swatch! Any favourites yet?

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Sephora by OPI Swatch Part II

Here is the second part of my swatches on the Sephora by OPI 18 piece collection – all painted with 3 coats; from left to right:

What a Broad – pretty cream plum purple color which applied smoothly

Just a Little Dangerous – a dark shimmery purple which also applied nicely

Cab Fare – A bright shimmery yellow which applied well but is quite sheer as you can see VNL even after 3 coats, definitely not one of my favourite colors

Caliente Coral – Very nice bright orange color whose formulation and application was great

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Sephora by OPI Swatch Part I

Here is the first part of my swatches on my Sephora by OPI 18 piece gift set – all are painted with 3 coats unless otherwise specified; from left to right:

A True Romantic – (5) even with this many coats this polish is still a bit streaky although this pale pink color does look quite pretty and compared with all my other pink OPIs, there are no dupes.

Techno Girl – gorgeous bright pink that applied flawlessly and could be opaque in 2

Access 24/7 – a nice berry pink which applied smoothly

Ms. Can’t Be Wrong – a shimmery purple plum color with a heavier tint of red with smooth application

Stay tune for Part II! I love sunny days.

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Sephora by OPI

This set is so gorgeous. It is an 18 piece nail color set that includes a range of colors from Sephora by OPI. I was in Sephora the other day and after much discussion with my best friend, I decided to buy it as an early Christmas present for myself. I cannot wait to swatch them for all of you to see! Click here for the full description of the set. Question is...which colors should I swatch first? Oh decisions, decisions...

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LOL

I finally got my hands on China Glaze LOL. It is a gorgeous purple holographic nail polish that applies like a dream. It was opaque in 2 but I am wearing 3 in the picture. Formulation was great and there are absolutely no complaints. The only downside is that it chips easily as I did not put on top coat because it would diminish the effect of the holos. I am now looking for a purple in this color but non-sparkly/holographic. I have been eyeing RBL Mismas, but have not sprung for it yet. Do any of you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance~

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Lest we forget...

Base: China Glaze Ruby Pumps – 3 coats
Ring Finger: China Glaze Watermelon Rind
Designs – OPI Alpine Snow, Sally Hansen nail art pen 02 Black

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Drop Dead Gorgeous

Today has been a great day. I hope your day has been full of joy and laughter as well. I thought today I would share with you something I bought with my friends awhile back. My local nail and beauty store is now carrying SpaRitual. SpaRitual is the first vegan nail polish brand and are also 3 Free. My store only carries the mini polishes at the moment, so I bought a couple to swatch. First up is Drop Dead Gorgeous. It is a gorgeous shimmery berry burgundy with a heavier tint on pink. This applied super smoothly and I am wearing 2 coats. In the future I would probably wear three as it dried pretty quickly. I can already imagine some marble designs I would like to try with this color. Have you tried any of their nail lacquers? What are some must haves?

Have a wonderful warm and happy day.

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Spectrum

As promised here is the second part of my Sally Hansen HD color review. Spectrum is a gorgeous light shimmery blue. It really is a pretty color albeit more on the sheer side, and does not provide as much coverage as Resolution. This formulation was pretty good, not super smooth, but not streaky either. The sparkles are a little harder to take off, but this is true of most sparkle nail polishes. This to me is a nice sky blue and reminds me of summer days. This took 3 thicker coats to be opaque. What do you think of this color? Thanks for dropping by!

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Resolution

This is without a doubt, one of the nicest Novembers I have seen in awhile. The weather was so gorgeous that I finally got to go outside and do some swatching! Resolution is part of Sally Hansen HD collection and I think this color is being discontinued since I found it in the sale bucket at my local drugstore. Resolution is a very pretty green color that becomes opaque in 2 thicker coats or 3 thin ones. I am wearing 2 coats in the picture. It has a very pretty shimmer and reminds me of the grass in spring. The application was smooth and clean up for this color did not leave a stain behind. More from Sally Hansen to come~

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Leopard print 3

Watermelon Rind from China Glaze Summer Days 2009 collection has always received some good feedback, so I decided to buy it and find out for myself. Truly, truly, the color does not disappoint. It is a gorgeous green color and perfect especially for this fall since green is one of the popular colors on the runway. The application for this was smooth and it was opaque in 3 thin coats. This has the glass fleck finish that some of their other polishes have and it is oh so lovely.

The next day I decided to do another leopard print pattern on top of this color. As you can tell, this pattern was inspired by my new scarf! As usual, I used Sally Hansen Black Out for stamping with Konad plate M57, and then I used ArtClub Black Hologram and lined the smile line on each of my fingers except the ring finger.

Conclusion: If you do not have Watermelon Rind I would get it because it is truly awesome.

PS – weather has been crappy and I have been having issues with my camera, sorry for the bad quality pics! (first two pictures with flash, last one without)

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Happy Halloween

Since Halloween is coming up, I decided to do some nail art which I also entered as an entry on Fab UR Nails. For this mani, I used OPI Orange you glad it’s summer?, OPI Black Onyx, Sally Hansen nail art pen 01 (white) and 02 (black). Application for both OPIs were smooth, and both were opaque in two coats. I am also holding one of my favourite candy bars as well~ I love chocolate! What are some of your favourite Halloween treats?

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Lucerne-tainly look marvelous

Indoors with flash

Indoors without flash

Lucerne-tainly look marvellous is from the OPI Swiss line. I had debated a long time about which color to get since all the colors looked so pretty. However, I decided on this gorgeous silvery grey color and it most certainly did not disappoint. The application on this was super smooth and it was opaque in two coats. The shimmer is amazing and I am not wearing a top coat in the picture. This polish reminds me of skiing and cozying up by the fireplace at the lodge for some reason. Oh winter, I cannot wait until you are here! Thanks for reading!

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Leopard print 2

As promised, here is another leopard print design. I used OPI Malaga Wine as a base. This color is very opaque and I am wearing one coat in the picture. The formulation was quite smooth and I really like this color. I used OPI Brisbane Bronze for my tips, and this sparkly brown is a perfect match for the wine red. Separating the two colors is The Body Shop Golden Winter Sun and I used it as a liner. Finally, for the leopard spots on the tips, I drew them using Sally Hansen nail art pen 02. I am beginning to like leopard prints more and more! Thanks for dropping by~ giveaway coming soon at 100 followers!

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