Swatch: KB Shimmer 'Laugh Myself Lily'

Today I have a swatch of KB Shimmer 'Laugh Myself Lily'. I believe that this polish was originally released as part of their Spring 2014 collection. It is a light blue crelly glitter polish with pink, blue, white, and holographic circle and hexagonal glitters of various sizes, as well as a fine holographic dust.

This summer I have been wearing mostly bright, warm colours, so it was a nice change for me to have a predominantly cool-toned manicure. This polish makes me think of water lilies floating on the surface of a reflective pond... It truly is quite beautiful! 

Swatch: KB Shimmer 'Precious Petals'

Today I have a swatch of KB Shimmer 'Precious Petals', over the polish featured in my last post, L'Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l'huile, colour number 663, 'Sable Tuileries'. You can link to that last post right here. 

'Precious Petals' was originally released as part of KB Shimmer's Summer 2015 collection. It is a glitter topper with matte hexagonal glitters of various sizes in lilac, pastel aqua, white, and hot pink, as well as a very fine holographic glitter.

I like how when paired with a neutral base, the glitter really stands out. I think this would also look nice topped over various shades of pink, purple, and blue/aqua.

L'Oréal Paris - Le Vernis à l'huile, 663 Sable Tuileries

Today I have a quick swatch to share of a gorgeous neutral polish by L'Oréal Paris, from their line of polishes entitled 'Le Vernis à l'huile'. The swatch is of colour number 663, 'Sable Tuileries'. After doing a bunch of skittles manicures, and a multi-coloured crelly glitter polish in my last few posts, my eyes were drawn to this toned-down neutral shade when I was looking through my collection. 

I actually had a few other fun mani ideas lined up to do, but I guess I needed a bit of a palate cleanser of some elegant, understated nails... This classic creamy taupe shade really hit the spot!

Swatch: KB Shimmer 'Full Bloom Ahead'

For today's post, I'm sharing a gorgeous glitter crelly polish from KB Shimmer, 'Full Bloom Ahead'. I believe it may have been originally released as part of their 2014 Spring collection. The polish has fuschia, navy, gold, teal, and orange hexagonal glitters in various sizes suspended in a white semi-translucent base. It is so fun, and playful - it reminds me of a jawbreaker!

China Glaze 'Cackle if you Want to'

'Cackle if You Want to' was released as part of China Glaze's Halloween 2015 'Ghoul's Night Out' collection. It is a glitter topper with matte purple and black glitters in a variety of sizes. The purple glitter particles are quite unique, in that they have a light purple and dark purple alternating 'pinstripe'. 

Even though this was part of a Halloween collection, it can work with a variety of nail looks, any time of year. For this manicure, I used 'Cackle...' over China Glaze's 'Ahoy', the polish that I wrote about in my last post, which you can see here. The combination creates a manicure that is edgy, fun, and artistic.

Even though I don't frequently wear glitter topper polishes, I'm really happy to have this one in my collection. The colourway is pretty versatile, since it is only one colour and a neutral, which allows it to be worn with a greater variety nail polish shades. Also, it is pretty unique (particulary for a mainstream polish). Overall, it's a really cool option for adding some visual interest to a simple manicure.

Swatch: China Glaze 'Ahoy!'

Today I have a swatch of China Glaze 'Ahoy!', a very pigmented fuschia crelly polish with gold shimmer particles.  Apparently,  'Ahoy!' was originally released as part of China Glaze's spring 2011 'Anchor's Away' collection, but I think it may have become part of the permanent collection, as I'm pretty sure that I purchased it well after 2011.

'Ahoy!' is truly quite lovely. The cool-toned, dark pink shade is beautiful, and is suitable for any season. And to top it all off, the gold shimmer really adds dimension to the finished look of the polish. All in all, it is absolutely stunning!

Summer Fun Shimmery Skittles Mani

Today I have another summery skittles mani to share, this time using all bright shimmery colours. I even managed to throw in a bit of embellisment, with some nail jewels! 

For the manicure I used four different Sally Hansen Polishes. I've been having a lot of fun shopping my stash lately, and using older polishes that I haven't really used much in years. I've been rediscovering a lot of fun drug store polishes that I bought back when I just started getting into nail polish, some of which are now discontinued.

Polishes Used

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear ‘Hot Magenta’

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure ‘Wedding Glitters’

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear ‘Ivy League’

Sally Hansen Hi-Definition Nail Colour ‘Three D’

All in all, I really like how this manicure turned out. I think the colours work really well together, and they are so cheerful!

Blue, Gold and Orange Skittles Mani featuring Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

As discussed in my last post, I managed to do another skittles manicure! This mani features the iconic original version of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Pacific Blue'. This polish caused quite a stir in the nail polish world when it was reformulated back in 2014. The original version was super popular, and much beloved in nail polish circles, and has now become somewhat of a collector's item. I've had the bottle in the photo above for several years now - I'm estimating that I may have purchased it anywhere between 7 to 10 years ago!

In the manicure, I used Pacific blue on both my thumb and ring finger. I chose complementary shades of light blue, gold and orange to complete the look.

Polishes Used

Morgan Taylor ‘No Filter Needed’

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear ‘Pacific Blue’

Rimmel 60 Seconds ‘Dazzle’

Orly ‘Melt Your Popsicle’

I really like how this manicure turned out. The colour combination is fun and energetic, and works really well for the summer! I'm happy I was able to throw a neon polish into the look, with Orly's neon orange 'Melt Your Popsicle', as well as a bit of bling with Rimmel's gold shimmer polish 'Dazzle'. 

Metallic (Partial) Rainbow Skittles Mani

It's been a while since I got a chance to feature some new nail art on this blog. It's been difficult lately to find time to sit down and create a design and then execute it. As a result, I've been doing a lot of simple (one-polish) manicures. I decided to try to dip back into creativity, with one of the simplest forms of nail art - the skittles mani.  I wanted to do something bright and cheery, so I decided on the Metallic Rainbow Skittles mani photographed above.

Polishes Used

Orly 'Crawford's Wine'

Orly 'Flicker'

Revlon Brilliant Strength 'Hypnotize'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear  'Emerald City'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear  'Blue It'

I love how this mani turned out - it is so fun and colourful, that I'm inspired to do more! However, I think I may just stick with skittles manicures for the time being, because they are relatively quick and easy to accomplish. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to throw in the odd manicure with other embellishments, and/or some stamping here and there... we'll see where this goes!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Crushed'

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Crushed' is a gorgeous, shimmery, bright orange polish that just screams summer. It's one of those super-finely milled shimmer polishes that essentially reads as metallic on the nail. It gave great coverage, had a decent drying time, and there were no issues with application. The polish is really fun and cheery to wear due to the in-your-face texture, colour and shine. All in all, I'm really happy with this polish.

Swatch: Orly 'Torrid'

 

Orly 'Torrid' is truly one of the most gorgeous red polishes that I own! It is the perfectshade of ruby red, with a finely milled shimmer that makes the polish appear to glow from within. This polish is a classic, and can be worn year-round. During the holidays it can be quite festive, however, during the rest of the year it gives such a sophisticated, yet subtly edgy look to a manicure. 

As you can see from the metallic red comparison swatches below, 'Torrid' (#6) is very similar to CoverGirl 'Forever Festive' (#5), and A England 'Perceval' (#7). Perceval is actually a tad cooler toned, but they are still quite close. 

Overall, I would have to say this is an excellent nail polish. The shade is gorgeous, the finish is mesmerizing, and it performs quite well in terms of application and dry-time. I absolutely adore it!

Essie 'Red Nouveau'

Today I have a swatch of Essie's 'Red Nouveau', a bright crimson red creme polish. This is a classic, summery red shade with a warm, orange undertone. In the swatch, I've used two coats of the polish. 

It's such a classic look that there's not really much to say about it other than: if you are in the mood for red nails - this is a wonderful candidate!