Author Archives: Mary S.

Nail Vote on Twitter: Top Coat or Base Coat?

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Hey everyone!

Today, I tweeted a quick poll because I’m curious to hear what fellow nail enthusiasts think.

If you could only choose one that is an essential when you polish your nails, would it be a top coat or a base coat?

Log into your Twitter account, and vote before the poll closes!

Thanks for your feedback, and stay tuned for more quick polls! 🙂 Also, be sure to come back to see the results of those who participated.

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KISS 2016 Preview Event Recap

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KISS Nails 2016 Preview Event

Yesterday evening, I attended the KISS 2016 Preview at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto.

I got a firsthand sneak peek at the latest nail and eyelash products that will be launching early next year!

In this post are photos I took during and after the event, as well as my commentary on the whole experience, including the setup, the food, and meeting celebrity manicurist, Gina Edwards.

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Pretty Serious Presence Swatches & Review

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Pretty Serious Presence Swatches & Review

You’ve seen me bring Pretty Serious Presence to the call of duty in my most recent nail art: Bone Nails, Bloodshot Eye Nails, and Ghost Nails. That’s because white is a must-have shade in any nail enthusiast’s collection. From laying down a clean canvas to adding little details, white is versatile and brings a lot to the manicure table.

I’ve tried many white nail polishes along my quest to find a Holy Grail one-coater. (If you’ve experimented, you know that there are numerous white lacquers with formulas that have a lot to be desired. So many are streaky, and some require three coats, just to get even coverage.)

Naturally, my Alice-in-Wonderland rabbit ears stuck straight up when I caught wind of Pretty Serious Presence claiming to be opaque in a single coat.

Could it be The One that I’ve been searching for my whole nail life to find? Can we paint a streak-free white picket fence around my dream home? Should we have three children, or just have fur babies like Grumpy Cat? 😉

P.S. Canadians, you still have until November 13, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST to enter my giveaway for your chance to win 12 Hard Candy nail polishes!

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What I Wore on Hallowe’en: Ghost Nail Art

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Ghost Nail Art Nails

I hope that you all had a spooktacular Hallowe’en yesterday and experimented with playful nail art!

This is what I painted freehand and sported on Hallowe’en: Ghost Nail Art featuring these four nail polishes:

Ever since last year, I’ve been wanting to paint this design, so I probably will be wearing it for the next few days.

It was really fast and easy to do – makes me smile when I see the little ghosts with their arms up in the air trying their best to scare me. Hehe, nope – not menacing at all!

It’ll be sad when the ghosts meet their maker and the acetone-remover-soaked cotton ball approaches them, sealing their fate.

Now that I think about it, maybe that’s why they’re screaming. They aren’t trying to frighten me. They’re pleading, “Noooooo! Don’t remove us from your nails!” Yeah – it’s totally normal to have these thoughts running through your head. (Hehe – nailphiles understand!) 😉

P.S. If you’re Canadian, be sure to check out my Hard Candy Nail-Polish Giveaway for 12 shades! (Submit your entry by November 13, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST.)

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Happy Hallowe’en, Everyone!

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Wishing all my ghosts and goblins a very Happy Hallowe’en! 🙂 Have a fun and safe time during fright night.

In case you’re still mulling over what design to paint your nails with, here are just a few of the Hallowe’en nail-art looks I’ve done over the years and shared on the blog.

All of them (except the top left) have step-by-step tutorials, and you’ll be able to see all the colours I used. Links to each are below the collage photo.

Halloween Nail Art Ideas Nails

You can browse through the Nail Art category on my blog, which contains many more designs not shown here, or if you want to see the individual posts for the specific designs shown in the above image, click on any of the links below:

Feel free to tag me on social media, and show me what you’re wearing for Hallowe’en! 🙂 I’d love to see!

P.S. In case you missed it, check out my latest Canadian giveaway. Enter by November 13, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST for your chance to win 12 Hard Candy nail polishes!

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Canadian Giveaway: Enter to Win These 12 Hard Candy Nail Polishes! (Ends November 13)

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Edit (Sunday November 15, 2015 at 6:55 pm EST):

Congratulations, Chelsea W.! You’ve won my Hard Candy nail-polish giveaway! Please reply to my e-mail within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone for participating. More fun giveaways are coming!

Hard Candy Nail Polish Giveaway

Hallowe’en, my favourite holiday, is tomorrow, so I’m giving my awesome Canadian readers a chance to win something fun. No tricks and all treats!

(Stay tuned later for future giveaways that will be open worldwide. You are appreciated and not forgotten, my international readers! This time, I’m keeping it local.)

I reached out to Hard Candy’s PR, and we teamed up to give you a prize that, to me, is better than chocolate or any candies (even though, yes, I have a sweet tooth – no denying that)!

Up for grabs is this cute set that houses 12 mini Hard Candy nail polishes in a wide range of finishes and colours.

Aside from giving you so many shades to choose from, what makes this particularly exciting is that there are perforated flaps covering each bottle.

You can open one flap each day to treat yourself to a little reward, or you can throw the “rules” away and rip open all the flaps in one sitting. It’s up to you!

And although it’s set up like an advent calendar, that’s not to say that you can’t enjoy this nail-polish set, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas. If you ‘celebrate’ nail polish and the joy it brings, that’s all the enthusiasm you need! 😉

Edit: This cute 12 Days of Nail set is part of Hard Candy’s new Holiday Collection that’s available exclusively at Walmart stores and on the Walmart Canada website starting the beginning of November 2015.

Read all the salient details carefully in this blog post to ensure that your entry is valid.

Thank you to all my readers, whether you’ve been visiting for years or you found me just a few minutes ago. You are all welcome at Swatch And Learn!

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Nail Art Tutorial: Bloodshot Eye Nails

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Bloodshot Eyes Nail ArtI spy with my Hallowe’en bloodshot eyes an easy nail design that you can finish in a jiffy!

This is a nail look that requires only basic colours (white, black, and red) that you already have in your stash. Then, you can choose whichever shade you want for the iris.

The red I used was Hard Candy Remix Red. All the other colours are by Pretty Serious Cosmetics: Presence (white), Absence (black), and Nuke the Fridge (shimmery olive).

Considering what my favourite colour is, it should come as no surprise that I chose green for the irises. 😉

To create the veins, feel free to add ‘branches’ to make them look more believable. I, however, kept it simple with lots of squiggles.

As long as you’re happy wearing the design, that’s what matters. You can create them however you want. There aren’t any hard-or-fast rules. Nail art should be fun and not cause anxiety. Don’t concern yourself with perfection. Nail polish is all about enjoyment! 🙂

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