Author Archives: Mary S.

Quick Look: Great Last-Minute The Body Shop Christmas Gift Sets

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The Body Shop Christmas Gift SetsChristmas is just a few days away!

Are you looking for last-minute gifts that are still thoughtful and impressive?

You may be interested in the numerous The Body Shop Christmas Gift Sets!

PR provided me with a booklet, so I snapped photos of nearly every page and typed out the descriptions and prices. (It contains many more gift sets than the ones you see in the above image.)

So, if you’re down to the wire, this The Body Shop gift guide may help you to swing by their store and pick up a suitable gift for someone on your list!

You’ll also learn more about how The Body Shop is partnering with the charity, War Child, and making a meaningful difference in the world. They’re a company with heart, and you’ll see how, by purchasing from The Body Shop, you can support this great cause and contribute to building a better community.

PR was generous to provide me with so many great gift sets (that you can see depicted in the photo above)! I came home from work one evening to find a huge package, and it felt like Santa Claus had me on the Nice List, even if I was sometimes naughty.

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OPI Cement the Deal Swatches & Review

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OPI Cement the Deal Swatches & ReviewYesterday, I reviewed OPI Dark Side of the Mood, and today, I’m giving you a closer look at OPI Cement the Deal, which also hails from the Fifty Shades of Grey Collection out in January 2015. (For quick swatches and bottle shots of the entire collection, check out this post.)

Now, it’s no secret that I love nail polish, but grey nail polish and I haven’t had the best relationship.

You see, for me, it’s a hit or miss, and I haven’t experimented with many greys. Hopefully the more I try, the more I’ll learn.

From what I have in my collection, I find it the most challenging to pull off lighter greys because the undertone has to complement my skin tone or it looks ‘off’. Whereas with dramatic, dark greys, there’s enough contrast, so they are easier to wear.

OPI Cement the Deal is a pale grey with just a smidgen of blue, however in some photos, it seemed to translate as having more blue than what I could see in real life. It leans more on the cement-grey side than the blue, in case you are wondering about which is accurate.

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OPI Dark Side of the Mood Swatches & Review

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OPI Dark Side of the Mood Swatches & ReviewOPI Dark Side of the Mood is part of the OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection, which will be released in January 2015.

(I did a Quick Look post on the OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection, so head there if you want to see swatches of all six colours and bottle shots.)

Dark Side of the Mood makes me think of my first full-time job straight out of university because one of our account passwords was based on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon!

While grey isn’t the first colour that’s on my radar, I did very much enjoy wearing OPI Dark Side of the Mood because it’s dramatic and offers a lot of contrast against my skin tone. As you know, the bolder the colour, the happier this nailphile is! 😉

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Quick Look: Pretty Serious Rooftop Soiree Collection Swatches & Bottle Shots

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Pretty Serious Rooftop Soiree CollectionIndie nail polishes hold a special place in my heart, and I especially have a soft spot for Pretty Serious Cosmetics.

(You’ll remember that Kaz/Karen made my dreams come true by collaborating with me and allowing me to design the nail-polish of my dreams!)

On Monday evening, I came home from work to find nail mail containing the new Pretty Serious Rooftop Soiree Collection for Holiday 2014! Naturally, I had to snap photos like a polish paparazzi to share with my lovely readers.

The Pretty Serious Rooftop Soiree Collection consists of 6 stunning shades that capture the feeling of a celebration in a bottle.

Cocktail Bar (the teal/green) got my attention instantly, but I also really adore Moments Til Midnight (the blue) because I have nothing like it in my stash.

Daphne After Dark is also really interesting because it’s full of colourful glitter without looking clownish. It’s dark and mysterious, which is really sexy!

When I opened the box filled with the festive Pretty Serious Rooftop Soiree Collection, I went straight to the red (Red Carpet Treatment) and painted my nails with it that very night. It’s a great Christmas red that’s so glam and not a typical red.

(When I looked at my nails in different lighting and at various angles, I could see purple, blue, and silver. Sometimes, I thought I could see green reflecting! Predominantly, it’s red, but it has those interesting colours subtly included that make it stand out from other red glitters I own.)

It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but I’ll do my best to include an in-depth on at least one of these polishes before Christmas.

(It’ll probably be on Pretty Serious Red Carpet Treatment since I’m wearing it now. The past two mornings were so dark, and I couldn’t snap natural-light photos. I’m waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate with me. After all, I only have the mornings to take photos in natural light because it’s before I head off to work, and by the time I get home, it’s dark in the evening. Haha, nail-blogger problems!) 😉

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Hard Candy Record Breaker Swatches & Review

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Hard Candy Record Breaker Swatches & ReviewDoes Hard Candy Record Breaker look familiar? 😉 It should because I used this beautiful aqua as the base colour in my latest Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Nail-Art Tutorial!

Hard Candy Record Breaker is a new shade in their collection of wildly diverse colours, so while it should already be at your Wal-Mart store, if not, just check back soon.

Have you tried Hard Candy nail polishes before? It has been ages since I have, and it all ends now! (I’m going to be wearing more Hard Candy nail polishes to test out the formula. I’m sure they’ve changed a lot since when I first tried them. Mental image: Dinosaurs roamed the earth at that point…and they had fab pedicures!) 😉

When I was in elementary school or high school, Hard Candy nail polishes were sold in the department stores. Now, the bottles have taken on a different design, and they’re available at Wal-Mart.

Back in the day, I remember trying my friend’s Hard Candy nail polish, but it has been a loooong time since I was in elementary school.

In fact, between then and now, it has been discovered that the world isn’t flat and wheels are now round instead of square. Also, Jesus was born. And when I was little, I had to walk barefoot 100 miles through the snow to get water. (Okay, maybe not. I’m only kidding about being ancient.) 😉 In all seriousness, you’re only as old as you feel or the attitude you have. For example, some cranky “Get off my lawn!” types act older than their age!

Alas, I digress! Onto the nail-polish swatches and review!

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Quick Look: Essie Cashmere Matte Collection Swatches, Bottle Shots & Press Release

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Essie Cashmere Matte CollectionLast week, I came home to some surprise nail mail with the Essie Cashmere Matte Collection!

The Essie Cashmere Matte Collection has a satin-like texture that’s smooth, matte, and really cool.

But what made me sit up and take note was that I wasn’t expecting them to have shimmer. At first, I thought it was my camera’s flash reflecting off the glass of the bottles, but it wasn’t.

Some of these polishes have a beautiful subtle shimmer in the bottle.

In this post, you’ll see swatches, bottle shots, and the official press release. As usual, when I wear them as full manicures, I’ll be sure to review some in-depth on here.

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Quick Look: OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection Swatches & Bottle Shots

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OPI Fifty Shades of Grey CollectionNot long ago, I posted the OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection Press Release on here with plenty of information about each colour and the inspiration behind it all. (This collection launches in January 2015.)

Yesterday, I came home from work to find a box from PR with this collection!

I asked on my social media if you wanted to see the OPI Fifty Shades of Grey Collection or the Essie Cashmere Matte Collection for 2015, since I received both on Wednesday.

At the time when I wrote this post, it looked like OPI was slightly dominating. (For those who voted to see the Essie collection, don’t worry! I’ll be featuring a Quick Look post on that soon because there was a lot of interest in it. Please stay tuned! The wait won’t be long.)

My pick just from the way the colours initially looked when I saw them in person for the first time? Shine for Me is the standout of this collection! It’s really sparkly and has blue particles that complement the grey. (I am looking forward to trying this one out and to seeing if its slight texture can be tamed with a top coat.)

Grey nail polish is sometimes challenging for me to sport, so this variety will help me narrow down the kinds that are more flattering on me. Should be interesting!

Haha, and in typical OPI fashion, there’s a red. It’s a great punch of colour in this collection, and you know that OPI has nailed the formula of red nail polishes! 😉

P.S. Whenever I see the name of this collection, the old song by fellow Torontonian, Amanda Marshall, “Shades of Gray” plays in my head. It was really popular on the radio when I was in high school, so it’s nostalgic for me! (And it has a great, strong message.)

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