Category Archives: Nail Polish Swatches & Reviews

OPI Uh-oh Roll Down the Window Swatches & Review

From the moment I saw the promo picture of the new OPI Touring America Collection, I had my heart set on OPI Uh-oh Roll Down the Window.

If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that green nail polish is my preferred colour to sport. And when it’s a dusty, swampy kind of green, it’s true love!

Uh-oh Roll Down the Window is one of those ‘ugly pretty’ shades that I adore. It’s chic, it’s simple, it’s edgy, and it’s different from a lot of other greens.

Plus the name is hilarious, isn’t it? And it’s so fitting!

Hehe…when I visited my mom recently, I showed her my nails and asked her what she thought. (My mom is a very blunt woman who says what’s on her mind whether you like it or not.) Her response? “It looks like geese poop.”

Haha, she wasn’t trying to be funny, but I found it hilarious! And when I think about it, yes, this colour definitely looks like green geese poop. And y’know what? I love it on my nails, so there! Continue reading →

KleanColor Chunky Holo Candy Swatches & Review

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KleanColor Chunky Holo Candy Swatches & Review It’s very rare when I wear the same nail-polish shade again in less than 2 weeks. I have to really fall hard for the color.

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy was my knight. The shining armor I layered over him was KleanColor Chunky Holo Candy 228!

Unlike Bluebell, which I previously swatched, reviewed, and wanted to marry, Candy was very underwhelming. It’s not to say that this holographic glitter polish is bad, but it was far less impressive than Bluebell’s mind-blowing rainbowy goodness.

As the name would suggest, Candy is a sweet color – mainly yellow, orange, and grass green suspended in a translucent coral-pink polish.

When I first laid eyes on the bottle, the base color instantly reminded me of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. It has that neon brightness that I thought would be a perfect match made in polish heaven.

Sadly, I’m not a huge fan of this combination. I much prefer Flip Flop Fantasy alone than with this glitter top coat. But there are many layering possibilities (try it over black!), so don’t let me put you off this color. Continue reading →

L.A. Girl Aqueous Review & Swatches

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Image of L.A. Girl Aqueous ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

What do you do when you’re tired of a mani but are too lazy to change colors? You add something different to it and say the results were your intentions all along. Anyone? No? Maybe it’s just me…

At least that’s what happened with this mani… I was sporting the lovely L.A. Colors Enchanting for the fourth day and was getting bored of it. (BTW, no chipping at all and only slight tip wear.) Then I remembered I haven’t tried L.A. Girl Aqueous yet. At first I didn’t think the sky blue glitter would complement the rose-gold bronze/reddish purple duochrome, but I actually ended up liking the contrast! What do you think? Continue reading →

Nail Art Tutorial: Loch Ness Monster Nails

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Loch Ness Monster Nails Nail Art Tutorial & Swatches Doing Cookie Monster nail art made me think about what other kind of monsters I liked and that would be easy to translate onto my small nail canvas.

I looked under my bed. (Just the typical monsters there.)

I checked my closet. (Nope, just a bunch of skeletons. They’ll come in handy for Hallowe’en.)

Then I decided to take inspiration from the water, since I love swimming and am also a Pisces. A few cover stories of the National Enquirer that I’ve glanced at while in the checkout aisle may have also influenced me.

Today I bring you Loch Ness Monster Nails! Now you can say that you’ve seen it swimming in the water on a sunny day!

Since I’m a Canadian, taking French class in school is mandatory up until grade 9.

In the 8th grade, I remember loving the class because we got to read all sorts of absurd books. None were serious. Literally every story we read was surrounding Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, or aliens. Yeah! And now imagine reading all those stories in a foreign language. How could it not be fun? Haha!

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Nail Art Tutorial: Cookie Monster Nails

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Cookie Monster Nails Nail Art Swatches For a while, I wanted to create Cookie Monster Nails. But it was only until now that I went ahead and did it.

These don’t exactly look like Cookie Monster, though, so I’ll say that they’re inspired by him. 🙂

Only after I started painting did I Google photos of other people’s Cookie Monster nail art, and I kinda wish I looked first because my attempt would’ve turned out better.

Had I not painted my entire nail blue and allowed the googly eyes to sit on top of the blue part, it would’ve looked more like the fun Sesame Street character. If you’re confused, check out the link at the bottom of my post. I’ll show you how someone else did it and how hers look more recognizable.

I still really like this manicure because it’s silly, and I think it’s really fun to have smiling faces on my fingertips.

What do you think? Would you try this? Should I try some other Sesame Street characters? Continue reading →

L.A. Colors Enchanting Review & Swatches

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Image of L.A. Colors Enchanting ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

I get excited trying out new brands. Whether the product is a dud or a stud, I like knowing that I have the option to choose from a wide range of brands at various price points. I even like it more when the product I try turns out to be a winner.

Take L.A. Colors Enchanting for example. It’s my first experience with L.A. Colors, and I never expected the shade to have so much depth and personality. It’s a duochrome that reminds me of a cornucopia, perfect for autumn. But to heck with that: I’m wearing it in the summer anyway!

BTW, happy August, everyone! Continue reading →

Nail Art: Blue & Gold (Crooked) Diamond Nails & Tutorial

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Image of Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond Nails ** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

I was just thinking how far I’ve come since Swatch And Learn was first launched. I’ve tried more things, toed my comfort-zone line… and bought a hella lot of makeup products that I’ve justified by saying, “It’s for the blog.” While Swatch And Learn has taken part in the death of my wallet and sometimes caused me to stay up late to finish a post, I am glad to be a part of it. And I’m really grateful for all the support everyone has shown. We hosted a 1-year blog anniversary giveaway to show our appreciation, but I really want to say: Thanks! Thanks for your support – through comments (which we love to read and answer) and through returning to read our praises/rants of products. 🙂

I’m no expert or guru by any means. I just love playing with colors, something I think we all gather because of. That’s why I’m not embarrassed to show my Blue & Gold Crooked Diamond Nails to you. Well, OK. I’m a little embarrassed. I didn’t actually intend for them to be crooked. Sad face. It’s a good thing I wasn’t aiming for hearts, or they’d be crooked hearts! *awkward laugh*

Anyway, this is a fairly easy design to do in terms of technicality. If you have more patience than I do to place the tape at the right angles on the nails, yours will definitely turn out better (i.e. straight)!

Continue reading →