Category Archives: Nail Polish Swatches & Reviews

Nail Art: Hello Kitty Nails

Hello Kitty Image Plate Nail Art Swatches I’m not obsessed with Hello Kitty merchandise, but I do think she’s cute. So when the Born Pretty Store was giving away 1000 or so image plates featuring the adorable feline, how could I resist?

I’ve had the plate for a while, so it’s about time that I used it, right? Did you join in this promotion and get yours free, too? Share your Hello Kitty manicure with me – I’d love to see!

After playing around with it for a bit, these are my Hello Kitty Nails using the Born Pretty Store Image Plate M71!

It’s nothing fancy, but it did make me smile every time I looked at them.

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Canada Day Nails: Using OPI Red Shatter, OPI White Shatter, OPI Alpine Snow & Nubar Sensual Red (Review & Swatches)

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Canada Day Nail Art Swatches Using OPI Red Shatter & OPI White Shatter Polish Today is Canada Day – our country turns 144 years old! (That’s a lot of candles on the birthday cake!) What better time than to have Canada Day Nails?

Swatch And Learn is proudly a Canadian blog, but we get more visitors from the United States than from Canada interestingly enough!

And we also have many wonderful visitors who reside outside Canada and the United States.

We’re very grateful that you turned to Swatch And Learn for honest reviews, makeup swatches, and funny little anecdotes sprinkled throughout.

So, wherever you are, let’s celebrate the holiday together!

Since red and white are the patriotic colors of Canada, I thought that this was only fitting to finally crack out my bottles of OPI Red Shatter, OPI White Shatter, Nubar Sensual Red, and OPI Alpine Snow. Continue reading →

FingerPaints Laugh My Art Off Review & Swatches

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Image of FingerPaints Laugh My Art Off ** 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 recently discovered there’s a Sally Beauty Supply store near where I live. Like 5-minutes-away near. Within-walking-distance near. In-a-plaza-where-I-do-some-of-my-grocery-shopping near. Like… I’m-in-trouble-I-need-an-Intervention-before-my-wallet-stops-speaking-to-me near.

Last week I ventured into the SBS cautiously – I needed to scope out the place, but I didn’t want to plunk my credit card down on the cashier and say, “Give me one of everything.” (Although that sounds like fun.)

I allowed myself to get one nail polish – this time. And since I’m a blue fanatic with a glitter obsession, FingerPaints Laugh My Art Off immediately caught my eye. Gosh. I’m predictable. But this nail polish isn’t! It glistens every which way for unexpected look-at-me glamour. Yum! Continue reading →

Haul of Shame: KleanColor Chunky Holo Collection Swatches, Pictures & Quickie Review (228 Candy to 236 Black)

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KleanColor Haul Nail Polish Pictures

A Swatch And Learn reader, Andii, tipped me off about the new KleanColor Chunky Holo polishes weeks ago. My ears perked up when she mentioned that one of them was named 230 and had a multichrome personality of Clarins 230 except in a chunky glitter finish.

Unfortunately, the KleanColor website doesn’t ship to Canada (just the United States), and eBay sellers were out of stock on some that I wanted.

Thankfully, I knew an American who was willing to order them for me from the official website and bring them up since he was going to be visiting me soon anyway. His name’s Matty, and you’ve heard me mention him many times. 🙂 (Thank you, Matty!)

Since each polish was only $3.49 USD and they had a free shipping offer if you spent over $40 USD, I decided to order all 9 colors in this collection…as well as a few back-ups to hit the threshold.

All of these are so beautiful…even prettier in person than my camera could capture! And I can’t wait to wear them as a full manicure. For now, though, here are some bottle pictures. I’ve also swatched them all by themselves and over black to give you a better idea of what these look like. Continue reading →

Orly Fantasea Swatches & Review

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Orly Fantasea Swatches Orly has a lot of intriguing polishes, and Orly Fantasea is one of them!

My first impression of this when I put it on was that it reminded me of Clarins 230. But…hold the polish! It’s not a dupe.

It was the purple, gold, and pink shimmer that reminded me of Clarins 230. However, Fantasea isn’t a rainbow-in-a-bottle, and it certainly doesn’t have any green like Unicorn Pee does. Still, it’s incredibly beautiful in its own right.

Orly Fantasea is a nail-polish fantasy. There’s something magical and playful about this color. And it’s a hue that’s easy-to-wear, so I think a lot of people will like it.

The more Orly nail polishes I try, the more I’m impressed with the formula and application. Just wish that more places near me sold the brand. (Well, then my wallet would probably run away from home.) Continue reading →

L.A. Girl Disco Brites Can U Dig It? Review & Swatches

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Image of L.A. Girl Disco Brites Can U Dig It? ** 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. **

Ever loved doing something that you know you suck at? That’s me and bowling. I go just for the fun of it, not to win (at least that’s what I tell everyone). Anyway, every year, I get involved with a fundraising bowling event hosted by a local food bank. I wore L.A. Girl Disco Brites Can U Dig It? just for this special occasion. It was cosmic bowling, and the Disco Brites Collection is supposed to glow under black light!

I admit: I got this nail polish for the novelty of it. I mean, really. How often am I under black light? It’s not like I work for CSI or anything. It’s only during bowling that I get to really let this color truly shine.

BTW, my final score that day was 68. Shame. Shame. Shame! But my team did win a few trophies: Best Male Bowler and Top Fundraising Team. 🙂

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Nail Art Tutorial: Rainbow Crackle Konadicure (Using Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-208, Konad Special Nail Polishes & OPI Alpine Snow)

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Rainbow Crackle Nail Art Tutorial A lot of people are over crackle polishes because every company is putting out the same colors. It’s becoming a game of copycat.

But I’m still on the Crackle Caboose! Although, I did feel the need to do something different by creating this Rainbow Crackle Konadicure.

I made use of Konad Special Nail Polishes, Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-208, and OPI Alpine Snow.

This is the first time that I’ve used more than one stamping color on the same image. And I’m pleased with how it turned out, even though it’s not perfect. Reminds me a bit of a painting because of the way some of the colors bled.

What do you think of this rainbow crackle manicure? Still sick of the crackle trend? Continue reading →