Category Archives: Nail Polish Swatches & Reviews

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure Swatches & Review (Layered over China Glaze For Audrey)

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure Swatches Ever have a lemming – a polish you’ve wanted so badly since you heard about it that you stalk all the stores you can think of in hopes of finding it?

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure was the Where’s Waldo for me.

And I never found him, despite checking all the Shoppers Drug Marts, Loblaws, Rexalls, and drugstores near me for about a year. Hidden Treasure, indeed!

It was hard for this nail addict to accept that I’d never get my hands on this puppy. But then a wonder of wonders, a miracle of miracles happened. (Good time to use a Fiddler on the Roof reference.)

Mellinail from Nail-Anon surprised me out of the blue with Hidden Treasure in a RAOK (Random Act of Kindness)!

Through the bubble wrap, I saw the flakies sparkling. My heart literally started to beat faster. No, it couldn’t be, I thought.

But after tearing open the wrapping, I squealed with delight. I rarely squeal, but I did when I saw this. (And I was walking on a busy street with lots of people. Think I scared some of them with my loud, random noise.)

A huge thank you to Mellinail for this wonderful surprise and gorgeous polish! Also, I really appreciate how you’ve been so supportive and kind. Continue reading →

LA Splash Golden Seahorse Review & Swatches

12 Replies

** 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’m in trouble. If you’ve read the Haul of Shame I posted two days ago, you know that I have no self control. I have nuclear shopping capability, able to destroy my wallet with one single blow. LA Splash Golden Seahorse was the first nail polish I wanted to try from my haul – it just looks so different in the bottle!

Now I’ve tried it. And now I love it. And now I want more LA Splash nail polishes. I didn’t expect to like this polish so much, but I don’t own anything like it. Sometimes it reminds me of the ocean – a blue/green sea that glistens and twinkles under the sun. Sometimes it reminds me of a mermaid – its tail encrusted with jewels stolen from fallen pirate ships…

I may have inhaled too much nail polish… Continue reading →

OPI Vodka & Caviar Swatches & Review

10 Replies

OPI Vodka & Caviar Swatches smaller As many of you know, I tend to wear more reds around Christmas, but hardly any during the rest of the year. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some reds that make my heart beat faster and my pupils dilate.

Even though OPI churns out a lot of reds, OPI Vodka & Caviar is one of the few that I’m highly impressed with because it has a glossy, perfect formula.

I’ve worn this a few times, and the strange thing is that I keep forgetting how awesome it is. Then I’ll wear it and think, “I should wear this more often!”

Aside from festive red glitters, OPI Vodka & Caviar is my favorite red. Why? There are tons of red creme polishes out there, but this, my fellow nailphiles, is a saturated red jelly polish!

Maybe it’s because I don’t wear many red nail polishes, but whenever I wear Vodka & Caviar, I think it looks very classy…traditionally feminine.

Plus I get a kick thinking that I have ‘vodka’ and ‘caviar’ on my nails. How absolutely decadent, dahhhling! Hehe…but no, I’ve never eaten caviar. Fish eggs are too rich for my blood. Nail polish is not. Continue reading →

Revlon Emerald City Matte Suede Review & Swatches

10 Replies

** 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’m drawn to green polishes like a zombie to brains. Neeeeeeed green nail polishes. Yummmmmmm.

My most-recent green-nail-polish purchase is Revlon Emerald City Matte Suede. In the bottle it doesn’t look all that unique – I’ve seen many dark greens like this before and actually own a few, but I was sold by it being a “Matte Suede”… although I have some bones to pick with Revlon about that. I wouldn’t classify this as suede, and it can barely be labeled as matte.

Plus, the name Emerald City? It’s not a very original name! Basically everything green is named that nowadays! That aside: I actually really do like this color. It’s deep and green and vibrant and deep and green and vibrant… Totally gorgeous. I think it’s one of my favorite green-green polishes that I’ve worn this year. Continue reading →

China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada Swatches & Review

8 Replies

China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada Swatches Sometimes I crave a color that screams, “I’m hyperactive!”

China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada is a shocking neon green that does just that.

It’s very strange, but in low light, this neon nail polish seems to appear a hundred times brighter. Looks like it could glow in the dark, even though it doesn’t. Yes, that’s how bright it is!

I can never accurately capture neon polish with my camera. Photos always turn out more muted than the color in real life.

Take a look at my swatches. Now, imagine them being waaaaay brighter much like a highlighter! That’s more accurate. Continue reading →

OPI What’s with the Cattitude? Swatches & Review

14 Replies

OPI Whats with the Cattitude Swatches Lately my mom’s cat, Pingu, has been going through a lot of health issues – limping, a kneecap that keeps moving around, severe weight loss, and a white spot on his eye that may be an ulcer.

The vet can’t figure it out what’s ailing him, despite various testing, and it’s really stressful. I always wished that Pingu could speak English, but especially at times like this.

He’s on easy-to-digest wet food right now because for some reason, he’s unable to eat his dry food anymore. Since this change in diet, he’s put on a tiny bit of weight. Hopefully this continues because he’s become so skinny that I’m really worried about him – he was always a muscular, active cat and within a span of a month or two, he became scrawny and tired all the time.

Since Pingu was on my mind a lot when I was choosing my next nail-polish color, I reached for OPI What’s with the Cattitude?, which is part of the Shrek Forever After Collection that came out last year.

I love this clean pastel blue! Continue reading →

OPI Silver Shatter Review & Swatches

12 Replies

OPI Silver Shatter Swatches So many brands have already put out their own line of crackle polishes. The end of this fad is nowhere in sight. And I’m glad because it’s fun playing around with different color combinations and having unique cracks on each nail.

When the OPI Silver Shatter polish came out with the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean Collection not long ago, I tried to find it at every beauty store and salon in my local mall.

To my disappointment, the staff told me that they sold out of OPI Silver Shatter in mere hours after putting it on display!

And although I did see it at one salon, I didn’t get it because they had marked up the price to $14.95 CAD when the going price is $9.95 CAD and the polish hasn’t even been discontinued yet!

A short time after this fruitless venture, I received a surprise e-mail from Nail-Anon blogger, Mellinail. She found it and picked up an extra bottle for me! This really made my day, especially because I’ve been very stressed out lately. It was so nice and generous of her! (Thank you, Mellinail!) Continue reading →