Category Archives: Nail Polish Swatches & Reviews

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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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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Pretty Serious Pookie Swatches & Review

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Pretty Serious Pookie Swatches & Review

Aqua blues like Pretty Serious Pookie from The Well Meaning But Ultimately Quite Awkward Pet Names Collection are flattering on virtually everyone. It looks fresh, suits any season, and the no-nonsense formula is versatile.

Cloudless skies. Frosty icicles. Pretty Serious Pookie fits into any design you want to paint!

The classic Madonna song, True Blue initially sprung to mind when I first laid eyes on this aqua.

When I was a kid, my dad used to play that song a lot (when he wasn’t spinning Elvis Presley tracks. And, yes, we had a record player. My dad was a big music and movie fan.)

Although none of my friends cared for the movie, the first time my dad introduced me to Madonna, in the film Who’s That Girl, I found it really entertaining. Haven’t seen it since I was maybe 5-years-old, so I’ll probably have to check it out soon.

Now as an unfortunate “grown-up,” my perspective on the movie probably is so different. It will be interesting to see if it still appeals to me. (Some films, like Return to Oz and The Goonies still remain favourites from childhood into adulthood, though. Great movies transcend age.)

I remember asking my dad to play Who’s That Girl again when the credits started rolling at the end of the movie. Haha, apparently when I liked a movie, I would watch it back-to-back and butcher it. 😉

My dad also had some of Madonna’s early concerts on VHS tape. We would watch it together, and innocent l’il me once asked my dad why Madonna wore Dixie cups. I can’t remember what his response was (haha, it’s really too bad!), but as a kid, I truly felt sorry for her and thought that she didn’t have enough money for real clothes. As an adult now, don’t worry – I understand. Still, I wish I could go back to those days of innocence.

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OPI My Gondola or Yours? Swatches & Review

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OPI My Gondola or Yours Swatches & Review

OPI My Gondola or Yours? is a black nail polish from the Venice Collection that channels the glossy dark side of obsidian (volcanic glass).

With Hallowe’en just days away, OPI My Gondola or Yours? is a great choice for adding the spooky final touch to your costume. (Then again, there are no hard-and-fast nail rules. Enjoy any colour no matter what season it is. If you’re like me, you’ll rock black nails even on a scorching summer’s day.)

Black nail polish is a staple in any nailphile’s collection because, aside from using it solo, it’s one of the basic colours needed to create many different nail designs from pupils in eyes to abstract accents.

While there is no shortage of black nail polishes on the market, some are obviously better than others. If you’re running low on your current bottle, or if you’re new to the nail game and want to start off on the right foot, this is one of the better black lacquers out there.

In the rest of this post, I go into further detail about what sets this standard black creme apart from some others.

P.S. Canadian readers, stay tuned! In a few days, I’ll be announcing a fun nail-polish giveaway that you won’t want to miss!

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Nail Art Tutorial: Bone Nails

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Bone Nails Nail Art

Make no bones about it, but Bone Nail Art is easy to incorporate into any spooky design for a Hallowe’en manicure.

You don’t need any special colours – just black and white. Those are pretty much staples for most nail art, and any nailphile probably already has them in their collection.

I used OPI My Gondola or Yours?, which is a glossy black from the Venice Collection. For the white, I reached for Pretty Serious Presence.

The only additional tools you’ll need are a dotting tool and a striping brush. However, if you don’t have a dotting tool, using the end of an old makeup brush or pen can do the trick in a pinch.

As for the striping brush, you don’t need one that’s specifically for nail art. You can get an inexpensive set of brushes from the Dollar Store’s craft section and then use scissors to trim the bristles to narrow the width to your needs. Easy peasy!

Haha, also, don’t forget to add the rounded areas on either ends of the bones. If you accidentally only do one side, well, it’ll make some pretty risqué adult nail art for a bachelorette party, I suppose! 😉

I hope that you enjoy my step-by-step tutorial with written instructions and photos near the bottom. I love sharing simple and quick nail designs that anyone can recreate. The more we all can spread the joy of painting, the better!

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Hard Candy Wild Child Swatches & Review

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Hard Candy Wild Child Swatches & Review

Hard Candy Wild Child reminds me a lot of my prom dress, which I wore many martian moons ago. 😉

It had a cobalt blue satin corset and princess-seamed skirt. Beneath it was a petticoat with several mesh layers to help puff out the bottom. Then, on top were a couple of layers of purple tulle that, from various angles, made my dress shift like a duochrome from purple to blue.

This was my fairytale dress, as only the night before shopping, I had done a quick sketch of what I planned to look for. Then, hung on a rack near the ceiling of an evening gown store (the first boutique I went to, which was also on my birthday), I looked up and saw the dress I drew right before my eyes. It was meant to be. *Cue the song “So This Is Love” from Cinderella*

Since then, a lot of time has passed. For instance, dinosaurs no longer roam the earth. Also, wheels have gone from being square to becoming round. 😉

Despite the passage of time, I still feel nostalgic whenever I see the colourful combination like the magic contained inside Hard Candy Wild Child. It’s my prom dress in a bottle!

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OPI A Great Opera-tunity Swatches & Review

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OPI A Great Opera-tunity Swatches & Review

OPI A Great Opera-tunity from the Venice Collection is a soft melon that has a smidgeon of pink that differentiates it from other peachy shades in my stash.

Although I’ve learned to love peach on my nails, this particular hue was never the kind that caught my attention. But, like I’m always harping on here, you sometimes need to give a shade a shot in order to find out if it works for you or not. And with a name like “A Great Opera-tunity,” it’s appropriately named!

If you’re like me and have a yellow undertone, colours like this can look a little “off” against your skin. However, I was delighted to discover that it balanced the seesaw so it didn’t clash, but it also didn’t blend into my skin like a Band-Aid.

There’s also another thing about this polish that I really enjoyed. Check out the rest of this review to find out what it was.

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