Category Archives: Nail Polish Swatches & Reviews

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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Nail Art Tutorial: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Nails

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Nail ArtI love the Christmas story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. (It’s like the holiday version of The Ugly Duckling.)

When you embrace your imperfections, it can be very empowering. Don’t be afraid of doing something different. If we were all the same and liked the same music, movies, or nail polishes, life would be more boring than reading the telephone book backwards. (Although that might be interesting – I’ve never tried it.)

You may remember that back in 2011, I posted a Reindeer Nail Art Tutorial. In that design, I used heart sequins for Rudolph’s nose, and I made the ‘mistake’ of using a dark background, so the antlers didn’t quite show up as well as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I still very much enjoyed wearing that design.

Now that it’s 2014, I decided to revisit the design again and create Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Nail Art! This time, I opted for all creme nail polishes and a lighter base. (I highly recommend using cremes for everything to help your design stand out. However, it would be really cute if you used a glitter or shimmery red polish for Rudolph’s nose!)

P.S. I’m going to try doing more festive freehand nail designs this month. Not sure how many I can squeeze in before Christmas, but I’ll do my best!

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Blog News: My Striped Nail Art Tutorial on PromCanada.com

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Striped Nail Art Tutorial & Pictures smallerIf you follow my blog, you know that I’m all about fun colour, and I don’t often get too excited about neutrals, tans, or nudes.

However, when I was preparing this Striped Nail Art tutorial for Prom Canada’s website a while ago, I decided to challenge myself and bridge both a tan polish with something punchier. (Of course green had to be in the mix!) 😉

Here’s the look I came up with months ago for Prom Canada’s website, and it’s currently featured on there right now.

Check out my tutorial on Prom Canada, or keep reading this post, where I show you step-by-step how to recreate this easy-peasy look that’s ideal for those who lead busy lifestyles.

You can easily make this a festive Christmas look by subbing out the yellow for a red and doing a gold-glitter base instead of a neutral.)

The colours I used are all from the Nicole by OPI 2015 Collection:

  • Nicole by OPI Count to Tan (tan)
  • Nicole by OPI Bee in the Moment (yellow)
  • Nicole by OPI Simply Sub-Lime (green)

Also, check back again tomorrow because I’m going to post my tutorial for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer nail art you may have seen me post on Instagram recently.

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