Tag Archives: KISS

KISS Festival Beauty Survival Kit

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KISS Festival Beauty Survival Kit

Hit the summer festival in style with your favourite sunglasses, a fab choker, and stylish nail art!

The KISS Festival Beauty Survival Kit shimmied its way over to Swatch And Learn’s headquarters yesterday.

It contained the following:

  • imPRESS Gel Manicure Press-on Nails
  • KISS Polish Pop Nail Stickers
  • KISS Waterless Nail Tattoos
  • KISS Fix It Up! Silk Wrap Repair Kit

Out of all the items, I am the most excited about the nautical-themed stickers! Not only are they easy to apply, but they’re way faster than nail stamping or painting a freehand design.

Also, the nail repair kit will come in handy if I break a nail. (Even though I’m fortunate to have strong nails, I tend to be very hard on my nails, so it’s only a matter of time before I pull this puppy out!)

See the rest of this post for a closer look at each item and where you can find them.

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This Is What $2,000 Custom KISS Nails Look Like

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Chrome Nails KISS Nails Mar y Soul Mani

The most expensive nail polish in my collection cost me $52.68 CAD. In 2011, I splurged on the coveted multi-chromatic wonder, Clarins 230 (or what fellow nail-polish addicts fondly call ‘Unicorn Pee‘). Since then, I haven’t made any wild nail purchases.

Needless to say, $2,000 Custom KISS Nails aren’t in my budget’s stratosphere. (Not even in my exosphere!)

But it’s not always about what you can buy. There’s something to be said about admiring without feeling the need to purchase it. Like the priceless painting hanging in the Art Gallery of Ontario, I can enjoy the artistry without needing it in my living room.

I can appreciate the way the $2,000 custom KISS nails look without needing to spend that much moola.

Just the other day, one of my readers was asking me on social media about chrome nail polish, so it was interesting timing!

Most chrome nail polish I have tried tends to leave behind more of a brushed-chrome finish on the nail, rather than a mirror-like shine, such as what Minx Nails provide. And nail appliques are tricky for me because my nails are narrow and very curvy.

When I was in elementary school or high school, I remember that Sally Hansen came out with a chrome collection, and it was one of the more shiny chromes on the market that I’ve ever tried.

Seeing the custom set of chrome nails created for Gigi Hadid to wear to the 2016 Met Gala was exciting because maybe the brand will release a consumer version, so that we can all easily get a true mirror-like chrome manicure in seconds with zero brushstrokes! *Fingers crossed*

The woman behind the nails? Mar y Soul, and she’s based in New York City.

(Yes, Mar y, not Mary. Hehe, since my name’s Mary, every time I went to type Mar y in this blog post, my fingers tried to type Mary first, out of habit.)

Mar y Soul’s talent has landed her work for more than 300 fashion editorial covers, and she has painted the nails of A-list celebrities.

The rest of this post contains more photos of the awesome chrome nails Mar y Soul created for Gigi Hadid, as well as how to get a similar look on a small budget.

Note: All the photos in this post are courtesy of PR. Collage created by me.

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Valentine’s Day Collaboration

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Valentine's Day 2016 Collaboration

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! 🙂

Valentine’s Day is one of the many reminders to appreciate the people we love while they’re still around. Life is so short, so don’t wait to show your gratitude to those who bring you happiness and humour.

To be festive, the lovely and talented Jessica (aka @JustBlendItOut on Instagram) and I thought that it’d be fun to team up for a Valentine’s Day Collaboration!

Jessica does a lot of beautiful eye-makeup looks that never cease to inspire and amaze me. To learn more details about the look she created, check out Jessica’s Instagram and her blog. Head over, and show her some love! (I particularly enjoy the glitter placement and how her eye look is glamorous and sultry!)

For my Valentine’s Day nail art, I did something fast and very simple. (It was my first time using tiny faux-pearl beads and striping tape.)

I started by painting the base of my nails with two OPI Hello Kitty Collection shades: My Pal Joey (blue) and Starry-Eyed for Dear Daniel (glittery pink). Then, I used the same blue to paint a heart onto the pink nail and placed faux-pearl beads by KISS around the perimeter.

Finally, I added diagonal, parallel lines on the remaining nails using a striping tape by a brand called It’s So Easy.

The rest of this post includes more photos of my manicure, so you can see the details close-up.

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KISS 2016 Preview Event Recap

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KISS Nails 2016 Preview Event

Yesterday evening, I attended the KISS 2016 Preview at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto.

I got a firsthand sneak peek at the latest nail and eyelash products that will be launching early next year!

In this post are photos I took during and after the event, as well as my commentary on the whole experience, including the setup, the food, and meeting celebrity manicurist, Gina Edwards.

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Nail Art: Summer Carnival Dotticure

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Summer Dotticure SwatchesIf you followed me on social media since Friday, you already saw some photos that took while at the Canadian National Exhibiton (aka the CNE / The Ex) in Toronto.

This Summer Carnival Dotticure is what I wore to the CNE!

It was my first time trying out the KISS Polish Pop nail stickers. (The neon dots are the stickers.)

Everything else, I painted myself and tried to create a cohesive look to incorporate the fun neon dots.

With photos zoomed in so closely on my nails, you can see the transparent outline surrounding the neon dots, but in real life, it’s not quite as noticeable.

They’re worth playing around with, especially if you don’t have dotting tools, a lot of nail-polish colours, or the time to do freehand designs.

The black lacquer I used is China Glaze Liquid Leather, the pink (used on my thumb, which you can see in other photos in this post) is Duri Venom, the green is Duri Summer Rain, and the white is OPI Infinite Shine Non-Stop White.

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