Unicorn Blood Swatch

Super simple post today, gorgeous pics of Mad Scientist Lacquer in Unicorn Blood! (And yes, I confirmed its totally a Harry Potter reference). It's currently sold out, but being restocked soon- I scored this at our meet up! Enjoy the holo porn. 

I always forget that "holo" is not a well-known term for those who aren't in the insta nail community. It means holographic glitter! 

QOTD - are you a Harry Potter fan? ;)

xo Shawna

Super Satin Top Coat Swatches

press sample

I am so excited to share my first official swatcher post. (Yes, I have swatched before and also tested items for review. But this is the first time I have been sent a POLISH to review/ swatch! Well, top coat. Close enough ;) )

Bree at @breezylovesnails selected me to swatch her new top coat (for her brand new label, Mad Scientist) Super Satin Top Coat. It's a semi-matte finish, so while it takes away that glaring super shine of normal top coats, it doesn't completely dull the finish as a matte TC would. 

The ring finger is coated with China Glaze Fast Forward, with the other fingers Satined up for comparison. At first glance, I will be 100% honest, I could see some element of satin finish but it wasn't quite what I expected. I figured out that the longer I waited (beyond the 10-15 minutes I waited to shoot pics after swatching), the better the satin finish looked! So, for reference, the pink and grey swatches were done with a shorter dry time, and the holo polish had a few hours before being photographed. That is where you can really see the difference!! 

I did a simple dotticure using Fast Forward over Satin (over CG Sexy Silhouette). 

THIS is where the satin truly shows! Check out that picture below. I used the satin TC over Daily Hues Nail Lacquer Blaze (can you tell I've been obsessed with DHNL lately?) and did shiny chevrons using Up Your Nail vinyls & Fast Forward TC. 

Huge props to the formula being easy to work with, and the brush is great- not too skinny.

Lastly I have it over CG Tip Your Hat. 

I fully admit the first shot doesn't show it at it's greatest. Ring finger is glossy for comparison. Below, I've french tipped using Fast Forward. 

Super Satin Top Coat is launching soon, so keep your eyes on her instagram for the launch! Thanks for being my first, Bree! 

xo Shawna

Polish My Life Swatches

A few weeks ago, indie polish maker Polish My Life had a free shipping weekend so i was all over it! Especially since her speciality is my favourite finish - cremes.  I exercised restraint and only purchased two shades - a lovely pale nude, Nude Lace, and a gorgeous soft greyish blue, Storm Clouds.  Take a look!

I am IN LOVE with this indie. The formula is great and looks fantastic in only 2 coats- the other indies I've tried so far, albeit gorgeous, are much thinner and take a lot of layering to achieve opacity. Not to mention, the COLOURS! I've actually been wanting pretty much these exact shades before I even knew about PML. 

Storm Clouds

I haven't done a direct comparison, but this reminds me of my Ciate mini in Chinchilla. I was debating buying the full size bottle at Winners, which was the same price as this baby. I eventually decided against it, and I am glad because this is SO much better! 

Nude Lace

I have a darker nude/tan polish and was after something lighter yet still opaque. I had a few fails, purchasing shades I thought would look like this but turned out very sheer, with VNL (visible nail line) even after multiple coats. Nude Lace is perfect!

Definitely recommend this indie seller. If you follow her on IG, she occasionally advertises sales as well so check her out! 

xo Shawna

MTL swatches

I had a lazy night in tonight, just relaxing and trying to fight off the impending cold I am absolutely SURE will come before I jet off to Cuba this weekend. So- I finally got around to finishing my swatches from MTL creations! I've got a post packed full of pics for you tonight.

Mia is a lovely lavender purple with holo glitter in it. This is 4 coats.

Sam the Shifter is a green thermal that shifts to a darker green when cold. I think my body chemistry works against thermals, this is my second polish and both took a while in the water bath to achieve change! The above is pictured when warm/ room temperature. 4 coats.

Sam (cold). I couldn't work the camera fast enough to get a proper pic! (Hence why my fingers are all wet in the picture)

Lafayette is a sheer grape purple with a little bit of shimmer. 4 coats. 

Jason is a black shade with holo and some blue/green glitters. I don't generally wear black on it's own the but sparkle adds a little something and would be a great base for nail art. This is 3 coats (no top coat) - would be nice and smooth after a coat of HK Girl!

Tara is a pink glitter topper. Left to right is one coat, two coats, three coats, four. Safe to say with 3 coats and on you're entering serious glitter bomb territory - I can't wait to layer this over one of my pink cremes for some gorgeousness!

Hope you enjoyed the swatches!

xo Shawna

Echoes Polish Swatches... Round 2!

Today, I have the final three swatches from my Echoes Polish haul! I ordered a mystery bag as well, which is an awesome bargain. You even get to select your colour preferences when you purchase, and I left a note that I don't really like dark colours. They hit the nail right on the head and picked out 3 awesome shades for me!

This is Life is a Caberet holo polish. Even with my fancy new lightbox, indoor lighting wasn't doing this beauty any justice... so I took it outside!

The holographic shimmer just blew me away. Gorgeous! I didn't have any holos in my collection so I was super excited to see this pinky-red polish in the bag. I think this is two coats... possibly three! (I recommend clicking the pic to enlarge and check it out in all it's sparkly glory!)

I also received a thermal, Fracken, with the mystery bag. It has light pink base tone in heat and room temp, and it darkened a few subtle shades in cold water. I had a hard time capturing the thermal effect, it was pretty subtle. But the shade is gorgeous, soft and shimmery regardless!

This is after dipping my nails in cold water... you can see a hint of the colour change at the tips.

And finally (best for last!) Holo Cow- Look at That Topcoat. This is pure holographic amazingness. I showed it over Spearmint Away, and on it's own on the accent nail. This is two coats. It creates a great linear holo effect and I can't wait to use this to make my favourite shades into holos! It's a beaut and I definitely recommend this one.

Would you ever buy a mystery bag or are you picky about your polishes?

xo Shawna

Echoes Polish Indie Swatches

Today, I have my first swatch post for you! I've been wanting to purchase some indie polishes since I got into this whole nail art thing more seriously, but found the shipping costs a little bit prohibitive. So, I decided the more I bought, the better the value ;) I wanted my first few indie purchases to support Canadian, so I placed orders with Echoes Polish and My True Love Creations! Both orders came super quickly, and I received them in less than a week. Today, I'm swatching some of my new polishes from Echoes Polish!

Pink Freud, Barely There, Spearmint-Away, Life is a Caberet, and Fracken.

I'll get right to the swatches. I chose two shades from the "I'm Pretty Neutral" Collection, Barely There and Spearmint-Away, and a jelly shade, Pink Freud. 

Barely there is the perfect name for this gorgeous, light sheer nude shimmer. I had seen this collection swatched over a white base, so I showed that on the accent nail. As a stand alone, this would be a perfect French mani topper or for something really simple and classy. For a bit of pop I love it over the white base! This is two coats. 

Spearmint-Away is a lovely sheer green shimmer. This is 3 coats, which gave it a more opaque look. I really love this colour and think it's perfect for fall. It will also really pop over a white base!

This is Pink Frued, a lovely raspberry hued jelly. This is shown with 3 coats, and would become even more opaque with one more. This is going to be a great shade to create "jelly sandwich" manis with glitter or stamping! I can't wait to get creative with this one. 

I will save my final three swatches for another post... the Echoes Polish Mystery Bag! You can see some of the choices in the first pic... full sized swatch pics coming tomorrow :) 

Are you on the indie polish bandwagon? Who are your faves?

xo Shawna

Pastel & Holo Nail Polish Swatches

I was able to get great prices on a few shades I've had my eye on. I had told myself no new polishes until September, so I ended up with a mini haul today! Now the question is - can I wait until October for more? Totally addicted.

I ended up with:

OPI Avoplex cuticle treatment pack 

China Glaze Be More Pacific 

China Glaze Fairy Dust

OPI Mod About You

Minis: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat and CND Solar Oil

Finger Paints Striping Polish: Ch-art-coal Black & Hip Hip Hue-Ray 

Onto the swatches! 

First up... Mod About You. I was searching for a dupe for my favourite pink polish, panda-monium pink (as seen in my romantic stripes & sparkles mani). 

The formula was a little thick, so after two coats it was mostly opaque but slightly streaky in a few areas. I smoothed it out with a Ciate top coat. I love the colour - I've been wanting a true pastel pink for my collection and this definitely fits the bill. As for a panda-monium pink dupe, it's close but not quite there. PMP has a blue undertone giving it a slight lavender hue. 

Another polish that has been on my list is a Be More Pacific. To be honest the colour didn't draw me at all- this one was all about the name! It's a bit of an inside joke with my fiancé and I. 

I'm not generally attracted to green as a polish shade but I do have a few in my collection. This one was a pleasant surprise! It's a light pastel green even leaning very slightly towards yellow. This would make a great spring colour. The formula applied well, albeit a little sheer. After two coats there was still visible nail line, and after the 3rd coat a few tiny bubbles appeared- so be sure to let this one dry very well between coats! 

Lastly, I've been coveting a holographic top coat. After some research, I found Fairy Dust as the most affordable option. I'd love to get my hands on Cult Nails Mayhem, but it is nearly 4x the cost so this was a great compromise! 

The formula was easy to apply and dried reasonably quickly. Top to bottom: 3 coats, 2 coats, 1 coat (and no coat) over PMP. The pics don't do the sparkle justice at all, but you can get a sense of the density of the glitter. This will go into my regular glitter rotation for sure, especially until I get some proper holographic polishes! 

Top to bottom: nothing, 1 coat, 2 coats, 3 coats. 

Overall, I'm digging all of the new colours despite a few minor formula flaws - they're worth dealing with to me. 

How do you like the pastel polishes? 

xo Shawna