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

Dry Brush Mani - Twinkie Nail Art Challenge

Today is the last day of the September twinkie nail art challenge, and it brings us dry brushing!

This is a new-to-me technique, but pretty straight forward. I used this simple tutorial, only modifying to add both horizontal and vertical stripes.

Polishes used:

Echoes Polish Barely There (base)

OPI Manicurist of Seville

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby

Rimmel Do Not Disturb

Ciate Speed Pro Top Coat

I have mixed feelings about this mani. It's the reverse of what usually happens - I think it looks better in the picture than in real life! I will definitely try again with different colour combinations, perhaps a more monochromatic look would look better.

What do you think of this one?

xo Shawna

Autumn Inspired Gradient Manicure

I wasn't in the mood for anything complicated tonight, and I haven't done a gradient in a while, so I had a pretty easy time deciding what to do for my newest manicure! 

Seeing as tonight is the autumnal equinox, it only seemed fitting that I break out some of my more autumn-like polishes. 

Polishes Used:

OPI You Don't Know Jaques

OPI Wocka Wocka (I'm pretty sure... it's an unlabelled mini!)

Sally Beauty Gold Glitter Topper

HK Girl Top Coat

I used the sponge technique where you paint the polish directly on, I find it a lot quicker than dabbing the sponge into the polish on plastic. 

I love the look and think perhaps I might not miss my summer palette of pastels as much as I thought! (And who am I kidding- I don't follow the rules anyways :-P)

Do you let seasons dictate your colour palette?

xo Shawna

Floral & Stripes - Nail Art Challenge Week 3

Today is week 3 of the #twinkienailartchallenge and the theme is floral. This was perfect because I've been wanting to create some floral nail designs but have been worried that I didn't know how and they wouldn't turn out! It was a great opportunity to be drawn out of my comfort zone. 

Browsing bloglovin for inspiration, I found a tutorial from wondrously polished on a pretty floral design. It was on a black base, however I wanted to use my new finger paints polish and keep it light and fresh for the last few days of summer. 

Polishes used:

Base

Finger Paints Natural Talent

Flowers

OPI - red mini

OPI Mod About You

Ciaté Snow Virgin

Loreal Safari Chic

China Glaze Tree Hugger

Toppers

China Glaze Fairy Dust

HK Girl Top Coat 

Initially I striped the index finger as well, but I didn't like it. The nude on it's own was a little plain so I jazzed it up with a red rhinestone from born pretty store (it's true red IRL, the photos made it look orange!) and a swipe of holo topper. I'm pretty pleased with the result of my first floral mani! 

Do you stick to tried and true designs or venture into new design territories often? 

xo Shawna 

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Pacific Blue Holo + Racing Stripes

I can't believe this is my first time using my pacific blue as the base colour for a manicure! I thought it would be too bold for my taste (I've really been into pastels lately)- but I actually love it and totally get the hype now. I'm rethinking all those bottles I left on the shelf at walmart the other night...

This was a late night mani so I wanted something simple and quick. The stripe was inspired by The Nailasaurus. I had heard pacific blue was a one coater so that's why I chose it- although I ended up using two. A quick swipe of holo topcoat and a simple straight line for a pop of interest. Pacific blue was practically made for a holo topper!

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Finger Paints Striper Hip-Hip-Hue-Ray

HK Girl Top Coat

Are you on the (original formula) pacific blue bandwagon?

xo Shawna

Pink & Gold Chevron Stamped Mani

I loved my chevrons and the colour palette from my last manicure, so I decided to keep the accent nails for tonight's fresh manicure!

I knew I wanted to stamp, but wasn't quite sure which image to pair with the chevrons. Lightbulb moment! My new chevron patterned plate from born pretty store (item 15090) fit the bill perfectly - and let me practice centering my stamps!

Polishes used:

OPI Mod About You

OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby

Essie Lilacism

HK Girl Top Coat

I wasn't sure how effectively the gold OPI would stamp, but it did pretty well. I made sure not to scrape too hard, after my first attempt fell flat!

I love the pastels and don't want to put them away for fall! Do you follow seasonal colours or use whatever your mood is calling for?

xo Shawna

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Saran Wrap & Chevron Mani

Today marks week two of the #twinkienailartchallenge. The theme was Saran Wrap mani, which is something I've never tried before - and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was! I had also received my nail decals from Up Your Nail and was excited to try out the large chevrons. Her prices are great so check them out if you're after some decals. 

I started with a base of Lilacism and wasn't too sure where to go from there. I decided on a soft and sparkly look with pastel pink and gold. 

The polishes used:

Essie Lilacism

OPI Mod About You

Loreal Because You're Worth It (saran wrap)

OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby (accent tips)

Ciate Fast Dry Top Coat

China Glaze Matte Magic

What do you think of the saran wrap look?

xo Shawna

Nothing to disclose

Orange and Green Tribal Stamped Mani

Tonight's manicure was a quickie! As much fun as I had creating the last hand painted tribal set of designs, it was just too busy for my everyday wear. I also got my new plates from born pretty store yesterday and I couldn't wait to test them out! 

For the mani, i used:

born pretty nail art plate (item 6947) - use code SDPX31 to save 10%!

China Glaze Tree Hugger

L'Oreal Orange You Jealous

Wet n' Wild Black Creme

Ciate Fast Dry Top Coat

I need a little practice still getting the images onto the nail straight! Luckily its workable for this design.

Only one of the nails got a little messed up while stamping. Overall I am really pleased with the quality of the plates! 

Do you like the design?

xo Shawna

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Neon Tribal Inspired Nails

Happy Sunday everyone! Today I'm excited to share the fun manicure I created that has been in my mind for a while. Tribal (geometric) manicures are remaining a popular trend in the nail art world and I couldn't wait to jump on board. I bought black and white striping paints the other day and I decided I was ready to take on a whole manicure inspired by tribal prints!

For ideas, I googled "Tribal Print" and I had a few ideas already tucked away in my mind. My favourite nails are the design on my right thumb/ left middle finger, and the design on my left thumb/ right index finger!

To create this look, I used:

China Glaze Pool Party 

Finger Paints Hip-Hip-Hue-Ray!

Finger Paints Ch-Art-Coal Black

HK Girl Top Coat

Are you on board with the tribal trend? Which designs are your favourite?

xo Shawna

Twinkie Nail Art Challenge - Nude & Teal Floral Stamped Mani

I decided a few days too late that I would have liked to join the 31 day mani challenge. Luckily I stumbled upon another gem of a nail art challenge, which involves only one mani per week - definitely doable! 

The #twinkienailartchallenge is hosted by @spilledmilknails and @polishedbybeckie on Instagram. The first theme of the month is a teal mani for ovarian cancer awareness. At first I had a different vision involving a dark on light lace stamped mani. The more I thought about it though, the more I decided it was high time to use my princess collection plate 09 from MoYou - the first pattern I fell in love with! 

I decided to pair the delicate rose pattern with a more neutral base, and settled on one of my favourite (ok, only) nudes which is OPI Barefoot in Barcelona. I just love it, it goes on smoothly with a gorgeous creme finish. Rimmel's Do Not Disturb provided the perfect pop of colour and proved to be a great stamping polish too! I'll have to grab more colours from that collection. 

Wanting to be a bit more creative than another full nail stamping mani, I used scotch tape to divide my nail in half on the diagonal. A great tip I found from a defunct blog (Chloe's Nails) suggested sticking the tape to the back of your hand a couple of times so it was less likely to wreck your base (which I let dry super well anyways!). After prepping the stamp, I applied the tape and stamped to minimize the amount of time the tape was on the nail, working one nail at a time. 

I used a liner brush to paint a thin line of the teal polish to make the pattern really stand out. Lastly, I finished with a coat of HK girl top coat. Voila! This was so fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the challenge for more inspiration! 

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 

Purple Ombré Stamped Mani

I was envisioning a purple hued mani when I sat down this afternoon (yay for stat holidays!). I don't actually have a ton of purple shades so I used a base of Essie "Lapiz of Luxury", and used a sponge to create a gradient effect with China Glaza "Grape Juice" and my mini Color Club in neon purple. The Grape Juice has a heavy undertone of silver micro glitter, and the colour effect reminds me of royalty with the sparkly purple ombré!

I used a born pretty store stamping plate (item 6450) with Ciate "Snow Virgin" to create a lacy, almost chain-link, effect. I love the way it turned out!

 I actually attempted double stamping but it just wasn't working out, the black wasn't popping over the deep purple tones. I'll save that for another manicure!

The base for my stamping.

An off-topic question today: what cuticle treatment do you use? Despite regular oil use, mine are a little ragged!

xo Shawna