Nails Inc. Sweet Almonds Powered by Matcha Nail Polish in Mayfair Market (mini), swatch

Nails Inc. — Mayfair Market (Sweet Almond Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2017-02-212017-05-22 fivezero5 Comments

Collection: Nails Inc. 2016 Spring, Sweet Almonds Powered by Matcha

Nails Inc. is a British brand that I first tried many years ago—I swapped for some with a lovely Scottish girl, but my first might have been bought off eBay. The older bottles were little cylinders; their newer lines come in rectangular bottles that are similar to polishes by British-inspired (but actually American) brand butter LONDON.

In recent years, Nails Inc. have been hopping on the superfood bandwagon and they put all kinds of foodstuffs in their polishes, from kale to coconut. I don’t get it at all, but I suppose I’m not the target market.

Nevertheless, I’m still a sucker for pretty polishes even if they have some nuts or berries in them, so last November I picked up a Nails Inc. set including four mini “Nail Fuel” colors and one base coat.

The polish I’m reviewing today is from their Sweet Almonds Powered by Matcha line.

This new range of Sweet Almond nail polishes provides a fresh take on the classic nude palette. Choose from muted yet rich shades in porcelain grey, linen blue grey, warmed pink and a luxurious, subtle rose gold. Each shade is formulated with a sweet almond oil base and enriched with Matcha powder – a powerful and potent antioxidant. The result is an intense moisture booster for optimum nail health and protection.

Mayfair Market is a lovely pinked copper penny shade that is, rather unfortunately, also a superfrost. I think Nails Inc. are calling this a rose gold, but I feel it’s a bit too orange.

Nails Inc. Sweet Almond Nail Polish in Mayfair Market (mini)

Essie Nail Lacquer in Oh Behave!, swatch

Essie — Oh Behave! (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2017-01-232017-05-10 fivezero3 Comments

Collection: Essie 2016 Winter

Last December, I picked up three of Essie’s Winter 2016 polishes from Shoppers Drug Mart when they were supposed to be on sale for CA$7.99. I suspect that because they were from the new collection, they rang up at regular price. I asked if they could check the price in the flyer, and they kindly honored it for me, which was cool. The shades I got were Oh Behave!, Party on a Platform, and Satin Sister.

Today, I’m reviewing Oh Behave! (1006)†. Essie describes it as a “minx peach frost”. It’s a very Essie shade to me: a semi-sheer pinked copper with warm golden shimmer. There’s a hint of milkiness to the color, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a pastel. I say it’s semi-sheer because you can easily wear it with one or two coats to get a sheer look, but it gets just about opaque with three coats as I have in my swatch.

[† The code is 1890 on my bottle sold at Shoppers Drug Mart. The retail bottles have shade name-and-code stickers on top of the bottle cap and a clear sticker on the front that says “Essie Nail Lacquer”. Essie bottles made for salons have an embossed “e” on top of the bottle cap, no clear logo sticker on the side of the bottle, and a shade name-and-code sticker on the bottom of the bottle. The salon sticker also folds out with an ingredient list, but I’ve never peeled it off as I like to keep the labels intact. The retail packaging also displays either no shade code or a different shade code from the salon packaging. I wish they wouldn’t do this! Currently, I just keep the salon codes in the database, but I should probably try to update it with the retail codes, too.]

Essie Nail Lacquer in Oh Behave! (retail bottle)

Throwback Thursday! OPI — Ruble for Your Thoughts (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2016-10-132017-06-30 fivezero6 Comments

Collection: OPI 2007 Fall, Russian

Today’s Throwback Thursday was released in OPI’s 12-shade Russian 2007 fall collection. Some fabulous colors were released in this set, like An Affair in Red Square, Boris & Natasha, Midnight in Moscow, Russian Navy, and St. Petersburgundy.

Ruble for Your Thoughts (NL R56) is a lovely orange rose with plenty of pinked copper shimmer. It’s probably somewhere in between a shiny new penny and a deep rose gold.

I spotted it on clearance at Winners just over the weekend, and thought I’d snatch it up since it’s been discontinued for quite some time. It looked a little bit meh in the bottle, but upon closer inspection, it’s really quite a pretty shade!

I did have to use Goo Gone to get all those sticky labels off the front.

The polish’s name is, of course, a play on the common English phrase penny for your thoughts, but swapping out pennies for rubles, Russia’s currency unit (the name is also used by Belarus). Personally, I prefer the spelling rouble, but it’s spelled both ways in English. Ruble properly corresponds with dollar, but I guess if they named the shade Kopek for Your Thoughts, most English-speakers wouldn’t get it. Yes, I had to look up the name of the smallest subdivision of the Russian ruble! 1/100 of a ruble is a копейка.

Russian ruble note commemorating the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Image: wikipedia.org

H&M — Shakudo (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2015-12-142017-07-16 fivezero10 Comments

Brand: H&M

Last month, I picked up my first two H&M nail polishes (and a lipstick) from their new beauty line. I swatched one polish, Space Race, last week, and if you’d like to read more about the nail polish that isn’t specific to the shade, please go check out that review.

Today, I’m reviewing the second shade, Shakudo, which is starting to feel like Yet Another Rose Gold! Shakudo is a sparkly metallic rose gold with a decidedly coppery tone (China Glaze’s Meet Me in the Mirage, by comparison, is cooler and pinker).

The name Shakudō comes from the Japanese term for rose gold: basically a copper and gold alloy.

It does make me think of this movie, though:

Sharknado poster — Sharknado (which I haven’t actually seen; the only movie of its ilk that I’ve attempted to watch was this, which stars 80’s pop sensation Debbie Gibson).
The name also makes me think of Shakira doing judo.

Be a Bombshell — Bora Bora (Eyeshadow Quad) Swatch & Review

2015-03-212017-10-13 fivezero2 Comments

Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow Quad in Bora Bora

I first heard of Be a Bombshell through Ipsy (referral link), and the two items I had received seemed pretty good (a finishing powder and a cream eyeshadow). So, when I saw this eyeshadow quad at a super low price online, I jumped on it.

OPI — Cozu-Melted in the Sun (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

Image2013-03-302017-10-22 fivezeroLeave a comment

Collection: OPI Spring 2006, Mexico This is an oldie and a goodie. Cozu-Melted in the Sun is a semi-sheer, microglittery light copper with peach tones. It’s almost got a rose-gold look to it (not quite enough pink tones). I love this one for summer.