Category Archives: Swatch Sunday

Swatch Sunday: Chanel’s Blue Satin

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I’m realizing a dream today: I’m wearing a Chanel nail polish. Nordstrom opened a store in my city and I got several nail polishes and skincare products that are worth more than my life. I actually bought these a couple weeks ago as a hugely indulgent birthday gift, but I’ve finally found time to put one on. This is Blue Satin. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Blue Satin is a very dark navy polish with sapphire shimmer. This is actually a one coat wonder; I typically wear three coats for a swatch, but I could have gotten away with one, maybe two just to be safe. Three was definitely overkill. Drying time was pretty moderate; it wasn’t especially fast, but didn’t take a very long time either. The finish was pretty glossy, but I really wanted a high-shine with this polish, so I used a top coat. The shimmer only comes out in certain lighting conditions. It looks fine in the office, but is quite flat in my office.

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I don’t know why I wanted a Chanel polish so badly. I think I saw one in a magazine once, either as a teen or during my Harper’s Bazaar obsession in my early twenties, and thinking “Man, I’ll never have a nail polish like that.” 27 dollars for a nail polish was so, so far out of my reach then. I mean, it still is. I’ll probably never own more than these two, but that’s fine. This is enough. I hope.

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I can’t believe I just typed the phrase “in my early twenties”. I am old.

Swatch Sunday: Butter London’s West End Wonderland

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Swatch Sunday is super late this week. I got distracted with mimosas and quiche and a bunch of long-neglected housework after. I’m wearing my first-ever Butter London for the swatch today! This is West End Wonderland, which I was lucky enough to get in a swap. This is three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

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West End Wonderland is a full-coverage glitter; it’s a clear base packed full of superfine gold and copper glitters. Because there’s so much glitter, I don’t recommend it as a glitter topper. It spreads so evenly and so thickly (even when you use a light hand!) that it would obscure the base color quite a bit. Like a lot of jam-packed glitter polishes, it dries very quickly. It does have some texture when dry, but since the glitter grade is so fine, it’s not rough or unpleasant to the touch. Make sure you stay in the lines with this one, though; that glitter is tough to clean up with a brush.

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I really like this look. Since I’m already seeing Christmas items in department stores, I’m thinking about what a fantastic holiday polish this is. It’s perfect for this season, really. Gold is a classic color for autumn and winter, after all. Something else I like about this is that it’s glittery, but it’s not overtly so. Personally, this is not really my style, but if you’re one who doesn’t like a lot of glitter, this may be for you. Also, I didn’t get a chance to photograph it in the sunlight, but West End Wonderland is beautiful in the sun. It’s not wildly shiny like a lot of glitters are. This one is pretty modest.

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Final word: I really love these Butter London glitters. They’re like grown-up versions of a nail polish I had when I was younger. My sister gave it to me when I was in like fifth or six grade; it was the first glitter polish I ever owned. If I remember correctly, it was fine purple holo glitter like this, and it dried with a really gritty finish. It was a pain in the ass to take off, but I always put it right back on again. It was also the first time I ever used the last drop of a nail polish. I dearly loved that bottle.

Swatch Sunday: Broadway Nails’s Pretty Duckling

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So I’m doing something new on the blog this week. As of this post, I have 878 bottles of nail polish, about 500 of which I’ve never even used. I started doing Swatch Saturday as an outlet for my untrieds, and then I just ended up with a hundred Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers. So this new feature, Swatch Sunday, will take a look at the other polishes in the queue.

My polish for this first official Swatch Sunday is Broadway Nails’s Pretty Duckling. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Color Club’s clear coat.

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Pretty Duckling is a yellow-tinted jelly polish with fine iridescent glitters. For the longest time, I couldn’t decide whether to use it alone or as a topper. I really wanted to try this over black, but I decided that the base had enough color to stand on its own. It’s still pretty translucent; the nail line is still pretty visible, but the color is still very bright.

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Pretty Duckling was easy to apply, but due to the glitter size and quantity, the consistency is very thick. It’s almost like applying a textured polish, but this one actually dries with a smooth finish. It’s similar to those Sinful Colors glitters, like Hottie and Nail Junkie. It’s a very similar mix of glitter in a similar colored base. If you like those, you’ll like this.

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This is especially vibrant in the sunshine. Also, it’s finally sunny again! I can’t remember the last time I could take an outdoor photo.

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I like it alone, but it would also look great over a yellow creme, or any creme, really. I’m looking forward to trying it again soon.