Nail Polish Collective Haul - Fall/Winter 2016

It's been one hot minute (oh you know, just like almost three months!) since I've gotten a chance to get on here. And suddenly it's 2017! Omgoodness, where is the time going?

Lot's of fun posts to share today as I had time during the Christmas break to take photos, edit and get my sh*t together! Resolution #1 for 2017 - prioritize time for nail-doing and blogging. Having a creative outlet is key to work life balance (at least for me!)

First up - a collective haul of the fun shades I added to my collection during the fall/winter of 2016.

Top Row (L-R): Revlon Holographic Pearls, Pure Ice Respeck, Sally Hansen On Pines and Needles Middle Row (L-R): Revlon Cherries in the Snow, Sally Hansen Navy Fleet, Revlon Copper Penny Bottom Row (L-R): Sally Hansen Golden-I, Loreal Pink Party Dress, Revlon Daydreamer

These shades were all new to me, minus the Sally Hansen Salon Manicure On Pines and Needles. Had to repurchase this one when my other one ran out - such a gorgeous shade. I don't know about you, but I think the green range of drugstore polish is SEVERELY lacking. I was on the hunt for a good emerald green for a while. This is still darker than I was looking for, but love it in it's own right. The Salon Manicure brush is also one of the best, wide and short - it helps polish go on in three even strokes.

I've tried almost all of them so far - keep reading for a mani using two of these shades - but I will definitely do an Untrieds post when I get around to trying Revlon's Daydreamer. It's lilac, with an almost metallic sheen and a green duo chrome. Super unique!

Next up in the haul - my eternal quest to find a dupe for one of my hands down favourite nail polishes of all time (now discontinued...*cries*) - Katy Perry for OPI's Teenage Dream. At one point I had three bottles of it stockpiled but I finished the last one last year.

I've come close a few times - like Hard Candy's Bridal Party - but I think I've struck gold (or pink holo!) with Sally Hansen's Strobe Light. It still doesn't have the pink liquid base of Teenage Dream, but it's prettttty close once on the nail.

Left: Sally Hansen Strobe Light, Right: Compared to Hard Candy's Bridal Party - as you can see, Hard Candy's holo glitter pieces are much bigger than Sally Hansen's more refined glitter.

Last bit of this haul - H&M nail polishes!! What??!! I know! How did I miss this? I knew they were coming out with a makeup range here in Canada, but I didn't know that extended to nail polish.

I'm going to admit, I did not have high hopes for the nail polish when I saw it in store. At $5 for a pack of two minis, I thought the packaging looked cheap and the colours had widely unimaginative names like "Dark Purple" & "Red". But I thought, for $5 why not?

AND BOYYYY am I glad I did. I can confidently say - H&M polishes are AMAZING.

I picked up two sets, Dark Purple & Red.

First up is "Dark Purple", above. The bottles are curved and fit together to make a ying yang circle. More of a burgundy shade, "Dark Purple Glitter" (left) and "Dark Purple" (right) were surprisingly extremely pigmented and the glitter in "Dark Purple Glitter" actually transferred onto the nail - WINNER!

Below, is the "Red" set, featuring "Red Glitter" and "Red. Come on H&M, you can up your creative naming game, I just know it. The bottles for this set were square.

Again, the names are a bit misleading. While "Red Glitter" (left) is a chunky red glitter, "Red" (right) also contains glitter, if a finer milled kind. Both had great consistency, with "Red" building to opacity in 2 coats - another WINNER!

If you've made it this far in the post (woohoo) - here's your prize: a winter mani, featuring a dry brush mani over Sally Hansen's Navy Fleet as a base. For my accent nail, I layered Revlon's Cherries in the Snow with a coat of H&M's "red". So festive!

#haul #SallyHansen #Revlon #Loreal #HM #PureIce #NailArt #Dupes