KBShimmer Everything is Pine, December 2025 Polish Pickup

Stella Chroma Fair Isle, December 2025 Polish Pickup

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Happy December! Can you believe it? I also cannot believe the semester is ending but I am thankful! Hah! I figured with my dissertation done, this semester would be relaxing. Oh me, I was wrong. Anyway, Polish Pickup returns Friday, and I have this gorgeous offering from Stella Chroma!

Stella Chroma Black Friday Releases

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Stella Chroma is back with a special collection for Black Friday plus an amazing sale that will last through Cyber Monday. It’s no secret how much I love this brand and the colors are ones that I constantly reach for. So take a look at this new collection and make sure you search my blog for previous collections to grab during this amazing sale. Also, her cuticles oils are my favorite, so don’t skip those! Onto the new polishes…! 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Autumn Plaid Nail Art

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Well I have been taking a minor break as I had a horrible break which you can see here on my index nail but I attempted to literally super glue my nail together, which worked for like two days and then NOPE. So after that rip, it was actually painful to use remover. But I wanted to share this look as I guess it will be my last autumn look….sadness. I had ideas for so many more Autumn looks, but oh well! Here we go. 

KBShimmer I Keep On Falling Collection for Fall 2025, Swatches and Review

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Fall collection time! So I swatched these last month and by the time I was ready to post, I had all my Halloween manis to post, so I decided to hold off showing these until November.  Of course the KBShimmer holiday collection just landed on my doorstep this week so now is the time to share these. But I will say a sale is coming up so if you didn’t purchase these already now you can with a discount.

Autumnal Sunflower Nail Art

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So I totally meant to post this before Halloween at the beginning of October and just time passed by. Then because of Halloween, I was only posting nail art so I saved this one for November. When I wore it, I was completely in love with this look. And now looking back at it, I love it even more. What do you think? 

KBShimmer I've Got a Feeling, November 2025 Polish Pickup

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I am sharing KBShimmer's Polish Pickup offering and it is a moody, shifty polish! November is sort of an in-between month. I am still in autumn mode. But I see this polish perfect for that void of January LOL. Ok let's check this out!

Stella Chroma Too Sad To Run, November 2025 Polish Pickup

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Polish Pickup time! Now that Halloween is over (sad face), I want to play catch up with some polishes I swatched before! Polish Pickup returns 11/7, so let's checkout what Pam at Stella Chroma has created! 

Happy Halloween! Vintage Halloween Nail Art

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I am sad because this my last Halloween manicure! But oh my, I absolutely love them! The vintage Halloween motif is so fun! I do not know exactly what year this is from, but I am loving it!  

 

Halloween Pumpkin Bear Nail Art

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The pumpkin in a bear costume has been such a huge motif this Halloween season. I have this design on a sweater, a T-shirt, a mug, and a cookie jar. Yes, I probably went too deep in with this cutie pumpkin bear, but I just love how he looks. And of course, I had to put him on my nails.

Pastel Halloween Nail Art

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Pink has been super trendy for holiday decor the last few years. I remember back in August, I went into Michael’s and there was an entire aisle of pastel Halloween decor. I don’t usually gravitate to those designs for my home, but for me nails? Count me in! 

Cat Ghost Halloween Nail Art

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Oh my, we are less than a week until Halloween! I wish I could say I did ALL the Halloween manicures I wanted to, but time flies by. This year, I started Halloween manicures back in September! Since I’m only doing my nails once a week, that gave me time to wear my looks and enjoy them so let’s take a look at this cutie cat. 

Neon Halloween Drip Nail Art

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Oh hello there! This manicure is my continuation of fun neon Halloween looks! I did this one a while ago and I loveeeed how it came out. You could honestly change out the colors and make this a fun look all year. So let's get to talking about it!

Halloween Stained Glass Nail Art

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Today I am sharing my third Halloween manicure, which is more autumnal, but I like Halloween nail art that is not so in your face (as most of mine are lol). I saw a random Pinterest of stained glass windows with pumpkins and knew I needed them on my nails so let's take a deeper look! 

Spooky Ghosts Halloween Nail Art

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We are keeping today’s Halloween look simple. I knew I was only going to wear this for a few days and I was super tired and so I went with something that had been on my Pinterest board for such a long time. Actually, the inspiration for this was a cake design that had no name on it. So here is my take of a cake design on my nails. 

Abstract Neon Halloween Nail Art

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Somehow, it is already halfway through October and I haven not posted any of my Halloween nail art. So I am starting with what I am currently wearing actually. This look was inspired by a look. I did over the summer with some summery and beachy colors but of course I mixed it up with some fun Halloween neons so let’s take a look.

Zoya Tempest, October 2025

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Zoya finally is back after a four month hiatus. For October, Zoya is getting dark and spooky. So let’s get right into this limited edition polish! I already used it for nail art and I can’t wait to show you.

 

KBShimmer Op Art, October 2025 Polish Pickup

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Hey there! I have another Optical Illusion Polish Pickup today and this time it's from KBShimmer. This is a glitter top coat, so it is super versatile and fun. Let's take a look!

Stella Chroma Peace, Lily October 2025 Polish Pickup

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Stella Chroma is back at PPU! She was on a hiatus and at least on my blog, she has not done one since February. October's theme is optical illusion but whatever it is, I love this polish! I didn't just swatch it; I wore it!

Apple Nail Art for Rosh Hashanah

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Shanah Tovah! Rosh Hashanah continues tonight through tomorrow. Well it’s been three years since I’ve done Rosh Hashanah nail art and on that post, I wrote it had been three years lol so at least I’m consistent. I actually started doing this manicure late Sunday night after I prepped dinner so I did not reinvent the wheel and I actually simply redid the manicure I did last time. So let’s check it out.

KBShimmer Growing Personality Comparisons

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So I was very behind in swatching from basically February on as I was finishing my dissertation and in the crocs of the most important deadlines. I then decided to work backwards and since this collection had been out for so long, I figured most people had seen it so I would swatch it last in my catchup pile. I actually did comparisons for this collection when I first got it. That was mostly out of curiosity, but then I never posted them lol here they are now.

KBShimmer Growing Personality, Swatches and Review

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Ok well...do not judge me for posting a spring collection in September. I mean, most of these colors are totally awesome for fall and they are all still available. This collection released on April 18, but I just had nail break after nail break and it was frankly exhausting and had been so uninspiring for me. But of course, April ended up being an extremely stressful time as I was wrapping up my doctoral work, so there was a huge delay between nail breaks, and just being exhausted by my workload. Then I decided I would swatch the newer collections first and get those posted. Well...now it is September. Better late than never? 

 

Retro Palm Springs Vibes Nail Art

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Hi y’all. This is for real the last of my bright and summary nail arts. I saw a bunch of Palm Springs inspired nail art and I thought how fun. This look is a combination of multiple looks that I saw on Pinterest, but with my own take on it. So let’s check it out.

Zoya Tutti Frutti Comparisons

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As promised, here are my quick comparisons of the Zoya summer collection, so let's get right to it. 

Zoya Tutti Frutti, Summer 2025 Collection

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It has been a little quiet on the Zoya front. Just saying, but where was the June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, and September 2025 Color of the Month? They actually never do a June color and what a bummer. I just think if you are going to say you are doing a color of the month, then do it! They did just announce a fall collection. But this summer collection...well it is mostly repackaged colors, so let's check it out.

KBShimmer Ghosted, September 2025 Polish Pickup

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I took off from August Polish Pickup because I have really been enjoying my summer and trying to catch up on what I already have. But September is Halloween-themed, so that had to happen! Here is the contribution from KBShimmer.

  

Neon Day Glo Summer Nail Art

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I decided I was going to do two more summer nail arts so this is the second to last neon look before I officially move on to autumn. After swatching the Zoya summer collection, I was still very much in the mood for brights so I pulled a few out and here we are.

Summer Abstract Nail Art

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Hey now! I’ve been doing summer nail art but I feel sooo ready to move on to Halloween. I told Mr. Ehmkay that I would be switching out our mugs to Halloween mugs this week and I think I will be decorating September 1. But first, some fun and bright nail art.

Tomato 🍅 Nail Art

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OK, so I keep seeing tomato nail art and since I loved my blueberry and strawberry nail art from Fourth of July, I really wanted to do something with fruits or vegetables. I found a bunch of tomato nail art and manicures on Pinterest, but many were weird AI-created ones. I combined a bunch of tomato nail arts to create my own look. So let’s check it out.

KBShimmer Mix It Up 2.0 Comparisons

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Well I forgot to hit publish on this one, so yes, I backdrafted it for July 31 and I wanted to end the month with some KBShimmer comparisons! Loving these neons so I had to compare how they look to oldies, so let's take a look!

KBShimmer Mix It Up 2.0 Collection, Swatches and Review

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Hey!!! The minute I saw this collection I knew that I would be obsessed. I absolutely love KBShimmer neons and her pastel neon collections are forever my favorites. So yes, I am a bit delayed in posting these, but I shared my blogiversary mani with the collection and have been wearing them!

Mod Checkered Summer Nail Art

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Hey now! Some nail art! I actually did nail art before this and wore it for a week, never took pictures, but decided I hated it anyway, so I wouldn't bother. But these? These I love! So let's check it out! 

 

KBShimmer Midway Collection Comparisons

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Hey now! You know I love to pull out KBs that I already own and compare them to new collections. This helps me pare down my collection and it is also fun to look back at old colors. So let's take a look!

 

KBShimmer The Midway Collection, Swatches and Review

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Hello all! If you are at the Polish and Beauty Expo, you can grab the newest KBShimmer collection tomorrow, July 20! If not, you can get these beauties next week, so let's get right into them because I have a lot of swatches to share!

Pastel Skittle Nail Art

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I started writing this post in the first week of May about a manicure I wore in April. Lol. It is now July. So revising this post haha! This was a fun skittle manicure I wore way too long ago and for like ten days, so I figured  So of course, I can't with my nails. I am so tired all the time!

Fourth of July Nails

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Hello everyone! At the very last minute, I decided to go to Jamaica for a week. Like literally booked at three days before I left. I landed at 9 o’clock at night and went to work the next day at 8 AM lol. Then 1.5 days later, I am packing up again to go on vacation for the Fourth of July weekend. But I really wanted Fourth of July nails and so this is what I squeezed out in between trips today lol. And for my Canadian friends, happy belated Canada Day. 

 

KBShimmer Set for Life, June 2025 Polish Pickup

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Despite my chaos, I always posted Polish Pickup on time due to its limited availability. I really messed up on this one, but I still wanted to post it so people could search it if they ever see it up for grabs on a sale page. I also like looking back on my own blog post to see when I want to get rid of a color. Every year there is also Polish Pickup rewind, so this may be available in the future. So even though this color is no longer available, I am still going to share it with you.

Zoya Starlette, May 2025 Color of the Month

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I will say that Zoya actually shipped this polish out April 30th. But then it took a cross-state tour of New Jersey for almost 2 weeks! UGH! Then life got in the way and I did not get a chance to post this but good news is that I checked and it is still available on Zoya’s website. Since it’s already June, I noticed that they did not release a June color of the month which they didn’t do last year either. I want a June color for my birthday month. But anywho, here we go. 

13th Blogging Anniversary: Summer Neon Nail Art

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Hello everyone! I am indeed still here but with a new title! So let me introduce, Dr. Ehmkay Nails. That’s right, during the first week of June I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation and it has been a whirlwind. After my defense, I totally shut down all work and went into play mode. But I am here now and back to share!

 

Memorial Day Nail Art

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Hi everybody. I took an unexpected break mostly because my nails have been bumming me out. I don’t know what’s going on, but despite moisturizing and using cuticle oil, my nails simply do not grow. I’ve been trying various treatments so they haven’t been polished, but nothing is working. Mr. MK suggested that I do some red, white, and blue nails for Memorial Day so I figured let me just do it and share my super shorty and messy nails.

Zoya Bunny, April 2025 Color of the Month

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In my quest to catch up with the Zoya colors of the month, I put the first four months this month. LOL. And just when I thought I would get this to you in time (hey, it's still April), this color was so popular, that it sold out twice. Sooooo....let's just look at the color for fun!

KBShimmer Lei One on Me, May 2025 Polish Pickup

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Hello all! Polish Pickup resumes in one week so I thought I would actually post a polish ON TIME haha. Actually, I am usually good about Polish Pickup because it has such limited availability. This is a fun one, so let's check it out!

 

Spring Tulips Floral Nail Art

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Despite my 700 nail breaks (aren’t you sick of hearing them lol?), I decided to start doing some nail art that was on my Pinterest. Like so many nail arts on Pinterest, I could not locate the origin of this nail art. And of course, as you know, I always have to do my own spin so I changed it up quite a bit, but not so much that I do not appreciate the original. So as always, if you know who created this look, let me know so I can give them a tag. Anyway, let's get to it!

Zoya Cricket, March Color of the Month

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Continuing my game of catch up, I am posting the Zoya March quad. As of this post, Cricket is actually still available and the April color is out now (mine should be arriving by Monday), so you could potentially grab both. Three of the four quad colors are available so let's take a look. 

 

 

Stella Chroma Crystal Visions, Spring 2025

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I wouldn’t be me if I was swatching a collection over a month after it came out. Actually, that’s not very typical of me but between my nail break and getting the flu and the progression in my doctorate, I am certainly behind. I also really wanted to swatch these polishes when my nails had a bit of growth and when I could take some pictures and I think you’re going to like how they came out.

 

Zoya Kismet, February 2025 Color of the Month

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I am back with the February quad from Zoya. I hope to post March soon so I am all caught up and then  hopefully for April (which I just got an email about)...I will actually post it in April. LOL. Enough chit chat, since like Yuki, Kismet is no longer available but the other quad colors are!

Neon Day Glow Nail Art

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So I am backtracking and finally posting manicures I did quite a bit ago. I did this art and then swatched and then my nails broke...again. EXHAUSTED. Whyyyyy? But let's get to the art, because yay for doing art. I missed doing art and I am finally getting back into it.

Zoya Yuki, January 2025 Color of the Month

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So I wore these nail polishes to a baptism that was on January 11. Yup here I am two and a half months later finally posting them. I have no excuse and I am totally bummed out that these are no longer available, but I still wanted to post them because I know for myself, I actually do go back to my swatches, especially when I’m looking at purging polishes. So here they are because at least you can see the other three polishes in this quad that are available on Zoya's website.

Bumblesoaps Bath and Body Products

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Hello all! I'm switching things up a bit! When I started this blog, I used to add in bath and beauty posts. Of course, things evolve and I focus mostly on nail art but not because I don't enjoy bath and beauty products. After a hiatus, Bumblesoaps is back! I actually reviewed this brand back in 2014 (not a press sample, but a personal purchase). This post is wayyyyy overdue (like rudely overdue, I’m sorry). So let's get to it!

KBShimmer After Party, April 2025 Polish Pickup

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Polish Pickup for April is Celebrate! Let's celebrate all the things! Let's celebrate that as of this week, I am no longer a doctoral student but a doctoral candidate! Yay! You become that once you finished coursework. I took a full time course load since August 2023, including summer, so I was able to focus all my energy on that, and now I am focusing on my dissertation! YAY. Waiting for confirmation of my defense date, but it is sooner than I want to believe! Anyway, back to PPU, I have a celebration on my nails!