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!

St. Patrick’s Day Green and Gold Nail Art

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Hello from the girl whose nails just will not grow. No matter what I do, my nails continue to break and so I finally gave up and started some swatch of some older polishes, despite my nails being short. But I decided to share some festive golden green nail art for St. Patrick’s Day before sharing the other ones. I completely missed Valentine’s Day, nail art, and Mardi Gras nail art which really bummed me out so I decided to do something for St. Patrick’s Day. So let’s check this out.

 

KBShimmer A Real Ore Deal, March 2025 Polish Pickup

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True life: I am tired. I had the worst nail break and it left me completely unmotivated to do my nails. I wore a bunch of plain colors as it grew out and these photos were taken 28 days after my break and my nails are still so short! Then you guessed it, I got the flu. One of my students came in with "just a cold"...it wasn't a cold. I have since sent out very curt emails to students about them not poisoning me. So I barely had the energy to do my nails for like 10 days.  I am so late on posting these, so let's get to it!

 

Valentine’s Day Ombre Dotticure

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It has been forever since I have done a dotticure. What inspired the initial manicure is that I wanted a dark base. My nails have been so uneven and breaking that I have some shorter nails (and read until the end 😭) and this is when I love to wear dark colors. Then I asked myself, "When will I do Valentine’s Day art?" and that’s when I decided on a deep red for this manicure.

KBShimmer Night Light, February 2024 Polish Pickup

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KBShimmer is here as the Fables and Folklore Polish Pickup arrives on February 7th. This polish is magnetic, multichrome, and shimmery, so let's check it out.

 

Stella Chroma Twisted in Bedsheets, February 2024 Polish Pickup

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Stella Chroma is back at Polish Pickup for 2025! She took a little break but she is coming back with a stunning color that is that wish for spring and warmer weather. So let's get to the details!

Winter ❄️ Nail Art

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I feel like there isn’t much time to do winter nail art because I usually do holiday nail art in December and really people move onto Valentine’s Day right away. I wanted to squeeze in one wintry look. We had a nice snowfall last night so this look was appropriate. I am actually still wearing these and would have taken some fun shots with snow but they are chipped now. Oh well!

Zoya Luxe Noir, Swatches and Review

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I am making my way through my swatch pile and although I swatched these, I never shared them. I also just realized that Zoya did not actually release a holiday collection, which is so unusual. As I was swatching this collection, I realized this collection is actually pretty festive and holiday like so no harm no foul that I did not end up swatching it until way later. Also it’s pretty transitional between winter and spring. Lastly, starting today, Zoya has a deal of 10 polishes for $25, so time to stock up. So let’s get to it! 

Happy New Year! First Manicure of 2025

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So I’ll shock you (or not). I went into 2025 with nothing on my nails! Right before new years, I got sick again. Ugh I was sick five times in 2024 so my 2025 goal is to somehow boost my immune system. I had actually mapped out what I was going to do for my nails as I wanted something sparkly. I pulled out some older sparkly nail polishes and then I started thinning sparkly old nail polishes. Maybe one of my 2025 goals will also be to pull out old nail polishes and thin what needs to be thinned and toss what can’t be fixed. Anyway, I finally did my nails, so although they were not my New Year's Eve nails, they were my new year nails!

Favorite Nail Arts of 2024

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Happy 2025! As I enter into the new year, I want to reflect back on 2024! I knew this year would be intense for me with my doctorate. It has definitely taken over my life. You can do all the research on these programs, take notes on expectations, but until you really live it, you do not realize how consuming it is. In 2023, I really got back into leisure reading. Well, in 2024 I only read 15 leisure books (and not kidding, probably 1,000+ pages of research, and I wrote hundreds of pages--maybe I should add up how much I wrote in 2024 and cry hahah!). My nail art definitely was not a priority but as I looked back at the year, I was shocked that I usually still did 2-3 nail arts a month. Yay! So I have highlighted some favorites here!