Over the past year I've felt myself maturing in different ways, but one way I know for sure my frontal lobe has fully developed? My need for neutral nails. I used to love my bright, fun colors like green, blue, and purple, or on the other end of the spectrum I loved a black polish but lately I just want something simple. 

I definitely still enjoy a color...but mostly in the pink or peach family, or if it's the colder months I love a brown. However, when I want a true color, especially in the 'in-between months' I'm probably going with red.

The issue I was running into was that all my Olive & June red polishes are too dark, too bright, or have the wrong undertone. None of the polishes were a true, blue red until now.

Olive & June has admitted that they haven't had a blue-red but are not answering for their sins with one of their newer shades 'Secret Recipe' I am still on my low-buy and not indulging in as many nail polish purchases as I usually do, but I needed to restock some of my nail care items so it was a good time to place an order. 

This past fall I got hooked on gel manicures because of their long lasting nature and how shiny & chic they looked. What I didn't love was the cost, sitting in the manicure chair and how I felt entrapped by the color for at least two weeks. I also have realized that I suffer from sensory issues and sometimes the feeling of thick nail polish on fingers sent shivers down my spine.

How could I mitigate the cons and still keep the pros? It was like Olive & June heard my prayers and answered them in quick succession.

Right before Christmas, my favorite nail polish brand released their at home gel manicure system and I don't know the last time I pressed checkout so fast. I bought the full gel system with 6 colors-- all which I have the regular polishes for too which made it easy to choose. 

Nail polish names are so fun and I think it's probably the coolest job in the world to have a part in naming them. Some names make sense...like Essie Ballet Slippers or Marshmallow; others are a bit off the cuff, like 'Not a Phase' or 'Butler, Please' and some are bizarre but make perfect sense. 

Like this new one from the Olive & June winter collection...

Last week, Pantone announced their color of the year. It's Mocha Mousse, a swirly brown/beige and when I heard that, I was over the moon. It sounded like the most obvious thing in the world and brought me back to 2015 when the color of the year was Marsala -- that mauvey red shade that was the color on all of our lips thanks to Kylie Jenner.

Brown has been having a moment, which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say but it's true. Everyone is after brown; brown bags, clothes, shoes... 'expensive brunette' was a trendy hair color this year, and it seemingly is the color of 'quiet luxury' so it made sense for 2025. 

A lot of people were unhappy and were saying that it signals a recession but I'm choosing to ignore those people. I'm very excited for all the shades of brown about to come our way, or shall I say continue to come our way. 

I was ahead of the curve because this week my manicure was brown...thanks to Olive & June's holiday collection. Yes, it is December and I should have a red manicure but something about the brown was comforting to me...like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. 

 As the summer begins to wind down I'm trying to cram in all my fun, summer manicures. I've kept it pretty standard throughout the past few months -- reds, pinks, and a Bikini So Teeny manicure or two but lately I've been craving something brighter.

It could be that I'll be switching to darker colors soon or the fact that I have a tan so the neon polishes look so much nicer, but something in me is screaming for brightness. It's also a little weird because it's mid-August and I don't even care that pumpkin spice season is around the corner which is very unlike me.

Anyways...this week's manicure is a newer Olive & June shade called 'Guava Gloss', from their new lipgloss finish collection. When they announced a lipgloss collection, I truly thought Olive & June was releasing lipglosses but jokes on me, because they weren't.

 I'm a sucker for a collaboration, especially when it features one my favorite brands. LoveShackFancy has been killing the collaboration game lately and I've been loving them all, even if I don't indulge in a purchase. 

I saw a few weeks ago that they were coming out with another Sally Hansen collection but this time, with actual polishes instead of press ons. I was immediately intrigued and then like most things nowadays, I completely forgot about it. 

That is until I went to CVS for a few things and saw the polishes front and center in the store. It was fate and I immediately picked the shade Rosy Quartz which is a milky pink with an iridescent sheen. 

 It's been a minute since I did a Manicure Monday post but we're back to business today with a new Olive & June color.

If you follow me on social media (TikTok & Instagram) you would've seen this past December that I did a daily unboxing of the Olive & June Advent Calendar. It was 25 days of nail goodies and it remains one of the best value advent calendars I've seen in the beauty industry. 

In that calendar were a few nail polishes and while some of them were fan favorites, some were exclusive to the set...until now. Olive & June has released one of my favorite colors from the calendar as a standalone polish you can purchase on their website.

In the second installment of reviewing the Olive & June Quick Dry polish fall collection, we have the shade 'Americano' up next. This past summer when I was decluttering my nail polish collection I got rid of a lot of old, expired polishes that were basically unusable. 

In that declutter I got rid of a lot of my brown, neutral shades so I needed to restock those colors. Americano was ideal because I wanted another quick dry, and a lighter brown. I already have Tip Your Barista, which is from last year's fall collection and it's a smidge deeper than Americano.

Americano is almost more orange toned than Tip Your Barista, which is more of a traditional espresso color. I think both are gorgeous, and I'll wear them both this fall, but I'm particularly excited about Americano as it's not as dark. Some times I just want a brown manicure without it being super bold. 

 We have come to our last installment of the OPI x Barbie collaboration manicure posts. I do not have any more polishes to review from this collection and Barbie is no longer my personality trait...that is, until September 5th when it arrives on streaming services and I can watch it once a day!

The final shade from the collection that I have in my possession is 'Every Night is Girl's Night' which is a beautiful, silver glitter shade. It reminds me so much of the party scene in the Barbie movie -- it really does scream 'girls night'.

 When I was a little girl, my favorite toy in the world was Barbie. My mom tells stories of how I would sit in my room for hours and just play Barbie, all alone. I had so many Barbies, the Barbie dream house, the cars, all the accessories. I was Barbie obsessed. 

That lasted probably a little too long because I remember being almost 12 years old and still playing with Barbies. 

To this day I still love Barbie. I love the nostalgia it brings me and how a doll has stood the test of time throughout the years. One of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow is 'Barbie Style' which truly is the dream social job - to post different photos of Barbies in different scenarios, to get paid to play with Barbies? Yes please.

As I've gotten older I also became interested in the history of Barbie, the way she was ahead of her time and even though she is thin and blonde, she is not stupid. Barbie is a girl boss in every way - she has had every job on the planet and is honestly very inspiring. I love the feminist twist we have given her over the decades.

All of this to say that when I found out about the Barbie movie I was over the moon; having Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken is perfect casting and I already have my tickets for July 21st.

 When Olive & June released their press on system I immediately bought the entire thing. I had tried to use them previously and enjoyed them more than other press ons I tried but I didn't take my time with it and I used the medium length, which ended up being too long for me. 

That's why when I received a PR box from Olive & June and it contained a box of short press ons, in their iconic white star pattern, I was over the moon.

It was a few more weeks until I used them but it was worth the wait. I was feeling a bit out of sorts with my nail polish choices and wanted something different, so I knew it was time to try out press ons again.

I am really loving the Olive & June Quick Dry Formula polishes; they really do dry extremely fast but they look just as good as their regular line of polish. There is virtually no difference in the actual polish aside from the quick drying factor. It's really insane how they invented the perfect drying formula.

I'm still so grateful that the Olive & June team sent me a package of the polishes back when they launched but I was in need of some darker shades, so I purchased Enchanted. I love a dark color that is almost black but with a twinge of the actual color coming through.

 Gird your loins everyone... I have about 5 new Olive & June polishes to test out so there's going to be a lot of manicure Monday posts coming up. Hopefully you like reading them as much as I like writing them.

This week it's all about shades of purple! I've been wanting this shade of polish for over a year, when it was released in 2021 but something always stopped me from purchasing it.

Well, not anymore because it's in my possession and on my nails! I recently placed an Olive & June order to restock my favorite nail polish removers and decided to add a few nail colors to my order, including Velvet Pouf.

I've always loved red nails but it's not a color I wear frequently and every time I do wear them, I am reminded at how much I love them. 

There are so many different shades of red with different undertones, and truly something out there for everyone. I usually lean toward cherry reds, and reds with blue undertones similar to a true red lipstick and it's been a little bit of a chore trying to find one that was exactly what I was imagining.

Until a beautiful little Olive & June package arrived on my doorstep.

 "Plaza" is the last polish I have from the Olive & June Holiday 2022 collection that I hadn't tried yet. That changed last week when I used this dark purple polish for the first time.

This gorgeous, deep mulberry shade is perfect for the dreary winter months; it's rich, luxe and you have to remember: purple is the color of royalty. I love the look and feel of this nail color because it gives me the cozy vibes mixed with a rich, cool girl aesthetic. It's the best of both worlds! 

 My nail polish saga continues. It seems that no matter what I put on my nails I dislike it. I think I'm just ready for Angora Cardi and my other fall favorites. I wasn't feeling bright colors this summer, probably because I've had so many parties on the weekend that I wanted neutral nails. 

While trying to figure out my nail polish color on a weekly basis I discovered something new, not only in color but in formula and finish. When Olive & June released their Spring 2022 collection, I picked up two shades: You're Invited and The Queen Takes Her Tea with Milk. I immediately fell in love with the purple hue of You're Invited but was hesitant to wear sheer polish, which 'The Queen' shade is.

In the past, I've only ever really responded well to traditional cream finishes and formulas so I was slightly hesitant to try something really outside my comfort zone. I also wasn't sure if I wanted such 'naked' nails. 

 It was years ago that I posted my first review of the Essie Expressie line of polish. It was released in 2019 and I bought two shades to try out. The idea of Essie Expressie is that it's a quick dry polish that you can take with you on the go. The brush is just as thick as a regular Essie polish but with a little bit of an angle so that you can have a little more control while applying nail polish somewhere other than a flat surface. 

Back in 2019 when I first posted the Manicure Monday, I gave the polish a glowing review but after trying another shade, I was not into the formula. I found it very messy and almost unuseable; the polish chipped easily, the shades I had were dark so it got all over my cuticles and nail beds.

After a few uses, I was unimpressed and threw the polish out. In general, I'm a little over Essie because I haven't found anything to love in their new collections and Olive & June is a better formula but that's not why we're here today.

Essie continues to release new Expressie collections so clearly someone was enjoying them. The new collections and shades were gorgeous and always stopped me in my tracks because I needed the polish color. However, I controlled myself and didn't buy a new shade because why I would buy something that didn't perform well? 

 We are finally wrapping up the trilogy of reviews in the Olive & June x SCL saga. This week is the shade "LHG", named after the other founder, Libby Glazer. 

This is the palest of the colors in the collection and it's described as a neutral with a touch of pink and that is spot on. It's almost white when applied to the nails but you can tell that there is some pink mixed in.

I really loved this color when I first saw it in the bottle and I felt that it filled a void in my collection. I have a few pale colors but they aren't the ones I gravitate most towards, though I think they are a necessity to have. It's almost like having a little black dress in your wardrobe... everyone needs a pale pink in their nail polish collection! 

I will be honest though, I don't think I will be wearing much of this shade until the spring because I am fully in fall mode right now and this just doesn't mesh with my vibe right now. I want all the vampy, dark colors on my nails, not pale pinks. That doesn't mean I don't love this shade and don't think that you shouldn't pick it up -- if you love pale pinks all year round, by all means, run to Olive & June's website to purchase this. 

Just like the other SCL colors, LHG goes on smoothly and perfectly, though with a few more patchy bumps, just because of the nature of the formula. I've found with any and all pale shades, they take a little more TLC to apply and get looking great. I think it probably has to do with the ingredients that make up something so light in color. 

However, this was one of the better pale polishes I've ever used. It went on pretty smoothly with some patches in a few areas and it stayed on nicely until I removed it (to replace it with some fall colors!). It dried nicely, was opaque enough, and looked beautiful on my nails. My mom, who is a massive fan of pale polish, fell in love with this color and I know she'll probably be stealing it from me soon.

All in all, this collection from Olive & June and Stoney Clover Lane is a must-have. Two of my favorite brands came together to deliver beautiful, perfect colors for everyone who likes pink! This collab also made me fall deeper in love with Olive & June as a whole, from their polishes to the nail care essentials, I just want everything the brand has to offer!

What do you think? Are you going to be picking up these SCL polishes? 

xoxo
B

If you know me IRL or follow me on social media, my love of Stoney Clover Lane knows no bounds. It's a bit of an obsession, sometimes unhealthy but I've always had that kind of personality. I love the things I love, and I love them hard. I cannot help it! 

When I found out that Stoney Clover was doing a collaboration with one of my other favorite brands, and this time in beauty, I was over the moon. Olive & June has great nail polishes, many of which I've used and I've been getting back into over the past few months thanks to purchasing some new shades. I also love the branding and the community that Olive & June built, and that is how both brands are similar. 

The basis of this collaboration was that SCL created three exclusive shades for Olive & June and two different patches of Olive & June nail polish bottles. 

On top of that, you could buy the entire Olive & June mani system & all three polish shades bundled in a Stoney Clover Lane travel pouch with an exclusive "Nail Stuff" patch sewn onto the front.

I have enough SCL pouches and didn't want the entire mani system so I ordered all three individual shades from Olive & June's website. They arrived last week and I waited a few days (my nails have been in bad shape since a gel manicure removal) to use them.

As I mentioned in a previous Manicure Monday, I recently placed a big order on NCLA for a few new polishes. The formula is superb and they have some really unique colors so I couldn't resist. One of the newer polishes I picked up, and one that is extremely unique in my collection was the shade "We're Off  to Never Neverland."

I would be lying if I said the main reason I got this polish was because of the name (Peter Pan is my favorite Disney movie) but the color is absolutely gorgeous. It's a muted, grey-purple shade that I've never really seen in a polish before so I had to have it.

It's the kind of color you could really wear all year round because even though it's on the darker side, it's such a muted shade that it could work if you were feeling yourself during the warm weather months.

The polish went on like a dream, dried beautifully, and sits really nicely on the nails. The brush on the NCLA polishes is nice and wide so it gets every bit of nail. It doesn't allow the polish to spill all over your cuticle and nail bed -- it's perfect. 

I've only been wearing the polish for a few days so I can't truly speak to longevity but so far, so good. It's such a gorgeous polish, a gorgeous color and makes me only love NCLA colors even more. I definitely need to pick up a few more!

What's on your nails this week?
xoxo
B