Category Archives: Giveaways

Giveaway: Canadians, Win the Entire OPI Couture de Minnie Collection!

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Surprise!  ;)

Canadians, enter to win the entire OPI Couture de Minnie Collection!

Win the Entire OPI Couture de Minnie Collection

I teamed up with the amazing OPI PR team to make this giveaway possible. (I’ve done international giveaways before, but this time, I want to reach out to my fellow Canadians.)

As a blogger, I’ve collaborated with several PR firms and companies. I’ve been privileged to review new nail polishes that sometimes haven’t even hit the stores yet. It’s really exciting! So, I wanted to share that excitement with Swatch And Learn readers by offering you a chance to get brand-new polishes before they’re officially released. (The OPI Couture de Minnie Collection will officially be released in June, although sometimes there are stores that seem to carry them a little sooner.)

My loyal readers know just how to turn even my worst days into the best days. You’ve left me thoughtful comments and even welcomed me back after I took a short hiatus. Thanks for reinforcing why I blog – to connect with people, to share a similar passion, and to learn from and be inspired by others!

Swatch And Learn readers are the best!

Thanks for touching my heart, opening up to me, caring about what I have to say, and laughing at my jokes. It is greatly appreciated!

To find out how to enter, please carefully read the rest of this post.

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Blog News: I Met Suzi Weiss-Fischmann a 2nd Time & Attended an Exclusive OPI Product Launch (Plus Surprise Giveaway!)

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SwatchAndLearn Suzi Weiss-FischmannIf you’ve visited Swatch And Learn or followed me along social-media avenues in the last few days, you’re well aware of some pretty big news: I met Suzi Weiss-Fischmann (Co-Founder, Executive VP & Artistic Director of OPI) a 2nd time and attended an exclusive OPI product launch!

You’ll remember that back on October 14, 2012, I enjoyed an exclusive dinner with her. That was a major event in my blogging career, and I wrote a very long and detailed post about it.

I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. But, Fate dealt me a Royal Flush in the game of polish poker. ;)

On February 20 (which is actually around my birthday!), Langton Communications, one of the PR firms I’ve collaborated with since August 2011, e-mailed me an invitation to attend an exclusive OPI product launch of the Fall/Winter 2013 collection! (A big thank you goes out to the entire Langton Communications team. Their professionalism and ability to get things done with flair never ceases to impress me.)

When I read the message on my iPhone, my heart was racing like Usain Bolt.

It’s every nailphile’s dream to meet the creative visionary behind the leading nail-polish company. But to have the opportunity to do it twice? “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!” ;)

There probably was a cloud of smoke rising as I RSVPed. Pig Pen from Charlie Brown would’ve been impressed, even if it wasn’t a cloud of dirt.

Eventually, my heartbeat went back to its usually rhythm (Kes the Band “My Love”, if you must know the exact beat…hehe!).

From now on, I’ll always remember Monday March 18 as the day I got to meet Suzi Weiss-Fischmann a 2nd time!

This time, it was held at the Aria Ristorante in the heart of downtown Toronto. What a classy venue!

In this post, I’ll go into the details about the whole experience. There’s so much I must tell you, and I hope that we can share the excitement together as nailphiles!

Also, I’m sneaking in a surprise giveaway for my blog readers. I hope you like it! ;)

Edit: CONGRATULATIONS, Floria! You won my surprise giveaway for an autographed bottle of OPI The Man With The Golden Gun! Please reply to my e-mail within 48 hours to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone for participating!

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(CLOSED) Giveaway: Enter to Win Illamasqua Raindrops! (5 Winners)

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Edit (February 24): The 5 winners are…Jasmine, Stella, Cara, Lilnol, and Proudmar98! Congratulations! Please check your e-mail shortly. You’ll have 48 hours to claim your prize from the time I send the e-mail. The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone for participating!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Will you be my nailphile Valentine today? ;)

I thought it would be cool to have a special Valentine’s Day giveaway. (If you follow me on Instagram, you were the first to know about this well in advance with specifics! Only yesterday did I post a pre-announcement on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.)

Today’s the perfect occasion to share the love and give back to my loyal readers. (I really appreciate your support and all the thoughtful comments you’ve left on here.)

Illamasqua-Raindrops-Giveaway-SwatchAndLearn

I reached out to Illamasqua and asked if we could team up for a fun giveaway. They were incredibly generous, and not only did they say yes and offer Illamasqua Raindrops as the prize, but they also said that they’d supply 5 (FIVE!) bottles! Yes, that’s right – there will be 5 winners, and guess what? Anyone in the world can enter – nobody is excluded!

A huge thank you to Illamasqua for making this possible for Swatch And Learn readers!

Please continue reading the rest of this post for the details on how to enter.

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CLOSED: Surprise Giveaway: Win This OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand 4-Bottle Mini Set

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OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand GiveawaySurprise!  ;)

The second I found out that the OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand 4-Bottle Mini Set existed, I knew that it would make the perfect giveaway prize!

So I had to buy it to treat one lucky reader! It’s a small token from me to say thank you for your support.

Not only will you get adorable mini bottles, which are highly collectible, but this set includes all of the Liquid Sand colours released so far!

This will be a great way for you to see which one you like the best before you commit to a full-size bottle.

Since reviewing 2 of the Liquid Sands, OPI Get Your Number (my favourite) and OPI Stay the Night, I’ve noticed that a lot of you are intrigued with the unique Liquid Sand finish…and for good reason! I think it’s one of the most original concepts that we’ve seen in the nail industry in quite some time!

Please carefully read the full rules in this post before entering.

Edit: After this post was published, I’ve also reviewed & photographed OPI Can’t Let Go (purple Liquid Sand), OPI The Impossible (red Liquid Sand), and OPI What Wizardry Is This? (taupe Liquid Sand coming out in March).

Another Edit: The lucky winner is Melissa! Congratulations! Since there are multiple Melissas, just to be clear, the winner is the one who left a comment on January 16 at 6:18 am. I’ve sent her an e-mail. She has 48 hours to claim her prize! Thanks to everyone for participating. I’ll be having another giveaway soon. Stay tuned!

Yet Another Edit: Melissa was so fast! She already replied to my e-mail! So now this giveaway is officially closed.

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Closed: Enter to Win My Milani Giveaway! (2 Winners: 1 CA/US & 1 International)

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Edit (November 1, 2012): The giveaway is now closed. Thank you all for participating! Congratulations, Anna Z and Randi! You both won! You have 48 hours to reply to the e-mail I sent in order to claim your prize. Also, please note that I’ll be replying to all the comments left, but it’ll take me some time. :)

Okay, so this Milani Giveaway was delayed a bit, but it was worth the wait, right?

Thanks to Milani’s amazing PR team, I was able to hand-pick every single product for this giveaway! I chose 6 killer nail polishes, 1 powder eye shadow, 1 eye-shadow pencil, 1 lip gloss, and 1 liquid eye liner. Hope that you’ll like the variety of beauty products!

Milani-Giveaway-Swatch-And-Learn

All of those nail polishes are ones that I’ve never tried, but have been drooling over after seeing beautiful swatches of them online. I tried to choose a variety of bright and dark shades to keep it more interesting.

And here’s the best part…There will be TWO winners!

One will be from Canada or the United States. The second winner will be from anywhere else in the world. Yes, this giveaway is open to ALL of my amazing readers! (Each winner will receive all the products shown in the above photo.) :)

Please carefully read the rest of this blog post in order to find out how to enter because it’s a little different this time around. Also, I’ve included larger photos of each product to show you exactly what you can win!

P.S. And, yes, I’m running this Milani giveaway at the same time as my other surprise giveaway announced in the blog post about how I had dinner with Suzi Weiss-Fischmann of OPI! More chances for you to win!

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Blog News: I Had Dinner with Suzi Weiss-Fischmann of OPI (Plus Surprise Giveaway!)

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Suzi-Weiss-Fischmann-OPI-Nicole-by-OPI-Mary-Swatch-And-Learn Use for BlogThis is definitely the biggest blog news I’ve ever posted on here, hands down (paws down, claws down, feathers down, flippers down, man down, and Richard-Adams-Watership-Down…You get the idea)!

I’ll always remember Sunday October 14th, 2012 as the day when I met Suzi Weiss-Fischmann (the Executive Vice President and Artistic Director) of OPI and Nicole by OPI and had dinner with her at the Ciao Wine Bar in Yorkville! (Harris Shepard of the PR firm by the same name also accompanied her.)

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you already heard me gushing about it (perhaps to the point of making your eyes roll), but things like this don’t happen everyday, so I’ll keep squealing and squealing until I’m turned into delicious bacon. (Poor piggy…)

It literally was one of my dreams come true, and it was a dream that I never thought would ever happen.

I have to thank Langton Communications for inviting me to the exclusive event. Suzi flew in especially for this occasion, which was a huge honour in and of itself.

I have great memories that I’ll hold onto until the day I die. (Although I almost died when she walked into the room. Before she even introduced herself, I had a total fan-girl moment and said, “Hiiiiii, Suzzzzziiiii!” louder than I expected because I was so excited.)

My account in this blog post is based purely on my memory. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to bring a notebook and pen like many of the smart bloggers who attended.

P.S. Keep reading and find out how you can win an autographed bottle of OPI Movin’ Out by Suzi!

Edit (November 1, 2012): I’ve contacted the lucky winner - Congratulations, Melissa V! She replied to my e-mail to claim her prize, so this giveaway is officially closed. Thank you all for participating! Also, please note that I’ll be replying to all the comments left, but it’ll take me some time. :)

Edit (March 24, 2013): I recently got the opportunity to attend another exclusive event and meet Suzi Weiss-Fischmann a 2nd time! Click here to read my detailed blog post on it!

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Giveaway: Canadians, Enter to Win the Entire OPI Germany Collection!

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Update (August 1): Congratulations go out to Jan! You’ve won the giveaway! Please check your e-mail and claim your prize within 48 hours. (I sent the e-mail at 12:17 am Eastern.)

Thanks to everyone for participating, and stay tuned! You know that I’ll be organizing another giveaway for you. :)

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As you know, I had been planning this OPI Germany Collection giveaway for quite some time.

I teamed up with OPI PR and chose July 25 well in advance (because today marks Swatch And Learn’s 2-year blogiversary)!

Win the OPI Germany Collection SwatchAndLearn

But I had no idea that on Monday July 23, when I got home from work, I’d find out ridiculously bad news about Sinful Colors that left a bad taste in my mouth! (You can read all the details about it in my blog post.)

I appreciate the support, advice, and information that you’ve all provided, but for now, I won’t be discussing what I plan to do or what I have done about it in public. When I’m ready, I’ll keep you all posted for sure.

(Normally I reply to every single comment left on my blog posts, but please understand for that post…at least for now, I won’t be able to reply to those just yet. Know, though, that I am reading all comments you’ve left in that post.)

Edit: Please note that I have unpublished that post for a reason. And, at this time, I won’t be talking about the incident. My readers won’t be kept in the dark forever. Thanks for understanding!

After that drama, I considered postponing this giveaway, but I’m not going to let that taint something positive and something that I’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time and had put effort into organizing. Plus I didn’t want to disappoint my loyal readers who have stood by me and continue to do so. (Seriously, I am amazed by all your support during this difficult time!)

So…here it is! The huge giveaway that I’ve hinted at on many social-media platforms leading up to today!

Canadians, enter to win the entire 12-bottle OPI Germany Collection!

Please read the post for information on how to enter.

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