SWATCH SUNDAY — LA Colors Gel Color Craze Color Shifting Top Coat Retrograde

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful sunny Sunday once again. I know I shouldn’t complain about the beautiful weather — especially since we’ve been having cooler morning & evenings which are giving me all the Autumn vibes — but we’re still desperate for rain on the East Coast with all the fires we’ve been having.

Today though, it’s all about nail polish & I’m excited because I found a new & fun shade while perusing my local Walmart! They’ve recently– in like the last year or two — started selling LA Colors & I always love checking out what new shades they have in the display. I noticed these Color Shifting Toppers the last time I was there, so I decided to pick up two of them. The first one I’m excited to share is this green to blue shifty duochrome called Retrograde.

2 coats applied over Essie Frock n Roll + Top Coat

For this application, I applied two coats of Retrograde over a dark base — in this case, I picked Essie Frock n Roll. The base of Retrograde is fairly thin, as you would want a topper to be, but it has a fun metallic duochrome effect that builds very nicely. I feel like you could almost wear a couple coats of it on it’s own, since the base layer definitely disappears beneath the topper.

The shift is also gorgeous — there are flashes on blue & green, as the main ones, but you also get purples as well. Very mermaid-y, which I love, but the jewel tone is perfect for this time of year. I’m not usually someone who reaches for green very often, as well all know (& I’ve said plenty of times) but a shade like this with the multichrome shift is definitely one I will wear. In fact, I wore this manicure for almost 5 days!

LA Colors shades retail at Walmart for $3.97 CAD — which is a pretty awesome deal! The Color Shifting Topper line has 10 shades to choose from, all with celestial names. I picked up Retrograde & Nova, but I’m definitely going to be going back for more shades! They are all such fun colours, & I love anything that can switch up shades already in my collection with a fun twist. Also, I bet these would look beautiful swirled into a drag marble design. That might have to be my next thing to try!

What do you think of LA Colors Gel Color Shifting Topper? Are you a fan of the LA Colors brand? Like I said, I love how affordable these shades are — &, like the crackle shades they’ve released, I find they’re really stepping up their game! So many fun options you can play around with.

Happy Sunday!

♥︎

Pastel Marble Sponging

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. A brand new week — & this month is certainly speeding quickly by. It’s already the 13th of August, & while that means I’m that much closer to PSL season, the velocity at which this Summer is passing can slow down just a smidge.

Today’s nail art look was kind of a happy accident. Originally I was going to try to create some pastel galaxies, but it turned into more of a marble effect. Either way, I think they turned out absolutely stunning. & I love them.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Good To Go Top Coat
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Sensationail Nailtural Born to Explore
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Feelin’ Grape
  • Essie Separated Starlight
  • Latex free Make Up Sponge

Such a neat effect. & I added the little bit of sparkle to give it a more dimension effect & I really think it looks cool. Like little geodes on my nails.

What do you think about this marble nail effect? Do you like the combination of colours? Let me know what you think down in the comments below! I’ve been really trying to switch up & do some new nail art looks I haven’t done in a while — so please share any old designs you’d love to see me recreate!

Happy Wednesday

🖤

Teal Ombré Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. I hope everyone is having a beautiful Summer day on this last week of July. Truly crazy how quickly this Summer is slipping by, but I’m trying my best to enjoy it. However — only 27 days until Starbucks releases their PSL, which we all know is the official start of Autumn haha.

Today though I have a cute simple nail art look to share. It’s been absolute ages since I last shared an ombre skittle look. so I thought it was time to pull it out again. The colour scheme was inspired by my 8 year old who told me I should wear teal nails. What do you think — did I nail it?

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (pinky)
  • Essie In The Cab-Ana
  • Essie Off Beat Chic *pr
  • Essie Revenge’s A Beach
  • Essie Garden Variety

I’ve always loved these ombre tone skittles because they’re just to easy. The hardest part is just pairing the colours together, & making sure you have that light to dark effect on your nails. Surprisingly — okay, maybe not so surprising — I had enough Essie’s to easy accomplish this look.

What do you think of this simple teal ombre skittle look? Are you a fan of these Muti shade designs? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & which colour you would rock an ombre look like this using!

Happy Wednesday.

♥︎

Throwback Blue Dotticure

Good morning lovelies & happy Wednesday. I feel like it’s been a while since I did a Wednesday post. The last couple months have thrown my usual posting schedule all out of whack, but I’m really trying to get back to regular programming. (That includes regularly painting nail art on my nails instead of just wearing a single colour.)

Today’s look is another throw back to the early days of my blog, when I didn’t know much about nail art (or how to do it) but I did love polka dots. You can never go wrong with a polka dot design, so that’s what we’re rocking today!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Black *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen White *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Silver *pr

Look how cute these perfect little polka dots turned out! It’s been a few months since Madam Glam so graciously sent me their nail art pens, & I just adore how easy they make polka dots nails. I’m still trying to perfect other nail art with them, but I can’t recommend them enough for creating perfect little polka dots like for this gradient dotticure. Plus — you don’t have to worry about cleaning off your dotting tool between colours.

What do you think of my gradient dotticure look? Do you love the throwback as much as I do? Do you remember when polka dot designs were the most popular look I would show off on my blog? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Bizarre Blurple (2014 Halloween “Wicked” Collection)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s another rainy one here — which seems to be the trend for weekends lately. But that’s okay because it’s also National Nail Polish Day & I’m super excited to show off one of — if not my absolute — favourite nail polishes of all time.

This is China Glaze Bizarre Blurple.

2 coats + top coat

How do I describe this beautiful shimmery purple? It’s literally magical. The base is a super deep dark purple, but it is packed with this shimmery blue that gives it this incredible sparkle. & the name is so much fun — Bizarre Blurple. This is one of those shades I can just wear anytime, & it makes me so happy.

According to my Internet sleuthing skills, this shade was originally released as a part of the 2014 Halloween “Wicked” collection, so it was limited edition. My bottle was scored on clearance at my local Chatters sometime there after, during the beginnings of my nail polish obsession — so the bottle is well over 10 years old. But it still applies like magic, even if I only have about a 1/3 of a bottle left.

So I cherish it & don’t waste a single drop!

But seeing as it’s National Nail Polish Day, what better occasion to show off this beauty that means so much to me. Now, if only China Glaze could bring it back for another spin — I promise I would buy at least 5 bottles as back ups!

What do you think of this Blurple beauty? What nail polish is your number one love? We all have that special polish that is our favourite, & I love knowing the stories behind other peoples so please share down in the comments below!

🖤