Category: Essence

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Glam Nails Challenge August — Grapes 🍇

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. We’re currently experiencing a big time heat wave here on the East Coast, but thankfully my work had the air conditioning cranked which kept my from completely melting into a big puddle. I love heat, but man the humidity is not my friend.

Today we’ve got the next prompt for Glam Nails Challenge August is grapes! I decided to go with a darker grape inspired look & created my grapes on my two accent nails.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Pat on the Black
  • Sally Hansen CSM Trouble Maker
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Feelin’ Grape
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacy Lilac
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essence The Green & the Grunge
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Thyme is Money
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

How cute are these grape accent nails? I actually love how they turned out! I was inspired by this Pinterest design I found, originally done by @nailsbydaniellet. I (think) hers were supposed to be blackberries, haha, but I didn’t realize until after she inspired by grapes. I do think they turned out super cute, & all my coworkers knew exactly what they were, so I’ll take that as a win!

What do you think about this grape inspired look? Are you following along with #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram? Let me know what you think of the designs so far this month. I can’t believe we’re already half way through the month — that’s crazy!

Have a great day lovelies!

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Neon & Scattered Holo Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday.

I know I’ve been very quiet on the blog front this week as my Mum & Dad finally made it down to visit, after being away for the last 9 months. So between soaking in visiting time, & working a ton, posting has been slacking. I’ve got a few nail art looks to share, so I’m definitely going to sit down & concentrate on getting my posts written! First up, some fun neon & scattered holo abstract stripes.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Holographic Top Coat: Starrily Eclipse
  • Ardene Sour Apple
  • Essence Violet Vibes
  • Sally Hansen MG Fushcia Fever
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cerulean
  • Sally Hansen MG Get Mod!
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Nail Art Striper Brush

I’m really loving how these turned out. I’ve been seeing so much neon, I needed to do another neon look (plus I just bought this “pastel neons” shade from Essence, so I needed to do a manicure with it!)

Originally I just had the abstract stripes, but it was such a sunny beautiful day, I needed to add some holo. I’ve been applying the Starrily holographic top coats I have (Space Debris & Eclipse) to basically every pedicure I’ve done in the last 3 weeks, so I figured I should try it over nail art.

What do you think about this neon & holo look? I feel like I often overthink applying holographic top coat over any neon shades, but I’m definitely going to make a more conscious effort to do it more often! Because I really, really love the end result.

Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Peach Herringbone Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend. I worked all weekend, but the weather is beautiful. It’s officially Summer as of yesterday, which is also very exciting. Of course, here on the East Coast we’re awaiting the remains of a Hurricane which means it’s soggy & gross.

But at least my nails look cute! I did these herringbone nails last week, when I wanted nail art but I was short on time (& inspiration). I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of line work like this lately because I can do it without having to wait for my base to be fully dry.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Lounge Lover
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Essence Outta Space Stories We Will Spock You
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

Ah, like riding a bike. I’ll be honest, at night when I first did these I wasn’t 100% sure if I liked how they turned out; they seemed messy & awful at 10pm. But I was tired, so I left them on, because awful nails are better than no nails at all (& I was way too tired to repaint them). But as soon as the sun came up, & I took another look I actually really liked how they looked, & they didn’t seem as messy as I originally had thought.

& I really kind of love them.

What do you think about this herringbone look? What nail art designs have you been living for lately? Let me know in the comments below!

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Pink Floral on Coral

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope you’re all having a lovely, safe start to your week. Can you believe we’re almost half way through April? I can’t believe how quickly this month is going. & so far, we’ve more or less had beautiful weather.

I’ll take it!

& today I’m sharing another floral look with you! I did this look the other week after snapping off my middle finger at work. It hurt, especially because they’ve completely transformed & were getting so long! So I thought some (more) floral was in order to cheer myself up.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Color Club Tankini (mood changing nail polish)
  • Orly Scenic Route
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Aside
  • Sally Hansen CSM Cherry Cherry Bang Bang
  • Sally Hansen Get Mod!
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essence The Green & the Grunge
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

First off, I love, love, LOVE this Color Club shade. It was another one of those amazing Winners (or, possibly Marshall’s) find. I’ve been absolutely obsessed with these mood (thermal) changing polishes since my late 2009 Claire’s days when I had to buy all of them! The shift on this shade is subtle, but either way the colour is GORGEOUS & I’m kind of obsessed. Very perfect for Summer.

Second, this floral turned out so pretty. Nothing like a little bit of girlie nail art to cheer yourself up after a bad break. I was going for a bit of a cartoon-y floral, & I think I achieved what I was trying to do!

What do you think about this floral on my new shorties? how do you cope with a bad, bad break? Let me know in the comments below!

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Matte Pastel Leopard Print

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! ☕️🌸

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to the week — especially with that Full moon that happened Sunday. I definitely felt the effects from it; things were off. But I did start off my week with some much needed Spring cleaning, which was great… & very, very overdue. My nail art area was starting to get overrun with bottles of polish, haha.

I also have some new Spring-y nails to shade. I saw this pretty pastel leopard print via Pinterest, & thought it would be absolutely perfect for a nail art look! & obviously matte top coat makes everything better!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Matte Top Coat: Butter London Matte Top Coat
  • Essence Good to Go Indian Summer
  • Essie Go Ginza
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Fine Black
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Love, love, love how these turned out! Dainty & Spring like. The colours just compliment each other so well! Leopard print is one of those designs I don’t do very often, so they always feel extra special when I do them. Plus, there are endless colour combinations, so you truthfully never have to do the same one twice!

What do you think about this matte pastel leopard print? Would you wear this for Spring? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & which colours you would pair together.