Category: Essence

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Purple & Silver Racing Stripes

Happy August lovelies. Its that time of year… stores are beginning to set up for back to school & my cravings for all things Fall themed hit hard. Thankfully the 30+ degree weather has been keeping me in a Summer state of mind & keeping neon shades on my nails!

Today’s nails is a simple look that’s easy to do, but makes your nails look way longer than they actually are thanks to the vertical stripes. It’s also a great way to practice your freehand line work! I feel like mine has gotten a little rusty, so I’ve been taking every excuse to practice.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence We Will Spock You
  • YSL Beauty Violine Surrealiste
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape in purple (item #40423) — I used the thickest tape of the 3

Using striping tape for your initial line in the middle makes creating your smaller black lines much easier. & then end result looks so cool! & gives your nails the appearance of extra length. Plus, like I said, for those of us still working on freehanding straight lines, this really helps with practicing.

I just love how these kind of look like racing stripes. Sadly the holo of Essence We Will Spock You didn’t want to show thanks to a hazy morning, but the little hint of holo with the purple looked awesome!

Do you have a trick for making your nails look longer? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essence “Out of Space Stories” Shades

Happy Swatch Sunday lovelies. Today is an exciting day because I have a few brand new Essence shades to share with you that I just discovered!

I didn’t even know they were coming out with any new polishes in the Out of Space Stories line, but I was out at Shoppers checking out the Polish section & discovered these two beauties tucked in a display off on its own with a few other Essence products. Naturally, I had to buy both to add them to my collection. (So it would be complete!) Not going to lie, it feels like absolute ages since Shoppers has had any new fun Essence collections–limited edition or otherwise–so this was a very happy discovery!

Now onto the swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essence “Out of Space Stories” Shades”

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Floral & Gold Nails inspired by @thelittlecanvas

Happy Saturday! & Happy Royal wedding day! Who else was up early watching all the Royal wedding coverage? The Bubs had me up at 5:30am, but I was already planning on getting up to watch coverage of the event.

I don’t have royal themed nails to share with you today, although personally I think this floral design would be perfect for any wedding! Today’s design was inspired by a manicure @thelittlecanvas posted back in March. I loved everything about it (Alaina always does the prettiest accent nail designs!), so naturally I had to recreate. Plus it was an opportunity to pull out one of my favourite vibrant blues that I haven’t worn in a while.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • ACO by Ardene Whacky
  • OPI My Favourite Ornament
  • OPI Chiffon My Mind
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Piggy
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Super Charge
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Black
  • Bundle Monster detail brush
  • Bundle Monster large & small dotting tools

I love that event though this is a relatively easy design to create, the combination of everything just makes your nails look so fancy. Plus they look way more complicated than they actually are. I’m still trying to find more floral designs to do that aren’t just my typical roses that I can pull out when I’m feeling floral on my nails. Which, lets be honest, is 95% of the time.

What do you think of this floral? Do you think I stayed true to my inspiration? & if you’re on the hunt for new nail art inspiration & haven’t already discovered Alaina, definitely check out her Instagram & blog because she always come out with the most amazing patterns & designs!

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Floral Flash Nails

Happy Tuesday lovelies! I hope you’re enjoying the beginning of your week. Today I’m sharing some brand new nails with you–& yep, more floral! I truly believe you can never wear too much floral. Now if only I had taken more pictures of this design…. sadly I only snapped a few to share with you!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel In the Sheer
  • Essie Play Date
  • Essie Go Ginza
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Super Charge
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Pink
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Black
  • Sally Hansen Royal Hue
  • China Glaze I Sea the Point
  • Bundle Monster detail brush
  • Bundle Monster dotting tool

It always takes so many polishes to create my favourite florals, but when you see it all put together it’s so worth it. Gosh I love floral designs over almost bare or really sheer polishes. They’re is just something romantic about how they come together. Love love love. Also I felt like I needed some untraditional floral colours–like purple roses. Something just a little bit different from my more recent floral & rose designs. I’m a little bit floral obsessed right now–I just picked up a new floral phone case, & I keep buying floral shirts & dresses. There is just no such thing as too much floral! 🌸

What do you think of this design? Are you a fan of negative space florals? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Quatre-floral nails 🌸

Another day, another floral design to share with you! Hence the punny blog title! Today’s design is actually inspired by a sponsored ad that popped up in my Instagram feed. I was inspired by the combination of patterns that I decided to create a pretty Spring design with a mixture of patterns–quatrefoil & floral, with a few gold studs to bring the whole manicure together!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • YSL Beauty Gris Underground
  • OPI Angel With A Lead Foot
  • OPI Mod About You
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Bourbon Belle
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose To The Occasion
  • Sally Hansen MG Little Peony
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Essie First Timer
  • Sally Hansen MG Super Charge
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in black
  • Bundle Monster Small Detail Brush
  • Bundle Monster medium sized dotting tool
  • What’s Up Nails Moroccan stencils
  • NailStuff.ca Mixed Decoration Nail Wheel in Gold

This design just turned out so fun! I love the combination of everything–colours, patterns & styles. The mixture of pinks (with grey) is so lovely for Spring. & I really, really love how my floral came together. Feels oh so very Spring like to me! & with sunshine & Spring temperatures today, it will be the perfect manicure for enjoying my day off outside today.

I love when my nails come together from random inspiration & turn out being a favourite design for me! Also I totally forgot how perfect this YSL grey was… it has a hint of purple in its undertones which the pink really brings out when they’re paired together. Oooooh between this design on my nails & the sunshine pouring in through my windows as I write this, I’m feeling Spring so much. In fact, since temperatures will be agreeable today, I’ll definitely be pulling out one of my Spring dresses or rompers to wear while adventuring today.

A shot of my pretty floral with the beautiful bouquet of flowers my husband surprised me with the other morning.

What do you think of this design? What was the last thing that inspired your nails? Share your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know where you find your nail inspo!