Red Sparkle & Daisies (My Nails for National Nail Polish Day)

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! It’s almost the weekend! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far.

Today I’m excited to show off the manicure I was wearing for National Nail Polish Day — & yes, that more red nail polish haha. I figured I wanted to wear nails that were all encompassing of my personality, & red nails with daisies just did that!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • Essie Shine of the Times
  • Essie Blank Page
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

First off, check out how long my nails currently are! I know I’m enviably due for a break, just because I work a job that is not the kindest of hands/nails, but for right now I’m just going to bask in how long & beautiful they are right now.

Second, I’m so excited for beautiful sunny outdoor shots. I’m living for the sunshine. Not only does it make my nail pictures look lovely, but it just makes my mood so happy.

Third, I adore this Essie-centric manicure for National Nail Polish Day yesterday. I think this is the first time I’ve done a manicure with Essie Too Too Hot & obviously I had to top it with Shine Of The Times. Then, I added some daisies because if I’m celebrating a day dedicated to nail polish, I need some floral (my favourite).

What do you think about this vibrant red look? Did you do your nails special for National Nail Polish day? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Pink & Purple Leopard Print

Hello lovelies & happy end of May!

Can you believe this month is officially on its way out? Summer is here — & I’ve been living for these warm Summer dress worthy days. Today I’m showing off a fun, bright look to perfectly compliment the weather: a pink & purple leopard print.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top
  • LA Girl Extreme
  • Essence Lilac Vibes
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky-O
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I love how this pink pops against this grey-ed out purple. It makes it look really vibrant. I featured this purple base for Swatch Sunday a few weeks back, & I’m glad I decided to do some nail art with it! It was the perfect base for this leopard print. This colour scheme is great!

What do you think of this leopard print look? Are you a fan of the pink against the purple base? What are you wearing to celebrate Summer days? Let me know in the comments below!

Pink on Pink Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. I hope it’s a beautiful Tuesday where you are. We’ve got some serious, almost Summer-like temperatures headed our way this week, so I’m pretty pumped!

Today though I’ve got a fun pink look to share with you I wore last week.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat
  • Deborah Lippman Groove is in the Heart.
  • Deborah Lippman Between the Sheets
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge pink nail polish fan — which is funny, because I lived 2+ years of my life with pink hair. But I really, really like this pink tonal look.

What do you think about this pink on pink abstract stripe design? Do these say “Summer” to you?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

EDIT — realized after I posted that this is my 1000th post on Coffee & Nail Polish which is so crazy! Here is to 1000 more! ✨💕💗🌸

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essence Lilac Vibes (Neon Pastels)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! & happy Easter. I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday (if you celebrate). Today I’m celebrating another week, & another Swatch Sunday post!

This week, I pulled out this Essence beauty: Lilac Vibes. I found this shade at my local Shoppers Drug Mart last Summer, & I have been meaning to share it ever since! But I thought since Spring is in full swing, it would be a great colour pick for this week’s Swatch Sunday post.

2 coats, no top coat

The formula on this shade is super creamy, & easy to apply. I possibly could have gotten away with one coat, but I applied a second to hide a few patchy spots on the nail. It dries to a beautiful shine, as pictured, without any top coat needed — although if I’m wearing long term, I always had top coat to help my polish last.

The colour is really pretty, & vibrant. It’s not quite pink, not quite purple. But the soft shade is enough you could get away with it for a variety of occasions. It also reminds me a bit of one of my favourite ORLY shades: Scenic Route — although Violet Vibes seems to lean a bit more on the blue side.

As mentioned, I picked this shade up at my local Shoppers Drug Mart last Summer. It wasn’t part of the core Essence display, but one of those little separate displays for limited edition shades. Like all Essence polishes sold at Shoppers, it was $2.99 CAD, which is a very good price.

It’s no longer listed as available on the Shoppers Drug Mart beauty site, but I did find the shade also listed on the Essence website as available so I’m not 100% sure if it is a core shade or not, but it does look like it is still available for purchase — although I do believe that is the US site, so shipping would not be available for Canada.

What do you think about this Essence shade? Are you a fan of Essence nail polish? Let me know what you think about this fun shade down in the comments below, & what your favourite Essence shade is!

Glam Nails Challenge March — Abstract

Hello beauties & happy Wednesday! Hopefully a beautiful sunny Wednesday, but either way I hope you’re having a lovely start to your day. I’m excited because I have a beautiful design to share with you for the next prompt of Glam Nails Challenge March: Abstract. & when I saw that prompt, I knew exactly whose nails I was going to use as the inspiration for my abstract nails.

Grape Fizz Nails always comes up with the most beautiful & unique abstract looks, so I took a bag from her book, & decided to go with a pastel inspired abstract design, with a little bit of gold for good measure!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Tutu the Ballet
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
  • L’Oréal Pistache Royale
  • Essence Take Me To Heaven
  • Essie Set in Sandstone
  • Starilly Vantablack
  • Nailstuff.ca Gold Metallic Foil Flakies (not currently in stock)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How fun & pastel are these? The colours look so beautiful together, & the gold just adds that extra something special. They turned out just so beautiful — I can’t get over it! Plus paired with some sunshine yesterday, they were really giving full on Spring vibes.

Can you believe that we only have 2 more prompts for Glam Nails Challenge March? I can’t believe how quickly this month seems to be going, & how close we are to Spring dresses, Easter, & days upon days of beautiful Spring weather.

I think the world needs some sunshine right now.