Category: Essence

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Glam Nails Challenge October— Mummy

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday! Yes… it’s Thursday already! & Halloween is only 3 days away.

Is everyone ready?

I don’t know about where you are, but stores around here are almost cleared out for Halloween & it’s like Christmas exploded in every store. But I’m still here for Halloween & have a few more Halloween looks to share! First up, the next prompt for GlamNailsChallenge October: Mummy.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen CSM Off The Shoulder
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essence Dare It Nude
  • China Glaze The Snuggle is Real
  • OPI Chiffon My Mind
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Please excuse the cruddy lighting — it was a rainy miserable day when I was attempting to take these pictures. The joys of late October in Nova Scotia, haha.

For my mummy look, I wanted to go with a more subtle mummy look — like if an Egyptian princess was being mummified & wanted her nails to be featured. Haha. My look definitely ended up a bit more subtle than I had originally wanted, but that was a lot to do with my base shade. I feel like I might have wanted a bit more of a contrasting colour. But I’m still really happy with how they turned out.

What do you think about this “mummy” look? Can you believe that Halloween is almost here (& over!) What is your favourite Halloween candy? L

et me know in the comments below!

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Glam Nails Challenge October— Spooky Sky

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

Can you believe it is the last week of October already? Halloween is 5 days away! That’s just…. crazy. But today I have another fun prompt for GlamNailsChallengeOct: spooky sky.

I’ll admit — initially stumped me a bit on what I should do. Spooky sky is a prompt that could encapsulate so many different ideas, but I finally I decided on a grey toned sky, with some creepy trees & graves.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essence Rock My World
  • China Glaze Intelligence, Integrity & Courage
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Fan Brush (I think mine is just a cheap one I bought from Icing years ago…)
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I really had this vision in my head of this decrepit tree against a spooky, grey toned sky — so that was the look I went for. I wanted something that you would see before the big killer was revealed in a horror film. & I think I managed to achieve what I was going for. I think my thumb turned out my favourite of all my nails too — between the layered polishes which really mimicked clouds, to the tree, it might be my favourite of all my nails.

& I got so many compliments on my nails at work, which always make me happy. Especially when people ask me where I got them done, or are shocked when I say I did them myself. That always makes me feel awesome!

What do you think about this look? Do these spooky sky nails gives you all the Halloween feels? Are you celebrating Halloween this year — a party, trick or treating, eating an entire box of Halloween bars to yourself? What are your Halloween plans… let me know down in the comments below!

& Stay tuned, because we have just two more prompts for GlamNailsChallengeOctober to come before this month is over!

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Glam Nails Challenge October — Jack-O-Lantern 🎃

Good morning lovelies and happy Monday! I

’m so excited for today’s look for Glam Nails Challenge October! We’re getting closer to Halloween, & I’m enjoying these Halloween looks more & more. The next prompt for this month is Jack-o-Lantern, & I’m so happy with how this design turned out!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Cadillaquer Enchanted Woodland (NailStuff.ca exclusive!)
  • China Glaze Spice To Meet You
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fiery Island
  • Essence Wake Up
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Sinful Colors Essen-chills Smoky Palo Santo
  • China Glaze The Snuggle Is Real
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in green
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

So originally I had planned on using some pumpkin Nail art stickers for this design. Unfortunately the stickers did not want to stick to my nails so I ended up going with a design. & honestly, I definitely think that was the right decision — it looks so much cuter!

I was actually nervous to attempt these little pumpkin faces, because smaller details can sometimes be hit or miss for me, but oh man I just love how they turned out! The little pumpkin faces are actually the cutest!

I also was super excited to wear Enchanted Woodland again! I haven’t worn it for over a year, & it’s a perfect base for this Halloween design. Gives off the right amount of spookiness.

What do you think of this Halloween design — do you like these not so spooky jack-o-lanterns? 🎃 would you wear this design? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essence Into The Unknown

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday!

Hope you’re excited for another new Swatch Sunday pick! Now that we’re reaching end of September, I’ve really been feeling these darker jewel tone shades lately. After browsing the Essence display, I was immediately drawn to this blackened navy blue shade: Into the Unknown.

2 coats, no top coat

I feel like you can never have too many navy blues, so I was excited to pick up this shade. I’ve loved Essence for years, especially because the price point is great — these Essence Shine, Last & Go shades retail for $2.99 CAD each.

For my swatches, I applied two coats of polish over a generous extra coat of base coat, heeding the warning on the back of the bottle. The formula itself was really easy to work with, & smooth to apply. & the polish bottle has a wonderfully wide brush that makes it easy to get the whole nail in one swipe — especially nice when I’m in a rush to paint my nails at night.

What do you think about Essence Into the Unknown? I’m really adoring this darkened navy, & I’m just dreaming of putting a good coat of shimmer or flakies over top of it. Maybe a coat of liner holo? I think it would be so beautiful over this navy shade.

What are you wearing right now? Let me know what shades you’re loving for the season, & any shades you’re dying to pick up from current collections.

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Purple Metallic French Tips

Hello lovelies & happy Monday… it’s been a while! Sorry for my bit of an absence—this last couple weeks have been a little crazy, & I was trying to accomplish too many things at once, & my head ended up not in a great place. So I decided to pause doing the challenge for this month, & take a little breather.

I did miss posting my nails though.

I did these easy metallic French tips last week, when I needed an easy to do look. I used to love French manicures circa 2002 — inspired by Kaley Cuoco on 10 Rules… who always rocked a classic French manicure on the show. The classic French still remains too boring for me now (sorry) but I have been loving the updated versions I’ve been seeing on Instagram, so I wanted to try them myself! Of course, we had to give it an updated Fall feel.

& easiest part was no tools needed.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Arabian Nights
  • Zoya Devin

Oh man, long nails look so good with these kinds of designs. This was pre-me breaking a few nails last week & needing to trim my claws back. I really adore how this looks so I’ll definitely be doing it again in a variety of colours when I need an easy go to nail art look — a nice change from my usual dotticure. & again, this look was so so easy to do, with no tools needed. I just carefully used the brush from Zoya Devin & ran it along the tip of my nail ever so carefully.

Of course, if you were feeling uneasy about trying to freehand this look, you could definitely use French tip guides, or my favourite: paper hole reinforcers.

What do you think about this nail art look? What are your feelings on this new version of the French manicure? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & which colour scheme you would love to see next!