Category: Essie

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Pastel Half Moons. 

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I’ve written before how much I love a good half moon mani—they’re easy and can change up a manicure quick. Also I love coming up with fun and different colour combinations! I really wanted to do a half moon where the moon was darker so I decided to give it a try. 

For this mani the polishes I used were: 

  • ACO by Ardene Sweet Tarts (pink textured polish) 
  • Essie Garden Variety (blue-ish half moon.) 
  • Sally Hansen Nail Art pen in Navy.  
  • Seche Vite quick dry top coat. 
  • Essence French Manicure tip guides. 

It was super easy to create this look. Paint your nails with your base colour, and apply quick dry top coat to speed up the process. When that is dry, you just put the guides a little above where you want your moon to go, and fill in the space with your darker colour and remove! Then I just took my Sally Hansen nail art pen and drew a small line between the two colours. And bam! You are done. 

     

What do you think of this mani? The Mr. says it reminds him of Easter. 🐰 I just love the Spring colours and how bright they are! 

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Spring floral.

First, I have to apologize for my lack of posts recently. After getting promoted at work, my ability to sit down and write a blog post took a bit of a hit. But I’m back, and I plan on finding the right rhythm so I can start posting a couple times a week again.

Is anyone else seriously craving Spring?

I don’t know where you live, but we’ve had a seriously messy and frigid Winter. Too much snow! Too much ice! So I’m all about Spring right now. Even if it seems a million miles away, I can still embrace Spring on my fingertips!

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The polishes used for this pretty floral are:

  • Essie Strut Your Stuff (Bright Blue)
  • OPI Angel With A lead foot (White)
  • Icing Cupcakes and Caviar (Darker Pink)
  • OPI Suzy shops and Island Hops (Light Pink)
  • Essie Parka Perfect (Light Blue)
  • Sally Hansen Golden-I (Gold)
  • Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art pen in green
  • Sally Hansen Nail Art pen in navy
  • Seche Vite top coat.
  • L’Oreal The Matte Velvet top coat.

I’m so seriously in love with this mani. My only complaint is that I only did my floral as accent nails instead of a whole mani. Also I’ve found the best matte top coat in the whole wide world! Look at this beautiful matte goodness. If you are looking for an amazing Matte top coat, you simply must search it out!

I have ideas about doing a whole blog post dedicated to the perfect colours for Spring so I must ask–what is your go-to Spring polish? I’m still on the look out to add to my collection so let me know in the comments below!

 

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#itonlytakesone

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If you’re hanging around Instagram, you may have noticed an whole bunch of happy face manicures popping up on your feed. @ohmygoshpolish has ignited a movement by encouraging her fellow nail girls to create these manicures to raise awareness and take a stand against bullying, hashtagging the manicures with #itonlytakesone.

Bullying is an issue that hits home with me–like so many, I’ve experienced my share of bullying. In junior high, that bullying came in the form of girls “innocently” teasing me about my weight. Unfortunately the taunts I heard influenced my poor body image, which eventually spiraled into a serious eating disorder that I’ve dealt with for the majority of my teenage and adult years. Thankfully I’ve embraced recovery, but I still struggle with the effects of that bullying daily, even 16 years later. I doubt those girls thought what they were doing was serious, but bullying is: what you say has consequences, and bullying is never okay. Ever. In today’s society, with the prevalence of smart phones and social media, bullying is at an all time high–it’s easy to break someone down when you have the protection of a screen. That’s why it’s important that when we see it happening, we take a stand against it.

One person can (and does) make a difference.

 

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For my #itonlytakesone manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Sinful Colors Snow Me White.
  • Essence Nail Art Tattoo Pen (black)
  • Essie Watermelon (pink accents)
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

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You can check out Bystander Revolution for more information–They have some great videos that I think everyone should take a minute to watch. And if you’re on Instagram, I encourage you to create your own #itonlytakesone manicure, and show that you will stand up against bullying. =)

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Happy Halloween Nails! part two–Blood Dripping Nails.

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Is there anything more Halloween-y to wear on your nails than dripping blood? I was feeling another Halloween manicure the other day, and decided I should give the blood drip manicure a try. I decided to go with a very simple base color (Essence Color and Go Dare it Nude! with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over top) before adding my dripping blood to the tips of my nails. I did the dripping blood using ACO by Ardene Strawberry Fields, and dragged it down my nails using a dotting tool. Everything was topped with Essie Good to Go Quick Dry Top Coat.

And BAM! An awesomely creepy manicure, perfect for Halloween festivities.

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I’m loving seeing all these different Halloween manicures popping up on Instagram and Pinterest. I move the end of this week (Halloween in fact) but I’m hoping to have a couple more Halloween themed manicures to share before the week is over. =)

 

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Candy Corn Gradient Nails!

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Tis the season… for Halloween nails!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and has been since I was a kid, so I always look forward to Halloween–especially because there is nothing better than a Halloween manicure! Last year, I made my first attempt at Candy Corn nails—except I did the colour in the wrong pattern! I wanted to give them another go, and figured the best way to do so was in a candy corn gradient.

 

The polishes I used for the manicure were:

  • Sinful Colors Easy Going — white/cream base.
  • Essence Color and Go Polka Holga — orange gradient.
  • Essence Color and Go Wake Up! — orange gradient.
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin –yellow gradient.
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow — yellow gradient.
  • ACO by Ardene Meteorite — glitter.
  • Essie Good to Go Top Coat.

I absolutely ADORE how this gradient turned out. Sometimes gradients can be a hit or miss for me, but I was absolutely in love with this one. It really looked like little candy corn on my nails, and it was super easy to do! (Please ignore the boo-boo on my middle finger–I’m such a klutz sometimes.) Also, I’m really loving the new graffiti top coats that ACO by Ardene has just released–they have them in a whole assortment of different colors, so I had to try them out! This one (Meteorite) really complimented my candy corn gradient, and I think brought the whole look together. =)

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Do you have a favorite Halloween manicure you love to do?