Category: Essie

Posted on

Dark & Gloomy Hand Painted Floral

Hello loves & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. After some gross winter weather on Saturday evening, we actually had a beautiful (almost Spring-like) Sunday.

Today I’m sharing some dark & gloomy floral which I feel like are perfect for the darkest & gloomiest month. It’s been so long, too long, since I hand painted any roses on my nails & these turned out better than I could have hoped. With the dark base, I feel like they have a bit of a gothic feel to them as well.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Snake It Up + Starrily Magnet
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Can’t Beet Royalty
  • Sally Hansen MG Good Cheer-y
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Society Ruler
  • Sally Hansen CSM Berry Fancy
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure. Eco-Rose
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

I used a lot of red polishes to achieve these roses, but I think they turned out so beautiful. These are probably my favourites florals to paint; I love how beautiful they look on the nail.

Also I’ve never actually used this Essie magnetic shade before, but I tried it with my Starrily magnet & it worked really well. My bottle was purchased at Dollarama & did not have the snake skin magnet with it—probably the reason I’ve never used it— so I was happy to have something to use with it! & I love it, even if it didn’t show up well in these photos.

What do you think about these fun floral nails? Are you getting dark & gloomy from them? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Sable Collar

Hello & happy Sunday!

We finally have some nice Winter sun today which is nice after a week of not the greatest weather. Today, I’m pulling out an oldie Essie shade I’ve own for a long time: Sable Collar. I actually picked up this shade at my local Dollarama circa 2015 & I remember being so excited to find this shade.

2 coats + top coat

Sable Collar was originally released as part of the 2013 Essie Winter Shearling Darling collection. It is this beautiful smokey reddish brown, with an irresistible shimmer. It’s been so. long since I put this shade on, I totally forgot how gorgeous it is. The epitome of a winter shade (in my opinion). These are exactly the kind of shades that make me think of January.

The formula was pretty easy to apply on this one — two coats needed for full opacity. The first coat was definitely streaky, but upon the second we got the beautiful finish you see in my swatches. I did apply Essie Speed Setter top coat over my swatches, mostly because this ended up being my manicure for the last few days.

A nice close up of the finish.

Below you can really see the reddish brown shimmer in the bottle. I’m kind of obsessed — which is funny, because I’ve owned this bottle of polish almost a decade, but this is. the first real time I’ve worn it all on its own. & it’s giving me the cosiest vibes.

What do you think about Essie Sable Collar? Do you remember this shade from its original release? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below & if this shade is giving you the same Winter vibes I’m feeling.

Happy Sunday! ♥︎

Posted on

Purple on Purple Chevron Moons

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! To be honest, I’m still in that post-holiday haze & still not quite sure what day it is. But, the calendar says it’s Wednesday, so we’ll go with that.

Today I’m sharing my first real manicure of the new year. January is such a blah time, I find, so I’m never quite sure what to do on my nails before Valentine’s Day. However, you can never go wrong with some chevron moons, so that’s what I decided on.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Expressie IRL
  • Essie No Ex-pectations
  • Essie Frock n Roll
  • Chevron vinyls (these ones are from Beyond the Nail)
  • Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

It’s been a while since I wore a chevron moon look, & I particularly like this one because of the layers of different purples. I used nail vinyls for my initial chevrons, then went it with my mermaid tail brush, & added some of Frock N Roll for a little contrast.

My only regret is I feel like I should have topped the design with matte top coat, but ran out of time. Matte top coat just makes everything better.

What do you think about this chevron moon nail art look? What nail art looks are you obsessed with right now? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

Posted on

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER — New Year Celebration

Good morning & happy New Year! 🍾🎆 It’s officially 2024 & I hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve. I’m very excited for things to come, but before we focus on a brand new year, I still have one more manicure from Glam Nails Challenge December to share!

The last prompt is New Year Celebration.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Make Spirits Bright
  • Ardene Style Icon
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Let’s Snow
  • Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I really wanted to do a fun year inspired design, especially because 10 years ago I did a similar design for New Year’s Eve. Plus, I’m really hopeful for 2024. Last year had some rough moments for me personally, so I’m hoping that 2024 holds better things.

Obviously, I needed a lot of sparkle. & I added a little dotticure on my thumb to look like confetti.

What do you think of my New Year’s Eve design? Did you wear something sparkly to ring in 2024? ✨🍾

Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

Candy Cane Stripes 🎄🎅

Happy December 1st! Can you believe we’re officially in the last month of 2023? That’s kind of insane. & it’s time to go hard on all the Christmas designs I can paint!

Today’s look is simple but festive. I wanted to create some candy cane inspired nails, as I haven’t done any in a while.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Blanc
  • Quo Beauty Green With Envy
  • Quo Beauty Velveteen
  • ACO by Ardene Dancing Queen
  • 16mm Striper (from NailStuff.ca)

Do you love candy canes? I really like those fun flavour ones (like Nerds, Warheads or Trolli) but less keen on the classic peppermint flavour ones. Maybe I ate too many as a kid? My nails are definitely calling back to those classic candy canes though.

You could definitely use striping tape or vinyls to achieve this look, but for some reason I prefer using my striper brush. With a look like this, I feel like you don’t need to have as clean lines (since candy canes don’t always have the smoothest lines). But these ones definitely turned out better than I could have hoped!

What do you think of these candy cane stripe nails? Are you ready for December & all the holiday nail art content to come? Let me know down in the comments below!