Category: Essie

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SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengtheners

PR SAMPLE/GIFTED

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe this is the last week of April? Didn’t this month just start?

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is going to be a little bit different! I was recently sent the most amazing PR package featuring the new Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengtheners.

According to the Essie Website:

born from breakthrough and brand new nail bonding technology, hard to resist is here to help bond weakened nail surfaces to improve fragile, brittle nails.

Both base coats are vegan, formulated without formaldehyde & are supposed to help your nails feel less brittle in three days.

I thought for this week’s Swatch Sunday, it would be fun to do a post showing off a before & after of how these tinted base coats work, featuring something I don’t show off very often: my naked nails.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengtheners”
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Purple Floral for @brydiedoesnails Birthday Collab!

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday. A very Monday-esque Tuesday, but I feel like that’s always the way after a holiday.

It’s feeling very Spring-like today, even though we have a big rainstorm heading our way. But while the sun is out, I thought I would share you a lovely design I did as part of a birthday collab for @brydiedoesnails birthday today!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI After Alter
  • Essie PlayDate
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • OPI Good Grief
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I decided I wanted to recreate this beautiful floral by Brydie, & it was not an easy decision to make! She has so, so many beautiful designs–especially floral!–that I must have saved quite a few trying to decide. Bit this soft purple just worked so well with the semi-sheer base. The over all look turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, & I’m very, very happy with them.

Here is a look at all the beautiful designs done in honour of @brydiedoesnails! You can check out all the looks by clicking on the hashtag #brydiesbirthdaycollab on Instagram.

These are the girls that all participated in the collab!

@pbnjnails
@phoebesummernails
@emilygilmour.nails
@polished_yogi
@naomisnailart
@polishedbypeyt
@lecame.shesaw.shepainted
@matteabout nails
@_jazzy_nails.
@ghthenailartist
@neeles_nails

Have a lovely day darlings!

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Spring Inspired Saran Wrap Splatter

Hello loves & happy almost Easter weekend! It’s been a beautiful week here on the East Coast — very Spring-y! I even had a chance to break out my flip flops. So I’ve been feeling all the Spring colours.

Todays look is a nail art technique I haven’t done in a while — Saran Wrap splatter. This is a technique I’ve done a lot in the past, but it’s been a hot minute since the last time, so I was excited to pull it out of my repertoire.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Racing Rose
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essie Butler Please
  • Essie Play Date
  • Icing Matte Nail Polish Neon Blue
  • Crinkled plastic

How fun are these colours together? I feel like these pinks & purples & blues just go so well together. I’ve been doing this technique a very long time, & it never gets old to me. It’s a way easier option than your traditional spatter, & way less clean up. I usually only have a few places I need to clean up with acetone, versus a traditional spatter that makes quite a mess,

What do you think of this Saran Wrap Splatter look? Have you ever tried this technique before? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Speckled Easter Eggs

Hello loves & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. It’s almost Easter, so I thought it was about time to share a somewhat Easter-y design. & what is more fun than a speckled Easter egg design!

I literally do a version of this look every year, & if never gets old to me. It’s such an easy & festive look to do. Plus I always joke since I can’t actually eat mini eggs, wearing them on my nails is the next best thing!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Julep Alyssa (thumb)
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sugar Fix (pointer)
  • Essie Play Date (Middle)
  • Essie Gel Couture On The List (ring)
  • Sinful Colors Yolo Yellow (pinky)
  • Wet N Wild 2% Milk
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • Fan Brush

I’ve tried a few different versions of this look over the years, like I said, but (I think) this was my first time attempting using a fan brush for the speckled look. Usually I used the saran wrap splatter look, but I think I like using a fan brush even more! It gives a much daintier speckled effect. I think this look is much more true to actual speckled eggs, & I’m obsessed.

What do you think about this speckled nail look? Would you wear these for your own Easter festivities? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Easy Polka Dot Accent Nail

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. Today I’m sharing a fun, easy accent nail look.

This look was actually inspired an old design I did in the early days of this blog. I loved the fun polka dots with the bright nail polish, & I decided to do an updated version. Obvious I switched up some polishes so these colour scheme turned out a bit different, but I think over all this was a really fun (almost Summer-y) look to wear.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Let’s Snow
  • Essie Strut Your Stuff
  • Essie Watermelon
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Malibu Peach
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

At first I wasn’t sure what I thought of this nail art look because the colour scheme is not my usual. But the look definitely grew on me — even if the colours are giving me slight Wonder Bread vibes. I do love a good polka dot accent nail — for a while that was one of the only nail art techniques I could do, so I wore it a lot.

What do you think of these funky polka dots accent nails? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.