Category: Essie

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#GlamNailsChallengeFeb — Roses

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday lovelies!

As you can see from the background of my nail art pictures today, it’s Winterland here in Halifax! But on my nails, it’s totally Spring. Today is prompt #3 for GlamNailsChallengeFeb, & it is Roses! & as you know, if you’ve been around the blog a while, roses are one of my favourite things to paint on my nails!

This time I decided to go with a vintage inspired rose look. Usually I tend to go for a more realistic looking floral, but I wanted to try something different!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Matte Top Coat : Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Essence shine last & go! Take Me To Heaven
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
  • Sally Hansen CSM So Much Fawn
  • OPI Koala Bear-y
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Essence Gel Nail Polish The Green & the Grunge
  • Sally Hansen MG Wet My Whistle
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How pretty did these roses turn out with the black accents. It gives them almost a sketched effect, which I really like. It reminds me a bit of a manicure I did a few years back, obviously with a different colour scheme (& a bit more nail art practice!)

This is my first time wearing this Essence shade in a manicure, I think. I really like the blue background against the brightness of the pink roses. I really think this is a super cute design, both for Valentine’s Day, & Spring in general.

Yep, already dreaming of Spring. Winter can be over now!

What do you think of this rose design for #GlamNailsChallengeFeb? Are these giving you Valentine’s Day feels? Would you wear this look for a Valentine’s Day date?

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

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#GlamNailsChallengeFeb — Polka Dots

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today marks Day one of GlamNailsChallengeFebruary, which I’ve been planning for since the prompts were released last month! I’m really excited, because there is a good mix of prompts that can be for Valentine’s Day (which I love doing nail art for!) & some non-holiday prompts as well.

First up, we have Polka Dots — & naturally I was feeling a pink inspired Valentine’s Day dotticure. You can always use more pink in your life. Plus I had this Quo by ORLY set that had been sitting around for absolutely ever that I bought & never used, so I figured why not pull it out & use it a pretty gradient dotticure!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Strong Start
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen CSM Nail Primer
  • Quo by ORLY Holiday 2014 collection — “the Pinks” (none of these mini bottles have names associated, so I can’t give you specifics sadly.)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

Oh man, I love a good gradient dotticure, especially one that is as vibrant & pretty as this! I’ve done a few versions of this look over the years, especially for Valentine’s Day, which makes it a classic in my books! Especially great if you’re short on time, but want some pretty & standout nails! & you don’t even need tools to do it — a hair pin works just as easily as a dotting tool.

What do you think of my gradient dotticure for the first prompt of #glamnailschallengeFeb? I’m so exciting to be participating again this month, & can’t wait to play around with all the prompts to come!

It’s going to be a really good month for nail art so stay tuned!

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Greyscale Quatrefoil

Good morning lovelies & happy February! It’s officially the month of love. 💗 But before I jump headfirst into all pink, all the time, I thought I would share a look a I created a week or so ago, when I was feeling the grey January blahs.

Today’s look started out as just a grey smooshy design, which was lovely, but looked like the perfect base from some tile inspired nails! So I pulled out one of my many stamping plates I don’t use nearly enough, & switched things up!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Strong Start
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area
  • Essence Rock My World!
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper (COFFEE10 saves you 10%)
  • Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-L003 (item #17921) — quatrafoil image (no longer available)

Seriously, how pretty is this greyscale look? I love how the base isn’t super in your face, & then the black really pops against it. Completely achieves the look I was trying to accomplish, & who wouldn’t want tile like this in their house? I know I certainly would! Plus it looks gorgeous posed against the greenery in my background (a plant shelf at work, right beside the window — the perfect nail art background!)

What do you think about this greyscale quatrefoil design? Would you wear something like this?

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Minimalistic Marble

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the first full week of 2021 & there have been no zombies or aliens yet, so things are feeling promising. For my first real nail art of this year, I was feeling some minimalist marble. Something that felt very clean & fresh, but with a little glitz.

This nail art actually reminds me a bit of a nail art look I did last year, even though it was totally unintentional haha. There is just something about marble that you can’t go wrong with!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Heather Hustle
  • Essie Bobbing for Baubles
  • Essence Rock My World!
  • L’Oréal Color Riche Blanc De Lune
  • Nailstuff.ca Gold Metallic Flakies (COFFEE10 to save 10%!)
  • Latex Free make up sponge.

I started this look off just by thinking I would do a simple sponge manicure, but the colour combination looked so much like marble, I decided I had to go with it! Naturally, that meant I needed to add a few of my gold foil flakes from NailStuff because they bring the whole look together! It’s also a little bit of sparkle against an otherwise monochromatic background.

I really love the overall look, so much I’ve been wearing these since Sunday night! I just haven’t wanted to take them off. They’re so pretty.

What do you think about this nail art look? Would you wear these marble nails? What nail art looks are you excited to try this year? I think this might be the year I try water marbling again… maybe 😂😂

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — New Years Celebration

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! We’ve officially made it — the last day of #GlamNailsChallengeDec! Can you believe it? That means we’re just a few days away from 2020 being the past, & hopefully 2021 will hold exciting things.

But first we need some New Years Eve nails! Today’s prompt is New Years Celebration, & I was inspired my fireworks! Who doesn’t love setting off fireworks on New Years Eve — my dad always used to set off a grand show during our yearly celebrations, & they make me so happy! I can’t wait until my kids are a bit older, & we can set a few fireworks off in our backyard at midnight. In the meantime, I’ll celebrate with my firework inspired waterfall look.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • China Glaze New Year, New Boo
  • Essie Mosiac On Down
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Buffalo Nickel
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Five Golden Blings
  • Starrily Space Debris
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10% on your purchase!)

Does that not totally look like cascading fireworks?! I love the waterfall look, & I haven’t done one in a while. I thought the combination of gold & silver over the navy blue would be the perfect New Years combination. & I got a ton of compliments on this look when I wore it to work, so I feel like I was successful!

This is probably one of my favourite New Years Eve looks I’ve ever done.

& with that, we’re officially done with #GlamNailsChallengeDec — which prompt was your favourite? Do you enjoy these challenges? Let me know in the comments below!