Category: Essie

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Matte Pastel Ombre

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Hope everyone is having a lovely week. I’m still recovering from that awful cold (so. over. it) but that’s not going to stop me from painting my nails! I’ve really really really been longing for Spring which, in case you weren’t already aware, is 8 days away! I’m not excited or anything.

First up, how about a pretty matte pastel ombré look? Probably the easiest way to show off Spring on your nails!

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Mint
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Blue
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Purple
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Pink
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Coral

For this manicure, I actually grabbed my mini set of Claire’s pastel polishes because they’ve been sitting in my drawers way too long, & they remind me of Spring in the best way. The blue especially is just like Spring in a bottle! I also thought about adding some floral on my nails–because you can never go wrong with floral–but I was loving this look all in it’s own I decided to leave it be. & I got a ton of compliments on this look too!

Ombré looks are so easy to do, & look so fancy on the nails. I tried my best pair colours together so it looked like a true gradient. I’m glad that these ombre/skittlette looks are still popular & going strong, because they’re so easy to do.

Also I’m rocking nubby nails again, thanks to a couple bad breaks, so this makes me feel not so bad about how short my nails are right now. I feel like this happens at this time every year — my nails just get tired with winter & cannot handle being long anymore so I have to give them a break. Although it is always fun coming up with short nail designs!

What do you think about this pretty pastel ombré? Is this a look that you would try? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Rosy Floral 🌹

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday.

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to the week — my whole house has been struck down with the cold from hell which had NOT been fun. Thankfully, I have a pretty floral manicure to distract me the fact I feel like I’ve been struck by a truck.

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Candy Coat 907
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen GPK Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen GKP Beet It
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Bubblegum
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

I hope you’re not getting sick of the floral, because I’m certainly not sick of creating them. I need something to distract me from what feelings like the most never ending Winter (even if we haven’t really had an overwhelming amount of snow this year — definitely not complaining!)

Also I have to shout out this Candy Coat polish because I wore these floral nails for a good 5 days before they started to chip, which gives me a lot of hope for when I go back to work. Got to love a Polish you can wear for an extended amount of time without worrying about the dreaded chips. I’m interested to see how these will survive an 8 hour shift in retail!

So what do you think about these rosy floral nails? Would you like to see some more floral soon? Let me know what you think & what your favourite flower is down in the comments below!

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Groovy Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone has had a lovely start to their week. We had another beautiful almost Spring like day yesterday, which gives me hope that maybe — maybe — one day soon, Spring will be here to stay. I just keep longingly staring at the clothes in my closet, dreaming of the day when it’s warm enough to wear them!

In the meantime, how about some Spring on the nails! I’ve definitely been feeling myself drawn to my more Spring looking nail polishes. I just need a little brightness in my life!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (the blue version)
  • Essie Splash of Grenedine
  • Essie Blank Page
  • Essie Bobbing for Baubles
  • Nailstuff.ca 11mm Liner Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%) {gifted}

I love abstract stripe designs so so so much, especially when they turn out as perfect as these did! These totally remind me of one of those gorgeous abstract Pucci designs. The swirly lines & bright colours — perfect for Spring! Also I love the brighter pop of pink over the paler blue base. What is it about this colour combo? It makes me so happy!

If this doesn’t make you feel ready for Spring, I don’t know what will. I also just feel so proud of how these turned out too — it might just be the best version of the abstract stripe design I’ve done yet! & yeah, it kind of makes me want to do another!

What do you think about this look? Are you feeling these Spring-y colours? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Classic Marble Nails

{GIFTED}

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Here in Halifax, we’ve been having a surge of almost Spring like weather, which leaves me feeling refreshed & hopeful! I’m totally going to ignore the Winter storm heading our way in a couple days, & just pretend that Spring is on it’s way.

Today’s look feels very refreshing & Spring like as well. I decided to wanted to try & create a “classic” looking marble.

For this manicure, the polishes I’m wearing are:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat & Colour Gloss Fi
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • Black Acrylic Paint

For this look, I started off with a base of Ballet Slippers, & then watered down some acrylic paint & brushes it along the nail using my skinner brush. If I felt like my lines were too harsh, I’d take my round clean up brush, dip it in water, & water down the paint on my nails (or remove it completely, which is the benefit of using acrylic paint!)

& then obviously I needed some gold. & these gold flakies from NailStuff are kind of my new obsession. They’re so beautiful!

What do you think about this look? What is your favourite technique for creating marble nails? Let me know in the comments below!

Some items were gifted in exchange for content. All opinions are genuine & my own.

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Valentine’s Day 💕 Glitter Gradient

Hello lovelies! Happy Tuesday!

Today I’m getting in the Valentine’s Day mood! I’ve had this polish — OPI Bearest of them All — in my stash for going on 5 years, but somehow hadn’t thought to use it in a glitter gradient! But since I’m all about speedy designs right now, I thought this would be the perfect Valentine’s Day nail art look when you need something quick & beautiful!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Colour Gloss Fit
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Haute in the Heat
  • OPI Bearest of them All
  • Latex Free make up sponge

How cute as these little heart glitters?! I won’t lie, this wasn’t the easiest glitter gradient I’ve ever done. Basically, I had to sponge the smaller glitters onto my nail in the gradient, & then fished my heart glitters out of the polish to apply onto the nail. Not the easiest to do, but you can’t lie about how freaking adorable the outcome is! I’m absolutely in love with how this looks! & still super quick to do.

I feel like usually I’m more on the ball about doing Valentine’s Day looks, but I just haven’t been as into it this year. I had plans to do some love heart nails & a few others, but I just wasn’t as inspired as I usually feel. I do have one more look to share on Thursday, but this year seems to be more about simple Valentine’s-esque designs more than blatant heart designs.

What do you think about this glitter gradient? Do you have this limited edition OPI in your stash — have you ever thought to use it this way? Let me know what you think in the comments below!