Essie – Page 81 – Coffee & Nail Polish

September 11, 2019September 10, 2019

Fall Ombré

Hello lovelies & Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about where you are, but here in Halifax the weather is already starting to have that gorgeous Fall chill. It also has me thinking about Fall Manicure ideas, & one design I’ve been seeing pop up on my Instagram feed is the ombré look. A few years ago, ombré designs were super popular, & one of my favourites. So I can’t lie, I’m so pumped that ombré nails are making me a resurgence!

For those wondering the difference between an ombré & a gradient, an ombré is when you wear a different colour on each nail, while a gradient blends a few colours together on each nail.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Currently wearing soak off gel to grow out my natural nail.
Top Coat: Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat
Cosmetic Arts Baby Pink (no name)
L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
Kosmic Colours dusty dark pink (no name)
ORLY Red Rhapsody
Essie Carry On
Wet n Wild 2% Milk (to make my pinky & ring finger look more dusky)

I’ve done a few ombré manicures over the years in different colour schemes, but I was really feeling something dusky, in the rose family. This combination really felt like it suited our increasingly Autumn-like weather. On my pinky & ring finger, I applied 2% milk over my lighter pink shades so they would match closer with the rest of my colours.

Ah, this makes me so happy! I’m so glad that this design has come back into rotation & is cool again. Not that I care that much about being trendy — my love of crackle nail polish will attest to that — but it certainly gives me a great excuse to wear multiple shades at once.

(Like I need any excuse to paint my nails!)

What do you think of the ombré nail art trend–have you given it a try yet? What colour combination are you dying to try? Share what shades you’re planning on pairing, down in the comments below.

🍁🍂

September 4, 2019September 3, 2019

VACATION NAILS — ocean inspire Saran Wrap splatter.

Hello lovelies! Still on vacation, but even though I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean I’m not painting my nails! Like I wrote in my last Swatch Sunday post, visiting my parents means I get to take advantage of my Mom’s massive nail polish collection she uses for her jewelry. So I decided to take a few of her polishes to create an ocean inspired design perfect for an East Coast vacation!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Duri Rejuvacote
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Sally Hansen CSM A Bleu Attitude
Quo by ORLY April Showers
Santee ACO6433
China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
Crinkled up Plastic Wrap

Obviously, being away from my own nail polish stash & supply, I’m not going to attempt to crate one of my more complicated designs–like floral– which is why something like a Saran Wrap splatter is such a perfect design! Easy to do, minimal clean up, but still looks fancy & fun! & obviously because my nails were inspired by the ocean I had to take pictures of this look right on the beach! 🌊

Looking at these close up, I realized how much these look like the mussel shells we used to collect off the beach as kids! This colour combination is definitely one of the best versions of this design I’ve done, but I find that happens whenever I do anything in shades of blue! They always just turn out so beautiful!

What do you think of this look? What do you do about your nails when you’re on vacation–do you still paint them, or go with something like soak off gel that lasts 2+ weeks!

Let me know your vacation nail routine down in the comments below!

August 30, 2019August 28, 2019

Fall Inspired Chevron Moons

Hello lovelies & Happy Friday. I am currently on vacation with my kiddos for the next week & a half so my posts are (probably) not going to be as regular as they normally are, but I did bring my China Glaze Gone West polishes with me, so I’m hoping to have a few fun designs to share with you!

First up, a manicure I created prior to going away. I posted on Instagram what design I should do & the overwhelming vote was for some chevron moons! I will admit, it’s been a while since my last chevron moon design–in fact, it was in May–so a new version was way over due. & since I’m all about the Fall polish right now, I had to use some of these awesome China Glaze colours. Because, I’ll be honest… I’m kind of obsessed with this entire collection.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Franken Base Coat creation
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
China Glaze Lawless & Flawless
China Glaze Take The High Rodeo
China Glaze Cowboy Bye
The Base Coat Stacked Chevron vinyls

I talked in my Swatch Sunday post about how good I thought that Lawless & Flawless would be for negative space designs, & I was right. It made such a good middle layer for this look, but the shimmer in the polish still comes through. Gorgeous. Also I debated on which shades to use for this look, & went back & forth between Cowboy Bye, Cattle Drive Me Crazy & Buffalo Bills Bills Bills, but in the end my favourite won out because I thought that the underlying shimmer of Cowboy Bye just seemed to compliment the pink in Take The High Rodeo.

& you know what? I was definitely right. Just look how well these three go together!

Okay guys, I know I’ve been saying I’ve been feeling the Fall vibes since, like, the middle of July but I’m serious now–I am so ready for it! My nails are channeling Autumn hard, & all this girl needs is a dairy free pumpkin spice latte, some knee high socks, my cosiest sweater & my biggest knit scarf. Hope you’re ready for the influx of Fall designs that will be coming your way, but I am definitely inspired. 🍁🍂

What do you think of this Fall chevron moon design? Are you ready for Fall or still holding on to those last days of Summer? Let me know which side you’re on down in the comments below!

August 26, 2019August 25, 2019

City Sunset 🌇 for #glamnailschallengeAug

Hello lovelies! & happy Monday.

We’ve got two more prompts left for #glamnailschallengeAug, & I’m going to be honest… I wasn’t sure I was going to get this prompt done! Not only was I a bit stumped on inspiration, but I’ve had a busy last week so I haven’t been able to get my nails painted like I usually can. But thanks to some late night Pinterest-ing & a cooperative baby, I pulled out a last minute nail art success!

& I’m so super in love with the end result!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: fraken base coat combination
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Essence Indian Summer
Essie Flowerista
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
Essence Black is Back
Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in white
NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Art Brush Trio (7mm size)

I started off this design with what I’m going to call a “rustic” gradient — I didn’t go your typical route where you blend all your colours together at once, but instead sponged my layers on top of each other which kind of created the pinky cloud effect. I then brushed my top coat over & over to smear the layers together a bit. This created the perfect background because I really feel like it looks more like what you see when you see a sunset. & it reminds me a lot of this sunset I captured not that long ago (which was also kind of my inspiration for the colour combo I went with.)

I’ve done a few of these sunset with background designs, but this is definitely the most unique. (Usually I do mountains & cacti, or something similar) but with the pinky sky & the buildings it really does feel like a city sunset, maybe even my own city.

What do you think of this design? Can you believe we only have one more prompt left for this challenge… how crazy is that?

Don’t forget to hop over to Instagram & check out #glamnailschallengeaug to see everyone’s amazing city building manicures!

August 23, 2019August 13, 2019

Purple Quatrefoil Pattern Accent Nails

Hello lovelies! I’ve got another fun design to share with you. I felt a bit like I was getting a little too premature with the Fall colours, so I decided that I needed some bright & more Summer-like colours in my life again.

Today’s design is a fun quatrefoil design using some vinyls from What’s Up Nails, which I haven’t pulled out in a while. In fact, after going through my stash of vinyls I’m definitely going to need to order some more soon because I’m starting to run out of my favourites!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture
Sinful Colors Amethyst
Essie Play Date
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Bourbon Belle
What’s Up Nails Moroccan Nail Vinyls

I thought this look turned out really unique, although using a white base might have made the pattern pop even more.

Also I would have loved to have done this on all my fingers, but like I said I’m starting to run low on my Moroccan nail vinyls so I have to use them sparingly until I order more of them. But I do think the three accent nails look really neat! & the bright polishes I picked are a little bit more Summer-y than a lot of my nail art has been lately.

What do we think about how this look turned out? Would you try out this design? Let me know in the comments below!

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