Category: Essie

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Negative Space Red Chevron Moons

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday! We’re already half way through our week–how crazy is that. We’re also one week away from August… even crazier. This Summer is certainly rocketing by! I’m already feeling that familiar draw towards dark polish, pumpkin spice & cosy knits that starts happening around this time of year.

But not yet… we still have a bit of Summer left so bring on the bright polishes!

Today’s design was brought on by wanting to wear red nails, but more than just a solid colour. It wasn’t intentional, but these totally ended up reminding me of Bring It On! Does anyone else remember that movie. I was so obsessed with it when it first came out… & now I totally need to rewatch it again.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • L’Oréal Magic Top Coats —The Shift Me
  • Essie 5th Avenue
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Snail Vinyls small single chevrons (so sad the shop is closing!)

I love red nail polish, but I find it the hardest colour to do nail art over simply because it seems to be a colour I turn to during holidays (Christmas, Canada Day, ect) but it is by far one of my all time favourite polish colours. I seriously love how these turned out, even if they totally remind me of cheerleader uniforms. Also I’m pretty sure this red is my new favourite red polish — I’ve been wearing it a lot lately, especially as a pedicure.

What do you think of this design? Let me know in the comments below! & let me know what your favourite 2000s teen movie is!

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Rainbow 🌈 Nails

Good Morning Lovelies & Happy Monday. Today I have a special manicure to share with you in honour of it being Pride Week in Halifax right now — some rainbow nails. This past weekend, I went out to celebrate & attended my very first Drag Show ever! So in honour of that, I wanted to create a design bright & colourful, & with a touch of glitter.

For this design, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Sally Hansen MG Just Maui’d
  • Sally Hansen MG Bourbon Belle
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow
  • Essie First Timer
  • Quo by ORLY Pep in Your Step
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge
  • Wet n Wild Clear Polish

  • This design was super simple to create. I started off with a plain white base (my current favourite White polish!) & then sponged each colour over top of the white. Next I took a clear nail polish that would streak the colours together & repeatedly brushed over the nail so they blended. This is a trick I like to use with gradients, sponged looks & dry brushes because it blends them together really well (especially good with gradients!) & then I finish with actual top coat after. I also felt like this design needed a little bit of glitter, so I added some fairy dust as well.

    I really love this combination of colours & the rainbow-ness of it. It was the perfect design for the awesome night I had out dancing! I’m very proud to live in a city which can celebrate Pride with such festivity & inclusivity. There really is an event for everyone!

    What do you think of my rainbow nails? 🌈 Have you ever attended a drag show before? Share you comments down below & let me know what you think!

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    Easy Purple & Turquoise Half Moons 🌙

    Happy Wednesday lovelies! Today I have another set of half moons to share with you, this time featuring a blurple & turquoise colour combination I’m kind of obsessed with! It’s been a while since I went with half moons, & colour combination was inspired by a t-shirt dress from Forever 21 that I own & love.

    Colour blocking makes me happy. It’s a great way to test colour combinations out.

    For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

    • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
    • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
    • Quo by ORLY Venice
    • Essie In the Cab-ana
    • Paper Reinforcements (from the Dollar store)

    Was half moons with paper reinforcements anyone else’s first nail art technique they learned? I remembering doing them back in the day & feeling like I was a nail art expert. For those of you who are still getting into nail art looking for easy designs… half moons are a great option with endless colour combinations. You can go subtle for more work appropriate designs or go crazy neon! I also love adding polka dots on top of my design for a little extra design.

    what do you think of these half moons? What colour combination would you pick? Let me know in the comments below!

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    Pastel Sponging & Freehand Geometric Lines

    Happy Friday lovelies! Yesterday was spent surviving the craziness of the mall with the big Build-A-Bear event! Our store was insane, mostly from the people who gave up on waiting in the 8+ hour line. Props to anyone who stood in that line & waited it out… you’re the real brave people!

    Today’s look was accomplished thanks to some brand new stripers from Kiss! I was in the need of some new ones, & found them on clearance so I knew I had to pick them up. A brand new striper is one of my favourite things for creating crisp lines. & since it had been so long since I’d done a geometric design, I decided to play around a little bit!

    For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

    • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
    • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
    • Essie High Class Affair
    • L’Oréal Royalty Reinvented
    • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sweet Tea
    • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ocean Daze
    • Essie Splash of Grenadine
    • Kiss Products Striper in Black
    • Kiss Products Striper in White
    • Kiss Products Striper in Silver Glitter

    Please excuse the tip wear & chip on my ring finger — I wore these nails for over 2 days before I thought to take a picture of them. I was just to enthralled with how they looked, I completely forgot about photographing them!

    If I had to pick a favourite nail, I think it would probably be my middle finger. The design feels very Art Deco. Definitely going to need to try this design again over a gold or bronze. It was be very Gatsby, which is a style I haven’t tried a whole design over. I definitely think it looks really cool over my pastel sponging though.

    what do you think about this geometric design? Which nail is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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    Even More Negative Space Half Moons!

    Happy Wednesday lovelies! Who else can’t even believe it’s already Wednesday. It feels like this week is speeding by like crazy. Dreaming of the weekend already… it feels like it’s almost here. Which means spending all weekend (hopefully) barbecuing!

    Today’s design is one I actually did back in June, during my super crazy two weeks at work, & never got a chance to share with you! This design was actually what I wore when I had my first Head Office visit at work. I was super nervous as this was the first time I was meeting one of my big bosses, so I wanted to make sure I was representing the brand as best as I could…. right now to the nails!

    The polishes I used for this design were:

    • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
    • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
    • Icing Mermaid Mint
    • Claire’s Matte Pastel Nail Polish Sorbet Mint
    • Claire’s Matte Pastel Nail Polish Sorbet Blue
    • Jordana Cosmetics Pop Art Nail Design in Blue Abstract

    You know what’s awesome about working for a company which is geared towards a tween audience—you always have an excuse to do something fun with your nails! We sell a lot Nail goodies, so I’m always getting inspiration from them! This design was kind of a recreation of an old design that I had done, but with a few different polish picks.

    You can seriously never go wrong with a good negative space chevron look. & the colour combinations are endless!

    What do you think of this design? Are you as obsessed with negative space chevron looks as I am (I don’t think anyone is!)

    Share down below all your thoughts!