SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Not A Phase

*pr/gifted

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful Autumn Sunday. Today I’m sharing a lovely new shade with you I was recently gifted by my friends at Essie. They were kind enough to send me a whole slew of beautiful polishes, & as soon as I saw the dusty red (& the name!) I knew it was going to be the first swatch I had to share with you.

This is Essie Not A Phase.

2 coats + top coat

Okay, we all know my love for red is undying. What you might not know is my love of Emo & Pop punk music (especially between 2002-2010) is equally unwavering. So when I saw the name of this shade, I knew that it was going to become a favourite.

The formula on this polish is fantastic. It’s very opaque. I did two coats, but honestly I probably could get away with one with careful application. The shade is a nice change from the usual cherry red, which it’s more dusty colour. Very fitting for this time of year & the changing leaves on the trees.

Oh man, I’m kind of obsessed with this shade. It would be so fitting in an Autumn toned skittle which I may have to do soon! So if you’re looking for a different shade of red — I definitely recommend searching this one out!

Even better, this shade is in the current core collection, so you’re able to pick this polish up wherever Essie nail polish is sold.

What do you think of Essie Not A Phase? Do you love this red as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

🖤

Frankenstein’s Monster French Manicure 🧟‍♀️

*contains PR

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! I hope everyone’s week is going well so far. Today I’m sharing another perfect Halloween manicure to get us ready! This look was partially inspired by @polished_yogi & a recent post featuring Halloween designs — but I decided to take my own spin on it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • Matte Top Coat: NailStuff Essentials Matte Top Coat *
  • Essie Expressie Main Character Moment *
  • Quo By Orly Black Striper

*gifted

I love the look of French manicures on other people, but I’ve never been able to make them look good on me. If someone knows the trick to making them look so good, I would love to know. However, I do think these are probably the best looking French nails I’ve ever attempted, & they’re fun too!

I do a version of Frankenstein’s monster nails every year, so it’s fun to try & keep it fresh. I only wish I had thought to add some glow in the dark nail polish over my tips because I did the black stitching because it would have looked really cool. Oh well, always next time!

What do you think of these Halloween-y nails? Do you like this stitched up French manicure look? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

Happy Thursday!

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Spooky Season Holo Skull & Crossbones ☠️🖤

*contains PR

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. I hope everyone’s had a great week so far.

The weekend is almost here & it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada so I expect to be in a full food coma by Sunday night. I thought it would be fun, though, so start my Spooky Season nails with a fun little skull & cross bones design.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

How fun as these?! Again, I got to use another one of those beautiful Essie shades I was recently gifted which is very exciting. Sadly, I wore these on a day when it was cloudy & rainy so the fun holo effect was not showing up very well.

What do you think of this fun holo skull look? Just a little dip into the Halloween nails to come. ☠️ You know me, Halloween is my favourite season for nail art, so I’m excited to share lots of fun designs with you.

Enjoy your Friday!

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(More) Autumn Abstract Stripes

*contains PR

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! & a chilly Wednesday at that. October is really speeding along, isn’t it?

Today I’m excited because I recently received some PR from Essie & they were more than generous sending me 25 polishes (!!!) from their regular line, Expressie line & Gel Couture line. Happy early birthday to me. So naturally, as soon as I received these shades I had to grab a few to do my nails with! & since it’s been a while since I rocked them, I decided to test out some new polishes with a little abstract stripe action.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Expressie Feel The Hype
  • Essie Expressie Never Skip A Beat
  • Essie Expressie Power Moves
  • Essie Expressie Take A Breakdance
  • Essie Nail Art Studio Separated Starlight
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

Oh man, I’m so excited by new nail polish — it’s actually hard to convey via blog post, but expect to see a lot of Essie manicures over the next little while. There are some shades I received that I can’t wait to swatch for you!

What do you think about this Autumn abstract stripe design? Are you as excited for some fun Essie manicures to come? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Happy Wednesday

♥︎

Essie Fall Skittle 🌈🍁🍂

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

I’m feeling rested from having the whole weekend off work, & ready to take on another week. Now it’s time to ready for (Canadian) Thanksgiving next weekend! Maybe I’ll sneak in some kind of Thanksgiving themed nail design sometime this week.

Today, though I’m sharing a super easy Fall design with you all. It’s been a while since I rocked a skittle look, so I thought I would pull out a few Autumn-esque Essie polishes for a quick skittle look!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Frock n Roll (thumb)
  • Essie For The Twill of It (pointer)
  • Essie Cross Body Heat (middle)
  • Essie Back in the Saddle (ring finger)
  • Essie Vested Interest (pinky finger)

How well do these shades pair together? I always find that’s my struggle when I’m trying to create a skittle look, is finding the shades that look best together. I think this collection of shades really flatter, & I love it. The colours are slightly muted, with a few bits of shimmer thrown in. I’m actually obsessed with how well they go together!

What do you think of this Essie Fall Skittle look? It’s like an Autumn rainbow!

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & I hope everyone had a lovely start to their week.

♥︎