Purple Fall Leaves 🍁

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday!

We’re eight days into September & I’m in full dark polish swing. While Summer shades are awesome, I feel like Fall polish makes my heart the happiest. I’ve also really been looking forward to pulling out my Fall leaves nail vinyls again! It’s been forever since I played around with vinyls, & I’ve missed them for sure.

For today’s look, I knew I really wanted to grab my bottle of Sally Hansen Slicks & Stones because it is such a lovely campus shade for this time of year. & I wanted to add some Fall leaves but I didn’t want to do gold or bronze or anything like that.

So I decided to go an untraditional route.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Color Therapy Slicks & Stones
  • Essie For The Twill Of It
  • Quo by ORLY Kaleidoscope Haze
  • The Base Coat Fall Leaves Nail Vinyls

Seriously living for this purple-y colour combination. The shift in For The Twill Of It is just so gorgeous, & it really suits the dark purple of Slicks & Stones. I’m really loving the combination so much.

What do you think about this Fall mani? Are you loving the dark shades now? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — ARD As Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice

{gifted}

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. We’re officially almost one full week into September—how crazy is that? I’m in full on Autumn mode, with the exception of buying any Fall decor. But many a soy pumpkin spice latte has been consumed so far! Yep, I’m super basic. All I need are some Ugg boots to complete the look.

Today I have another shade to share with you that was so kindly gifted to me from NailStuff.ca. I actually almost bought this polish back in July during my Canada Day order, so I was super excited when Victoria offered to send it to me! It’s ARD As Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice.

2 coats + top coat

‘Ard as Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice is a beautiful pumpkin orange polish chalked full of micro silver glitters and holo glitters. The application was easy to apply — I only needed two coats of polish for full opacity, & it was quick to self level & dry. I topped mine with my favourite quick dry top coat–Essie Speed Setter–but I would also be curious to see what it would look like with matte top coat added.

Look at those glitters. This polish really is packed full of them. Unfortunately, my lightbox light didn’t want to show off the holographic glitter as much, but in the sunlight, you really got the holo effect.

Usually, I’m not the biggest fan of orange nail polish–it’s just not a colour I usually reach for. But I’ve actually worn this polish 3 times since I got it, so I’m kind of obsessed! I also cannot wait to be able to do some legit pumpkins on my nails using this shade, or some jack-o-lanterns when we get closer to Halloween. This shade is going to be perfect!

If you, like me, need this shade in your collection you can pick it up from NailStuff.ca & used my affiliate code COFFEE10 to save 10% off your purchase (that goes for anything on her site!)

What do you think of this shade? Are you a pumpkin spice lover? What is your go-to Fall drink of choice? Let me know down in the comments below!

Fall Inspired Glitter Gradient

Hello lovelies, happy Tuesday!

It’s been… well I can’t even remember how long since I last wore a glitter gradient. Even though it’s been hot & balmy weather, I was feeling some darker, Fall-esque nails. So I decided to grab a few fun (& Autumn appropriate shades) from deep, deep in my nail polish stash.

I mean, if Starbucks can release Pumpkin Spice today, I think a little dark polish is okay.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Hard Candy Zombie
  • Maybelline Color Show Rose Bling

I’ve always really enjoyed glitter gradients because they’re so quick & easy. In fact, I created this gradient without even using a sponge… just the bottle brush itself! So it really does cut down on application time, & the clean up is even more minimal!

& Oh my, after wearing this combination, I really I think I want to find some more fun glitters — most of my glitter is like pink, or purple, or silver, or gold. I need some bronze-y shades, or something! A nice Fall shade that will pair with a dark purple or burgundy perfectly! I might need to go through my stash a bit better, & see what glitters I’ve forgotten about.

What do you think about this glitter gradient? Are you enjoying this Fall manicure transition or would you like to see a bit more brightness or neon before September? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. Yes, it’s happened… I’ve stumbled into the Fall polishes, & I’m not even upset about it. In fact, I’m quite giddy about it!

Today I have an exciting Swatch Sunday pick to share with you, because it is a time honoured classic OPI shade & it always happens to be a favourite Fall favourite of mine: Lincoln Park After Dark.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter top coat

This deep purple shade is so dark it’s almost black, which is the perfect combination of witchy & vampy for the Autumn season. In the bottle you can see the dark grape-y purple tones, but on the nails it definitely pulls more black-y.

Application was pretty easy; base coat, two coats of polish, & finished with top coat. It built to even opacity, which I’m always happy about. & I’ve never had any issues with removal, which again is always a plus when it comes to a dark polish like this.

I just absolutely adore this not-black shade. It’s silky, it’s sexy, & it’s pairs perfectly with a pumpkin spice latte & my favourite Fall plaid dress.

What do you think about OPI Lincoln Park After Dark? Do you have this classic OPI shade in your collection? Have you already started pulling out the darker Autumn shades from your collection? Let me know down in the comments below!

FASHION FRIDAY —OOTD: A Vintage Flashback

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. It’s been a while since I posted a OOTD post, so I thought it would be fun to share a new outfit post!

Recently, I’ve been going through my closet rediscovering old clothing all over again. I have the worst habit of wearing the same favourites over & over again, so I’ve been making an effort to grab shirts I haven’t worn in a long time. & today’s look is featuring a very old shirt I’ve had since my university days, & was actually my Mom’s in the 80s!

Shirt: Vintage

Jeans: Ardene High Waisted Flare Cut ( Similar ones from the Gap here)

Shoes: Ardene Strappy Sandals (similar ones here)

Earrings: Claire’s Lace Cut Gold Earrings (Similar ones here)

Not even lying, slipping into this shirt was a serious trip back to my University years (click here to see baby Shannon rocking this shirt circa 2009). This shirt used to be one of my go to shirts during those years, & I feel like I haven’t worn it nearly enough in the last 10ish years. The shirt was actually found deep in my Mom’s old clothing stash, & I think technically it was a PJ shirt. But I think it makes the most boho blouse ever, & it’s so much fun to wear!

& I think pairing it was my favourite flare jeans & gladiator sandals really completes the look. Also I’m glad flare jeans are making a comeback, because man I love them so much. They’re definitely my favourite jean style!

What do you think about this look? What item of clothing from your closet have you not grabbed in a while? Let me know in the comments! I

definitely encourage you to grab that shirt/dress/whatever from the recesses of your closet & give it a spin! It’s fun talking a trip down outfits past for sure!