Category: Fall

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SWATCH SUNDAY— OPI Gelato on My Mind

Good morning loves! Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday & well caffeinated! ☕️ Today I have another oldie but goodie swatch to share with you: OPI Gelato on My Mind.

This minty shade was originally released as part of the OPI Venice collection for Fall/Winter 2015 & was the first shade I bought from that collection as you know I’m a sucker for any shade of blue. Also I remember that the name was just too cute, which was part of the reason I NEEDED to own this shade. (It’s also the reason I had to own OPI Pineapples Have Peelings Too.)

For my swatches I did two coats over my base, followed by top coat (Essie Gel Setter). You have great coverage in two coats, but like a lot of light/pastel shades the levelling on this shade wasn’t great, so I needed that top coat to give you a nice glossy finish & eliminate any potential streakiness. Maybe if you’re more careful you can get it to level out, but I couldn’t & needed my nails to dry quickly so a glossy top coat always works for me.

As I mentioned, this shade was originally released as part of the OPI Venice collection, which was for Fall/Winter 2015. Personally, to me this is more of a shade I lean towards for Spring but I can also see pairing this with a few darker/vampy colours for a fun Fall design as well. I definitely can see myself doing another fun tribal design (similar to this look) but with much darker, vampier colours.

What colour are you currently rocking on your nails? Which polish do you think I should pick for next week’s Swatch Sunday feature–something Summer-y or Fall-esque? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Fall Houndstooth Accent Nails

Happy October 2nd! Can you believe we’re already a day into Halloween month?! Are you as excited as I am? I’m definitely going to need to start planning my Halloween designs soon.

But in the mean time, maybe some Fall themed nails? With the weather shifting quickly, I’m already digging out some of my favourite scarves, so I figured why not some nails inspired by the coziness of Fall.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lets Snow!
  • Essence Black is Back!
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • Born Pretty Store Color Flame Rhinestones colour #2 (item #41753)

First off, can we talk about this Essie shade from the Fall 2018 collection? It’s absolutely amazing. The second I saw the swatches, I knew it was so different from all the other polishes I own & that meant I had to have it! & since it feels so Fall to me, I knew I had to pair it with this stamping plate from Born Pretty Store (which I haven’t had the chance to use yet!)

Also check out these crystals also from Born Pretty Store (item # 41753). I needed something to jazz up my plain nails, & I love the iridescent shift they have. You can kind of see how the shift of your hand shows different colours, which means these crystals will match with so many different polishes & manicures!

what do you think of this Fall inspired manicure? What Fall shades are you wearing on your nails right now? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)

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Good morning! Today I’m super excited because I have the most amazing nail polish collection from Sally Hansen to share with you! Sally Hansen Canada recently released an all red collection as part of their Complete Salon Manicure collection — including FIVE new shades. The collection is designed so that everyone can pick their perfectly complimentary red, including one shade that is the “universal” red, so it’s design to compliment every skin tone.

I am a HUGE red nail polish lover. It’s literally all I wore on my nails from 2004-2006. So a whole collection dedicated to red nails… I’m definitely here for that!

Today I have the first 5 lighter polishes from the collection, & I’ll share the other four darker shades in tomorrow’s post!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)”

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Fall Ruffian 🍁🍂

The weather here in Halifax is feeling much more seasonal, & I can’t lie–I’m digging it. A lot. I’ve just been waiting for the moment when I could finally wear tights & dresses, & it’s here. If it could stay this perfect seasonal weather until, oh I don’t know… November, that would be just fantastic.

Today’s look is a super easy design that requires no tools at all–just a tiny bit of patience. I love the simplicity of this design & how well the two colours paired together.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI My Chihuahua Bites!
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer

I’m just absolutely love the dark over the bright. It pops so well. Essie After School Boy Blazer is one of my all time favourite blues & I’m still so in love with it all these years later. One of the most perfect navy’s I own.

Gosh, I just love love love the look of a ruffian design–it’s a great alternative to a simple french manicure or half moon design. Also I apologize about the tip wear–I wore this design all day at work before getting a chance to take pictures, but thankfully they weren’t too worse for wear!

what do you think of this ruffian design? What colour combo would you pick for a ruffian look? Let me know down in the comments below.

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Born Pretty Store 3D Nail Art Stickers (item #40422) Review

Good morning beauties & happy Tuesday. Today I’m showing off some brand new nail art stickers I recently received in a review package from Born Pretty Store. They were so kind as to send me a few nail art goodies in exchange for my honest thoughts & reviews, & I couldn’t wait to break into the package!

These nail art stickers are item #40422 & come in both gold holo & silver holo. I picked both colours, but since I was feeling a purple base, I figured the gold would pop more over top. The stickers themselves come with a large sheet of different sizes & style, which is perfect when trying to pick what kind of look you want to do. For my nails, I decided to go more simplistic using the larger size stickers.

Application was super simple. All you need to do is paint your base colour (I picked Joe Fresh Gel Gothika Blue) & let dry some. To speed up the drying process, I did apply a quick dry top coat to my base, mostly because if my nails were fully dry, I could be more selective about sticker application. When my nails were dry, I then carefully peeled my stickers off their sheet with tweezers, & applied them onto my nail. I made sure to press them down really well, & flatten any possible air bubbles. Then, when I was happy with my look, I sealed everything in with top coat.

I wore these nails for a full day of work (stock day at that!) & they lasted pretty well. I did find that my nails where the sticker went close to the edge of my nail–like my middle finger & pinky nail–had some issues with the sticker lifting but that could be because I was not as precise with my top coat to fully seal the sticker in. The best bet is to aim to make sure that the stickers are placed more centrally on the nail, or you just make sure your sealing all the edges really well.

As you can see down below, my stickers definitely seemed to stand out a bit from its base–they were for the most part sealed onto my nail, but seemed raised against my base colour. I don’t know if this was because I had used a top coat already but when I use these again I will definitely try it over just the base colour & see if it helps the issue. These stickers are definitely not the first brand I’ve had this issue with, so I’m thinking it’s more an issue with my application.

I’m definitely a fan of these stickers & the easy way you can create a nail art look using them. I even had someone ask me where I got my nails done! As I mentioned above, you can find these guys at the Born Pretty Store website (item #40422) & they come in both silver & gold. I definitely want to try pairing both colours together the next time I use them, so see what kind of look I can create.

Don’t forget, you can use my Born Pretty discount code COFFK31 to save 10% off any regular priced items.