SWATCH SUNDAY — 6 Nail Polishes I’m Loving for Valentine’s Day!

Happy Sunday lovelies.

Since we’re into the first week of the month of love, I thought it would be fun to dedicate Swatch Sunday to some perfect polishes for Valentine’s Day. I own a lot of pink & red shades so I had fun going through my stash to find 6 polishes that I will definitely be loving this month in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day (okay & pretty much always because pink & red nail polish always have my heart). I actually did a post like this a few years ago, so I thought it would be fun to do another one!

So here are my 6 polish picks for Valentine’s Day 2018.

 

CHINA GLAZE — SEDUCE ME

Firtst up is China Glaze Seduce Me, a deep berry red that applies in 2 coats, although if you’re careful you might be able to get away with one careful coat. My bottle is pretty old, so I went with two. I chose this colour for Valentine’s Day because I feel like it’s a really grown up colour: it has pinkish undertones but it’s not bubblegum pink & it’s also not that classic candy apple red shade either. It’s a little bit different, & I honestly feel like this shade is one that will look great on everyone! It also pairs really well with other pink & reds for nail art (like some zig zag chevrons perhaps?)

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L’OREAL VERNIS A L’HUILE — JARDIN DES ROSES

L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses is my first pink choice & it’s a pink I’ve really been loving lately. This is two coats for full coverage of this soft romantic pink & it applies really well. This pink is great because of how soft the colour is–you won’t look like you’re Barbie when you wear it.

 

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN BEAUTY — ROUGE LOUBOUTIN

If you’re looking for a classic red to wear on Valentine’s Day, I feel like you don’t need to look any further than Christian Louboutin Beauty Rouge Louboutin! I received this beautiful red nail polish from a family friend the night before my wedding, & because it is so special to me I tend to save it for special occasions. I used two coats for coverage — it’s pretty good after one, but I wanted to make sure there was no hint of visible nail line. This is definitely the perfect classic red for a Valentine’s Day date, & if your significant other forgets about Valentine’s Day, you can always stab them with the bottle!

 

ACO BY ARDENE — BOUDOIR

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion, & sometimes I want a little glitter & Ardene Boudoir is a fun glitter choice. It a clear base stuffed full of berry glitters. I used 3 coats for my swatches (thank god for peel off base coat) but normally I would either apply it over top a complimentary shade or sponge the glitter onto my nail. You can build close to opacity though, although I couldn’t imagine the dry time. I just love the colour of the glitter in this polish–sometimes you just need to sparkle a little (or a lot)!

 

OPI — FIRE ESCAPE RENDEZVOUS

Next up we have OPI Fire Escape Rendezvous. This is 2 coats of this metallic ruby red polish with glitters–both shard glitter & hex glitter. The glitters are interesting, but I really dig them.  They give this polish an interesting texture which makes it unique, although I definitely prefer it top coated (Seche Vive). If you’re looking for something a little more than just red, this would be a great choice.

SINFUL COLORS — BLOOM BLAST FLOWER POWER

Last, but definitely not least, is Sinful Colors Bloom Blast in Flower Power. This milky pink shade is stuffed full of large & tiny matte pink metallic & white glitters. I belive it’s supposed to be worn on it’s own but I think it looks best over top other pink polishes. This is one coat over OPI Two Timing the Zones. How cute does this look? I know not everyone is a nail art person, so a topper like this is a great way of zazzing up your nails without having to worry about freehanding anything! It’s almost a dotticure without any of the work!

 

So those are the six polishes I’m loving for Valentine’s Day this year? What shades/polishes are your Valentine’s Day favourites? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail

 

Happy Sunday lovelies! Even though it’s still January, I’ve been craving Spring like crazy & I feel like it’s been reflected in my nail polish choices a lot lately. Plus, I’ve been binge watching “Vanderpump Rules” so now I just really want to be able to wear cute flirty outfits instead of  winter boots & my extra large puffy jacket. Since mother nature doesn’t want to grant my wishes, I guess I’ll just have to dig into my polish collection & find Spring in whatever way I can.

So today’s Swatch Sunday choice is all about Spring. Today I’m showing off Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail. This shade is from Beyond the Nail’s their Spring 2017 Spring Mystical Dreams collection that I was beyond lucky enough to win last year. Shimmering Mermaid Tail is a pastel blue creme with scattering holographic glitters.

This shade is such an old school Shannon shade, circa the early 2000s. I mean, I didn’t know what holo was back then, but a beautiful blue like this is what I was I am all about!  This was 2 coats, plus top coat, & it self levels really well even before you add top coat which can sometimes be a problem when it comes to pastels like this. The holographic glitter is slightly hidden on the nail under this lighting, but it is there & in the sunshine you can really see it.

You can see those glitters in the bottle up above, so obviously I figured the best way to show it off was with some macro shots. Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with my macro lens? Also just staring at these pictures is making me just want it to be Spring already–I’m so ready for cute dresses, & my flats & to not be wearing 19 layers just to leave the house. I guess in the mean time, I’ll just have to wear all my favourite Spring colours which means Shimmering Mermaid Tail (& the rest of the gorgeous shades from the Mystical Dreams collection) in going to be in my regular rotation.

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If you’re staring at this shade telling yourself you need to own this in time for Spring–or just to get you through until Spring–you’re in luck! Beyond the Nail still has this collection on sale on their website!

What do you think of this shade? Are you craving Spring as much as I am? Let me know your favourite colour for Spring down below!

 

Mermaid Nails using NailStuff.ca Aqua Collection Flakies

Happy Saturday! Today I’m sharing one of the prettiest designs I think I’ve ever done–a mermaid design using the Aqua Collection flakies from NailStuff.ca. It felt like ages since I created mermaid nails, & those flakies were just sitting there staring at me, waiting to be used. I couldn’t decide which colour to use so I decided why not use all three! & the end result is pretty much the prettiest nails I’ve ever worn!

For this manicure, the products I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • Fingerprints Peel Off Base Coat
  • Nailstuff.ca Aqua Collections flakies (Mermaid, Lagoon & Abyss)
  • What’s Up Nails Scale Vinyls
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

These were surprisingly easy to do–I applied my base colour (Essie Under the Twilight) & my top coat & let it dry completely. When my base was completely dry, I applied my vinyls to each nail & then went over top with Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat. I’ve found that using it helps adhere the flakies best. Without waiting, I then dipped my sponge (that comes with the flakies) into each pot & rubbed the flakies over top in certain spots. I then repeated it again using the other two pots of flakies. When I felt like I had filled in the vinyls enough, I removed them immediately, & finished off the design with top coat.

Just look at that macro! It looks like jewels on the nail. I’m seriously in love. My only regret is that I didn’t think to top it with matte top coat before I removed them. Can you imagine how pretty they would have looked matte?

what do you think of this design? Do you see mermaid nails or dragon nails? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own.

Gold Flakie Glitter Placement

Happy Saturday lovelies! Hope everyone is having a wonderful first week of 2018. Today I am super excited, not only because I have these super cute flakie nails to share, but I created a tutorial for you… a VIDEO tutorial! I’ve been toying with the idea of creating videos for a while, but kind of nervous how doing it. But 2018 is all about challenging myself when it comes to this blog! & honestly, it turns out wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be! It’s actually kind of fun. ♥️

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oducts used for this manicure:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Morgan Taylor Don’t Toy With My Heart
  • Nailstuff.ca gold foil flakies
  • Dotting tool (mine is from Bundle Monster)

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I always love a good glitter placement, & I thought these gold foil flakies from Nailstuff.ca paired so well with the red base of Morgan Taylor Don’t Toy With My Heart. It’s a little different trying to place flakies verses glitter from polish, but the end result looks just as gorgeous. I’ll definitely be trying this look with a few of the iridescent flakies I own.

A close up of these nails shows how cool the flakies look. I’m definitely going to be using this technique more often!

what do you think of this glitter placement design? I plan on making more tutorial videos, so let me know what you’d like to see & anything I can do to improve!

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own.

<These polishes were all gifted to me by Morgan Taylor as part of the Preen.Me #PreenMeVIP program>

Morgan Taylor Little Miss Nutcracker Collection

Happy 2018 Everyone! ✨ I know I’ve been a little quiet over Christmas, but we spent it up in Northern New Brunswick with my Mum & Dad & Granddad & I decided because it was Lil Bubs first Christmas I wanted to be in the moment completely, hence putting the blog aside for a little while to enjoy the moments! Now I’m back, & I have some gorgeous swatches of some gorgeous polishes (which are WAY overdue).

Yes, I know… normally I would wait until Sunday for all these swatches but that just means you’ve get double the swatches this week! But I wanted to get this Morgan Taylor Little Miss Nutcracker polishes up finally–yes, this collection is technically for the holidays but once you see these swatches you’ll realize they’re great shades for all through the year!

<These polishes were all gifted to me by Morgan Taylor as part of the Preen.Me#PreenMeVIP program>

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