Fall Leaves 🍂 Nail Art Recreation

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Hello lovelies & Happy Friday!

Today I have a fun nail art look to share with you that is a recreation of an old favourite: this Fall leaf design. This design was one of the first designs I ever posted on Instagram that I was the most proud of. So while browsing through my old designs, I decided it was definitely long overdue for me to recreate this design!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Gel overlay
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat {PR sample}
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Heaven Sent {PR sample}
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Good Cheer-y {PR sample}
  • Wet N Wild Blazed
  • Rimmel 60 Seconds 830 Camouflage
  • Mariposa Nail Polish gold shimmer (no name)
  • Black Acrylic Paint
  • Nailstuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

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So obviously with it being five years since I first painted this design, I wanted to change things up a little bit & play around with the look. Instead of black polish, I used acrylic paint because I knew it would make it easier to start over if there was any mistakes. I also used my 11mm mermaid tail brush from NailStuff.ca, but looking back I should probably should have went with a small size for thinner lines.

Also this time I decided to add some matte top coat over my design, & it really made the design & colours pop! I’ve been absolutely loving the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel matte top coat.

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Just for fun, a couple shots of this design before I added my matte top coat.

Obviously I think both versions of this design are fabulous, but I’m just slightly more in love with the matte version. Something about this time of year just has me craving matte-ified nails more often, & honestly I feel like metallic nails (which I also craved more often during Autumn) pop so much more when they are matte.

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So what do you think about my updated version of this design? Which do you prefer: matte or glossy? Share your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know which version is your favourite!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Fall 2019 Gone West Collection

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Good morning lovelies! Today I am so excited because I am officially diving into some BRAND NEW Fall polishes for 2019!

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I was recently gifted the China Glaze Gone West Fall 2019 collection courtesy of China Glaze themselves! I’d been admiring this collection & all its shades since it was first announced, so to say I was excited to receive all 8 polishes would be an understatement! & I couldn’t wait to get a chance to try each shade on & share them all with you!

& now some swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Fall 2019 Gone West Collection”

Pink Drag Marble with Gold Glitter

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is recovering from the time change this past weekend. I’m currently trying to recover from another fantastic cold, but I did manage to get my nails done before it struck me down this weekend! & it was so exciting to play around on my nails.

& what was I feeling? A drag marble. & oh boy was I rusty!

The polishes I used for this manicure:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Ardene ACO Dashing
  • Ardene ACO Road to Nowhere
  • Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Black Heart
  • Sinful Colors Twilight Twinkles
  • Nailstuff.ca dotting tool

It’s been forever since I attempted any kind of drag marble design & my base shade (Ardene Dashing) was a little too quick drying which added some difficulty to my look. But the more I look at this design, the more it’s grown on me. I added a bit of gold glitter flakes which I’m not sure if it added to the design, but I was a little haphazard with my placement.

& my favourite nails? My thumb & my pinky. The design on both definitely turned out be best. As you can see, the swirl on my thumb looked just perfect. If only every nail had turned out this amazing.

What do you think of this look? Which nail do you think turned out best? Which colour combo do you think I should try next?

Share you thoughts down in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Butter London Pistol Pink

Good Morning & Happy Sunday. Or should I say storm day, as winter weather is currently starting in my neck of the woods. ❄️ Hope everyone that doesn’t have to go out in it, is cuddled up under a blanket with a big mug of coffee!

If you are lucky enough to be snoodled up on your couch, I have a pretty polish to share with you today! Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is Butter London Pistol Pink. This gorgeous deep fuchsia pink was originally released circa 2013 as part of the Rock Your Colour collection, but came to be in my stash a few years ago thanks to Winners. (Canadian version of TJ Maxx for my non-Canadian friends.)

For my swatches, I did a base, two coats of polish & finished with top coat to seal it in as I was planning on wearing it for the day. The base is that deep fuchsia pink, & it’s scattered throughout with lighter pink shimmer that gives it a glowing effect. This is definitely the kind of pink that I adore I could wear for ages–I’ve always been more drawn to deeper & darker berry pinks more so than your brights or neons.

To me, this would be the perfect manicure shade for Valentine’s Day. Which is coming up very, very quickly so time to start brainstorming on looks now!

As I mentioned, I found this shade at my local Winners so I’m not too sure how available this shade is for purchase. I checked the Butter London website, but it doesn’t look to be available there or Amazon, so if you are looking for this shade you’re probably best off checking your own local Winners, Marshall’s or TJ Maxx or seeing if anyone on EBay has one for sale.

I decided since I was going to be rocking this manicure for the day, I needed someone to add on top–so I added a quick swipe of Sinful Colors Twilight Twinklies over top for a little golden glam!

So what do you think of today’s Swatch Sunday polish pick? Is Butter London Pistol Pink hiding away in your stash? Let me know your thoughts on this shade in the comments down below!

Red Plaid Holiday Nails

Good Morning Lovelies! Can you believe it’s only 13 days until Christmas… where has this year gone?! Even though I’ve been insane at work with Christmas coming, I’ve been trying to do my nails when I can–& trying to get in as many Christmas-y designs in as often as I can.

(Not going to lie… painting them has been a struggle, but having time to take pictures is another story all together!)

Today I have some pretty red plaid nails that are a combination of stamping & freehand. I LOVE plaid nails, but sometimes they can be time consuming depending on how many lines you have to free hand. By combining a plaid stamping pattern I had with a bit of freehanding, I managed to come up with a cute & relatively easy plaid look that’s perfect for this time of year!

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Good Cheer-y (from the Decadence collection)
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • L’Oréal Getting Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

I’m not going to lie–I’m a little rusty, & my nails & cuticles have seen better days. But it feels so good to be painting my nails again, & it always feels nice when people randomly compliment me on how pretty my nails are. Of course, then stock comes & they end up a mess… but still nice to have them done in the first place! (& more than just a since colour.)

Going to try & cram as many Christmas designs in as possible over the next week or so, since I’ve been so bad at actually posting the last few months. But January is coming… & things are going to slow way down so I’ll be able to get back into my regular posting life soon. For everyone who has stuck around (& continues to stick around!) thank you so much! It means so much to me.

Now the most important question remains… should I do Christmas tree, snowman or penguin nails next? Let me know in the comments below!