Category: Hard Candy

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Spring-y Pink Floral Vibes (Again)

Hello loves & happy Friday! It’s almost the weekend & isn’t that just wonderful.

Today I have more floral for you. I know — I just can’t get enough! & this one turned out especially beautiful, so I’m really excited to share it. Even though we had snow the other day, it didn’t stick & the days are definitely feeling warmer. Spring is definitely on its way, & it is lovely to feel that sunshine on your face!

So bring on all the floral nails!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: Essie Hard to Resist Advanced
  • Hard Candy Crush On Hot Pink
  • Essie Muchi Muchi
  • Essie Play Date
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Ellen Tracy Hot Pink (no name)
  • Ellen Tracy Dusty Pink (no name)
  • Madam Glam Acrylic Nail Art Pen in Purple
  • Madam Glam Acrylic Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Madam Glam Acrylic Nail Art Pen in Black
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

I feel like this week I’ve very much been on a purple & pink kick. They’re usually the shades I have hanging around on my nail desk, so I guess that is why I grab them most frequently. I just adore how my floral turned out though, & I’m really proud of the finished product. I also think the hot pink base is especially fun. Let’s bring on some brighter days!

So what do you think about my floral design? I’m so, so ready for real Spring days! I did break out one of my floral dresses the other day, & it felt great to wear it! I cannot wait until I can wear one everyday. That’s when it will really feel like Spring!

Happy Friday love

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Hard Candy Zombie (2015 20th Anniversary collection)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. & Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians celebrating this weekend. I hope it’s a wonderful weekend for you, full of Turkey & pumpkin pie.

Today I’m keeping the Halloween polish vibes going. Technically this isn’t a Halloween shade, per se, but it does have a very spooky name so I thought it would be perfect. This is Hard Candy Zombie.

1 coat + top coat

Even after 8 years, formula on this vintage shade is still very very good. I only needed one coat on most nails, although there were a couple spots where I touched up with a little extra. But it was a very good full coverage shade. The colour itself is a beautiful dark vampy purple, with burgundy shimmer. I do wish more of the shimmer had shown on my nails, though. In the bottle, it has such a stunning glow that sadly doesn’t fully translate to the nail fully.

This shade was originally released as part of the 2015 20th Anniversary collection that Hard Candy released as a tribute to the 90s. My assumption is that naming the shade Zombie is a tribute to the Cranberries song, although with it’s dark colour I feel like it’s also very perfect for Halloween.

Sadly, Hard Candy no longer appears to be in the nail polish game, which is a shame because all of the shades I own from them remain stunners, even after all this time.

What do you think about Hard Candy Zombie? Do you remember this release? What do you think — should Hard Candy get back into the polish game again? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Have a great Sunday loves! 🖤

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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!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Hard Candy Sky

Happy Sunday lovelies! Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Today I pulled a shade from deep in my stash to share with you — Hard Candy Sky. This beauty was released in early 2015 as part of the 20th Anniversary re-release & it’s still one of my favourite sky blues part of my collection.

If you’ve been around this blog a while, you know one of my favourite nail polish shades of all time is light blue. I have a lot of blue nail polish in my stash, & I don’t foresee it being a shade I’m like “nah, I have enough” any time soon. & now that I’m really craving Spring, I’ve found myself pulling out my baby blue nail polishes a lot more frequently.

You’re looking at 2 coats + top coat (Essie Gel Setter).

For a 5 year old polish, the formula on this shade is still pretty easy to work with. A little thicker than I remember, but that happens. However the colour itself is so beautiful, that I’ll take a little bit more caution to be able to wear this shade. The polish itself is a pale blue with the gorgeous blue shimmer that you can see really well in the bottle, but I struggled to capture in my light box but to does show up on the nail depending on the lighting.

This nail polish is so late 90s/early 2000s… which means it’s cool again right, since everything 90s is cool again, right? Seriously though, I feel like this nail polish would fit in so well in an early season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I could wear this while patrolling before hitting the Bronze. (& if you didn’t get that reference, you’re missing out!)

Sadly it doesn’t appear that Hard Candy even makes nail polishes anymore, which explains why I haven’t been able to find it at my local Walmart in forever.

Do you have this beautiful shade? What is your favourite baby blue nail polish? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Hard Candy Coconut

Happy Sunday lovelies! It’s one of my favourite days of the week because it gives me the opportunity to focus on some favourite shades from my stash. Today it’s this beautiful from early 2015 — Hard Candy Coconut. I originally picked up this shade in the original release of the Hard Candy 20th Anniversary shades at Walmart (along with Sky, Scam & Zombie.) I’ve made it no secret my absolute love for a good white nail polish, & this one remains much loved even 3 years later!

2 coats & top coat.

I live for white nail polish. It reminds me of being young. I remember being 15 & searching so hard for a good white & layering 3 different polishes trying to get my nails to look like I wasn’t wearing white-out. Truthfully though, 15 year old Shannon knew nothing about base coats or top coats so I’d add shimmery polishes to try & level out my white polishes. Maybe I was ahead of the time? I also used to use tape to create French manicures which I’d have to redo everyday because I couldn’t stand when they chipped (& they would chip literally 5 minutes after doing them because, again, no top coat.)

There is something that is so fresh about white nail polish. Not only does it make you look semi-tanned (even if you’re not) but it’s just such a blank canvas… a world full of possibilities. I definitely wish you can see that shimmer that comes out in the bottle, because it really is so pretty, but even without it coming through this polish is a keeper. Which is probably the reason why I’m still pulling it out 3 years after I first bought it, & why I’ll always make sure I have a back up bottle for the future.

Do you have a favourite white nail polish? Let me know what it is in the comments below!