Category: Manicure

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Holo Half Moons

I’ve been a very bad blogger. You’d think being on leave I’d have all the time for keeping up with this blog, but it turns out preparing for a new baby is very time consuming! We’ve got two weeks to go now, and everything together, so I’m going to try and get on some blogging while I can! After baby comes—hopefully I’ll still be able to keep up after things slow down some. 

And now onto some nails! (Because that’s why we’re all here after all.) 

It’s been a little while since I wore my beloved half moons, and I thought hey! Why not some holo half moons–because obviously holo makes everything better. As I’ve written before, I love half moon manicures because they’re so easy and so versatile–just so many colour combinations, and so easy to do. I used actual nail tip guides from Kiss for this particular design, but it’s just as easy to use paper hole reinforcers to accomplish the same look. (I usually buy mine from the Dollar Store and they last forever!) 


Polishes used for this mani are: 

  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Retro Pink
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Ocean Rush 
  • Kiss Products nail guides 
  • Essie Gel Setter top coat. 

So what do you think of this design? What is your favourite nail art design you always go back to? For me it’s obviously a toss up between regular half moons and chevron moons! Both are so easy and always look fancy on the nail! 

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QUO by Orly Holiday 2016 Perfectly Painted collection 

Good morning lovelies! Finally getting these swatches up after meaning to for  way too long! These polishes were kindly sent to me for review and are part of the holiday collection released by QUO. 

For each of these swatches I used a base coat and top coat. Also most of these polishes took 3 coats per nail with the exception of the glitters. 


First up, we have the glitters in the collection, one pink and one more of a rose gold. Both of these polishes went on easily, in two coats. They look more textured than they actually are but the sparkle is amazing. These are fun colours to play around for Christmas. 


Next up we have the two blues in the collection. Both polishes required three coats to cover any patchiness. These two colours go quite well together, although I wouldn’t call them Christmas colours. I also love the fact this 12 pack has a really good selection of different colours to choose from. 


The 3rd set of colours I have to show off are the pinks and peaches. Again, these two colours took three coats to fully cover. The darker was much more sheer and even though you can’t see it, barely covered my visible nail line.  These are great neutrals, and definitely great colours when you need something more subtle.  


Up next we have some pinks! Like all these colours, I found 3 coats best covered. And again, I find these colours not so much Holiday colours (they would be great for Summer!) but I really love these shades. 


Onto the reds… you know how much I love red nail polish. I’m pretty sure these are also featured in the 6 pack collection also for Holiday 2016. But never the less I don’t mind having extras of these pretty colours! 


And last (but not least) we have the last two polishes which are not similar in any way but I think look great together. I’ve been using the grey polish (middle and ring nail) a lot lately! The fushia is also a great bright polish. Again, it took three coats for each for perfect application. 

So which colour do you like the most? Has anyone else picked up this set yet, or any of the other QUO Holiday items.  Let me know in the comments below! 

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Red Cup inspired red nails. 

So here is what I topped Claire’s Red Carpet with from yesterday’s post! I’m sure you’ve come across one of the adorable cups from Starbucks red cup collection. As my husband and I are both avid Starbucks drinkers (incase you’ve never noticed before) I just had to recreate one of the designs on my nails. So I went with my favourite–the Christmas lights! 

The polishes used for this mani are:

  • Claire’s Red Carpet 
  • Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art pen in black. 
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI
  • Essie Gel Setter. 
  • Small sized dotting tool. 


What do you think of this mani? My light bulbs turned out slightly wonky, but I feel like it channels the inspiration well enough! Plus there is nothing that says Christmas is coming (for the coffee addict at least) than when Starbucks brings out their red cups… and Gingerbread latte of course! 

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From the Stash: Claire’s Red Carpet 

Every so often I like going through the many polishes in my stash, and pulling out polishes that I may have forgotten about. Today I have Claire’s Red Carpet (circa 2010ish?) a pretty glittery red that is kind of perfect for this time of year! 


Red Carpet is a glittery red polish which applie perfectly in 2 coats for full coverage. And even after 6 years, this polish has no formula issues! I love red nail polish, but I find a lot of them don’t always cover my nail line or take too many coats. That’s not an issue here, I’m guessing thanks in part to the dense micro glitters. 


For this mani, I used a peel off base coat for removal so I can’t comment on ease of removal, but like any glitter I’m sure it’s fun. Never the less, I’m totally in love with the colour and I’m so glad I rediscovered this polish (just in time for the holidays!) 

Anyone else have this polish (or other oldie but goodies!) hiding in the back of their stash? I’m going to try and start featuring of my old favourites every so often. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for what I created over this polish. 

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QUO by Orly Best of the Best Holiday 2016 6 pack collection 

Hello lovelies! It’s been a while (too long!) but I’m back and I have some swatches to finally share.  A few weeks back I was sent some QUO by Orly products for review, and I finally have swatches of one of the two sets to share!


The Best of the Best 6 polish collection contains 6 creme and crelly mini bottles of polish. I’m a huge fan of these mini sets because you get a great selection of polishes to try out and fall in love with! The only downside is there are no names to go along with the polishes.

Now onto the swatches! For each swatch I used a base coat (always), two to three coats of polish, and finished with top coat.

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