Category: Manicure

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Pastel Neon Half Moons

Hey beauties & happy Tuesday!

I hope everyone’s weekend & beginning of a new week was lovely. We’re quickly approaching March, & that is probably the weirdest nail art month for me because it’s the least inspiring — aside from St. Patrick’s Day, of course. Naturally, I’m craving Spring, as I have been for the last few posts, but Winter has actually hit Halifax which is lame.

So give me some neon!

Today’s look was a quick & easy look to satisfy my neon cravings. A little hint of Spring, even when it’s way below freezing.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Neon Electri-Lime 
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Aside
  • Paper Hole Reinforcements (Dollarama stationary section)

How cute are these! I love the pastel purple & the neon green paired together. It’s a nice bright look on a chilly day — which we’ve been having a lot of lately. I may not be able to break out the Spring dresses yet, but at least I can wear some Spring nail polishes. It’s the little things that make me happy.

Also this is a super, super easy look to do. Half moons this way were one of the earlier nail art techniques I taught myself — circa like 2011/2012 — but even after all the years, it’s still one of my easy nail art go tos. Seriously… if you’re wanting to dip your toes into the nail art game, but nervous about technique, go with this easy look! As long as you make sure your base is well dried, it’s pretty hard to muck this look up.

What do you think about these pastel neon half moons? Are they giving you all the Spring vibes? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & if you would try this easy nail art look.

Have a lovely Tuesday! ♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Sunday Funday

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s a beautifully sunny, albeit freaking chilly, Sunday here on my part of the East Coast. Winter seems to be lingering now. So I thought I would remind myself of better, warmer days with an old favourite Essie shade for this week’s Swatch Sunday post — Sunday Funday.

It was originally released as part of the Summer 2013 Naughty Nautical collection.

2 coats + Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat

For a polish which has been in my stash for (I think) at least 8 years, she applied like a dream. I needed to shade my bottle a bit, since it had settled leaving the colour weird, but I found it had no effect once it was on the nail — you can see in the bottle there is still some colour separation showing.

The polish itself is a beautiful pinky coral, with a gold glass shimmer. It gives it a nice sparkle. I had a bit of trouble with photographing, as everything was photographing really yellow, but I think that’s a phone camera issue rather than a polish issue. These pictures are definitely as colour accurate as I could get.

As mentioned, this shade was originally released in 2013. It was part of the core collection for a while, I do believe, but Essie lists it as no longer available on their website sadly. I did find a listing for it on Sparkle Canada, but I’ve never bought from them so I’m not sure how legit that is. Obviously, if it’s a shade you need to have, Ebay always might have it, as well as any nail polish clearance bins.

What do you think about this punchy Essie shade? Are you are ready for Spring & Summer shades as I am ready to share them? Let me know what you think of Essie Sunday Funday! & I hope you have a Sunday Funday (that’s just fun to say) too!

♥︎

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Purple & Gold Colour Blocking

Hello beauties & happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. Mine has been busy, & we’re anxiously awaiting another snowstorm. But at least I have some cute nails to show off!

Today’s look was kind of an experiment, I guess. I was just playing around on my nails, but I liked them so much I decided to wear them as a full manicure. I love when that happens! Especially because I am in a nail art rut right now, & struggling with ideas.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable You’re A Gem
  • Quo by ORLY Colour Amp’d Venice
  • Quo by ORLY Colour Amp’d Stadium Way
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Fairy Godmother
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

This feels very regal, like something you would see on the dress of Victorian royalty. The colours, & the gold accents — it all feels very royal. It’s a fun look, & relatively quick to do. I also haven’t really dug into my old Quo by ORLY polishes in a while, so I was happy to pull out a few I haven’t worn in a while.

Purple & gold is always a solid colour combination.

What do you think about this colour combination & nail art look? Are you a fan of this purple & gold combination? Let me know all your thoughts down below, & let me know what you’re wearing on your nails lately.

I’ve been starting to feel myself drawn to neon lately, so I would be prepared for some fun neon looks in the future!

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Purple & Gold Matte Geometric Stripes

Hello loves & Happy Tuesday.

Anyone else feeling the full on February blahs? I feel like it’s translating to my nails, because post-Valentine’s Day, I’m struggling to think of what to wear on my nails! Too early to go too hard on the Spring looks, but I don’t really want to do Winter designs either.

I am feeling stumped.

But you know what never fairs me? My striper brush. I had painted my nails & thought about doing a single gold line — like this — but decided I was feeling something a bit more abstract so that’s what we went with! & I love how they turned out, especially with the addition of the matte top coat.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How beautiful is this dark purple & gold together? I’m kind of sad that Trouble Maker was discontinued from the Sally Hansen CSM line, because it’s such a beautiful perfect purple. & my bottle is starting to sadly get low. That’s the hardest part of being a nail polish addict… you find those polishes that you love to wear so much, & they never stick around forever. Although Essie Kimono Over is a close second in my heart, so at least I still have her for my dark purple craving days!

What do you think about this purple & gold geometric look? Are you a fan of these kinds of designs, or do you prefer a bit more complicated nail art? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what nail art you think that February calls for!

Have a lovely day!♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Dorothy Who?

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! I hope everyone’s week was lovely, & not too cold. Our weather has been very up & down — one day it’s sunny & feels like Spring, the next day we get freezing rain snowstorms. Winter is so much fun.

But I’m actually really excited for today’s post, because I’m sharing a polish that has been in my stash for long, long time, but in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever actually worn it: China Glaze Dorothy Who?

2 coats + Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

This beautiful jelly blue is packed full of blue & silver micro glitters. Because of the jelly base, I was worried about how many coats I would need for opacity, but two was the perfect amount. The glitters are definitely densely packed, which helps with creating opacity easily. I applied top coat though, because I did find that it had a rough finish from the glitter, & I just really wanted more of a smoother finish.

Look how beautiful. Based on the name, I’m guessing this is like the sister shade to China Glaze Ruby Slippers & they were both released as part of the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection circa 2009 but then became part of the China Glaze Core collection. I’ve worn Ruby Slippers a lot over the years — in fact my bottle is getting pretty empty — & I can’t believe I let this beauty slip by for so long!

There are a few places I’ve found online (through Google) you can purchase this beauty:

As well as a whole bunch of others that pop up when you type “China Glaze Dorothy Who?” into Google. I would imagine China Glaze’s website would be the best option as it’s the most legit, but I’m not sure where their shipping reaches.

What do you think about this beauty of a polish? Do you love this beautiful sapphire sparkle? Let me know down in the comments below, & if you own this shade in your stash. Also let m know if you enjoy seeing this older released polishes! I definitely have a ton from over the years, & I’m realizing how many I’ve never swatched, so I’m having fun documenting them.

Have a lovely Sunday!