SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Poison Apple 🍎

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful Autumn Sunday, cool & crisp. It’s also the last Sunday of October, if you can believe it. How is this month almost over?

Even though I have some really exciting shades from Ella + Mila to share with you, I wanted to close off this month with a slightly Halloween adjacent shade with Claire’s Poison Apple.

This shade was the third in the collection they released in the early 2010s as dupes for the MAC Villainous collection — click to see the swatches of Evil Queen & Venomously.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful foil red takes a few coats for perfect opacity, but it’s worth the work (& dry time). The formula is a metallic red with micro flakies. It has a subtle gold shift, although it shows up better in the bottle on the nail (as is the trend with this mini collection). For an almost 15 year old nail polish, the formula is still great & I had no issues with application.

Look at that metallic finish—so pretty! I love colour for this time of year. I do wish that you see that gold shift on the nail like you can in the bottle, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. & I’m so happy that I have all three in my stash, especially because I didn’t original think that I did have a full set.

What do you think of Claire’s Poison Apple? Do you like this villainous red? Do you think Claire’s should do another release like this? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Birthday Waterfall Nails 💖🧁💅

*includes PR

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. & happy day after Canadian Thanksgiving. I’m sure my fellow Canadians are also feeling the post-holiday food coma.

Today is my birthday, so I wanted to do some special nails for the occasion. & when thinking about what nail polish I wanted to wear, there was only one that came to mind: Cadillacquer Lavender Sunset — the NailStuff exclusive shade released earlier this year. & I finally tried layering it over a darker base, which I’ve been meaning to try for a while & it looks absolutely spectacular!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Cadillacquer Lavender Sunset
  • OPI Infinite Shine Mariachi Makes My Day (layered under Lavender Sunset)
  • NailStuff Essentials Holographic Top Coat
  • Essie Nail Art Studio Cosmic Chrome
  • Essie Separated Starlight
  • Essie Birthday Girl
  • Quo by Orly Black Striper
  • Nailstuff Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

So, with full disclosure, this was not originally the design I had planned for my birthday nails. I saw a cool manicure online that I loved, but apparently when I went back to find it… I had forgotten to save it. So when I attempted it from memory… things did not turn out the way I planned.

This was actually design attempt #4… maybe #5. I’ll be honest… I lost count.

But you know after all the hassle & frustration, I actually love how these ended up looking! So I guess it was all worth it. When all else fails, pull out some sparkly polishes & create a fun waterfall look!

What do you think of these birthday nails? Would you wear this sparkly waterfall look?

Let me know what you think! & have a beautiful day.

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Color Club What’s The Matte-r?

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful October Sunday. The Fall vibes are really vibing as of right now, & I just want to drink all the pumpkin spice & eat all the candy corn! I also want to wear all sorts of great Fall nail polishes & colours.

I was perusing through my nail polish stash, looking for a good Autumn shade to share, & found a set of a Color Club mattes that I realized I’ve never shared those shades! I love a good matte nail this time of year, so I decided to grab the most Autumn-esque shade to share.

This is Color Club What’s The Matte-r?

2 coats

This beautiful metallic olive green is a super unique colour I definitely wouldn’t buy on its own in the store — but I happened to get it as part of set at Marshall’s with other Color Club mattes. & honestly, I think I need to be less judgemental about colour because this shade is freaking gorgeous!

Seriously, the olive green somewhat gold shift is super stunning & unique. You also get flashes of a darker green in some light — it’s just flat out beautiful. & I think it’s a great Autumn shade which is an alternative to my usual dark purple, blues & maroons that I tend to reach for this time of year.

Up close you can see that lovely matte finish. It self levels really well, dries down very smoothly, & doesn’t show brush strokes too badly.

& just for fun, I wanted to see how it looked with a glossy top coat applied. & honestly, I prefer the matte version more. It’s much more striking & beautiful! Just feels like a crispy Fall leaf that has fallen on the ground.

Looking online, it appears to still be available on the Color Club website, so if you’re looking for a beautiful unique Autumn shade option, I would say snatch it up!

What do you think of Color Club What’s the Matte-r? Would you wear this matte beauty? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

Bronze-y Autumn Half Moons

Hello loves & the happiest of Fridays! It’s almost the weekend — & I’m excited because we’re going to do some Halloween decorating with the kids tomorrow. It’s my most favourite time of year & I’m absolutely soaking it all in!

Today I have another fun Autumn toned design to share with you. This one is a pretty easy one I feel like anyone can recreate, & it’s definitely eye catching.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Frilly Lillies
  • Essie Leggy Legend
  • Essie Kimono Over
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (smallest size)
  • Paper Hole Reinforcements (mine are from Dollarama)

So I totally went out of my comfort zone on the colour scheme of this design, but I feel like it’s really giving Autumn. Not usually an orange/bronze all over girl — normally I probably would have used Kimono Over as my dominant colour — but I really wanted to try something different. & I have to say — I kind of over it. I’m definitely glad I didn’t stick to my comfort zone, & instead tried something new.

What do you think of this half moon look? Do you like the colour combination? Is this a pairing you would wear? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Friday!

🍂🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Coconut Kiss

Good morning beauties, & happy sunny Sunday. The weather is feeling more & more Summer like. A girl could get used to sunshine like this! Obviously that meant I needed to dig through my stash for something summery that I haven’t shared yet.

& China Glaze Coconut Kiss is obviously the perfect choice!

2 coats + top coat

China Glaze Coconut Kiss is a beautiful deep purple with a metallic finish. The formula was on the thinner side, which meant the application was easy & built to opacity in just two coats. I love the deeper purple shade, but it also has a stunning flash of lighter purple/fuchsia depending on how you move your hand.

The shimmer just brings this polish to the next level!

Like come on, how pretty is the polish?

& the great new is this shade is part of China Glaze’s permanent collection so it’s easily available anywhere you buy China Glaze nail polish.

What do you think about China Glaze Coconut Kiss? Are you a fan of this pretty purple polish, or have it in your own collection? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!