Category: nail polish

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SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Mirrorball

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone had a lovely & safe Christmas. We enjoyed our much quieter Christmas—figuratively speaking, of course. You know what happens when you give an almost 4 year old chocolate at 7am? A very long, loud, day haha.

Today is our last Swatch Sunday post of 2020, can you believe it? This year is officially almost over. All I can hope for 2021 is health, happiness, & the world finds a way to be a little more peaceful. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to end the year with a polish classic (& a perfect New Year’s Eve shade!): ORLY Mirrorball.

3 coats, no top coat.

According to my Google research, ORLY Mirrorball was originally released in 2014 as part of their holiday collection. I picked up my bottle on clearance at the end of that year, so it’s been around a long time! It’s also one of those shades I always come back to when I’m feeling the need for some bling, because if it’s one thing this polish has, is bling!

As you can see, Mirrorball is a silver liner holo polish with large hex holographic polishes. For my swatches, you’re seeing 3 coats of polish over my base coat. Usually, I tend to wear this shade over another silver base so I don’t have to use as many coats, but for my swatches, I wanted to capture how the shade looks like all on its own.

This shade is so sparkly, I just love it so much. I think it’s still available for purchase, with listings on Amazon & ORLY’s website as well, so if you don’t have this shade in your life already, I definitely recommend picking it up!

What do you think of ORLY Mirrorball? Would you wear this beautiful holographic shade? & Let me know what you’re planning on wearing for New Years Eve!

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Christmas-y Glitter Gradient 🎄❄️

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! I know, I’m switching this thing up by posting on a Tuesday. I decided this week that I’m doing to (try) & post a Christmas design every day leading up to Christmas Eve! I just have so many design ideas I want to share!

Today is a simple but effect look — a glitter gradient. Glitter gradients are definitely one of the best I-have-no-time-to-do-nail-art-but-I-want-fancy-nails designs but they take virtually not extra time to do. This one especially doesn’t require any tools at all—I just dabbed the glitter on using the nail polish bottle brush.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Icing Emerald City
  • Icing Santa Baby

How cute is that glitter on top of the green of Icing Emerald City? This is one of my favourite Christmas glitters of all time (I shared swatches of it last year), & I’ve done some version of this glitter gradient every year, with different base colours, because it works so well.

Also the polish is scented like candy canes when dry, even 5 years after I bought it, which I think is so much fun! The glitter also has a variety of different shaped glitters, which I really like, because it gives good dimension to the gradient so that it pops on the nail! In fact, I had a lot of people comment on my nails at work, which always brings a smile to my face!

What do you think of this glitter gradient? Are you a fan of this type of easy nail art design? What holiday design/polish are you currently wearing? I’d love to know, so please share down in the comments below!

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Wrapping Paper

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Hope everyone had a lovely & not too stressful weekend. We went out on a family (car) adventure to look at Christmas lights, which was lovely, & one of my favourite Christmas activities!

Today I’m sharing another beautiful Christmas-y look for #GlamNailsChallengeDec: Wrapping Paper.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Essence Give Me Nude, Baby
  • Essie Sparkle On Top
  • Zoya Ray
  • Essie Mosaic On Down
  • Deborah Lippmann Through The Fire
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Nail Art Striper Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)

I loved how open this prompt was, because there were so many options! I decided I wanted to go with a nude-ish base, a little sparkle, & some Christmas-y stripes. It’s the kind of wrapping paper I would love to see my gifts wrapped under the tree. I loved the shimmer from the glitter (Essie Sparkle On Top) & the bit of shimmer in the nail polish.

There is just something about the subtle ness of the nude base, the bit of sparkle & the stripes that I just love.

What do you think about my wrapping paper inspired nails? Would you rock this design? Have you figured out your Christmas nail look? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Icing Emerald City

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s 4 sleeps until Christmas, can you believe it? I definitely can’t.

I was searching through my stash to find a Christmas-y green to share, & realized that I don’t really have a lot of green polishes (that aren’t neon) in my stash. I did stumble across this beauty from years past, & thought it would be a great to share!

Today’s polish pick is Icing Emerald City, which is a beautiful emerald green shimmer with a soft “cashmere” finish. This shade was originally purchased circa 2013-2014 (I’m guessing).

2 coats, no top coat.

For an old polish, the formula is easy to work with. It’s thick, so it applied well, but not clumpy or weird (which is good for an old shade). I did need 2 coats for full opacity, but that was just because of a few streaky spots. I love the brushes on these old bottles, because of how wide they are—it really makes the polish easy to apply. As for the finish, I was kind of expecting it to be more matte for a “cashmere” finish, & while it wasn’t super shiny, it wasn’t super matte either. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but I’d probably add a matte top coat over top if I was looking for a really true “cashmere” finish.

Check out that macro! You can really see the blue & green micro glitters that make up the shimmer. I’m kind of obsessed. Such a beautiful green, & it really is great for a Christmas look!

What do you think about this old school shade? What is your favourite Christmas green? After looking in my stash, I’m realizing I really need to get a few more in my stash! Let me know your picks down in the comments below!

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Reindeer 🦌

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. We’re officially halfway through December & Christmas is a week away! How did that even happen? But I’m loving just all the Christmas nail art looks I’ve been wearing — definitely the most wonderful time of year for nail art!

Today we have another #GlamNailsChallengeDec look to share! Today’s prompt is Reindeer, so naturally that meant I needed to pull out my favourite reindeer stamping plate design for some Rudolph nails!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Good Cheer-y
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • Essie Mosiac On Down
  • Essence Give Me Nude, Baby
  • Zoya Ray
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

Oh man, this look is just classic Christmas, & I love it! It was also a really easy look to do — the hardest part was the stamping, but as you can see, it turned out perfect! If you don’t have a stamping plate (or don’t like stamping), a nail vinyl would work just as easily! A perfect look for Christmas morning. 🎄

What do you think of this reindeer look? Do you enjoy these festive designs I’ve been sharing for #GlamNailsChallenge? Don’t forget to check out all the lovely looks people have been sharing.

Have a lovely Wednesday!