Category: nail polish

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI DS Extravagance

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. This is my first swatch post since my disastrous nail break last week, so obviously I need to pick something stunning to share. & Today I’ve got one of the most beautiful polishes I own, & one I always pull out this time of year–OPI Designer Series Extravagance. This polish was a birthday gift given to me 5 years ago, & I love to wear it in October on or around my birthday.

The OPI Designer Series was a collection of polishes (that are now discontinued I do believe) that were a step above OPI’s regular polish line. A lot of them had holo glitter & flakies to give them a special touch. Extravagance was my first polish from this line, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was also one of the first holos I ever owned, & helped me fall in love with holographic nail polish.

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For my swatches, I did base coat, 2 coats of polish & finished it off with YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat. I’m planning on doing a full post on this top coat, but oh boy am I loving it so far. It dries SO QUICK you guys, like I almost can’t believe it. It might actually be the quickest quick dry top coat I’ve ever used.

The formula on this polish is pretty damn awesome. First coat goes on not quite opaque, & the second coat gives your nail a beautiful sparkly finish. It’s slightly jelly like, but not quite as much as say China Glaze Private Side-Eye. The glitters are so dense though, which is what makes this shade just so beautiful. Literally, it turns your actual nails into gemstones & I love it.

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Even though I do believe this collection has been discontinued, you can see find the polishes available in some places like nailpolishcanada.com & amazon, as well as a few other places they sell OPI I’m sure.

I must say, I don’t officially have a list of all time favourite polishes but if I were actually to sit down & compile one (which I’ve been thinking about doing), this shade would definitely be on it! There are only a few polishes I’ll ever truly wear on their own without even thinking about nail art, but Extravagance is definitely one. It’s just too perfect. 💗

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What do you think about OPI DS Extravagance? Do you own any shades from the Designer Series collection & which is your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — (part of) the Essie Rocky Rose collection

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Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday! & Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians–I hope you’re enjoying a lovely feast with friends & family. Today I’m very thankful for everyone who takes the time to sit & read the blog, & comment & like. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for you guys. & I wouldn’t have the opportunities I have if it wasn’t for you guys.

Like being sent PR packages from Essie!

Today I have a couple of polishes that we’re so kindly gifted to me from Essie themselves! They sent me 4 shades from the Rocky Rose collection from this past Summer. The collection itself features 9 neutral toned shades & is described in the PR materials as “a collection that harnesses the sun-saturated grandeur of the iconic desert landscape.”

Can’t get more awesome than that!

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For my swatches, I received the shades The A-bliss, Cliff Hanger, Set in Sandstone & No Shade Here. I will add, only two of the bottles came with the actual polish names on the bottom so I’m guessing based on the other swatches I’ve seen.

Now let’s get to the swatches.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — (part of) the Essie Rocky Rose collection”

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China Glaze Halloween 2019 Swatches — To Catch A Colour Collection

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Hello lovelies & Happy Friday!

Today I’m switching things up a bit & sharing my swatches for China Glaze Halloween 2019. I know, usually I would wait & write up a Swatch Sunday post featuring these beauties, but I was too excited about this new collection to wait!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but China Glaze always makes my favourite Halloween nail polish collections, because they’re always super unique & fun for Halloween, but still work really well for other times of the year. This year, the collection consists of 6 brand new polishes: 1 textured shade, 3 regular metallic/scattered holo shade, & two fun glitter toppers.

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So without any further ado, let’s get to the swatches!

Continue reading “China Glaze Halloween 2019 Swatches — To Catch A Colour Collection”

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GlamnailschallengeOct—Ghosts 👻

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Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! The week is certainly speeding by! Today I have another fun look designed for #glamnailschallengeOct–ghost inspired nails! & be still my Halloween loving heart, because these turned out so much fun. I decided to try out a look I’ve always wanted to try, using watered down acrylic paint.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Joe Fresh Gel Look Gothika Blue
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • White acrylic paint
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Thick nail art brush (I used an old one from Bundle Monster)
  • Small dotting tool (Mine are from NailStuff.ca)

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First off, loving this base of Fairy Dust over Gothika Blue because it really does look like the night sky. Also why do I always forget how amazing China Dust Fairy Dust is over pretty much everything, but especially over dark polishes. I don’t wear it nearly as much as I should. Could you imagine it over a dark red to black gradient?! Okay I’m getting some nail art ideas for more Halloween designs! Definitely going to need to try that out in the next couple weeks before Halloween. It would look so good!

Okay back to this design, haha.

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This design turned out pretty much how I imagined, although I kind of wish I had watered down my acrylic slightly more to give my ghosts a more ghostly appearance, but I think the trick is the try & only do one coat of white vs. a few coats. My thumb kind of turned out my favourite, because you can see the the base peeking through his ghostly body. & I love how it looks. Next time I try this technique, I’ll know what works a bit better & I’ll be able to get them all perfect.

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What do you think about today’s ghostly look? Have you started planning your Halloween looks yet? Let me know down in the comments below what you think about this design, & as always check out #glamnailschallengeOct on Instagram for everyone else’s amazing designs this month!

🎃

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GlamnailschallengeOct — Stars ⭐️

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Good morning lovelies & happy Monday!

Hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their Monday! Today I have the second challenge for #glamnailschallengeOct: stars. I was trying to come up with the most witchy star manicure I could–because it’s October, & that means every manicure needs to be Halloween related, naturally.

I decided that yesterday’s Swatch Sunday pick China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You was so magical, it would be the perfect base for this star design, that kind of came out reminding me Wizard robes.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You
  • China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge (for the gradient)

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I’m really digging the gradient of China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You & Sleeping Under The Stars, I feel like they really compliment each other well. But I also feel like there is this grungy quality (in a good way!) when Choo Choo Choose You is sponged that makes me so happy. Add in the stars, & I really am getting a wizardly vibe… & I dig it.

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Oh look, a cat hair… are you even really a nail blogger if you don’t occasionally get cat hair in your manicure.

Also this gradient combination is just soooo good. I wasn’t sure how well these two colours would blend, but I think it turned out really really awesome. & I ♥️ it. So much so I wore this manicure for a full 4 days before having to change it due to a whole lot of top wear happening.

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Are you excited for the manicures to come this month thanks to #glamnailschallengeOct? We’re two prompts down, & 7 more to go! Don’t forget to keep track of all the manicures by following the above hashtag, & stay tuned for some fun designs that will be coming! & let me know down below if you like these challenges & want to see me take on more!