SWATCH SUNDAY—China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You

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Happy Sunday everyone! Can you believe it–the first week of October is finished–how crazy is that? It also means we’ve got our first Swatch for October & today I went with an older Fall polish that I just absolutely love: China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You.

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you might remember I posted this polish over 5 years ago, so if you’re in the mood for some hilarious throwback, definitely check out that old post.

& now for an update swatch post for this gorgeous shade.

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For my swatches, I did my usual base coat, applied two coats of colour, & finished off with my go to top coat (Essie Speed Setter). Looking at my pictures though, I probably should have done three, because I can see a bit of nail line peeking through. The base is this Smokey grey, with a gorgeous bronze-y shimmer that transforms depending on which was you move your hand, with even the occasional flash of green.

It’s very pretty.

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For a 5 year old polish, the formula on this one is still as good as the day I bought it. The first coat goes on a bit streaky, as most polishes like this do, but you have almost complete opacity on the second coat. & shorter nails could definitely get away with just two, I just think it’s longer nails that might need 3 for full coverage.

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& naturally because I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between China Glaze Cowboy Bye (from the Gone West collection) & Choo Choo Choose You, I needed to pair the two side by side. Obviously Cowboy Bye has that beautiful holo scattered glitter, but I feel like the two bases of the shades are very very similar, which could explain why I love Cowbye Bye so much.

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What do you think about this shade? Do you own Choo Choo Choose You? What is your favourite older Fall shade that you return to year after year?

Let me know down below in the comments!

GlamnailschallengeOct — Candy

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Good morning lovelies & Happy October! Can you believe it’s already the most wonderful month of the year? Also how is this year going by so quickly?!

In honour of my absolute favourite month, I decided to participate in another round of GlamNailsChallenge! I’m always up for a challenge, & I had so much fun the first time I figured this would be the perfect time for it! & all the prompts for this month sound really fun!

The first prompt for the challenge: Candy! & what is the most controversial candy of October? Why candy corn of course! When it comes to candy corn, you either love it or hate it… & I love it! So I thought a candy corn gradient dotticure was in order. (Can you tell I’m obsessed with dotticures right now?)

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Gel overlay
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Aco by Ardene Nearly Nude
  • WetnWild 2% Milk
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • China Glaze Stoked to be Soaked
  • Color Club Almost Famous
  • Nailstuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

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Since I’m so obsessed with dotticures, it was a given I had to do a candy corn inspired one to kick off this prompt. I decided to go with a negative space-ish nude base, & use the three candy corn colours over top. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen someone do this look before, but I searched Pinterest under “candy corn dotticure” & couldn’t find this exact look, so if you know who did it first let me know so I can credit them properly!

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Ah, this look totally reminds me of those paper dots candies… oh, candy buttons! (Yep, totally googled that) Did anyone else eat those as a kid, where you had to peel them off the paper? I haven’t seen them in years, but that is exactly what this manicure looks like. & I love it! Also this is definitely an easier candy corn look to achieve than your typical candy corn gradient, & way less messy! So if you’re like me & not in the mood for crazy clean up, this is an easy manicure idea for you!

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Who else is excited for October & October manicures! I have to say, the prompts for this month are so exciting so I can’t wait to create some fun nail art looks & share them with you! Don’t forgot you can fallow along with everyone participating this month by following the hashtags #glamnailschallangeoct on Instagram!

& let me know what prompt you’re most excited about in the comments down below!

3 Easy Accent Nail Ideas

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Hello lovelies!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week & October! Can you believe it’s October already?! It is absolutely my favourite month of the year because HALLOWEEN! & my birthday as well, but still haven’t decided if I’m excited for my birthday this year or not.

Today though I have a fun nail art post to share with you featuring 3 different accent nail art looks that are both quick & easy! For these designs I used the same polishes for all 3 looks, & tried to do nail art that #1. wouldn’t take forever to dry, & #2. didn’t need a whole lot of complicated tools

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For all three designs, I decided to use the same polishes:

  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • Essie White Page
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Nail Superfood
  • Joe Fresh Gel Look Sparkling Glitz
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries

As always, I used my base coat & top coat for a complete look. As well, I used a couple nail art tools in order to achieve my look–a dotting tool & a striping brush. Mine are both from NailStuff.ca, although there are a ton of different places you can purchase nail art tools.

Continue reading “3 Easy Accent Nail Ideas”

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Black Cherry Chutney

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Hello lovelies! Today I’m keeping the Fall mood going with what could quite possibly be the most perfect dark maroon for Autumn: OPI Black Cherry Chutney.

I know everyone has their opinions on what colours & polishes call to them this time of year, but I don’t think anyone can deny that maroon is definitely an autumn shade. There are quite a few beautiful picks for this time of year (OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest is one that I see pop up a lot this time of year) & Black Cherry Chutney is one of my favourites.

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For my swatches I did a base coat, 2 coats of colour & finished with glossy top coat (Essie Gel Setter).

First coat was streaky & not full coverage at all, but with the second coat everything hit perfect opacity. The base is fairly dark, but it’s the shimmer that steals the show. Literally, this is just Fall in the bottle–you can’t deny that it is perfect for a cool October day, snuggled up in cosy socks, with a pumpkin spice latte or apple cider in hand.

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Down below, I have a macro shot of Black Cherry Chutney which shows off the raspberry shimmer.

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& for fun, a shot of this manicure in full sunshine, which is where I think it really transforms. You go from these deep vampy nails to BAM!

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What do you think about OPI Black Cherry Chutney? 🍂🍁 Do you have this polish in your stash? What shade is your “it’s Fall” polish pick? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Burgundy Drag Marbles

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Hello loves & happy Tuesday! Today I’m sharing a fun drag marble design with you.

It’s been a while since my last drag marble look, so I was excited to grab a few Autumn colours to create a fun look. As you can probably tell from my last post, I’m really loving maroon/dark red/burgundy shades right now. & you know what goes really well with burgundy? Gold. Especially rose gold!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Still wearing gel to protect my natural nails right now.
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo by ORLY The Antidote
  • Quo by ORLY Barely There
  • Quo by ORLY Soul Sister
  • Fan Brush (Mine is an old Bundle Monster Brush)

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For this marble, I decided to use a fan brush to as it’s a bit simpler than using a dotting tool/toothpick to apply the polish. Basically I start off by painting my nails my base colour (Quo by ORLY The Antidote) & then applied dots of all three polishes (The Antidote, Barely There & Soul Sister) on my nail, & used my fan brush to drag the polish together along my nail to create the marble look. It also is a lot less messy than a lot of marble techniques, which is great (especially since red polish is not easy to clean up around cuticles!)

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My nails having been taking a hit lately, so I feel good pulling out my Quo by ORLY Breathable shades again. I love this line because it feels like I’m giving my nails a break, even when I’m wear nail art. In fact, I need to go buy two new shades I saw at Shoppers Drug Mart that I think would be amazing for Fall/Winter nail art, all while keeping my nails taken care of.

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What do you think about this drag marble design? Would you rock a design like this? What colour combination would you love to see me do next? Share all your thoughts down in the comments below!