Category: nail polish

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Red Plaid Holiday Nails

Good Morning Lovelies! Can you believe it’s only 13 days until Christmas… where has this year gone?! Even though I’ve been insane at work with Christmas coming, I’ve been trying to do my nails when I can–& trying to get in as many Christmas-y designs in as often as I can.

(Not going to lie… painting them has been a struggle, but having time to take pictures is another story all together!)

Today I have some pretty red plaid nails that are a combination of stamping & freehand. I LOVE plaid nails, but sometimes they can be time consuming depending on how many lines you have to free hand. By combining a plaid stamping pattern I had with a bit of freehanding, I managed to come up with a cute & relatively easy plaid look that’s perfect for this time of year!

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Good Cheer-y (from the Decadence collection)
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • L’Oréal Getting Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

I’m not going to lie–I’m a little rusty, & my nails & cuticles have seen better days. But it feels so good to be painting my nails again, & it always feels nice when people randomly compliment me on how pretty my nails are. Of course, then stock comes & they end up a mess… but still nice to have them done in the first place! (& more than just a since colour.)

Going to try & cram as many Christmas designs in as possible over the next week or so, since I’ve been so bad at actually posting the last few months. But January is coming… & things are going to slow way down so I’ll be able to get back into my regular posting life soon. For everyone who has stuck around (& continues to stick around!) thank you so much! It means so much to me.

Now the most important question remains… should I do Christmas tree, snowman or penguin nails next? Let me know in the comments below!

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Fall Houndstooth Accent Nails

Happy October 2nd! Can you believe we’re already a day into Halloween month?! Are you as excited as I am? I’m definitely going to need to start planning my Halloween designs soon.

But in the mean time, maybe some Fall themed nails? With the weather shifting quickly, I’m already digging out some of my favourite scarves, so I figured why not some nails inspired by the coziness of Fall.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lets Snow!
  • Essence Black is Back!
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • Born Pretty Store Color Flame Rhinestones colour #2 (item #41753)

First off, can we talk about this Essie shade from the Fall 2018 collection? It’s absolutely amazing. The second I saw the swatches, I knew it was so different from all the other polishes I own & that meant I had to have it! & since it feels so Fall to me, I knew I had to pair it with this stamping plate from Born Pretty Store (which I haven’t had the chance to use yet!)

Also check out these crystals also from Born Pretty Store (item # 41753). I needed something to jazz up my plain nails, & I love the iridescent shift they have. You can kind of see how the shift of your hand shows different colours, which means these crystals will match with so many different polishes & manicures!

what do you think of this Fall inspired manicure? What Fall shades are you wearing on your nails right now? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)

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Good morning! Today I’m super excited because I have the most amazing nail polish collection from Sally Hansen to share with you! Sally Hansen Canada recently released an all red collection as part of their Complete Salon Manicure collection — including FIVE new shades. The collection is designed so that everyone can pick their perfectly complimentary red, including one shade that is the “universal” red, so it’s design to compliment every skin tone.

I am a HUGE red nail polish lover. It’s literally all I wore on my nails from 2004-2006. So a whole collection dedicated to red nails… I’m definitely here for that!

Today I have the first 5 lighter polishes from the collection, & I’ll share the other four darker shades in tomorrow’s post!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)”

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Fall Ruffian 🍁🍂

The weather here in Halifax is feeling much more seasonal, & I can’t lie–I’m digging it. A lot. I’ve just been waiting for the moment when I could finally wear tights & dresses, & it’s here. If it could stay this perfect seasonal weather until, oh I don’t know… November, that would be just fantastic.

Today’s look is a super easy design that requires no tools at all–just a tiny bit of patience. I love the simplicity of this design & how well the two colours paired together.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI My Chihuahua Bites!
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer

I’m just absolutely love the dark over the bright. It pops so well. Essie After School Boy Blazer is one of my all time favourite blues & I’m still so in love with it all these years later. One of the most perfect navy’s I own.

Gosh, I just love love love the look of a ruffian design–it’s a great alternative to a simple french manicure or half moon design. Also I apologize about the tip wear–I wore this design all day at work before getting a chance to take pictures, but thankfully they weren’t too worse for wear!

what do you think of this ruffian design? What colour combo would you pick for a ruffian look? Let me know down in the comments below.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Color Club Jewel of a Girl

Happy Sunday lovelies! I’m continuing to share my favourite Fall shades this week with another fabulously vampy shade that I’m seriously digging right now: Color Club Jewel of a Girl. I recently picked up this polish the clearance section of my favourite pharmacy for the ever fantastic deal of $1.99.

This polish was originally released all the way back in Fall of 2010 as part of the Untamed Luxury collection. However, you can still buy it online over at NailpolishCanada.com.

For these swatches, I did base coat, two layers of colour plus top coat (Essie Speed Setter).

Color Club Jewel of a Girl is a deep rich shimmery wine shade, that definitely has purple undertones & can even lean a little brown. This colour just… it’s everything. It’s like Fall in a bottle & reminds me of that meme that pops up around Facebook this time of year. Doesn’t it just make you want to curl up in a knit blanket & drink pumpkin spice lattes & pull on your favourite pair of over the knee boots?

The formula was pretty spot on for this shade. The first coat was a little thin but as so as I applied my second coat, it was perfectly opaque. Because I know nobody has time for waiting for 4 coats of polish to dry.

I was also impressed with the shine of the polish just on its own–I added topcoat because it was 11pm & I was heading to bed shortly after so I needed dry nails, but even before they looked pretty good!

This polish is everything & I seriously can’t get enough. Not only because it was less than $2, but just the colour & shimmer are perfection. Even if Mother Nature is keeping Summer alive, I can bask in Fall vibes with my nails & pretend I’m wearing my favourite sweater dress instead of still living in my Summer dresses.

do you have Color Club Jewel of a Girl in your nail polish stash? Does this kind of shade make you think of Fall. Let me know what you think down in the comments below!