Category: nail polish

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster

Happy Sunday my loves. & it really is a Sun-day today! We’ve had a run of beautiful Summer like weather so naturally that means I needed to pull out a Summer colour for today’s Swatch Sunday post. Today’s pick is OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster which is a vibrant pinky coral with just a hint of shimmer. This shade was originally released as part of the OPI Touring America collection circa 2011 but I scored my bottle on clearance at my locals Lawton’s.

For my swatches, I did two coats + top coat (Essie Gel Setter). I probably could have done 3 coats for more coverage, but I feel like it’s not terribly noticeable unless you’re a nail polish addict. The colour itself is just perfection & even though it was originally a Fall collection release, to me it just screams Summer! I mean, who doesn’t like a stunning coral polish?

Seriously, how gorgeous is this polish? I had been coveting it for a long time & finding it for only $4.99 at Lawton’s was the best scored ever! I don’t know about you–but when I want to but polish, I want a deal. I don’t like to pay full price for nail polish (& to be honest, I rarely do). So a much desired OPI for less than $5? Yes please! The best kind of nail polish find.

Look how closely it matches my moon cactus? Oh man, if this shade doesn’t scream Summer, I don’t know what does. I’m just obsessed with it! & as you can see from below, it’s the perfect compliment to my newest Summer dress find. It’s a gorgeous pop of colour.

What do you think of this week’s Swatch Sunday pick? Do you have a favourite coral polish? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY— Crafting a Layered Green Holo

Happy Swatch Sunday lovelies!

Today is a bit of a different post for me–instead of featuring single polishes on their own today, I’m showing off 3 polishes layered together to create one amazing look!

I’ve been really loving layering polishes together–it’s similar to creating franken shades only instead of mixing everything together, your layering one on top of another. Obviously this could only really work with layering more sheer shades over more opaque ones (which works well with a lot of the Layla Cosmetics hologram effect polishes I own.)

For this particular look I started with 2 base coats of Essie Turquoise & Caicos & then layered a coat of Layla Cosmetics Jade Groove over top. I’ve worn this Holo on its own but found it didn’t have enough of a green/mint pop to it on the nail. By adding some undies, it really showed off the colour I wanted. & then, because I’m absolutely Holo obsessed right now I finished off with a layer of Quo by ORLY Trash Glam (aka. ORLY Sparkling Garbage for my non-Canadian friends!) The end result is a whole lot of holo happening on the nail.

Seriously, this is a distracting amount of sparkle happening on the nail. In the sunshine, it was actually incredible how many rainbows you could see.

I love how you get the linear holo from Jade Groove but then the scattered holo from Trash Glam picks up the light too & it’s absolutely memorizing! I definitely need to find a linear holo top coat so I can transform every polish I own into a Holo Polish too! Let me know what your favourite ones are!

I hope everyone had an amazing Sunday. 💚✨

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Gold Lines & Pretty Pink Nails

Happy Friday lovelies! I hope you’re all excited for the weekend as much as I am! Today I’m sharing a design I was actually wearing the last couple days. I’m in a bit of a nail art rut right now, so I decided to add something simple to my pretty pink nails.

I’ve also been wearing my Quo by Orly shade polishes as my nails have been in super rough shape (hence why my nails have been trimmed down… again). I decided some gold lines might make my nubs look slightly longer, so I freehanded them over top. A simple design, but enough of a pop for me!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Pep in Your Step
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Fairy Godmother
  • Bundle Monster small detail brush

This gorgeous pink from Quo by ORLY has to be one of my favourites from the Breathable line. In fact, I added it to my toes at the same time! I’ve raved in the past just how much I adore this polish line because it’s designed to help the health of your nails. & trust me–I need it! Between boxes of stock & hand sanitizer, I’ve been finding I’m having so much trouble keeping my nails healthy. I’m upping my moisturizer & oil routine, but even still I need a little extra help & this polish is a god send!

Plus thanks to all the cute colours in my stash, I can create lots of cute nail art looks too!

what are you wearing on your nails for the weekend? Let me know in the comments below!

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Beachy Chevron Nails featuring New Summery Studs from NailStuff.ca

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope the weather where you are is nicer than here in Halifax. After a few days of sunshine, we’re back to cloudy grey overcast skies. But today’s nail design is all about bright colours, so hopefully that will cheer me up!

Today I’m sharing these drag marble chevron nails that for some reason remind me of the beach! I was recently gifted some amazing new goodies from NailStuff.ca & I knew immediately that I had to use some of the beautiful summery studs Victoria had sent! I love how flat & easy to work with these studs are. They sit easily on the nail & because I sealed them in with extra top coat there were no edges you don’t have to worry about catching them on anything & pulling them off prematurely.

For this manicure, the products I used were:

I’m really living the pastel shades form this 6 pack set from Claire’s. I picked it up on payday & used every shade with the exception of coral. Also I love how these studs from NailStuff just brings the whole look together & completes the Summery vibe. For my chevrons, I used the drag brush effect to blend the colours together. I used to do this technique a lot with nail vinyls, but it had been a while.

What do you think of this design? How adorable are these studs from NailStuff.ca? What kind of designs would you do with these Beachy studs? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Hello lovelies! Today I’m sharing a fun polish for my Swatch Sunday pick! Today’s polish is cult favourite China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. Sadly I don’t have the original version of this shade which was a bit pinker, but I do have the new formulation & it’s one of my summer favourites. Who doesn’t love a blinding neon coral? The perfect shade for emphasizing that summer tan (or giving you the illusion of a tan when you spend 40 hours a week inside the mall).

Like most neons, Flip Flop Fantasy dries matte which means it dries quickly & can make application tricky. For my swatches below, I did Base Coat, & then two coats of Flip Flop Fantasy. When I started trying to photograph my swatches I realized how crazy the neon-ness was making my camera so I tried three different lighting situations to see if I could accurately capture the colour.

Normal light box lighting (daylight bulb):

Light box no lighting:

Natural lighting:

As you can see from above, my pictures outside my light box with natural lighting were the most colour accurate. The light box with daylight bulb made it look almost yellow-ish & without lighting it looked kind of peachy. #3 really shows off the neon colour true to that shade you see in the bottle. This is just one of those shades which is beautiful on the Nails, but hates to be photographed.

Down below I have my swatches, this time with glossy top coat (Seche Vive) added. I almost managed to capture the polish true to colour in my second photo!

Do you have China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy in your stash… original formula or new? Share your thoughts on this shade down in the comments below!