Simple Blue Dotticure (Featuring Madam Glam!)

*contains PR/Gifted Product

Hello lovelies — long. time no see! This month has been a rough one, & sadly that meant I had to take a very unplanned break from blogging. But I’m back, & ready to share all the pretty designs I was creating during my impromptu hiatus.

Today, I am excited because I have some new products to share with you I was gifted from the very kind Madam Glam. They reached out to me about sending me some of their nail polishes & products, & I jumped at the opportunity! You might remember I did a post sharing some of their gel polishes a very years ago, so when I found out they were now doing non-gel nail polishes, I couldn’t wait to try them out! It look a while to reach me (thank you Canada Post strike), but I’m very excited to share all these goodies with you. First thing I did? I’ll have a full swatch post of what I received, but I couldn’t wait to try out some of the goodies & decided to create this fun dotticure design!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

I’m sure you’ve heard me gush about my love for nail art pens before (especially for easy polka dot nails!) so when I saw they now had them in their collection, I knew I needed to try them out! You just open the pen, press down on the tip, then give the pen a shake until you start to see colour. Then draw to your hearts desire!

Super easy, & something I always love for creating nail art. I’ll have many more designs to share using these pens coming soon!

What do you think about this polka dot design I created? I love this pale blue for Spring, even if it is still very much Winter outside my window. Those warmer days are coming, so I’m ready to fully embrace all the Spring vibes I can get my hands on

Hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday!

♥︎

Products used are gifted. All thoughts & reviews are my own.

Dark Blue & Pink Glitter Gradient ✨

Good morning loves & happy Tuesday. A chilly, cold, wet January Tuesday. But crazily enough, this month is almost over! So hard to believe that February is almost here, & in turn, lots of Valentine’s Day looks. Well, at least a few.

Today though, I’m keeping with the bit of a blue trend I’ve been feeling this month with a quick & easy glitter gradient. Working two jobs has meant less time for fun nail art, & I’m still working on finding a good balance so I have “Me time” for nail art! (I’m desperately craving some floral on my nails, I just need the time & energy.)

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Essence Colour Shield Top Coat 
  • Finger Paints Queen for a Night
  • Revlon Nail Art Duo 350 Ulterior Motif  (just the side with the pink glitter)

I really forgot how pretty Finger Paints Queen for a Night was. I just love a beautiful jewel toned blue on my nails. While purple is my favourite colour in regular life, & red is my go to I-Don’t-Know-What-to -Wear nail polish colour, blue has always been one of my favourite colour to grab in general. Next to red, it’s probably the colour I own the most shades of! & I always love how it looks on my nails.

Also I swear that I used to buy Finger Paints polishes every time I went to Sally Beauty. Does Sally’s still sell Finger Paints? I’ll have to go check.

What do you think of these glitter gradient nails? I feel like we all need a little extra glitter in our lives during these dark winter months — jazz up the moody days. It may not solve all of the problems in the world, but it certainly makes me feel better!

Happy Tuesday

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Gel Couture Rock The Runway

*contains PR

Hello beauties & happy Sunday.

I hope everyone has had a lovely week so far. Mine has been non-stop between my two jobs, hence the lack of posting on my part. I’m really hoping I can figure out a better schedule for posting, as I miss sharing my nails with you! Today, though, I thought I would grab one of the beautiful polishes I was gifted courtesy of Essie & L’Oreal — especially since it’s the perfect Valentine’s Day red. This is Essie Gel Couture Rock The Runway.

2 coats + top coat

Okay, we know… we know. I love red nail polish. So whenever I add a new red to my vast collection, I get excited. This one, which is part of the Gel Couture Line, is a smooth to apply bright red, which actually has very nice coverage in two coats. It has a bit of an orange undertone, which kind of brings out the yellow in my skin tone — depending on the lighting you’re looking at the polish in. This is a red that I think would be very complimentary on many different skin tones — which is kind of the beauty of a red nail. It truly looks good on everyone!

Essie Gel Couture Rock The Runway was one of the original shades released as part of the Gel Couture line, & it remains part of the core collection. I actually really love this line; it took me a while to introduce myself to it, but I’ve been impressed with every shade from the line that I’ve tried. The top coat is also great, & I know a lot of nail bloggers consider it the GOAT.

Essie Gel Couture Rock The Runway can be purchased wherever Essie nail polishes are found. In Canada, they tend to retail for around $11 – $17 CAD depending on where you’re shopping.

What do you think about Essie Gel Couture Rock The Runway? Are you a fan of this shade, & this line? Which colour is your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

♥︎

Valentine’s Day Heart Glitter Placement 🤍💜🩷💙

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday. What a Tuesday it is… it’s getting so chilly here. Ugh. Have I mentioned I’m really, really not a winter person? So why not brighten things up a little bit, & maybe start early on the Valentine’s Day looks!

I picked up a Nails INC gift pack at my local Shoppers Drug Mart on clearance for $10 recently, that I thought would be perfect for Valentine’s Day! While the gift pack was meant for Christmas, the colours just scream V-Day to me — especially this heart glitter topper.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Essence Colour Shield Top Coat (I ran out of my NailStuff one & need to make an order!)
  • Nails INC Nutcracker Nouveau
  • Nails INC Heartfelt Holidays
  • Small dotting tool for glitter placement (I use the NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio)
    **PR/gifted 

Firstly, this light pink shade, Nutcracker Nouveau, is absolutely stunning & a great pre-spring shade. I love a good pastel. Secondly, these heart glitters are too freaking cute.

I will be honest, they were not the easiest to fish from the bottle — there are lots in there, but it took me a few tries to pull some out on my brush. That is part of the reason why I went with placing my glitters individually, rather than brushing them up. The other was wanting to make sure I got a different variety of colours on each nails. & I think the end result is adorable.

I’m such a sucker for glitter toppers, especially in unique shapes like these hearts!

What do you think of these easy & adorable Valentine’s Day nails? These are honestly something so quick easy & fun you can rock for the occasion. & you know I just love a festive manicure with a theme!

Let me know what you think of this design! & Enjoy the rest of your day loves.

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Starry Starry Night (2016 Re-release) 🌌🌠

Hello loves & happy Sunday. It’s a rainy, miserable Sunday here but I guess it beats snow. Today I decided to take a little trip to the past… all the way back to early 2016 when life was just simpler & all the crazy in the world seemed manageable.

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is Essie Starry Starry Night from the 2016 Retro Revival Collection.

2 coats + 2 coats top coat

I’ll start off with this shade has definitely had a hard go since I bought it in 2016. While I have lots of shades over a decade old that apply perfectly, this was took some trick & finese to get a good looking application (& top coat… lots of top coat.) A little polish thinner, & I feel like she will be back to normal again.

The polish itself is a dark navy jelly base, with small silver glitters layered inside. The coats are thin enough that the glitter still peaks through, even with multiple coats.

I really like this colour & layered glitter look, which was why I originally bought it. I had no experience with the previous (original) version of this shade, but saw later people were upset about how different it was. Here is a great comparison post of the two different shades. While I love the revival version, I can see why lovers of the original could be upset, especially with change in colour & glitter size.

Do you remember this Essie shade? I kind of wish they had kept this one around rather than making it a limited edition release, but I suppose that’s how they build hype. I just find it so much more fun than a lot of the shades you see in the core collection.

What do you think? Should Essie bring this shade back (again)? Let me know what you think down in the comments below.

Happy Sunday

🖤