Category: neutral

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Black Friday Half Moons 🖤🌛

Happy Black Friday lovelies!

I suppose “happy” is a subjective term. But it is Black Friday, & that means that the holiday season is about to kick into high gear. I work in retail, though, which means I’m just trying to survive the weekend! So in honour of this crazy day, I thought I would create a black manicure to represent the day.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Mary Kay Salon Direct Moonlight
  • Essence Here’s My Number
  • Paper Hole Reinforcements

I wanted black nails, but with a twist, & I think this nail art look was just what I needed. I used a lot of top coat to smooth out Essence Here’s My Number as it’s a sparkle sand effect polish. I think the subtle pearlescent shimmer of Moonlight pairs really well with the more obvious sparkle of Here’s My Number. It’s a very chic look, which half moon designs always are to me, but then you have the black & white pairing, which just makes it feel even more chic.

Also it’s a very easy look, that anyone can do. The perfect nail art look for going into battle for retail war.

What do you think of these Black Friday half moons? Do you think this is as chic a look as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Shopping darlings! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Bare With Me

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. I hope everyone had a wonderful week — & is ready for the new month! I truly can’t believe it’s almost August. Wasn’t it just June? This Summer is definitely speeding by & I’m trying to soak in every sun soaked moment.

After a whole lot of neon, though, I thought I’d switch things up a bit with a more neutral shade. I recently picked up 2 new shades at my local Shoppers Drug Mart that were on clearance for $2! As soon as I saw this blushy neutral I knew I needed it in my collection.

2 coats + top coat

According to my internet research, Essie Bare With Me was released in 2017 as part of the Wild Nudes collection — & is now, sadly, discontinued. Online, it’s described as an apricot, but I feel it’s more pinky/blushy myself.

The formula was easy to apply & smooth, & dried down without much patchiness. I did smooth things a bit with top coat, but it does dried relatively shiny on its own. I just much prefer my nail polish with top coat.

Bare With Me is a very complimentary to my own skin tone, which I really like. It’s nice & subtle — which is not a look I tend to go for, but sometimes you just need to switch things up. I actually ended up wearing this shade for a few days with a coat of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlit Top Coat over it, & it looks absolutely gorgeous together.

Unfortunately, like I said, this shade has been discontinued— probably why I scored it for $2 — but if you do track it down it’s definitely a lovely soft shade to have in your collection. I also think it’ll make a great base for some naked, but not really naked, floral designs.

What do you think of Essie Bare With Me? Do you like a good neutral shade on occasion? What is your personal favourite neutral to wear? Let me know down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday!

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Dainty Negative Space Floral 🌿🌸

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

Today I’m starting off this week with another floral look. At this point, you can pretty much expect that I’ll be posting a floral design at least once a week for the foreseeable future. I’m kind of obsessed. Today’s look was another one of those random designs I kind of came up with in my head, & was beyond happy to bring to life on the nail. I really just wanted something dainty, & I think was successful in creating that.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Essie Gel Couture Princess Charming
  • Essie Blanc
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I’m kind of obsessed with how this turned out. I decided to go minimal on my floral — I usually use multiple polishes for each flower & my leaves — & I love how it looks. It’s clean & simple, which is exactly the look I was craving. A nice palate cleanser for the nail. I also really like that Princess Charming is quite neutral, so it doesn’t stand out too much on the nail & keeps that naked look I was going for.

What do you think about this dainty negative space floral design? Do you like simpler cleaner looks like this, or more bright & colourful nail art designs? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

You know you can count on me to do a nice mix of both.

Have a super amazing Monday. ♥︎

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE APRIL — Butterfly 🦋

Hello lovelies & happy May 1st! Can you believe we’re almost half way into this year? It’s crazy. But before I jump head first into a new month, I want to finish off Glam Nails Challenge April with the last prompt — Butterfly.

There were so many ideas that popped into my head with this prompt, but in the end I decided I wanted to do a neutral, almost naked, base with a little sparkle & shimmery butterflies. & I’m so beyond happy with the end result.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frill Seeker
  • Color Club On The List
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Essence Violet Voltage
  • OPI My Gecko Does Tricks
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
  • Unknown stamping plate (which I bought as part of a set at Dollarama years ago.)

How pretty did these turn out. I just knew I wanted my butterflies to have a little bit of colour & I adore the shimmery purple & green together. It’s a very pretty combination. Works very well with the little bit of holographic glitter on the base shade. It’s subtle but also eye catching at the same time.

I’m kind of obsessed!

I can’t believe another month is behind us! Kind of crazy. I had so much fun with the challenge this month, & I hope you enjoyed all the manicures too!

Did you have a favourite design? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Monday!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Black Dahlia Lacquer Frozen Twilight & Winter Dusk (NailStuff.ca Exclusive Shades)

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe that we’re already halfway through the month? That much closer to Fall. I even saw (& bought) some pumpkin spice Silk creamer for my coffee the other day. That’s how you know Autumn is quickly approaching — it’s pumpkin spice everywhere.

So obviously that means I’ve been reaching for my more Autumn-y shades more & more often. & that’s when I realized I had some beautiful PR shades in my stash from NailStuff.ca that I had totally blanked on sharing! & since they are some amazing shades perfect for Fall, I thought there was no time like the present to finally share them!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Black Dahlia Lacquer Frozen Twilight & Winter Dusk (NailStuff.ca Exclusive Shades)”