Category: NOTD

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo Beauty Tint of Mint

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

My first Swatch Sunday post in a while. Last weekend was a bit of a sad week in our house as we lost our beloved cat. So this last week I just wasn’t feeling the blogging vibes. But it’s a new week, & I’m excited to get back into my blogging routine.

& we’re starting that off with a new Swatch post. Today’s pick: Quo Beauty Tint of Mint.

2 coats + Essence Colour Shield Top Coat

Quo Beauty is a Canadian brand, sold through Shoppers Drug Mart, as well as Loblaws stores. I picked up this shade a few months back at my local Superstore on a really good sale (I think like $4 each?).

Obviously, I was first attracted to the colour. I sound like a broken record at this point, but we all know I love a good pastel Buffy Season One-esque polish.

Formula on this one wasn’t too bad, although I did end up adding top coat to smooth things out a bit. The formula is a bit thin, so two coats is necessary. But it built nicely, & after a little swipe of top coat, everything looked perfect. Although, I will say: the colour seems to lean a bit more of the blue side than on the mint side.

This particular polish is from the Quo Beauty Breathable line. Like the Quo by Orly shades that Shoppers Drug Mart previously sold, they also have a few different lines: Breathable, Flash Dry, & Extreme FX.

I decided that since I was on a roll with my Quo Beauty, I should pull out another one of their shades that I recently found in the clearance for only $1. Quo Beauty Xtreme FX Shimmer & Shine. I thought the shimmery gold was a nice touch over this pale mint. I do love a nice touch of sparkle, especially when I’m wearing just nail polish & not nail art.

Also I’m already dying to apply this over a pretty burgundy/wine shade I own from Quo that’s been sitting in my stash, just waiting for the end of August/early September.

As I mentioned, Quo Beauty nail polish can be purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart & select Loblaws stores across Canada. I believe the regular price is normally around $11.99 (CAD) but I find they’re always having awesome sales, & you can find quite a few fun shades in the clearance, especially during seasonal shifts.

What do you think of the Quo Beauty brand? Have you tried out any of their nail polishes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Summer-y Dotticure featuring Essie

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone is having an awesome week so far.

I’m excited because I have another fun (& easy) nail art look to share with you featuring some brand new (to me) shades I recently picked up. I worked like a mad woman over the Canada Day long weekend, so I decided to treat myself to a few new Summery nail polishes. & when I was looking at these brand new shades, I was like “hmmm, what can I do with these polishes?”

& the answer was obvious: dotticure!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Essie Throw in the Towel
  • Essie Swoon in the Lagoon
  • Essie In the Cab-ana
  • Essie Blanc
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How gorgeous are these shades together? Originally I planned on buying Essie Bahama Mama but then when I was in the nail polish aisle I noticed Bahama Mama is very close to Sally Hansen InstaDri Zip Wine so I decided to hold off (for now), & go for some more vibrant Summery shades. Essie In the Cab-ana is an old favourite & my old bottle is running out, & the other two shades were fun, bright pinks, & I seem to be very drawn to pink nail polish lately.

I think I might do a polish haul instagram reel soon, since I have been really loving (& buying) pinks, so why not show them off.

What do we think about this dotticure look? I feel like this is kind of reminiscent of my early dotticure days, where they were a bit more abstract. Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & what colours you would pick for a dotticure like this!

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Neon Glitter Gradient

Hello loves & happy Monday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their week. Summer is in full swing, so I hope everyone is getting to enjoy it. Today I’m sharing a fun nail art look I recently did that are giving me pool party vibes. I’ve had China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle in my stash for a long time, but I think this is the first time I’ve actually grabbed it to wear on my nails.

I feel like this shade is one I’ve seen lots of fellow nail bloggers talk about & wear, but I never thought to wear it myself. But you know — I get it now. This shade is so Summer it hurts. The colour is very vibrant & neon, you almost need sunglasses while wearing it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle
  • China Glaze Point Me To The Party

Neon glitter over a neon base? Yes please.

Again, this is giving me pool party vibes — if I was cool enough to be invited to a pool party haha. But either was, I love the brightness of this manicure, & China Glaze Point Me To The Party still remains one of my favourite glitters, even after all these years. & this look was so easy to do, requiring no tools at all, & I’m here for that. I know a lot of my nail art lately has been bordering on super simple, but sometimes a funky simple manicure is what you need.

What do you think about this neon glitter gradient? Are you feeling the Summer-y vibes too? Do you have China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle in your stash? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Swoon in the Lagoon

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s a sunny Sunday here on this side of the world, & it’s been super beautiful & warm, & very summery the last few days which I can’t get enough of. Which also means I’ve been really feeling the Summer nail art shades, & thanks to some awesome tips from work (from some crazy days), I managed to pick up some brand new Essie shades last week.

First up, this beautiful originally released as part of the Spring 2022 collection: Swoon in the Lagoon.

2 coats, no top coat.

Oh my gosh, I’m obsessed with this colour. The formula on this shade is really easy to apply, & smooth. I needed two coats for full coverage, but I always feel most comfortable applying 2 coats anyways. I love the vibrant fuchsia shade. It’s a perfect pop of colour for summer, even if this shade was originally released as a Spring shade.

Look at that beautiful colour! I like how it almost looks neon, but without the matte finish of a neon shade.

I picked up this shade at my local Shoppers Drug Mart for $9.99 on sale. It looks like it’s become part of the core collection, as it was in the main section, as well as a side cap. I love when that happens because it means I get a chance to get polishes I might have missed on the first release.

What do you think about this shade? Do you have Swoon in the Lagoon in your collection? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

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Metallic Purple Galaxies 🌌

Hello loves — hope your week is off to a lovely start.

Today I’m sharing the look I did featuring my latest Swatch Sunday pick as the base of. I teased how excited I was to share this nail art, so I’m really excited for you to see! It’s been ages upon ages since the last time I featured a galaxy design on my nails — like 2019 or so — so this was long, long overdue.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Rimmel London 660 Climax
  • Essence Galaxy Flakes Rock My World
  • OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number
  • OPI Peace Love & OPI
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Buffalo Nickel
  • Starrily Space Debris
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge (mine are random Dollarama ones)

So, full disclosure: I did these nails at like 12:30 at night, half asleep, & with horrible lighting, so they’re not perfect. But I do think the combination of colours is awesome. I love the purple on purple. My stars are a little wonky, & I’m not sure silver was the right choice for them (I probably should have went with black instead) but I do think the whole look turned out very pretty. I really do always forget just how much I love galaxy nails until I wear them again.

Plus they’re a nail art look that works just as awesome on short nails as they do on long nails.

What do you think about this galaxy nail art look? Have you done galaxy nails before? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.