Category: NOTD

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Lover Inspired Nails (in honour of my little birthday Swiftie)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today is a very special Wednesday because it is my baby girls 6th birthday. 🎉 🎂

So crazy to believe that she’s 6 already!

I wanted to create some special nails in her honour, & since her favourite thing right now is Taylor Swift — well obviously taut is where my inspiration came from. She also told me I should do nails that were pink, blue & yellow with hearts — & as soon as she told me that, Taylor’s Lover era popped into my head. & since Cruel Summer has been playing on repeat at our house, it fit perfectly.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Butter London Coming Up Roses *pr
  • Claire’s Scented Nail Polish Orange
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Essie Gel Couture Gossamer Garments *pr
  • Nails INC Heartfelt Holidays
  • Claire’s Mini Glitter Shade (no name)
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

How pretty does this manicure look? I love the Lover vibes it’s giving. If this isn’t the perfect manicure to wear while belting out Cruel Summer, I don’t know what is.

& my little girl was so excited to see these nails! She’s having a Taylor Swift inspired birthday party with her friends next month, & she is already planning her nails for the occasion.

What do you think about these Taylor Swift inspired birthday nails? Do you love them as much as I do? Would you wear them? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Wednesday lovelies — enjoy some cake today in honour of my little girl.

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Gel Couture Tailored By Twilight

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Sunday — the first Sunday of Summer.

Surprisingly, today’s Swatch Sunday post isn’t super Summery, but I’ve been wearing really vampy polishes lately for some reason. While usually Summer screams neon for me, but I just find myself being drawn more towards darker shades. & today’s Swatch Sunday pick is just that: dark & vampy. & I love it.

This is Essie Gel Couture Tailored By Twilight. *gifted/PR

3 coats + top coat.

The first thing about this beautiful dark plum polish is the fact it is very jelly, which is not something I usually think I want when I’m reaching for a darker shade, but it really works with this particular shade. The formula is smooth, easy to apply, but with the darker colour I feel like I needed 3 coats in order to be able to fully cover the nail, & not have any streaky spots. But it did dry down quickly, especially with the added benefit of quick dry top coat (I used Essie Gel Setter.)

The more coats you apply, the darker the shade. You can see around my cuticle line where it is a bit lighter, but again I feel like for me 3 coats was what I needed to be fully in love with these nails.

Look how beautiful that shade is. I love love love a dark purple, & this one is just gorgeous.

Essie Gel Couture Tailored by Twilight is part of the core collection, so you should be able to find it anywhere you purchase your Essie shades, ranging in price from $11.49 CAD to $16.49 CAD (when not on sale).

What do you think about Essie Gel Couture Tailored by Twilight? Do you like these darker, vampier shades — even as the days are warming up? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & if you would wear this shade.

Happy Sunday.

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect 08 Flash Black

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. & happy Father’s Day to those who are celebrating those Dad figures in their lives.

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is another beauty pulled straight from my stash. Years ago, my local Lawton’s Drugs used to have a crazy selection when it came to their clearance nail polish. Honestly, it was my favourite place to shop because you could always find something new & different to you (it’s one of the first places I ever found Color Club). They also used to sell a ton of shades by the brand Layla Cosmetics, which is a European brand.

Today’s polish is from the height of the initial holographic craze, circa 2014/2015 or so — although I found blog posts dating back to 2012. This is Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect 08 Flash Back.

2 coats + Top Coat

This beautiful liner holographic nail polish is a stunning dark grey (I wouldn’t quite call it black) with a very strong & beautiful liner holograph effect. The formula was smooth & easy to apply — especially for a nail polish that is over a decade old.

The trick with holographic shades like this, is you really have to make sure your first coat is dry-dry before attempting a second coat, other wise it can drag up your first coat. But other than that, I have 0 negatives about this shade. I have 3 or 4 others from this collection, & I just love them all. They were my first real introduction to liner holographic nail polish.

Sunny days were just meant for holographic nail polishes. Look at those rainbows! 🌈

Do you remember this line of nail polishes by Layla Cosmetics — or any of their interesting polishes. I loved finding them in the clearance because they were usually $3-$4 & they had so many cool ones — thermals, spotted, etc.

What do you think about this holographic shade? Do you think it’s as fun as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

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Pretty Floral Bouquet Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far — & if things are feeling rough right now, I hope at least you have a little bit of calm in your life to sooth those moments.

Today I’m excited to share off some pretty floral nails I did recently. After a bit of a nail art hiatus, I’m feeling good again about painting my nails — even if 95% of the nail I’ve been doing has been hand painted florals. Floral just makes me happy, so I’m going to keep wearing it.

Today’s look is especially pretty because I painted it over another beautiful holographic base shade. When the sun is shining, that just calls for all the holo!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Euphoric
  • NailStuff.ca Holo Top Coat*
  • Color Club Pucci-licious
  • Butter London Coming Up Roses*
  • Essie Swoon in the Lagoon
  • Essie Set in Sandstone*
  • Essie Cute As A Button
  • Essie Wind in the Willow *
  • Essie Off Tropic *
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool 

*pr/gifted

These were a bit time consuming to paint, but the end result was totally worth it. I absolutely love the bright floral over the super shiny holographic base. It was exactly how I was hoping it would turn out, & I couldn’t be happier with it.

I just love floral nails so much.

What do you think of this beautiful floral bouquet nails? Do you think it looks pretty over such a holographic base? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you’re enjoying all the floral nails I’ve been sharing.

Happy Wednesday

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Tropic Like It’s Hot

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday. Not so much a sunny Sunday, but I feel like today’s Swatch Sunday pick makes up for that!

I haven’t really been buying much nail polish— seeing as I have quite the stash already — but I’ve been working hard lately & needed a little pick me up so I headed to my local Walmart & decided to treat myself to a couple new Summery China Glaze shades I don’t yet own.

Today’s pick — Tropic Like It’s Hot 🌴☀️

3 coats + top coat

The first thing I thought when I picked up this shade was “that’s a fun shade, but it’s not me.” However, my husband’s immediate reaction was “whoa that’s really cool” — & he rarely has reactions like that to polishes like that — so I decided to bust out of my comfort zone & pick it up — & I’m really glad I did!

This beautiful neon yellow had a surprisingly smooth & un-patchy. I did find I needed 3 coats to really make the colour pop though, but thankfully they dried fairly quickly thanks to thin coats.

The polish itself is a funky highlighter yellow, with just a touch of green to it. If I had to compare it to anything, I would say it reminds me a tennis ball for sure. & how Summer-y is that?

Tropic Like It’s Hot is absolutely a sunglasses necessary neon, in the best possible way. It’s blinding! & I love that. The perfect colour to show off your Summer tan & invoke all the beach vibes you can handle!

I purchased my bottle at Walmart 2 for $14 CAD (I also bought Summer Reign which I’m currently wearing on my toes.) I believe outside the deal, they are $7.97 CAD each.

What do you think of China Glaze Tropic Like It’s Hot? Do you love this punchy neon shade as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday!

🖤