Category: NOTD

Posted on

Autumn Colour Blocking

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Switching up my posting schedule a smidge this week, just as I get back into regularly doing my nails. I’m still feeling the post-covid fatigue, so nail art is a little bit more difficult.

But I’m really excited to share today’s nail art look, because I really, really love the colour combination for this one! While I’m still sticking to easier nail designs, like this colour block design, I think this one turned out absolutely perfect! It was also done completely freehand, without any other nail art brushes or tools.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Top Coat
  • OPI My Address is Hollywood
  • OPI My Private Jet
  • OPI Icelanded A Bottle of OPI

I wish it had been a bit sunnier so I could have captured the scattered holographic glitter of My Private Jet, but I think these three colours compliment each other really well. & give off all the Fall vibes, to match the cooler Fall days we’ve been having. I’m really hoping I’ll be feeling a bit more like getting back into more complicated nail art soon, but in the meantime I’m okay with this simpler design.

So if you have any simple nail art suggestions, send them my way! I could use all the inspiration I can get.

What do you think of this nail art design? Do you love this colour combination as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Posted on

Cosy Fall Dotticure

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone’s had a good weekend. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I posted some legit nail art. The tilt-o-world that was covid made it difficult to even write a blog post, let alone paint my nails. But I did have this look saved up that I wore pre-plague, so I thought I would share it today.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Top Coat
  • OPI Pepe’s Purple Passion
  • OPI Rolling In Cashmere
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I was digging through my nail polish stash for something I haven’t worn in a long, long time, & came across two OPI shades from my early nail polish days!

Pepe’s Purple Passion was originally released as part of the Muppet’s collection, & I love it for its deep maroon colour with glitter. Definitely an Autumn shade. & I thought some golden polka dots would be the perfect addition. Rolling in Cashmere was released as part of the Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection, & I think it pairs so well with this deep maroon. The beauty is in the simplicity.

What do you think of this dotticure? Are you feeling those cool Autumn vibes?

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Layla Pro Nail Polish SG31

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It has definitely been a while!

This is actually the first time I’ve painted my nails all week after surviving covid. & I won’t lie — it was a rough week for sure. I have never felt so sick in as long as I can remember. But I’m back, slowly & surely, & ready to share a fun nail polish for this week’s Swatch Sunday.

Once again, I went shopping in my own nail polish stash, & found a beauty I’ve owned for quite a while. This is Layla Cosmetics Layla Pro Nail Polish in SG31.

2 coats + top coat

I actually have a couple polishes from the Layla line I’ve picked up over the years in my local Lawton’s clearance bins. &, truthfully, I have two difference bottles for this particular shade; this bottle, titled Layla Pro & the Ceramic Effects line which is the exact same polish.

According to what I read online, the Pro line was released for nail polish professionals, in bigger bottles than their other shades. I picked up this bottle a few years ago for the very affordable price of $3.25 on clearance. What drew me initially to this shade is it’s very close to the original version of Color Club’s The Uptown — although not a direct dupe.

For my swatches, I did two easy coats. The first one applied fairly thinly, but the second one I applied a bit more generously. The flakies are very densely spread through the formula, so you get a lot of coverage. It’s a beautiful polish, with the perfect shift for Autumn weather.

I’m already kind of on a purple kick, & flakie kick, so it’s giving me the best of both worlds. I love the shift between orange, gold & green depending on how you move your hand. I also, obviously, had to top it with some matte top coat

Have you ever tried Layla Cosmetics polishes? Do you love a good flake polish? I feel like you don’t see shades like this as much anymore — outside the Indie polish world. I kind of miss when unique shades like this would pop up in mainstreams store. Can we petition for 2024 to be the year of the mainstream flake polish?

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Revlon Color Stay Stormy Night

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. Well, I hope you’re having a happy Sunday. I’m on my first day of covid isolation — after 3 1/2 years it finally got me. So I’m currently laying in bed, feeling less than fabulous.

It’s also the reason why these photos are not up to my normal standard. These photos were taken in my living room, without my daytime bulb or light box, so they’re a bit potato quality. (My husband — who is also sick — was isolated to our bedroom where my nail polish resides so I was limited in options.) But I still wanted to share something for this week, & when I saw this cement grey polish, I thought it would be perfect.

This is Revlon Colorstay Stormy Night

2 coats + top coat

The formula on this shade was pretty easy to use. It applied smoothly, with good coverage. The bottle is a bit old, so I did need to give it a really good shake before I applied it. The colour is perfect for Autumn, but also very neutral so I feel like you could wear it to work.

I don’t wear grey nail polish on its own very often, & lately I’ve been obsessed with the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlit topper. I’ve been wearing it with a lot of polishes. So naturally, I needed to see how it would look over top this smoky grey.

2 coats over Stormy Night + top coat.

I don’t think I’ve found a polish that Moonlit doesn’t look good with. It just makes every manicure so extra fun! & the pretty flaky shimmers make me so happy. I could see this being a great base for some Fall leaves nail — maybe when I’m finally feeling better.

Sadly the Revlon ColorStay line is long since discontinued, but I know I found my bottle in a random clearance section. The Color Stay line was replaced by the ColorStay Gel Envy line, which is still in production, but I didn’t see any similar colours listed on the website.

What do you think of this neutral grey, & fun combination with the sparkle? What Fall shades do you currently have in rotation? Let me know in the comments below.

Posted on

Instagram Space Collab 🌌

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! I hope everyone’s having the most lovely week. I had yesterday off, & the kids had their first day of school, so it was a nice relaxing day where I caught up on laundry & blog stuff.

Today, though, I’m excited to share a new design I did as part of the monthly Instagram collaboration hosted by @Essiyall & @Petitenaillover. I’ve been having so much fun with these large collabs, & this month’s theme was SPACE. It’s been a bit since I did a galaxy design, so I was pumped.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Top Coat
  • China Glaze Glamcore
  • Icing Mermaids Have More Fun
  • Ardene La Luna
  • Sally Hansen Buffalo Nickel
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

For this look, I went with the classic sponge effect for my design. I used two shades I thought suited each other well, especially the shifty base of Mermaids Have More Fun. Then I added the little details of the stars, for that fun galaxy effect. I really like how everything came together.

Don’t forget to hop on over to Instagram, & check out all the amazing beautiful designs that my fellow nail artists did. Everyone interpretation for this theme, & I absolutely love everyone’s manicures!

Have a lovely day!

♥︎