Category: Nude

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Travel in Colour collection.

PR Sample — sent to me free for testing & review.

Happy Sunday lovelies! I know this week has been pretty quiet from me (60 hour work weeks will do that to a girl) but I have some beautiful & fun swatches to share with you today! Sally Hansen has recently come up with a new Miracle Gel Spring collection called Travel in Colour, “inspired by the vibrancy of California & the liveliness of Summer music festivals”. I thought with Coachella starting this weekend it was the perfect time to share these beautiful shades! Especially as I’m sitting in below freezing temperatures with two sweaters on, wishing I was wearing flower crowns & maxi dresses.

I’m all about the Spring vibes right now & anything to get me out of that post-Winter-but-it’s-not-quite-Spring-yet state of mind. I’ve been obsessively using this collection since I received it & it’s hands down my favourite Spring collection I’ve seen so far. There is a shade from every Spring moment you might have.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Travel in Colour collection.”

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Topless & Barefoot

Welcome to the very first Swatch Sunday of 2018! 💅🏻 I’m starting off this year with something fresh & clean… which also happens to be Essie’s Colour of the Month: Topless & Barefoot! While bright & blinding colours can be fun–& who doesn’t love something glittery–something’s you need a good neutral in your life.

Essie Topless & Barefoot is a beige-y nude that leans slightly pink. For full coverage, it took two coats plus top coat to help it completely level out. This shade is just very Essie to me. Even though I have a ton of shades from them in a whole variety of colours, when it comes to nude or neutral shades I feel (at least for me) like Essie is Queen.

I really really really like Topless & Barefoot. This is the first time I’ve actually worn it (I won it this Summer as part of the Essie Suddenly Summer contest.) Usually my go to Essie nudes are Sand Tropez or Cocktails & Coconuts so I like having more options. This is especially important for since my maternity leave is almost up (I know, right?!). Since my store closed while I was on leave, I now get to start the job search for the first time in 7 years! So some job interview friendly shades are must needed!

What do you think of Essie Topless & Barefoot? Do you have a favourite nude/neutral shade you love to wear for important events? Let me know in the comments below!

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Happy Halloween Nails! part two–Blood Dripping Nails.

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Is there anything more Halloween-y to wear on your nails than dripping blood? I was feeling another Halloween manicure the other day, and decided I should give the blood drip manicure a try. I decided to go with a very simple base color (Essence Color and Go Dare it Nude! with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over top) before adding my dripping blood to the tips of my nails. I did the dripping blood using ACO by Ardene Strawberry Fields, and dragged it down my nails using a dotting tool. Everything was topped with Essie Good to Go Quick Dry Top Coat.

And BAM! An awesomely creepy manicure, perfect for Halloween festivities.

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I’m loving seeing all these different Halloween manicures popping up on Instagram and Pinterest. I move the end of this week (Halloween in fact) but I’m hoping to have a couple more Halloween themed manicures to share before the week is over. =)

 

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Pastel Stripes, and a few “diamonds” for good measure.

Finally!  Something that isn’t just polka dots. 😉

I bought some new stripers last week at–of all places–the Dollarama! They’re by the brand Mariposa, whose polish I’ve featured in manicures before. I really love stripers as I’m not as good at using striping tape for manicures. Since I hadn’t had a chance to test out my new stripers yet, I decided to pull them out yesterday to see what they could do. And the end result? I’m very happy with it. The brush is thin, which is important so you don’t end up with gloopy, ugly freehand lines. Also the polish is fairly opaque which means they could be used over darker colors as well.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Birthday Suit.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Mint.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Pink.
  • OPI I Snow You Love Me.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

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So what do you think of this stripey manicure? Also, I’m seriously digging I snow you love me and all the glitter placement possibilities. From a distance, it looks like you have rhinestones on your nails, as they catch the light really well. It’s only when you look up close you see that they’re flat and glitters. Love, love, love.

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Nails for Days.

Wow, I’ve been MIA again…. we’ve been house sitting for my parents which means I don’t have all my polishes (or nail art tools) at my disposal. However, I have still been painting my nails the last week so I thought I would share with you the simple manicures I’ve been playing around with. I’ve been testing out the combination of using Essence Gel Look top Coat with Essie’s Good to Go top coat, and I have to say it’s been working for me. Usually I have chips in my polish by the end of day 1 (or sometimes half way through), but most of these manicures I’ve worn for 2+ days with minimal chipping. Considering I’m not gentle on my hands, that is actually kind of amazing.

 

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • China Glaze Flying Dragon (purple)
  • Essence Petal to the Metal gold topper.
  • Essence Gel Look top coat.
  • Essie Good to Go top coat.

Oh China Glaze Flying Dragon… how I love you. You are now, and will forever be my favorite nail polish color…. I just wish you didn’t chip so damn fast! Thankfully though, adding my top look combo gave me these nails for THREE days with very minimal chipping until day three (when it all went to hell). I do love the combination of the Essence Gold Topper over dark colors though… looks so regal. (Also makes me crave fall a little bit… some one slap me!)

 

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sinful Colors Be Happy (blue base color)
  • Icing Electric Graffiti (pink shatter)
  • Essence Gel Look Top Coat.
  • Essie Good to Go top coat.

I was feeling some crackle, since I haven’t used it in years. I used to love playing with crackle, and Icing’s Electric Graffiti was definitely my favorite of the ones I owned. That hasn’t changed. So bright, and so awesome.

 

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Polishes used for the manicure were:

  • Joe Fresh Latte (nude base)
  • Nicole by OPI Oy Oy Oyster (nude shimmer)
  • Essence Dive with me to the Island (teal ruffian)
  • Essence Gel Look Top Coat.
  • Essie Good to Go Top Coat.

Oh man, I had such high hopes for the manicure… I had visions of a gorgeous nude and teal ruffian… except the nude color my mother owns (which is dark for her) blends PERFECTLY into my skin… so it just looked like I didn’t paint for enough down on my nail. And the shimmer I added didn’t show up enough. Next time I’ll definitely go with something not so perfectly matched to my skin tone.

 

So as you can see, I’ve still been playing around with polish I just haven’t been as nail art crazy as normal. I’m also still bumming hard about my shorties, but they’ll grown… unfortunately just not over night (I wish!) Next week I’m on vacation from work so it will be A LOT more nail art time. In fact, in honor of my best friend who is getting married next week, I think I’m going to do a whole week of wedding manicures, for both bride and bridesmaids. And then at the end of the week, I can share the manicure my friend is letting me do for her nails for the wedding. =)

 

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Now it’s time to finish my coffee, and get started on a super cool manicure I hope to share with you tomorrow.