SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo by ORLY Breathable Freudian Flip

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Good morning loves! It’s that time of week again: Swatch Sunday. & today I’ve got a brand new polish to share with you that I literally just bought from Shoppers Drug Mart: Quo by ORLY Breathable in Freudian Flip, which appears to be a brand new addition to the Quo by ORLY collection exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.

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For complete opacity, you’re looking at two coats of polish. & what you get is a beautiful teal metallic shimmer. I was a little nervous because metallic shades like this can sometimes have a thin formula which is hard to build up, or works best layered over dark undies, but Freudian Flip needed neither of those things. I was also pleasantly surprised that there were no glaring brush strokes when it dried.

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Of the two new metallic foil-y shades that is part of this new Quo by ORLY Breathable release, this is definitely the one I was the most excited about. So I was a little disappointed that the Duochrome shift that is so prevalent in the bottle doesn’t as show as much on the nail, at least in the light of lightbox. However, that being said, this is a seriously gorgeous polish, in a fun colour I don’t wear that often. & because it’s part of the Breathable line, I can feel good about wearing it because it’s design to be good for my nails.

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For my Canadian friends, you can currently pick up this shade at your local Shoppers Drug Mart & online at Beauty Boutique… & it’s currently on sale for $9.99! For my American friends, ORLY has their version of this shade (also named Freudian Flip FYI) which can be purchased online at their official website, NailPolishCanada & Amazon. So if you are looking at this polish thinking “Oh My God! I need it!” you are in luck because there are lots of places to buy it from!

& trust me, you definitely need this polish.

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What do you think about this polish? Are you as love in it as I am? I’m loving that Quo by ORLY has come out with some really fun shades in their Breathable line, & I can’t wait to go back & pick up the other duochrome shade I saw You’re a Gem. I’m such a sucker for these foil duochrome shades.

Let me know if you would add this polish to your collection & what was the latest polish you bought! 💎

SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Plum Sugar

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Good morning lovelies & Happy Swatch Sunday! Today I pulled from deep in my stash for some deep & dark Fall inspiration.

Today I’m wearing ORLY Plum Sugar, which was originally released as part of the Spring 2015 Sugar High Collection. This shade came to me thanks to the Marshall’s clearance section, one of my favourite places to find hidden polish gems. & even though this shade was originally released as part of a Spring polish collection, to me it is the perfect Autumn polish pick!

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Plum Sugar is a super rich purple cream with a fantastic formula. For my swatches I did two coats of polish over my base, & finished everything off with a thick coat of glossy top coat (Essie Gel Setter). On the first coat, the polish was a bit streaky, but once you apply your second swipe, you have perfect opacity.

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Seriously, how gorgeous is this purple? I love a good purple polish & I’ve definitely been craving vampy shades lately. & Plum Sugar is just the perfect gateway shade for these almost-Fall days. You would have seen this pretty purple base as the background of my Fall inspired bestie twin floral that I posted yesterday. 🍂🌼🍁

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Oh gosh, I’m just absolutely obsessed with this polish! Hence why I took about 50 thousand pictures of it. I just couldn’t stop staring it at! If you’re interested in adding this shade to your collection, I found it for sale at NailPolishCanada.com, as well as on Amazon (link through my Amazon Shop).

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What is your favourite perfect purple for Fall? Have you already started breaking out the vampy shades for Fall, or are you still holding onto those last days of Summer?

Let me know what your wearing on your nails this week down in the comments below!

Bestie Twin Floral Nails

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Happy Saturday lovelies! Did everyone survive Full Moon Friday the 13th okay? Today I’m sharing a fun design that has been in planning for a while–bestie twin floral nails that I did with my girl Victoria over at @nailstuffca!

We’ve been talking about doing some twin floral nails for absolutely ages, so I was really excited that we finally managed to come together to create our matching looks! The inspiration for this floral comes from my favourite place for inspiration: Pinterest! I found this pattern while browsing for Fall floral & that was where we started for our manicures.

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The polishes used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: Gel overlay (trying to grow out some damage on my tips)
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • ORLY Plum Sugar
  • Essie Stop Drop & Shop
  • Acrylic Paints (set purchased from Dollarama)
  • Nailstuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Brush Trio (I used the 11mm liner brush)

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This was my first time using acrylic paints to create a look like this (floral) & I was a little nervous at first, but it was actually pretty easy to do! I still had to use polish for the pinky roses, as the set of paints I bought didn’t have any red. But other than that, I was pretty impressed that a $2 set of acrylic paint could create such beautiful art on such a teeny canvas. I don’t think I’ll use paints every time I go to do nail art, but for a design like this that is supposed to be a bit rustic, I think they worked perfectly!

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Ahhhh, how pretty did these turn out? Considering I was definitely feeling rusty since I hadn’t created any floral since before our baby girl was born, I feel really good about the end result.

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What do you think about these floral nails? Don’t forget to hop over to @NailStuff.ca & check out Victoria’s version of this design & give her some love!

Fall Ombré

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Hello lovelies & Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about where you are, but here in Halifax the weather is already starting to have that gorgeous Fall chill. It also has me thinking about Fall Manicure ideas, & one design I’ve been seeing pop up on my Instagram feed is the ombré look. A few years ago, ombré designs were super popular, & one of my favourites. So I can’t lie, I’m so pumped that ombré nails are making me a resurgence!

For those wondering the difference between an ombré & a gradient, an ombré is when you wear a different colour on each nail, while a gradient blends a few colours together on each nail.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Currently wearing soak off gel to grow out my natural nail.
  • Top Coat: Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Cosmetic Arts Baby Pink (no name)
  • L’Oréal Jardin Des Roses
  • Kosmic Colours dusty dark pink (no name)
  • ORLY Red Rhapsody
  • Essie Carry On
  • Wet n Wild 2% Milk (to make my pinky & ring finger look more dusky)

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I’ve done a few ombré manicures over the years in different colour schemes, but I was really feeling something dusky, in the rose family. This combination really felt like it suited our increasingly Autumn-like weather. On my pinky & ring finger, I applied 2% milk over my lighter pink shades so they would match closer with the rest of my colours.

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Ah, this makes me so happy! I’m so glad that this design has come back into rotation & is cool again. Not that I care that much about being trendy — my love of crackle nail polish will attest to that — but it certainly gives me a great excuse to wear multiple shades at once.

(Like I need any excuse to paint my nails!)

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What do you think of the ombré nail art trend–have you given it a try yet? What colour combination are you dying to try? Share what shades you’re planning on pairing, down in the comments below.

🍁🍂

VACATION NAILS — ocean inspire Saran Wrap splatter.

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Hello lovelies! Still on vacation, but even though I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean I’m not painting my nails! Like I wrote in my last Swatch Sunday post, visiting my parents means I get to take advantage of my Mom’s massive nail polish collection she uses for her jewelry. So I decided to take a few of her polishes to create an ocean inspired design perfect for an East Coast vacation!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Duri Rejuvacote
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM A Bleu Attitude
  • Quo by ORLY April Showers
  • Santee ACO6433
  • China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
  • Crinkled up Plastic Wrap

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Obviously, being away from my own nail polish stash & supply, I’m not going to attempt to crate one of my more complicated designs–like floral– which is why something like a Saran Wrap splatter is such a perfect design! Easy to do, minimal clean up, but still looks fancy & fun! & obviously because my nails were inspired by the ocean I had to take pictures of this look right on the beach! 🌊

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Looking at these close up, I realized how much these look like the mussel shells we used to collect off the beach as kids! This colour combination is definitely one of the best versions of this design I’ve done, but I find that happens whenever I do anything in shades of blue! They always just turn out so beautiful!

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What do you think of this look? What do you do about your nails when you’re on vacation–do you still paint them, or go with something like soak off gel that lasts 2+ weeks!

Let me know your vacation nail routine down in the comments below!