SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Cute As A Button

PR/Gifted

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! My first Swatch Sunday in quite a while — sorry about that! But I’m excited to be back, & excited to share a somewhat Spring-y polish with you all. This winter, although not quite over yet, has been a long one, & I think I’m ready to embrace what Spring has to offer. At least when it comes to my nails.

Today’s nail polish pick was kindly gifted to me c/o: L’Oréal & Essie. It is Essie Cute As A Button.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful pinky coral has been an Essie core shade for a long, long time & there is definitely a reason for that! The shade itself is gorgeous, & it’s a perfect pop of colour. The formula was smooth, easy to apply, & smoothed down to the perfect finish with a quick swipe of top coat (I used Essie Gel Setter).

Oh my gosh, this dress is so juicy & beautiful! It just screams a sunny spring day & that’s what these long end of Winter days are calling for.

As I mentioned, Essie Cute as a Button is one their core shades so it’s available anywhere Essie is sold!

What do you think about this juicy shade? Are you already feeling like dipping into your Spring shades, or are you still embracing Winter? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! I’m always curious to see what other people are currently wearing.

Happy Sunday

🖤

Products used are gifted. All thoughts & reviews are my own.

Neon & Neutral Drag Marble

Hello loves & happy Thursday.

My posting is sporadic this week, as I started a new (second) part time job this week, so I’m trying my best to juggle everything as I get used to it. It’s a busy week for me! But I wanted to make sure I had another manicure to share, & I just love these neon drag marble nails that I did recently.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • Essie Gel Couture Gossamer Garments *
  • Essie Throw in the Towel *
  • Essie Expressie Feel the Hype *
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio (tiniest one)

**PR/gifted

My idea was to do a sheer-ish base, with a neon drag marble. But then I decided to go with a little navy blue & sort of neon. It wasn’t originally the planned design, but I think it turned out nice. Drag marbles are just some of my favourite easy designs, & they look good on any nail length (which I love).

What do you think about these drag marble nails? A little break up from the dark & gloomy nail shades I’ve been feeling lately!

Also, I did a big chop on my nails for beginning my new part time job (as a barista), so look forward to seeing lots of short nail designs in the near future!

Happy Thursday loves

🖤

Simple Peach Floral

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! It’s a sunny, albeit chilly, Monday here which gives me hope that maybe Spring isn’t as far off as it feels. Today, I’m summoning Spring with a pretty floral design because…. I’m so over Winter.

I painted this look over yesterday’s Swatch Sunday pick, & I have to say even though it’s not blatantly a Spring colour scheme, I love how it came out.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear With The Beet
  • OPI A Great Opera-tunuity
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Rock Steady
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Almond Tan
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Black Stone
  • OPI Life Gave Me Lemons
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Satin Sisters
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I just love how these turned out. Usually, my go to floral is a rose design, but I’m trying to brand out of my comfort zone. Originally, I had planned just to do a few accent nails, but it looked so good I did all 10 nails instead! I really like this light peach over the dark base — it really makes it pop!

Over all, one of my absolute favourite designs I’ve done in a while.

I’ve been feeling so stupid & meh when it comes to my nails lately — especially after my serious nail break — but as soon as I did these I just few renewed again. It’s true, floral makes everything better.

What do you think of this floral design? Are you as ready for Spring as I am? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what design you turn to when you’re feeling meh about your nails!

Have a fantastic Monday loves.

♥︎

Matte Black Roses

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! Still trying to get back into the routine of blogging & posting, but this weekend has been a bit crazy.

Today, though, I have another design to share from last week. I had mentioned I really, really wanted to try a black rose design so this was the result of that attempt. This was actually harder than I had anticipated, mostly because creating roses involves layering different shades of the same colour, but black is black, so I had to see what shades of grey I could find for highlights. I think, though, in the end it turned out beautifully!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • OPI My Address is Hollywood
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Gunmetal
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Jumpin’ Jade
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri SCRAM!
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

When I first started painting these, I wasn’t sure if the black rose idea was going to work out for me, but once I layered a few shades of grey, my vision came to life. & I just love them! We all know my love affair with floral nails, so it’s fun to switch up what I usually do. Plus, I think this look is a great alternative for Valentine’s Day.

Red roses are lovely, but black roses just have a fun vibe. Plus I’ve been feeling my Emo roots lately, & this would fit in with that whole vibe.

What do you think about this black rose look? Do you think I captured the vibe that I was going for? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

♥︎

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!