Category: Pink Nails

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI DS Extravagance

F7BBADF5-D27C-4297-8B16-09289C5D3B74

C8633C1B-B50A-402D-8A3B-1653B7FB724E

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. This is my first swatch post since my disastrous nail break last week, so obviously I need to pick something stunning to share. & Today I’ve got one of the most beautiful polishes I own, & one I always pull out this time of year–OPI Designer Series Extravagance. This polish was a birthday gift given to me 5 years ago, & I love to wear it in October on or around my birthday.

The OPI Designer Series was a collection of polishes (that are now discontinued I do believe) that were a step above OPI’s regular polish line. A lot of them had holo glitter & flakies to give them a special touch. Extravagance was my first polish from this line, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was also one of the first holos I ever owned, & helped me fall in love with holographic nail polish.

B3F2CF27-3F7D-47CF-9571-FFA80135AE5B

44FCF879-8038-4EBF-B72B-BB05048B7A8F

For my swatches, I did base coat, 2 coats of polish & finished it off with YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat. I’m planning on doing a full post on this top coat, but oh boy am I loving it so far. It dries SO QUICK you guys, like I almost can’t believe it. It might actually be the quickest quick dry top coat I’ve ever used.

The formula on this polish is pretty damn awesome. First coat goes on not quite opaque, & the second coat gives your nail a beautiful sparkly finish. It’s slightly jelly like, but not quite as much as say China Glaze Private Side-Eye. The glitters are so dense though, which is what makes this shade just so beautiful. Literally, it turns your actual nails into gemstones & I love it.

0B53773A-F34C-4DF4-AE15-5295A81CCB93

E123B330-10D4-4A34-9700-769AD14E07F1

Even though I do believe this collection has been discontinued, you can see find the polishes available in some places like nailpolishcanada.com & amazon, as well as a few other places they sell OPI I’m sure.

I must say, I don’t officially have a list of all time favourite polishes but if I were actually to sit down & compile one (which I’ve been thinking about doing), this shade would definitely be on it! There are only a few polishes I’ll ever truly wear on their own without even thinking about nail art, but Extravagance is definitely one. It’s just too perfect. 💗

C3574DF1-560D-4A97-AB45-985DEEA21E78

What do you think about OPI DS Extravagance? Do you own any shades from the Designer Series collection & which is your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Posted on

Birthday Nails with Essie Birthday Girl 🎉

F516455D-4537-4A98-AB92-7F0C2C493092

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their week. Today I’m breaking up my usual posting schedule because TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! That’s right, today marks 33 years around the sun. So obviously I needed to do something fun on my nails to mark the occasion.

In years past I’ve done some obvious birthday nails, but this year I decided to let the polish do the talking. When I saw that Essie had released a polish called Birthday Girl, I knew that I was going to need to own it & incorporate it into my birthday mani this year! I also wanted to do something fun, as I snapped a nail just in time for my birthday, so I am back to some serious shorties.

B6F4411E-B3BE-4022-A8E6-B491C3881773

D5BA04A3-77C1-4A8D-97B2-F6EDDF238362

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Duri Rejuvocate
  • Top Coat: YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie The A-bliss {PR sample}
  • Essie Birthday Girl
  • Color Club Pucci-licious
  • Color Club Eternal Beauty
  • Essie Play Date
  • Sally Hansen Pat on the Black
  • Nailstuff.ca 11mm Liner Brush {PR sample}

.

6B65E022-F47A-402E-A001-10F99CDAA9E7

01B4F731-8F0D-445D-AAF9-C1103719365E

For my base, I applied two coats of Birthday Girl over one coat of The A-bliss. I then did a whole bunch of Pinterest stalking to see what kind of design I wanted to do overtop my base of Birthday Girl & in the end I decided a Waterfall look was the way to go! Do you remember when Waterfall designs were all the rage? I feel like this design needs to make a comeback!

3C197715-613B-4B6C-8739-90325123C31A

DF26AE0C-B843-43C7-B7C3-D9FD5043AFED

For this look I decided to pick a few purples that I thought would compliment my pink base. Then o used my liner brush from NailStuff to brush thin streaks of polish at my cuticle line, & bam! An low effort design that looks super fancy & fun. Kind of reminds me of sparkling fireworks at the base of my nails which is perfect for celebrating, even if my idea of celebrating is drinking my free birthday drink from Starbucks & playing with the new stamping plates my Mum bought me for my birthday! I can’t think of a more perfect day. ☕️💅🏻

06924BF0-00CA-4581-8459-66D69BCD6AE0

59F2C682-46CF-43FC-8C89-1023165DE1EC

Hope everyone has an amazing day! Let me know what you think about this look & what colour combination you’d love to see me do in a Waterfall look next! 💙

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — (part of) the Essie Rocky Rose collection

3FE18565-55A9-44B7-B8C6-1FF27C9EE5A6
{PR SAMPLE}

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday! & Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians–I hope you’re enjoying a lovely feast with friends & family. Today I’m very thankful for everyone who takes the time to sit & read the blog, & comment & like. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for you guys. & I wouldn’t have the opportunities I have if it wasn’t for you guys.

Like being sent PR packages from Essie!

Today I have a couple of polishes that we’re so kindly gifted to me from Essie themselves! They sent me 4 shades from the Rocky Rose collection from this past Summer. The collection itself features 9 neutral toned shades & is described in the PR materials as “a collection that harnesses the sun-saturated grandeur of the iconic desert landscape.”

Can’t get more awesome than that!

C07659A7-1A52-4B66-BB02-8B988B476AB7

For my swatches, I received the shades The A-bliss, Cliff Hanger, Set in Sandstone & No Shade Here. I will add, only two of the bottles came with the actual polish names on the bottom so I’m guessing based on the other swatches I’ve seen.

Now let’s get to the swatches.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — (part of) the Essie Rocky Rose collection”

Posted on

Fall Ombré

00A8EE4C-4814-430D-A100-506E77960F7B

B848A81C-D408-4270-A7D4-1A210BCDF869

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.

BEB5AF25-F836-427A-A238-3694679A7A55

AE486A8C-14C7-4C3B-9825-0599B37ACF9C

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)

F5CAFF7B-97F3-4DD3-B92B-A18FA9D03950

86F524EB-49B4-4D37-A3A4-8E86C44C2BEE

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.

085AA078-D281-404E-8082-D57BEA7B3741

7BF029EF-0E05-4192-A81B-94EAA51EFD8F

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!)

23B3C34D-3EF5-44C7-9C9A-0464395A40D4

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.

🍁🍂

Posted on

Fall Inspired Chevron Moons

2CBE6B5D-A454-4B7E-B1B7-A4AE5C362B35

4A900C12-3995-40AE-BFC2-800561B3520A

Hello lovelies & Happy Friday. I am currently on vacation with my kiddos for the next week & a half so my posts are (probably) not going to be as regular as they normally are, but I did bring my China Glaze Gone West polishes with me, so I’m hoping to have a few fun designs to share with you!

First up, a manicure I created prior to going away. I posted on Instagram what design I should do & the overwhelming vote was for some chevron moons! I will admit, it’s been a while since my last chevron moon design–in fact, it was in May–so a new version was way over due. & since I’m all about the Fall polish right now, I had to use some of these awesome China Glaze colours. Because, I’ll be honest… I’m kind of obsessed with this entire collection.

FFBC9B08-9E7E-4E24-A8F9-CD14584F3013

9310B589-C875-4464-B2D6-91E4E49042FC

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Franken Base Coat creation
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze Lawless & Flawless
  • China Glaze Take The High Rodeo
  • China Glaze Cowboy Bye
  • The Base Coat Stacked Chevron vinyls

2052C197-DD58-440F-82B2-347F222E8045

084FD9DD-FF22-41C5-A422-A55FC03AF5D9

I talked in my Swatch Sunday post about how good I thought that Lawless & Flawless would be for negative space designs, & I was right. It made such a good middle layer for this look, but the shimmer in the polish still comes through. Gorgeous. Also I debated on which shades to use for this look, & went back & forth between Cowboy Bye, Cattle Drive Me Crazy & Buffalo Bills Bills Bills, but in the end my favourite won out because I thought that the underlying shimmer of Cowboy Bye just seemed to compliment the pink in Take The High Rodeo.

& you know what? I was definitely right. Just look how well these three go together!

C7A88D2F-BBCA-420A-BC35-E8F6C6719EDE

5D68E6E9-7BDA-4FBC-8A96-6BD5A8D041AE

Okay guys, I know I’ve been saying I’ve been feeling the Fall vibes since, like, the middle of July but I’m serious now–I am so ready for it! My nails are channeling Autumn hard, & all this girl needs is a dairy free pumpkin spice latte, some knee high socks, my cosiest sweater & my biggest knit scarf. Hope you’re ready for the influx of Fall designs that will be coming your way, but I am definitely inspired. 🍁🍂

C48DD3AA-F1C7-40A2-B269-C1A84A3445D8

What do you think of this Fall chevron moon design? Are you ready for Fall or still holding on to those last days of Summer? Let me know which side you’re on down in the comments below!