Dry brush nails featuring China Glaze Desert Escape collection. 

   Long time no see! This Summer has been a stressful one which means blogging has been forced to the back burner. I promise to keep trying to post though–and hopefully soon my non-nail life calms down some! 💗
Today I have some dry brush accent nails to share with you featuring a few of the polishes from the China Glaze Desert Escape collection. I found the minis of this collection at my local Sally’s and didn’t hesitate picking it up! And after wearing some of these gorgeous colours I’m so glad I did! 


I create these dry brush accent nails for a friend’s birthday celebrations that were Music Festivel themed (think Coachella). I though the Desert Escape collection would match the theme perfectly. 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Hard Candy Coconut (white base colour)
  • China Glaze Don’t Desert Me
  • China Glaze Rain Dance the Night Away 
  • China Glaze Meet Me in the Mirage
  • China Glaze Don’t Mesa with my Heart. 
  • QUO by ORLY Striper in black 
  • Seche Vite 

I seriously love how these accent nails turned out. I tried a similar mani a could months ago and my line work was just a mess! In fact, I loved this mani so much I couldn’t bare to take them off even after Don’t Desert Me started to chip! So I took it off and replaced it with Rain Dance the Night Away because it’s a seriously stunning blue! 

 
 And I full mani shot because I think it’s my new favourite. 

  

Have you picked up any of the Desert Escape polishes? Which one is your favourite of the collection? 

Double holo half moon mani featuring ORLY Mirrorball and Nubar Prize. 

   

You’ll remember the other day I included a swatch of ORLY Mirrorball in my last post and I promised something good to come. How about a double holo half moon manicure! As I said, I’m all about that holo life right now. Just makes the sunny Summer-like days even better. I decided to up to sparkle on my nails overtop ORLY Mirrorball. After wearing Mirrorball on its own for about a day, I applied paper reinforcements to the bottom of each nail, pressed them down real good, and then applied two coats of Nubar Prize which is such a pretty holographic reddish pink! Remove the hole reinforcements quickly, apply your top coat of choice and BAM! Pretty and super sparkly half moons. 
Just check out this blurry sun shot to really get a sense of the sparkle. It’s almost blinding and I love everything about it! 😍

 

😍

SWATCHES GALORE! (What I’ve been wearing)

again with the unplanned hiatus! I’ve been busy busy busy with work with no time for much else! However, I can never go polish free so I thought I would share a few swatches of the polishes/polish combinations I’ve been wearing the last couple weeks.  

  

Hard Candy Sky (topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust) — I picked up a few of the Hard Candy 20th anniversary polishes at my local Walmart last month and obviously this one had to be in the bunch! Love love love! This polish makes me think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her pretty pastel nails which is exactly why I feel in love with polish in the first place! Sadly my Fairy Dust didnt want to show up for the camera but looked pretty in person as always. 

CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance—Duochrome! Purple! Holo glitter! 💜 I picked up this gorgeous polish at my local Winners for $3! I’d been watching it for months, and finally realized it was waiting for me to take it home. This was 4ish coats with still visible nail line so next time I’ll add some undies. But even still… 😍  

  

ORLY Mirrorball — I’m kind of on a holo kick lately and Mirrorball is perfection. Just look… Words are not even needed. 🙀 (you will definitely be seeing more of this beauty later 😉) 

  

ACO by Ardene 80s Prom Dress — (layered over China Glaze Seas the Day)  bright fushia pink with camera shy micro glitters. Definitely a perfect Summer colour! Again it’s pretty sheer on its own so undies were a must. I’m curious to try it out with a darker shade. 

  

Nubar Absolute — Blue holo. Seriously I’m holo obsessed right now and need them alllllllll. I tried my best to capture the holo in the sun, but don’t worry in person it cannot be missed! I also realize that I’m going to have to spurlge and pick up a few more Nubar holos because damn they’re so pretty! 

  

ACO by Ardene Crystal Fog layered over Hard Candy Zombie. Zombie is another 20th anniversary release from Hard Candy that the Mr. picked out for me, probably because we’re obsessed with iZombie lately! It’s a gorgeous purple on its own, but add a coat of Crystal Fog by ACO by Ardene and it turns into the most amazing duochrome. I don’t usually wear dark polishes in the Summer but this is definitely going to be an exception! 

 

Joe Fresh Quartz — it was not easy to capture the shift of this polish on camera…. Just kidding!  the above shot says everything you need to know. I literally spent all day staring at my fingers moving them around.  Shifty gorgeous duochrome PERFECTION! I have a few Joe Fresh polishes in my stash but this is definitely my new favourite. It’s just so perfect. 
So what polishes caught your eye the most? Are you team duochrome or team holo? Also what’s your favourite polish to wear when you just don’t have time for nail art? Let me know in the comments below! 💜💜💜

Crochet and floral accent nails inspired by @banicured_

whew! It’s been a super busy couple of weeks. The Mr and I moved into a brand new house and then I had one of the big head honchos visiting at work. Stress-ful. But with that over I can concentrate on the good things in life. Like POLISH! 

  

Today’s mani is inspired by the crazy talented @banicured_ who did these stunning crocheted floral nails a couple weeks ago. As soon as I saw them I put them right on my list of manicures to recreate! 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie Where’s My Chauffeur (non accent nail colour & floral) 
  • ACO by Ardene Golden Luxury (accent dots)
  • Mariposa Striper in White (crocheted pattern)
  • Essie Time for Me Time (base of accent nails) 
  • Essie Suite Retreat (blurple-floral) 
  • Essie Stones and Roses (pink-floral) 
  • China Glaze Be More Pacific (green-floral) 
  • Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat. 

So what do you think of my inspired by manicure? I really love how these turned out! Also I’m so in love with the Essie 2015 Resort collection (as you probably guessed as I used 3/4 polishes on this mani!) 

What are you wearing today loves? 💗

Pink gradient and leopard print. 

Are you ready for something a little fun?! 

I’ve been trying to practice my gradients lately so I decide to try a tri-coloured gradient. Using pinks. I’m a little pink obsessed lately. My blending turned out a little more harsh than I would have preferred but I really love the colour combo. I finished everything off with some leopard print.    

The colours I used for this manicure were: 

  • Essie Peach Daquiri 
  • China Glaze Feel the Breeze 
  • China Glaze Purple Panic 
  • Sally Hansen I 💗 Nail Art pen in Black
  • Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat 

 

What do you think? I’m really craving brights right now. It’s May and officially that much closer to Summer–so hopefully it starts feeling more like it soon! ☀️