SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Fall 2019 Gone West Collection

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Good morning lovelies! Today I am so excited because I am officially diving into some BRAND NEW Fall polishes for 2019!

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I was recently gifted the China Glaze Gone West Fall 2019 collection courtesy of China Glaze themselves! I’d been admiring this collection & all its shades since it was first announced, so to say I was excited to receive all 8 polishes would be an understatement! & I couldn’t wait to get a chance to try each shade on & share them all with you!

& now some swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Fall 2019 Gone West Collection”

Holo Geode Nails for #glamnailschallengeaug

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Good morning lovelies! Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday. I can’t believe how quickly August is speeding by… Pumpkin Spice season isn’t so far off now. & we’re slowly creeping towards the end of the Glam Nails Challenge for August with only 3 prompts left!

Today’s prompt: Geode.

There are a ton of ways to do geode style nails, so I wanted to think about which one I wanted to use. I decided my abstract stripe design was my favourite way to create geode looking nails, & I decided that I wanted to use a fun holo powder that I bought from Born Pretty Store, & had totally lost in my nail polish room.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Gel Break
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Finger Paints Peel Off Base Coat
  • ACO by Ardene Nearly Nude
  • Born Pretty Store holo powder (no longer available)
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White

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I had an idea in my head for how I wanted this design to look, with the pink holo popping against the black & white lines, with a nude-ish background, & I think it turned out pretty much like I imagined. I really, really like this holo powder too–sad that it’s no longer available on the Born Pretty Store site–although they do have a few similar ones like this & this.

I seriously always forget just how much I love nail art powders until I start playing with them again. Also this was my first excitement with applying the powder in just sections of the nails using my usual technique with using Finger Paints Peel Off Base Coat & it turned our perfectly!

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Ooooh, I can’t stop starting at that holo. It’s especially impressive in motion with the holo flakies & pink sparkle. So much fun to wear! Also I feel like this pink is also still very Summery, which is a nice change from the darker Fall shades I’ve been craving lately.

& they’re even more beautiful in the sunshine!

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What do you think of this design? Do these look like geode to you? Remember to check out #glamnailschallengeaug to see everyone’s amazing manicures!

Constellations for #GlamnailschallengeAug

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Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Today I’m sharing another design for #glamnailschallengeaug!

Today’s prompt is Constellations. 🌌 I did galaxy nails just a few weeks ago, so I wanted to do something different enough from that design & try my best to recreate the prompt on my nails. Usually I am such a perfectionist it can cause me to get frustrated when things aren’t “perfect”. This whole prompt has been about painting my nails, stepping out of my comfort zone, & creating nails that are “perfect enough”.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture
  • OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number
  • OPI Ink
  • OPI The Sky’s My Limit
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm Liner Brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

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I’ve been experimenting a bit with acrylic paints for nail art lately, mostly when creating nail art in bit unsure about, like his design. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to “attach” my stars to show off the constellations, so I drew my dots & stars first, applied my top coat, & then drew my lines. By putting top coat in between the dots/stars & the lines, I could easily wash off the lines & redraw them without acetone ruining my look.

I probably wouldn’t switch to using acrylic paint for all designs, like my florals, but it certainly works really well for designs like this, & I have a feeling it would also be really useful for more different or advanced patterns. I’ve been going through some older designs & really obsessing over the swirly designs I used to do, so I feel like I’m definitely going to be trying out more of those looks coming up! I’m feeling very inspired.

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I am really really loving how this look turned out, especially in keeping the background not too busy as I normally would in a galaxy/space design. I wanted to kind of create a background that looked like those magnetic polishes I see all over Instagram, but have yet to own. Subtle, definitely there. & I feel like I managed to achieve that, especially using the polishes I picked.

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What do you think about this look? Are you loving the manicures I’ve been creating this month? Like this post & leave a comment if you’d like to see me do more of these nail art challenges!

& don’t forget to check out the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram to see the other pretty nails posted for the challenge! I just love seeing all the beautiful & different interpretations that we’re coming up for the same idea!

Paisley Nails for #glamnailschallengeaug

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Good morning lovelies! Today I have another fun manicure I created for the Glam Nails Challenge for August! Today’s nail art prompt was one I was a little bit scared about: Paisley.

I’ve never actually attempted a paisley pattern before, mostly because it’s always looked really intimidating, & not in my nail art wheel house. But because this challenge is all about inspiring me to try new looks, I decided to make an attempt at free handing it.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essence Plump Power
  • Quo by ORLY Wrong So Right
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio

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So I’ll be honest, the first attempt at starting this pattern was with a different colour & I didn’t even get one nail done before I was removing it. I’m a perfectionist, so trying something I’ve never done before (& not doing it well) can be overwhelming for me. My second attempt with this darker bronze colour was a much better attempt!

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Is this a perfect paisley recreation? No. Is this paisley-esque enough for me? Absolutely! I tried really hard to get that whirly look of Paisley & I’m incredibly impressed with the design, & especially with the fact I repeated it on my Cinderella hand so I could wear these nails for a few days. & yeah, I know these aren’t perfect. But they’re beautiful enough for me, & that’s all that matters.

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What do you think of this paisley design? Would you wear this manicure? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

& don’t forget to check out the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram to see the other pretty nails posted for the challenge! I’m definitely excited to check out what everyone has done!

Mermaid Nails for #glamnailschallengeaug

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Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today I have another manicure to share with you for the August Glam Nails Challenge! Today’s prompt is Mermaid, which is always a fun design to do. Sadly, I’ve run out of my mermaid pattern nail vinyls, so I decided to stamp my scale pattern onto my nail, since I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to freehand them.

I had a pretty specific idea in my mind of what I wanted this manicure to look like, & unfortunately I didn’t have an actual mermaid scale stamping plate, so I went through the plates I do have to find the one which would work best!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat
  • Essence Across the Universe
  • Essence Mermaid of the Galaxy
  • Essence Guardians of the Unicorn
  • Essence Space Glam
  • Essence Intergalactic Adventure
  • Essence Black in Black
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper & Scraper (gifted)
  • BornPrettyStore stamping plate BP-LO32 (item #23268)

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Please excuse the remaining mess around my cuticles. I forgot to use my cuticle barrier because I was rushing, & trying to clean up the polish on my fingers was tricky. That’s what you get when you try for a nap time manicure & want to get your nails done before the babes wake up!

But even if my cuticles aren’t perfect, I’m still so in love with how this manicure turned out! The Essence Out Of Space Stories polishes work so well for this fantasy type design. Especially with the duo/multichrome finishes they have.

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Posing with my mermaid nail art brush because it’s the only mermaid-y item I think I own. I feel like even though I didn’t use a traditional mermaid image, they still came out very mermaid-esque. I actually think I like this pattern even better!

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What do you think about these mermaid pattern nails? 🧜🏼‍♀️ share your thoughts down in the comments below!