SWATCH SUNDAY — Julep Madelynn & Pahlish Seto Taisho (Teacup Soldier) {gifts from @manigeek!}

Happy Sunday lovelies! 💕 I know I skipped out on my Swatch Sunday post last weekend, but I’m back with TWO new-to-me shades, courtesy of the oh-so-amazing @manigeek!

Karen recently posted a swatch of the purple Julep polish Madelynn & when I commented how beautiful it was, she offered to send it to me! Seriously, how sweet is she! The polish was originally gifted to her by @dyslizakitty. I was super excited when the saw the polish arrive, & even more excited when I saw she included a surprise extra polish as well.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Julep Madelynn & Pahlish Seto Taisho (Teacup Soldier) {gifts from @manigeek!}”

SWATCH SUNDAY — Revlon Magnetic

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. Technically it’s a long weekend here in Halifax, but thanks to retail life I only have tomorrow off. It’s okay though… I still managed to get a Swatch Sunday post ready for today & she’s a beauty!

Today’s polish pick is one from the stash I’ve never actually worn: Revlon Magnetic. I’ve owned this shade for a while (I think I picked it up last Fall) but it’s been sitting untouched in my stash since then, just waiting for the right moment to shine.

Revlon Magnetic is a fairly sheer purple shimmer with a slight duochrome shift & blue microglitters. The polish on its own would take a lot to build to opacity, so for my swatches I layered 2 coats over a base of Color Club Pucci-licious. Sadly I struggled to get the duochrome to show up in my pictures, but it motion you could really see the shift. I share a video on my Instagram stories & ooooooh it looks so gorgeous in motion!

You know how I love a good purple & I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to actually wear it. Part of the reason I reached for it, is because it kind of reminded me of the new Essie Retrograde shades they released in the states. Sadly, I don’t have one to compare (I wish!) but this makes a great alternative. If you do have both to compare, let me know how close they actually are. I’m very curious!

I’m loving how all these cosmic themed 🌌 polishes are coming out right now. At work we have a whole collection of cosmic themed shades for the Fall–I’ve already bought 2 so far, & I have at least one more if not two I’m going to need to buy next. It reminds me why I fell in love with duochrome polish in the first place!

What do you think of Revlon Magnetic? Do you own this shade in your stash? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Purple & Silver Racing Stripes

Happy August lovelies. Its that time of year… stores are beginning to set up for back to school & my cravings for all things Fall themed hit hard. Thankfully the 30+ degree weather has been keeping me in a Summer state of mind & keeping neon shades on my nails!

Today’s nails is a simple look that’s easy to do, but makes your nails look way longer than they actually are thanks to the vertical stripes. It’s also a great way to practice your freehand line work! I feel like mine has gotten a little rusty, so I’ve been taking every excuse to practice.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence We Will Spock You
  • YSL Beauty Violine Surrealiste
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape in purple (item #40423) — I used the thickest tape of the 3

Using striping tape for your initial line in the middle makes creating your smaller black lines much easier. & then end result looks so cool! & gives your nails the appearance of extra length. Plus, like I said, for those of us still working on freehanding straight lines, this really helps with practicing.

I just love how these kind of look like racing stripes. Sadly the holo of Essence We Will Spock You didn’t want to show thanks to a hazy morning, but the little hint of holo with the purple looked awesome!

Do you have a trick for making your nails look longer? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Rainbow 🌈 Nails

Good Morning Lovelies & Happy Monday. Today I have a special manicure to share with you in honour of it being Pride Week in Halifax right now — some rainbow nails. This past weekend, I went out to celebrate & attended my very first Drag Show ever! So in honour of that, I wanted to create a design bright & colourful, & with a touch of glitter.

For this design, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Sally Hansen MG Just Maui’d
  • Sally Hansen MG Bourbon Belle
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow
  • Essie First Timer
  • Quo by ORLY Pep in Your Step
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge
  • Wet n Wild Clear Polish
  • This design was super simple to create. I started off with a plain white base (my current favourite White polish!) & then sponged each colour over top of the white. Next I took a clear nail polish that would streak the colours together & repeatedly brushed over the nail so they blended. This is a trick I like to use with gradients, sponged looks & dry brushes because it blends them together really well (especially good with gradients!) & then I finish with actual top coat after. I also felt like this design needed a little bit of glitter, so I added some fairy dust as well.

    I really love this combination of colours & the rainbow-ness of it. It was the perfect design for the awesome night I had out dancing! I’m very proud to live in a city which can celebrate Pride with such festivity & inclusivity. There really is an event for everyone!

    What do you think of my rainbow nails? 🌈 Have you ever attended a drag show before? Share you comments down below & let me know what you think!

    Easy Purple & Turquoise Half Moons 🌙

    Happy Wednesday lovelies! Today I have another set of half moons to share with you, this time featuring a blurple & turquoise colour combination I’m kind of obsessed with! It’s been a while since I went with half moons, & colour combination was inspired by a t-shirt dress from Forever 21 that I own & love.

    Colour blocking makes me happy. It’s a great way to test colour combinations out.

    For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

    • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
    • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
    • Quo by ORLY Venice
    • Essie In the Cab-ana
    • Paper Reinforcements (from the Dollar store)

    Was half moons with paper reinforcements anyone else’s first nail art technique they learned? I remembering doing them back in the day & feeling like I was a nail art expert. For those of you who are still getting into nail art looking for easy designs… half moons are a great option with endless colour combinations. You can go subtle for more work appropriate designs or go crazy neon! I also love adding polka dots on top of my design for a little extra design.

    what do you think of these half moons? What colour combination would you pick? Let me know in the comments below!