SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essence “Out of Space Stories” Shades

Happy Swatch Sunday lovelies. Today is an exciting day because I have a few brand new Essence shades to share with you that I just discovered!

I didn’t even know they were coming out with any new polishes in the Out of Space Stories line, but I was out at Shoppers checking out the Polish section & discovered these two beauties tucked in a display off on its own with a few other Essence products. Naturally, I had to buy both to add them to my collection. (So it would be complete!) Not going to lie, it feels like absolute ages since Shoppers has had any new fun Essence collections–limited edition or otherwise–so this was a very happy discovery!

Now onto the swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — New Essence “Out of Space Stories” Shades”

White & Purple Drag Marble 💜

Good Morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a fantastic beginning to their week.

Today I’m showing off some brand new nails & a design I haven’t done in a while: drag marble. I literally couldn’t remember the last time I attempted one–I’ve been trying so many awesome marbling techniques–that it felt like a good time to give an old favourite another try!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lets Snow
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Just Maui’d
  • Color Club Eternal Beauty
  • Bundle Monster drag tool.

Drag marbles were my first foray into marble nails because they seemed like the least messy option! Definitely takes a bit of practice to keep your nails from looking swampy (or one colour completely taking over the entire nail!) but once you get that down, the end result can be stunning!

Of all my nails, I think my ring finger probably turned out the best, followed by my middle finger. Sadly, I was using a more than half empty bottle of top coat, so there were way too many bubbles happening… but I guess that helps add to the marble effect! & thankfully you can’t really see them from far away. It was just me they bothered immensely.

What do you think of this drag marble design? What’s your favourite marble technique? Let me know all your thoughts down below!

Rustic Floral Pattern Nails

Can you never have too many floral manicures in your life? Personally, I don’t think so. We all know how much I adore flowers–from clothes, to shoes, to cellphone cases to my nails, I can never have enough! Recently I found a Rifle Paper Co. phone case at Winners on payday, so I decided to attempt to recreate said pattern on my nails.

My attempt definitely turned out a little more rustic than its inspiration, but I think that is why I love the end result so much!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Boho Green Make Up Moonlight
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Pep in my Step
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Piggy
  • Sally Hansen MG Pretty Peony
  • Sally Hansen MG Off the Shoulder
  • Essie A-List
  • China Glaze Sun Upon My Skin
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin
  • YSL Vert D’Orient
  • Sally Hansen Insta-dri Thyme is Money
  • Essie First Timer
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Black
  • Bundle Monster detail brush

I’m kind of excited for Summer because it means I can change up my backgrounds & use outside. How lush does this design look with green grass in the background? Definitely throwing my pictures back to my pre-light-box days with these photos & I’m loving it! Seriously, staged photos are awesome but something about natural light makes your manicures look that much better.

If that doesn’t say Summer, I don’t know what else does! Also I’m never, ever going to get sick of doing floral. Never. How could you ever get sick of something so pretty! Hence why I keep filling my closet with more & more floral clothing pieces. The obsession continues! 🌿🌼🌱

what do you think of this design? Are you feeling Summery? Leave a comment down below & let me know!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Boho Green Make Up Moonlight

Good morning & Happy Sunday loves! After a chaotic week I’m finally feeling a little refreshed & excited to start off a brand new week! & what is more excited to start off the week, than with Swatch Sunday & a pretty purple from the depths of my stash.

Today’s polish is one that I found on clearance at my favourite local Health Food Store for only $4! This beautiful crelly purple is called Moonlight & is from the brand Boho Green Make Up, which is based out of France. This brand is organic, natural & vegan–so it’s nail polish that you can feel awesome about wearing. You definitely get that feeling from the look of the bottle: it’s simple & uncomplicated with a wooden cap.

For my swatches, I used base coat (as I was going to be wearing the polish as the base next manicure) then two coats of colour & finished it off with top coat. Because of the crelly formula, you definitely need two thicker coats or three thinner coats for full opacity.

The smell while applying this polish was interesting — I suppose it is part of it being a “natural” brand, but it almost had a grape-like smell to it. I don’t know if that was psychosomatic from seeing the purple colour or actual but it definitely was more pleasant than your typical nail polish (not that I make a habit of going around sniffing every bottle of nail polish I put on my nails.)

Overall, I was quite impressed my experiences with this polish & brand. I own two shades–this one (Moonlight) & a Blue (Pacific Ocean) & both are really lovely polishes with fairly decent lasting power. I love the fact that they’re all natural & organic because it makes you feel good about wearing it on your nails.

Have you ever tried the polishes from Boho Green Make Up? What did you think? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

Neon Saran Wrap Splatter

Happy Tuesday lovely… a very rainy, gross Tuesday (again).

I thought it would be a good day for some more bright & colourful nails, featuring one of my favourite easy to do designs–Saran Wrap Splatter! This is a design I do a surprisingly amount–which you may have noticed–because it’s easy to do, doesn’t require any specific nail art tools & truthfully is not too messy to clean up. & the colour combinations are endless.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Strength
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Find Me An Oasis
  • Essie Strut Your Stuff
  • China Glaze Purple Panic
  • Plastic Bag (I used a plastic grocery bag that I cup up into smaller pieces.)

Please ignore the chip on my middle finger above–I keep forgetting to take pictures of my nails until after work, which leads to the above situation. Thankfully the design is so busy you barely notice the little chip at the tip. Also I’m loving the combination of this fuchsia & blues–the colours go really well together over the pale blue.

What do you think of this nail art design? What colour combination would you like me to try in a Saran Wrap splatter next? Share your ideas down below!