SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo by ORLY Breathable Freudian Flip

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Good morning loves! It’s that time of week again: Swatch Sunday. & today I’ve got a brand new polish to share with you that I literally just bought from Shoppers Drug Mart: Quo by ORLY Breathable in Freudian Flip, which appears to be a brand new addition to the Quo by ORLY collection exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.

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For complete opacity, you’re looking at two coats of polish. & what you get is a beautiful teal metallic shimmer. I was a little nervous because metallic shades like this can sometimes have a thin formula which is hard to build up, or works best layered over dark undies, but Freudian Flip needed neither of those things. I was also pleasantly surprised that there were no glaring brush strokes when it dried.

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Of the two new metallic foil-y shades that is part of this new Quo by ORLY Breathable release, this is definitely the one I was the most excited about. So I was a little disappointed that the Duochrome shift that is so prevalent in the bottle doesn’t as show as much on the nail, at least in the light of lightbox. However, that being said, this is a seriously gorgeous polish, in a fun colour I don’t wear that often. & because it’s part of the Breathable line, I can feel good about wearing it because it’s design to be good for my nails.

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For my Canadian friends, you can currently pick up this shade at your local Shoppers Drug Mart & online at Beauty Boutique… & it’s currently on sale for $9.99! For my American friends, ORLY has their version of this shade (also named Freudian Flip FYI) which can be purchased online at their official website, NailPolishCanada & Amazon. So if you are looking at this polish thinking “Oh My God! I need it!” you are in luck because there are lots of places to buy it from!

& trust me, you definitely need this polish.

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What do you think about this polish? Are you as love in it as I am? I’m loving that Quo by ORLY has come out with some really fun shades in their Breathable line, & I can’t wait to go back & pick up the other duochrome shade I saw You’re a Gem. I’m such a sucker for these foil duochrome shades.

Let me know if you would add this polish to your collection & what was the latest polish you bought! 💎

Fall Leaves 🍂 Nail Art Recreation

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Hello lovelies & Happy Friday!

Today I have a fun nail art look to share with you that is a recreation of an old favourite: this Fall leaf design. This design was one of the first designs I ever posted on Instagram that I was the most proud of. So while browsing through my old designs, I decided it was definitely long overdue for me to recreate this design!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Gel overlay
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat {PR sample}
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Heaven Sent {PR sample}
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Good Cheer-y {PR sample}
  • Wet N Wild Blazed
  • Rimmel 60 Seconds 830 Camouflage
  • Mariposa Nail Polish gold shimmer (no name)
  • Black Acrylic Paint
  • Nailstuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

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So obviously with it being five years since I first painted this design, I wanted to change things up a little bit & play around with the look. Instead of black polish, I used acrylic paint because I knew it would make it easier to start over if there was any mistakes. I also used my 11mm mermaid tail brush from NailStuff.ca, but looking back I should probably should have went with a small size for thinner lines.

Also this time I decided to add some matte top coat over my design, & it really made the design & colours pop! I’ve been absolutely loving the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel matte top coat.

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Just for fun, a couple shots of this design before I added my matte top coat.

Obviously I think both versions of this design are fabulous, but I’m just slightly more in love with the matte version. Something about this time of year just has me craving matte-ified nails more often, & honestly I feel like metallic nails (which I also craved more often during Autumn) pop so much more when they are matte.

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So what do you think about my updated version of this design? Which do you prefer: matte or glossy? Share your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know which version is your favourite!

VACATION NAILS — ocean inspire Saran Wrap splatter.

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Hello lovelies! Still on vacation, but even though I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean I’m not painting my nails! Like I wrote in my last Swatch Sunday post, visiting my parents means I get to take advantage of my Mom’s massive nail polish collection she uses for her jewelry. So I decided to take a few of her polishes to create an ocean inspired design perfect for an East Coast vacation!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Duri Rejuvacote
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM A Bleu Attitude
  • Quo by ORLY April Showers
  • Santee ACO6433
  • China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
  • Crinkled up Plastic Wrap

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Obviously, being away from my own nail polish stash & supply, I’m not going to attempt to crate one of my more complicated designs–like floral– which is why something like a Saran Wrap splatter is such a perfect design! Easy to do, minimal clean up, but still looks fancy & fun! & obviously because my nails were inspired by the ocean I had to take pictures of this look right on the beach! 🌊

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Looking at these close up, I realized how much these look like the mussel shells we used to collect off the beach as kids! This colour combination is definitely one of the best versions of this design I’ve done, but I find that happens whenever I do anything in shades of blue! They always just turn out so beautiful!

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What do you think of this look? What do you do about your nails when you’re on vacation–do you still paint them, or go with something like soak off gel that lasts 2+ weeks!

Let me know your vacation nail routine down in the comments below!

Fall Inspired Chevron Moons

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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.

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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

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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!

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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. 🍁🍂

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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!

Tribal/Aztec Print for #GlamNailsChallengeAug

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Hello loves & happy Wednesday! Today marks the last prompt for #GlamNailsChallengeAug, can you believe it? We made it! & I am so excited to have completed this challenge, because it really did inspired me to try out more nail art designs than my usual go to designs. That being said, I’m also itching for some Fall inspired floral & half moons, so stay tuned for some of those coming up next month!

The last prompt for this month is Tribal/Aztec, which is one after my own heart, so I couldn’t wait to draw some new tribal inspired nail art. & obviously I had to use some of the next China Glaze Gone West polishes for a Fall colour scheme.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: Fraken Base Coat combination
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Settter
  • China Glaze Cowboy Bye
  • China Glaze Prairie Tale Ending
  • China Glaze Take The High Rodeo
  • China Glaze Gold Mine Your Business
  • China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
  • Essence Black is Back
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm Nail Art Brush
  • Small dotting tool

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So I know I’m totally biased, but how cute did this look turn out? The colour pallet is just so perfect for Fall weather & I think goes really well with the tribal prompt. I mean, I can’t stop obsessing about these colours anyways, but combined with one of my favourite kinds of designs, it’s hard not to just keep staring at my nails. & it satisfies my craving for Fall just enough.

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I’ve really had so much fun doing this challenge this month, & I’m super excited that I completed all 8 prompts! Still deciding if I’ll be joining in again next month, as the prompts look quite fun, but if I don’t do all of them, I will definitely take inspiration from some. & I definitely plan on getting more creative this month in my nail art! So who knows what designs you will see coming up! I definitely feel like pumpkins are going to need to happen!

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Don’t forget to check out the other manicures for #glamnailschallengeaug & let me know down in the comments below if you’d like to see me do more challenges like this in the future!