Category: Quo by Orly

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Spring Splotches & Geometric Lines

Happy Monday Lovelies! Today is a super exciting day for me because I’m officially starting at my new job after my week away training, which is both nerve wracking & a brand new adventure for me. Also exciting is today’s manicure which was inspired by a few make up cases I stumbled across at Superstore while grocery shopping.

I love when I find inspiration when I’m not looking for it. This pattern just screams nail art, so obviously I had to snap a picture for future nail designs. I loved the imperfect splotches of colour against the white background & loved how well it paired with the other make up back.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLYBreathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • Essie Garden Party
  • Essie All the Waves
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Medium size nail art brush

I just love love love how these turned out! The pretty spring colours, the splotches of colour with the geometric lines. It just turned out as perfect on the nail as I pictured in my head. I feel like I don’t do my freehand lines as often as I used to, so I’ve been trying to practice more!

What do you think of this design… do you think I stuck close enough to my inspiration? Where do you get your nail art inspiration from? Let me know your favourite place to find inspiration (or who inspires you) down in the comments below!

Happy Monday everyone 🌸

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Spring Stamping

Happy Friday lovelies! & happy March! Can you believe another month is down? I definitely can’t. Our countdown to Spring is officially at 18 days…. can you tell I’m really excited? Especially since the last couple days have been so beautiful & warm! I can’t wait. Which also means my nails have to match.

Give me all the Spring polish picks!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie In The Cab-Ana
  • Essie All the Wave
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP-L026 (item #21812)
  • Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

I really love the blue on blue with the vine pattern. It reminds me of a Spring dress pattern! & you know how much I love my dresses & cant wait to wear them again. Hopefully maybe by Easter & the end of the month I’ll be able to wear a few. A girl can dream!

I’m so glad I bought this stamping plate from Born Pretty! There are so many beautiful patterns that are going to be perfect for Spring & Summer. Obviously I love freehanding Floral patterns, but something I just don’t have the time to do it so this gives me another option. Plus leaves have never been my strong suit–Roses I can do, but try & freehand a leaf & sometimes it just ends up looking like a green blob. If I’m feeling some greenery, this will definitely make me less frustrated, which I am so happy about.

What do you think of this Spring design? Are you as ready for Spring as I am? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 🌿🌱

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Colour Block Half Moons

Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I’ve been having an exciting week here in Ottawa (although I miss being able to do my nails, I won’t lie.) I thought while I had a minute, I’d write up a quick post! Today’s nail design is one of my long time favourites & I love how versatile it is for all seasons. Half Moons! Seriously, you can never go wrong with a half moon design–they’re fairly quick & easy to do, & always look so put together. Today’s particular half moons were to curb my craving for something bright. I won Essie Flowerista last summer in their Summer Nailphie contest & I haven’t worn it nearly enough! So with Spring coming, I knew I needed to pull it out.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Cocktail Bling
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essence French Manicure Tip Guides

How pretty is this combo? Usually I would use paper hole reinforcements for my design, but because I wanted the half moon to be the darker colour, I used my french manicure tip guides from Essence & filled them in (similar to what I would do with a chevron half moon). Still super easy & gives you even more colour combination options! Does anyone else remember when almost every single half moon I did was pink & purple? I’m really glad I’ve expanded my colour options! Although, I’ll be honest… I really like that colour combination!

So what do you think of these half moons? Do you have a favourite colour combination? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Easy Nude & Gold Ruffian

Good morning lovelies! It’s currently 6:33am as I write this & I’m sitting here waiting for my bright & early flight to Ottawa–my first time on an airplane in 9 years & my first time being away from the little guy. I figured I would distract myself from reality by posting! I have quite a few manis saved up that I haven’t posted yet, so even though I won’t be doing my nails this week I’ll still have lots of content to share.

Today’s design is a design that I’ll be thinking about in my head for a while. I did them when I started out my job search & was trying to come up with interview/office appropriate designs. Sometimes you just want a little more than plain nude nails, but don’t want to push it too far.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Topless & Barefoot
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo By ORLY Fallen Star
  • Paper Hole reinforcements

Oh man, I love ruffian designs but sometimes they can be tricky to get right. Using the paper hole reinforcements means you can create the look with barely any trouble. This was the first time I’ve tried it this way, & I’ll definitely be “cheating” & using them from now on. Just like my favourite half moons, it’s just so much easier. & I like easy.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried this technique for creating ruffian designs? Do you find freehand or nail vinyls/guides easier? share your thoughts in the comments below!

Now I’m off to Ottawa, so I will see you later! Have a great Monday!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — New Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Shades

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone has been having a great weekend. I’ve spent all weekend running around trying to get ready for my work trip to Ottawa tomorrow! I’m very excited but I’m not sure how posting will go. I’m going to try & post after I get off work, so mostly things will go up at night. I have a few manicures saved up for this week though, so I’ll still have things to share! Today though, I have part two of my Quo by ORLY swatches, this time featuring the regular formula shades new for 2018.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — New Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Shades”