Category: Red Nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Poison Apple 🍎

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful Autumn Sunday, cool & crisp. It’s also the last Sunday of October, if you can believe it. How is this month almost over?

Even though I have some really exciting shades from Ella + Mila to share with you, I wanted to close off this month with a slightly Halloween adjacent shade with Claire’s Poison Apple.

This shade was the third in the collection they released in the early 2010s as dupes for the MAC Villainous collection — click to see the swatches of Evil Queen & Venomously.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful foil red takes a few coats for perfect opacity, but it’s worth the work (& dry time). The formula is a metallic red with micro flakies. It has a subtle gold shift, although it shows up better in the bottle on the nail (as is the trend with this mini collection). For an almost 15 year old nail polish, the formula is still great & I had no issues with application.

Look at that metallic finish—so pretty! I love colour for this time of year. I do wish that you see that gold shift on the nail like you can in the bottle, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. & I’m so happy that I have all three in my stash, especially because I didn’t original think that I did have a full set.

What do you think of Claire’s Poison Apple? Do you like this villainous red? Do you think Claire’s should do another release like this? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Not A Phase

*pr/gifted

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful Autumn Sunday. Today I’m sharing a lovely new shade with you I was recently gifted by my friends at Essie. They were kind enough to send me a whole slew of beautiful polishes, & as soon as I saw the dusty red (& the name!) I knew it was going to be the first swatch I had to share with you.

This is Essie Not A Phase.

2 coats + top coat

Okay, we all know my love for red is undying. What you might not know is my love of Emo & Pop punk music (especially between 2002-2010) is equally unwavering. So when I saw the name of this shade, I knew that it was going to become a favourite.

The formula on this polish is fantastic. It’s very opaque. I did two coats, but honestly I probably could get away with one with careful application. The shade is a nice change from the usual cherry red, which it’s more dusty colour. Very fitting for this time of year & the changing leaves on the trees.

Oh man, I’m kind of obsessed with this shade. It would be so fitting in an Autumn toned skittle which I may have to do soon! So if you’re looking for a different shade of red — I definitely recommend searching this one out!

Even better, this shade is in the current core collection, so you’re able to pick this polish up wherever Essie nail polish is sold.

What do you think of Essie Not A Phase? Do you love this red as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

🖤

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER (2024) — Plaid

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & Happy Labour Day! We’re jumping right into the Autumn nail art designs with this month’s Glam Nails Challenge September.

I was debating whether or not I was going to do another month, but then my first design I did happened to be a plaid design — which is the first prompt of this month, so I was like… let’s just do this! I had so much fun last month while feeling challenged creatively, I think I want to give it another go. & this month definitely has some great prompts as well!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Just In Wine
  • Essie East Hamptons Cottage
  • Essie Mani Thanks!
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper Black
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper Red
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

Does anyone else just immediately want to pull all the plaid out of their closet as soon as the mornings start feeling slightly cooler? I definitely do. I also want to paint plaid on my nails, because it just feels fitting. Pair these with a pair of over the knee socks, & the Autumn vibes are strong. I also feel like this is an easier, simpler design to do — albeit you do need a bit of a steadier hand for straight lines. But with a long striper brush, it does simplify the design a bit.

Definitely a design I recommend any beginner nail artist to try, & just trust the process. If you look at a plaid material, the pattern isn’t perfect so don’t worry about trying to make yours perfect. Sometimes the messier the better it turns out!

What do you think of this design? Are you excited for this month’s Glam Nails Challenge? Like I said, I was feeling inspired so I wanted to keep the good nail art going! & I feel like this is going to inspire some really beautiful nail art designs this month!

If you’re curious about the prompts to come, here is a little sneak peak of the prompts for this month.

& don’t forget to follow along with the above hashtag to see everyone’s gorgeous designs they post! Also, @glamnailschallenge reposts a lot of the beautiful designs on her page, so you can get a little snippet there as well!

Happy Monday!

♥︎

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) —Plants 🌿🌱

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I know, how long has it been since I did a Monday post. But I’m really excited for August because I am dedicated to doing another round of Glam Nails Challenge & this month is the month! So let’s go!

The first prompt of the month is plants. & I thought it was the perfect reason to break out these Born Pretty Store holographic stickers I had in my collection! These pretty tropical leaves stickers were the perfect look for my first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge August.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie U Wish
  • Born Pretty Store Holographic Tropical Leaves Stickers

How pretty are these stickers! I received these for review forever ag0 ( I think right when I got pregnant with my daughter) so I never got a chance to really review them because I got so sick. They’re easy to apply–the trick is you really have to make sure you press down hard on them, & there is no air bubbles or gaps.

The gold looks so nice against the burnt red of Essie U Wish. I quite enjoy this combo. I tried to get a picture of these in the sunshine, but the holographic effect almost did a disservice to the manicure. But they’re very fun! In fact, it’s reminding me I’m going to need to order some Autumn/Halloween nail stickers from NailStuff.ca very, very soon!

What do you think about this nail art look for the first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge August? Are you as excited as I am for this month? Let me know what you think down in the comments below. I’ll post all the prompts for this month, so you can follow along too!

& check back on Wednesday because I am really, really excited for the next manicure!

Enjoy your Monday

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pucker Up

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. This Summer has been so busy I feel like I’ve been neglecting my blog responsibilities & dropping the ball on posting — really hoping August will be better for me! In the meantime, I dig into my stash to find a fun, Summer appropriate colour to share!

This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pucker Up.

3 coats + top coat

Pucker Up is a vibrant cherry red with a creamy crelly formula. By that, I mean it has both qualities but leans a bit more in the creme direction when it comes to finish. It did, however, take 3 coats for almost full opacity, but with the thin formula it didn’t take long to dry.

Using a quick dry top coat did help with drying, however it caused some serious shrinkage at my tips & around the cuticles that I’m not happy about.

We all know I love a good red nail polish year round — it’s usually my go to colour when I don’t know how to paint my nails. & this vibrant red is just perfect for Summer. I also think it compliments my skin tone very well.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pucker Up is part of the Xtreme Wear core line, so it’s available where ever you purchase your Sally Hansen nail polishes. I picked up my bottle at my local Walmart — I think it was something like 2 for $6 CAD which is a pretty good deal

What do you think of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pucker Up? Do you like this vibrant red? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know what your favourite Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear shade!