Category: Red Nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze High Hopes

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! I feel like it’s been a while since I did a Swatch Sunday post, even though it’s only been 2 weeks. Today I dug deep deep into the stash for a bit of an oldie shade: China Glaze High Hopes.

2 coats + top coat

According to Google, this shade was originally released as part of the Spring 2010 Up & Away Collection. I believe I purchased this bottle myself circa 2013/2014, although I’m not 100% sure. It’s been in my stash a while though.

Formula on this beauty is smooth & easy to apply. The colour is a beautiful vibrant coral that was a smidge hard to photograph accurately. But I feel like these photos capture it most accurately.

The bright colour feels perfect for Summer, but would be easy to transition into Fall by pairing it with a deep burgundy. Yes, my mind is going there. I’m trying my best not to start thinking about Autumn, but our local Dollarama has Halloween already popping up, & Halloween is my favourite season!

But back to High Hopes! This shade is lovely & the colour is a great alternative to my usual go-to red manicure that I love so much.

I did find a few listings online for this shade — Sparkle Canada has it listed for sale, as well you can find the Gelaze version on the China Glaze website. I also found an Amazon listing, but I’m not sure if it’s a secondhand seller or not. However, there are definitely a few listings floating around for this fun vibrant shade!

What do you think about this beautiful vibrant coral shade? Do you have China Glaze High Hopes in your nail polish stash?

Let me know all your thoughts, & what shade you’re currently loving this week!

🖤

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Red Sideways Swoop Nails

•contains pr/gifted product•

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & happy last day of July!

How was everyone’s weekend? I actually had an amazing weekend, catching up with my teenage best friend — she’s visiting for a few weeks, & it was just what my heart needed.

Today’s look is feeling kind of Autumn-esque, but I swear that was not intentional! Usually by this time in the year, I start feeling the call of pumpkin spice, but I’m making a point not to jump too quickly into Fall vibes too soon. Spooky season is my favourite season, but I still want to enjoy August, & what’s left of Summer.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Essie Spice It Up
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlit Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Red It Online

I wasn’t sure exactly what to call these nails. I know people used to refer to these as sideway French nails, but I feel like sideways swoop nails feels like a better descriptor. Either way, I really like how these turned out — & I got a few compliments at work too!

I was originally just wearing the base of Essie Spice It Up & Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlit Top Coat, but it was looking a little rough. However, I didn’t have quite enough time to completely redo my nails, so I decided a little last minute nail art over my base was the perfect solution. & there is nothing better than red nails, in my opinion. We all know red nails are my favourite, no matter what time of the year.

What do you think of this subtle nail art look with sparkle? Do you have do some second/third day nail art to extend the life of your manicure? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

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Happy Canada Day Nails 🇨🇦

Good morning lovelies & happy Friday!

It’s almost the weekend. & here in Canada, it’s almost our nation’s birthday. So obviously, I needed some cute Canada Day nails to celebrate the occasion (& the day off work!) I still have a good haul of my Canada Day vinyl stencils from a few years ago, so I decided I should put them to good use.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel x Friends He’s Her Lobster
  • Sally Hansen MG x Friends A Moo Point
  • Sally Hansen MG Red It Twice
  • What’s Up Beauty Canada Flag Stencils (c/o: NailPolishCanada circa 2018)

Please excuse the raindrops on my nails — I took these between bouts of torrential rain. But even the damp conditions couldn’t take away from how cute these turned out! & they were so easy to do with my nail stencils! I definitely couldn’t think about freehanding these maple leaves.

& I got so many compliments when I wore them to work! Which always makes me feel good.

What do you think of my cute Canada Day nails? Let me know in the comments below. & to my fellow Canadians — enjoy your holiday tomorrow!

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Subtle Red Dotticure

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! We’re half way through the week, & half way to the weekend. I hope everyone’s week is going well so far. We’ve had a pretty week & chilly week so far, but after all those wildfires swept across the province, I’ll take a little rain.

Today, though, I have a super easy & chic nail art look. I did another subtle red nail art look last Summer, & I really liked it, but I really wanted to do something with polka dots. We all know red & polka dots are my two favourite things!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Delightful
  • Sally Hansen CSM Killer Heels
  • Small Dotting Tool  (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

I really, really love how these turned out. Obviously, you don’t really notice the red unless you’re searching for it, but to me it takes it just a step above the usual plain red manicure. It also kind of reminds me a bit of a pond manicure, without having to worry about all the coats of polish.

Also I’m really loving this Sally Hansen red Cherry Delightful. It’s been in my stash for ages (5 years at least) but I don’t think I’ve worn it that frequently because I totally didn’t realize that it’s a one coater! I feel like a good one coat red polish is urban legend at this point, because trust me I’ve been looking. It also has this beautiful squishy finish which just makes me so happy.

Over all, I’m obsessed.

What do you think of this subtle red dotticure? Are you a fan of polka dots on your nail? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Have a happy Wednesday loves! ♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Too Too Hot ❤️‍🔥

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s been a beautiful balmy week this week (at least in terms of our usual April days) so I’m feeling all the Summer vibes I can handle. I even broke out my favourite holo sandals. So with these beautiful Summery days, I felt like switching gears from pastel vibes to full on Summer with a classic Essie shade: Essie Too Too Hot.

This shade was originally released circa 2011 as part of the Braziliant Summer 2011 collection ( found swatches online of the full collection here).

3 coats + Seche Vive Top Coat

I ended up with 3 coats of polish for my swatches, which I feel like was a bit too much, but I the formula was a bit on the thinner side, so I found I needed to do a lot less polish on the brush to avoid flooding my cuticles.

The colour is this beautiful mix between a bright tomato red, & a coral, although in my photos it’s definitely leaning more towards the red side. That could also be due to the fact my skin tone leans more on the yellow/olive side, so I feel like that brights out the red tones more.

We all know I love a good red nail polish, & I love an Essie red even more! It’s actually surprising how few Essie reds I have in my stash, so I think I need to fix that.

This shade is beautiful though, because I find it would be pretty universally flattering on a lot of skin tones. It reminds me a bit of Sally Hansen Cherry Delightful from their RED/ESIGN collection from a few years ago, which was designed to compliment everyone. So this definitely seems like a red that anyone could wear.

Sadly, this shade has been discontinued from the Essie core line, which makes me really sad because I think everyone needs a classic flattering red in their collection. Red nails make everything better (which is why I spent the majority of my early 20s rocking some shade of red.) So I would totally be down with championing a petition for Essie to bring this beauty back to their core line!

What do you think of this beauty? Do you own Essie Too Too Hot in your nail polish stash? What is your favourite Essie red? Let me know in the comments below.