Category: Red

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Can’t Beet Royalty (& a new Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat)

PR Sample/Gifted

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Who else is in shock that Christmas is less than two weeks away?! While I’m super excited that this year is almost over, I can’t believe it either!

But before we skip ahead, I have a fun gift that Santa dropped off on my doorstep last week. Sally Hansen recently reformulated their Miracle Gel top coats (both glossy & matte) & they were so kind as to send me a bottle of their top coat & an accompanying shade: Can’t Beet Royalty.

2 coats + Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat

First off, let’s talk about this beautiful Christmas-y red.

The formula is slightly cruelly, but still lovely, & I got almost full coverage in 2 coats (there was a bit of faint nail line, but it really wasn’t anything worth applying another coat of polish). As I’ve mentioned before, the larger brush means better application, because you’re able to do a single swipe over the nail. The colour is perfect for the holidays, & you know I will never shy away from a good red any time of the year. I also felt like this shade is very complimentary to my skin tone.

Now, as for this brand new formula for the Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat, I’m pretty impressed!

It boasts 8 days of chip free wear, which is always a plus. It again applies quite easily, & I noticed that it definitely has a speedier dry time than past versions. My one & only complaint was that I tried to apply it over some nail art, & it smeared everything. So I don’t know if it would be the best nail art top coat—I might try waiting a bit longer before applying—but it was great over a single colour. & I did notice it held up really well through work, which it helpful when you’re dealing with copious amount of stock boxes.

Such a pretty red!

How gorgeous would this look with some gold glitter in a gradient? Very festive! I swear my nails has been the most festive part of me this year. Christmas 2020 definitely feels very different.

What do you think about Can’t Beet Royalty & the brand new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel top coat? Have you tried either out yet? Let me know in the comments below what you think!

These items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Santa’s Side Chick

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. December is in full swing, & the Christmas vibes are… starting. Haha. Truthfully, I’m still not 100% feeling Christmas yet this year, especially because the weather outside is warm & not December-y at all. But all the more reason to pull out my Christmas polishes from years past.

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is a oldie from China Glaze The Glam Finale Holiday 2017 collection: Santa’s Side Chick.

I originally picked this shade up at Winners, in a two pack with Slay Bells Ring, post holidays. I think it was something crazy silly like $5 for the whole thing, which was an awesome deal! But I’ve never actually worn this shade before, so I was excited to pull it out this year!

2 coats.

First thing I noticed about this shade was that it dries down to a beautiful satin matte. Seriously, I love a good matte nail polish. The polish itself is a beautiful bright berry, with this stunning underlying shimmer.

The formula was pretty easy, only needing two coats for full coverage. Like I find most reds, it’s a bit more jelly, but still had great coverage on the nail. It also dried really quick, which is always nice! & it dries really evenly, which I always appreciate in a matte polish.

Check out that close up (minus the cat hair, haha 🙈) — such a pretty shade, & finish. I

’ve actually been wearing this shade for the last three days — both matte, & with glossy top coat. You know how much I love a good red nail polish, so I’m glad I finally put this one out! Plus the name just makes me laugh so much. Best nail polish name ever!

What do you think about this beautiful Christmas red? 🎄 When do you pull out your holiday collection shades — just around their intended holidays, or anytime of the year?

Let me know in the comments below.

Posted on

Abstract Colour Blocking (& covering up a chipped mani!)

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday. This week is speeding by quickly, isn’t it? Crazy! Today I’m showing off a fun look I did earlier this week.

Full disclosure: I had painted my nails, went to work, chipped the hell out of them, & had ever intention of repainting them. Then I fell asleep at 7pm. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t want to go to work with still chipped nails, so I thought of the easiest way I could cover up the “damage”, & decided to create this almost abstract colour blocking. & I think it turned out pretty cool for something that was painted on the fly. Haha.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries
  • China Glaze Glamcore
  • Essie Mosiac On Down
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Silver

The colour choices — especially that silver — is giving me a bit too much of a holiday vibe, but I really do think this is a fun quick design. It was way easier than taking everything off, & repainting from scratch.

What I did was paint some base coat on the sections that a chipped, to protect the naked parts of my nails, then swiped the polishes over to cover up the chipping. I also used my bottle of Seche Vite, because I wanted to make sure they dried quick. & it turned out pretty neat! Also, in a weird way in kind of reminds me of argyle, or at the very least makes me want to do some argyle sweater print nails ASAP. Already playing the colour combination in my head as we speak.

Also, we totally got hit with a early winter storm, so I’m in full winter knit sweater nail mood when it comes to my nails. So that is your early warning there will probably be A LOT of sweater inspired nail art to come!

Have you ever tried to save a manicure or cover up some chipping to extend your nails another day? Any tricks you want to share? Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

#GlamNailsChallengeOct — Bats

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Can you believe we are so close to the end of October? Seriously… where did October even go? I can’t believe that it’s almost Halloween. I seriously want to petition to make Halloween a whole week instead of just one day. It’s just over too quickly!

We’re also down to our second last design for GlamNailsChallengeOct! Today’s prompt is Bats. While I would have loved to freehand some cute bats on my nails, after my first attempt, I knew it was going to end up being super frustrating & I decided to pull out some nail stickers to create my cute Halloween look.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • NYC Color Frightening Fingers in Red
  • Essie Shine Of The Times
  • Dollarama Halloween Nail Stickers

Aren’t these super cute?

I was actually really impressed with these nail stickers. While I don’t wear them a lot, they’re great to grab for a quick nail art look. These particular stickers were bought at my local Dollarama, while picking up Halloween decorations, & they stick to the nail really well. I wore this look through a long day at work, & I didn’t have them peel off or stick off the nail at all. Granted, I applied two coats of top coat, but even still you can’t even feel the sticker on the nail. I love it! & I also love the little bit of glitter on the stickers. They’re actually some of the cuter stickers I’ve used.

What do you think about this nail art look? Do you ever use nail art stickers? Which brand are your favourites? Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Don’t Let The Dead Bite (Halloween 2014)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Today I thought I would pull out a Halloween oldie from my polish stash for this week’s Swatch Sunday! This is China Glaze Don’t Let The Dead Bite from the China Glaze Apocalypse Of Color 2014 Halloween collection.

Don’t Let The Dead Bite is a milky jelly pinky polish that is packed full of multi sized & shaped red glitters.

2 coats + top coat

I am a sucker for a good Halloween collection, so I remember being very excited about finding this shade on clearance a few years ago. If I remember correctly, I bought this shade for Valentine’s Day, because I thought the glitters would be perfect for that.

My bottle has definitely changed a bit over the years, with the glitters bleeding a bit & making the base darken. It’s still a beautiful shade, but not quite in its original form. The formula, however, remains just as easy to work with as when I first bought it, which I appreciate.

I really like this shade, & to be honest, I kind of forgot I owned it until I was looking for something Halloween-y to adorn my nails with! I can’t believe October is almost over! How crazy is that?!

Do you remember this China Glaze collection from 2014? Did you get your hands on any of the shades? What is your favourite Halloween polish collection? Let me know down in the comments below!