Category: Spring

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Expressie IRL

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful sunny Sunday, that is supposed to be quite warm. Spring has officially sprung, & I just want to keep soaking it in. Today, I decided to grab a pretty polish I was gifted by my daughter for Christmas. She knows how’s much I adore purple, so she picked up this pretty polish for me at her school Gift Mart.

This is Essie Expressie IRL.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful grape purple is smooth & easy to apply. I had almost full opacity in one coat, but I did find I struggled a smidge with the brush, so I needed a second coat to perfect my application — especially around the cuticle line. I found I had some weird lines with my first swipe, just because the brush, so I needed to go back in to smooth everything. The end result, though, was a pretty perfect looking manicure.

The cream formula dries quiet, although I did find the shine a bit flat, but a quite swipe of Seche Vive fixed that.

The colour is so purple! Which I love. Honestly, with the exception of the kind of wonky brush–which could be a defect with this bottle as I can’t remember having this issue with my other bottles of Expressie–I have no complaints about this polish! & I just love the colour.

Essie Expressie IRL is part of the core collection, so if you’re looking for this shade you can find it anywhere that Essie shades are sold– for example, I found it listed at Shoppers Beauty for $14.99 CAD, Walmart Canada for $10.96 CAD, Amazon.ca for $10.96 CAD, & for my American friends, on Target.com for $9.99 USD.

What do you think about Essie IRL? Do you love this purple polish as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday ♥︎

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Fun Pastel Abstract Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope you’re having the most wonderful week so far. It’s surprisingly chilly today, albeit sunny, so I’ll try to enjoy that. Today I have a fun nail art look I created on a whim, that I couldn’t wait to share. Abstract nails are such an easy nail art look to do, because there is no “right” or “wrong” way to do them. You just basically get to throw some polish on your nails, & you end up with something fun! I love manicures like that.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Tutu At The Ballet
  • Essie Muchi Muchi
  • OPI Infinite Shine Sickeningly Sweet
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Gloss-Sea
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Quo Beauty Stormy Night
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

How much fun! I’m not sure what kind of art I was going for, but these kind of remind me of like early 90s TV opening. A fun look to wear.

What do you think about these fun abstract nails? Would you wear this look? Let me know what abstract design you enjoy the most? Share all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Spring Drag Marble

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Another beautiful sunny Tuesday to enjoy (at least here!) today I’m sharing a design I haven’t done in what feels like ages… with a Spring twist. In fact, this pretty manicure was pretty in close in colour to the flowers beginning to pop up in our garden! 🌿🌸

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: LA Colors Rapid Dry Top Coat
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI
  • OPI Sickeningly Sweet
  • OPI Nature Strong Cactus What You Preach
  • Quo Beauty Bluebell
  • Essie Muchi Muchi
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm detail brush (I couldn’t find my really thin dotting tool I usually use)

So I’m not going to lie — my top coat of choice for this manicure (the LA Colours rapid dry top coat) is not a good choice for a layered polish design like this, & you can see why on my thumb. It gave it a weird wrinkly look which I was not happy about.

However, over all I love love love this design! A drag marble is always a good idea, & the Spring-y colours in this one really bring the design all together. It feels very 2000s Pucci-like, & I mean that in the best possible way!

What do you think about my Spring drag marble nails? Do you love as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

💗

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SWATCH SUNDAY — QUO Beauty Ever Green Pixie Lime

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! Another beautiful Spring-y Sunday, with the sun shining. We’re so lucky to be getting these beautiful days, so I’m soaking them all in!

So I’m keeping with the Spring vibes today with a beautiful Quo shade I recently picked up from my local Shoppers. They had a ton of Quo shades in a bin for $2 recently, so naturally I had to pick up a few. Clearance nail polish is my kryptonite, & I’m powerless to say no to it — especially at $2 each! 

2 coats + top coat

This is Quo Beauty Pixie Lime from their Ever Green line, which is their plant based line. All the shade names are plant themed, & I learned that a Pixie Lime is a type of peperomia plant!

The colour is a beautiful pale mint. It did take 2 coats for opacity, with a bit of patchiness, but I feel like sealing in with top coat smooths that out somewhat.

This is 100% a perfect Spring shade. I love a good pastel, & this one delivers. It’s also slightly paler than the other mints in my collection, so it earns its place.

I was kind of scared about the formula being that it was such a pale shade, but it wasn’t super difficult. That being said, you could potentially need a third coat, so don’t be scared if you do. The formula is thin, so it does dry quickly (especially with a quick dry top coat added into the equation.)

Quo Beauty Nail Polish regularly retails for around $13.99 CAD at Shoppers Drug — but I regularly find some at mine being cleared out for $2-$3!

What do you think about Quo Beauty Pixie Lime? Have you ever tried their Ever Green line? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & let me know what you’re wearing on your nails this Sunday!

🖤

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Birthday Collab Nails for @byrdiedoesnails 🌿🎂

Good afternoon lovelies & happy Friday! Today I’m super excited because I joined in on a collaboration to celebrate one of my favourite Instagram nail gurus: @byrdieldoesnails. In honour of her birthday, a group of us joined together to recreate our favourite @byrdiedoesnails manicures!

While she has a ton of incredible designs that I would love to recreate, I saw this one & decided that I had to recreate it immediately.

he polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Tutu the Ballet
  • OPI Nature Strong Cactus What You Preach
  • Essie Swoon in the Lagoon
  • Quo Beauty Bluebell
  • Sally Hansen MG Get Mod
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

These definitely seem simple, but I think that’s what I like them so much. I like the creamy semi-sheer base with the cute little freehand flowers. I wish I could have achieved Byrdie’s beautiful tiny flowers, but I think I did a good job recreating her original design! & I how she likes it as much as she does.

If you have a second, hop on over to Instagram & shoot @byrdiedoesnails a happy birthday. & you can check out the rest of the beautiful designs by checking out the hashtag #BrydiesBrithdayCollab.

Have a beautiful Friday lovelies! ♥︎