Category: Winter

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Purple & Gold Colour Blocking

Hello beauties & happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. Mine has been busy, & we’re anxiously awaiting another snowstorm. But at least I have some cute nails to show off!

Today’s look was kind of an experiment, I guess. I was just playing around on my nails, but I liked them so much I decided to wear them as a full manicure. I love when that happens! Especially because I am in a nail art rut right now, & struggling with ideas.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable You’re A Gem
  • Quo by ORLY Colour Amp’d Venice
  • Quo by ORLY Colour Amp’d Stadium Way
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Fairy Godmother
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

This feels very regal, like something you would see on the dress of Victorian royalty. The colours, & the gold accents — it all feels very royal. It’s a fun look, & relatively quick to do. I also haven’t really dug into my old Quo by ORLY polishes in a while, so I was happy to pull out a few I haven’t worn in a while.

Purple & gold is always a solid colour combination.

What do you think about this colour combination & nail art look? Are you a fan of this purple & gold combination? Let me know all your thoughts down below, & let me know what you’re wearing on your nails lately.

I’ve been starting to feel myself drawn to neon lately, so I would be prepared for some fun neon looks in the future!

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Purple & Gold Matte Geometric Stripes

Hello loves & Happy Tuesday.

Anyone else feeling the full on February blahs? I feel like it’s translating to my nails, because post-Valentine’s Day, I’m struggling to think of what to wear on my nails! Too early to go too hard on the Spring looks, but I don’t really want to do Winter designs either.

I am feeling stumped.

But you know what never fairs me? My striper brush. I had painted my nails & thought about doing a single gold line — like this — but decided I was feeling something a bit more abstract so that’s what we went with! & I love how they turned out, especially with the addition of the matte top coat.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How beautiful is this dark purple & gold together? I’m kind of sad that Trouble Maker was discontinued from the Sally Hansen CSM line, because it’s such a beautiful perfect purple. & my bottle is starting to sadly get low. That’s the hardest part of being a nail polish addict… you find those polishes that you love to wear so much, & they never stick around forever. Although Essie Kimono Over is a close second in my heart, so at least I still have her for my dark purple craving days!

What do you think about this purple & gold geometric look? Are you a fan of these kinds of designs, or do you prefer a bit more complicated nail art? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what nail art you think that February calls for!

Have a lovely day!♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Dorothy Who?

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! I hope everyone’s week was lovely, & not too cold. Our weather has been very up & down — one day it’s sunny & feels like Spring, the next day we get freezing rain snowstorms. Winter is so much fun.

But I’m actually really excited for today’s post, because I’m sharing a polish that has been in my stash for long, long time, but in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever actually worn it: China Glaze Dorothy Who?

2 coats + Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

This beautiful jelly blue is packed full of blue & silver micro glitters. Because of the jelly base, I was worried about how many coats I would need for opacity, but two was the perfect amount. The glitters are definitely densely packed, which helps with creating opacity easily. I applied top coat though, because I did find that it had a rough finish from the glitter, & I just really wanted more of a smoother finish.

Look how beautiful. Based on the name, I’m guessing this is like the sister shade to China Glaze Ruby Slippers & they were both released as part of the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection circa 2009 but then became part of the China Glaze Core collection. I’ve worn Ruby Slippers a lot over the years — in fact my bottle is getting pretty empty — & I can’t believe I let this beauty slip by for so long!

There are a few places I’ve found online (through Google) you can purchase this beauty:

As well as a whole bunch of others that pop up when you type “China Glaze Dorothy Who?” into Google. I would imagine China Glaze’s website would be the best option as it’s the most legit, but I’m not sure where their shipping reaches.

What do you think about this beauty of a polish? Do you love this beautiful sapphire sparkle? Let me know down in the comments below, & if you own this shade in your stash. Also let m know if you enjoy seeing this older released polishes! I definitely have a ton from over the years, & I’m realizing how many I’ve never swatched, so I’m having fun documenting them.

Have a lovely Sunday!

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L.O.V.E. nails (Happy Valentine’s Day!) 💗

Good morning loves & happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s a snowy Valentine’s Day here in Halifax, after a big dumping of snow. Not super impressed with the weather, but that won’t stop me from sharing my last Valentine’s Day look for this year! I really wanted to do more hearts — like accent hearts — but at the last second I decided to write L.O.V.E in the middle of them. & I’m obsessed.

They’re like heart shaped scrabble tiles! & I love it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • QUO Beauty Velveteen
  • ACO by Ardene Flawless
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Dotting tool (NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I’m not sure why, but I really wants to do heart accent nails at the base of my nails. But when I finished my little pale pink hearts, they looked a little basic, so I decided to outline them in black — my go to for jazzing up a manicure. BUT THEN, I thought: what if I attempted to spell out Love in my hearts. It was a risk, but it turned out so awesome, so I couldn’t be happier!

What do you think about this love themed design? Do you like this simple nail art? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

I hope everyone has a happy Valentine’s Day, & if it’s not your thing then I hope you enjoy tomorrow which is 50% of chocolate day!

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — QUO Loud & Proud

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s a beautiful, sunny & slightly chilly weekend here on the East Coast. It’s also 2 days until Valentine’s Day, so I went searching for something pink to share for this week’s Swatch Sunday. Pink’s not a colour I wear very often, but one I love to buy. So I thought why not bring out one of those untouched pink’s for this week’s post.

Today’s pick: QUO Beauty Flash Dry Loud & Proud. I picked up this shade last Winter, on clearance–naturally–& have only used it in a couple manicures since. But, since it’s a sunny day, I was feeling some neon.

2 coats, no top coat.

Loud & Proud is a shocking coral neon pink which dries to a semi matte finish, as most neons do. The formula was a bit crelly, leaning on the creme side, but had almost full opacity in two coats. I was actually a bit nervous about needing a ton of coats, but 2 was perfect for me. If you had longer nails, with more of a free edge, you might need another coat, or some white undies.

This shade comes from the QUO Beauty Flash Dry line, which means it’s supposed to dry quicker than your average nail polish. The first coat was definitely quick to dry, although I found the second coat a little bit slower — maybe because I had applied my second coat a bit thicker? The shade was also incredibly hard to photograph the colour correctly, but I tried my best. Originally, it was leaning very orange, which wasn’t true to colour at all.

This were definitely as close to the true colour as I could get it to show.

What do you think about this fun pink neon from QUO? Would you bright this bright, matte pink for your Valentine’s Day celebrations? Let me know what you think & what you’re going to be wearing for any upcoming Valentine’s Day celebrations!