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SWATCH SUNDAY — ARD As Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice

{gifted}

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. We’re officially almost one full week into September—how crazy is that? I’m in full on Autumn mode, with the exception of buying any Fall decor. But many a soy pumpkin spice latte has been consumed so far! Yep, I’m super basic. All I need are some Ugg boots to complete the look.

Today I have another shade to share with you that was so kindly gifted to me from NailStuff.ca. I actually almost bought this polish back in July during my Canada Day order, so I was super excited when Victoria offered to send it to me! It’s ARD As Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice.

2 coats + top coat

‘Ard as Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice is a beautiful pumpkin orange polish chalked full of micro silver glitters and holo glitters. The application was easy to apply — I only needed two coats of polish for full opacity, & it was quick to self level & dry. I topped mine with my favourite quick dry top coat–Essie Speed Setter–but I would also be curious to see what it would look like with matte top coat added.

Look at those glitters. This polish really is packed full of them. Unfortunately, my lightbox light didn’t want to show off the holographic glitter as much, but in the sunlight, you really got the holo effect.

Usually, I’m not the biggest fan of orange nail polish–it’s just not a colour I usually reach for. But I’ve actually worn this polish 3 times since I got it, so I’m kind of obsessed! I also cannot wait to be able to do some legit pumpkins on my nails using this shade, or some jack-o-lanterns when we get closer to Halloween. This shade is going to be perfect!

If you, like me, need this shade in your collection you can pick it up from NailStuff.ca & used my affiliate code COFFEE10 to save 10% off your purchase (that goes for anything on her site!)

What do you think of this shade? Are you a pumpkin spice lover? What is your go-to Fall drink of choice? Let me know down in the comments below!

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FASHION FRIDAY — My Style Muses

The other night I was perusing my Pinterest, browsing through my folder titled “Style Inspiration”, starting to mentally plan some Fall looks (& make a list of clothing I want to add to my closet), & realized that a lot of my personal style can be traced back to the same “muses”. To be honest, while my style has evolved, it hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years.

I thought it might be fun to go through, & share with you guys who I considered my person style inspirations & muses.

Continue reading “FASHION FRIDAY — My Style Muses”
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Fall Flakie Ombré {Hello September!}

Good morning lovelies & happy SEPTEMBER! Kind of crazy this year is down to the last three months… & thank god for that! But September is here, & that means that it is time for me to fully embrace all things Autumn. & I thought the prettiest thing to start my “official” Fall designs with would be a Fall ombré look!

You might remember how last year, the skittlette/ombré look took off, & I love that this super easy nail art look is still super popular! For those who don’t know, the idea is you paint each nail of a finger with a different polish colour; you can either stagger them in a gradation, like I have, or you can just pair together different shades you love! For today’s look, I decided to pair together some red/burgundy shades together that just scream Fall to me.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI A Great Opera-tunity
  • OPI First Date At the Golden Gate
  • OPI Just Beclaus
  • OPI I Sing In Color
  • OPI Lincoln Park After Dark
  • Essie Shine Of The Times

It’s been a while since I last got to play with my bottle of Essie Shine of The Times, but it is such a perfect topper for Fall, so I thought it would look amazing over these shades. Also, it kind of brings all the polishes together on the nail, which I love when I do a ombré/skittlette look. Plus, I mean, Shine of the Times literally looks amazing on every single polish ever made. I’ve yet to find one it doesn’t look beautiful on!

What do you think about this Fall ombré design? Now that’s it’s September, will you start with some Fall designs or polishes, or will you hold onto Summer a little bit longer? Personally, Autumn is my favourite time of year, so I am so ready for all things Fall! I seriously can’t wait to start decorating my house with some Fall decor as well, & baking! Bring on the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies & pumpkin muffins!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Starrily Nails Vantablack & Magma

{gifted}

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their week. Here in Halifax, we have the remnants of a Hurricane passing over us, which is just making it feel even more like Fall. But I’m super excited because I came home Friday to a super exciting NailStuff.ca package featuring some truly awesome polishes!

& I’m really excited to share two of those shades in today’s post! As always, if you like any of these shades & want to order from NailStuff, you can use my affiliate code COFFEE10 & save 10% off your order.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Starrily Nails Vantablack & Magma”
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Fall Inspired Glitter Gradient

Hello lovelies, happy Tuesday!

It’s been… well I can’t even remember how long since I last wore a glitter gradient. Even though it’s been hot & balmy weather, I was feeling some darker, Fall-esque nails. So I decided to grab a few fun (& Autumn appropriate shades) from deep, deep in my nail polish stash.

I mean, if Starbucks can release Pumpkin Spice today, I think a little dark polish is okay.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Hard Candy Zombie
  • Maybelline Color Show Rose Bling

I’ve always really enjoyed glitter gradients because they’re so quick & easy. In fact, I created this gradient without even using a sponge… just the bottle brush itself! So it really does cut down on application time, & the clean up is even more minimal!

& Oh my, after wearing this combination, I really I think I want to find some more fun glitters — most of my glitter is like pink, or purple, or silver, or gold. I need some bronze-y shades, or something! A nice Fall shade that will pair with a dark purple or burgundy perfectly! I might need to go through my stash a bit better, & see what glitters I’ve forgotten about.

What do you think about this glitter gradient? Are you enjoying this Fall manicure transition or would you like to see a bit more brightness or neon before September? Let me know in the comments below!