Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essence You Belong To Me

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday.

I’m finally starting to feel a little better from my awful, awful cold last week, so I’m hoping to get some good blog content done this week! Especially since we’re going to keep as close to home this week with March Break & the fear of Covid-19 looming. I hope everyone is staying healthy — both physically & mentally!

But in the meantime, let me distract you with some pretty nail polish… because that’s what I’m doing to distract myself!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is over 8 years old–this is Essence You Belong to Me. I picked up this Essence shade from their Colour & Go line back in 2012, when they were still in these cute little round mini bottles. I do believe this was one of the first Essence nail polishes I ever bought, this & Wake Up! & yep… it’s another blue-ish shade because that is just what I’m loving right now!

For these swatches, you’re looking at 2 coats of polish plus top coat (Essie Gel Setter). & I’m not going to lie: application was not easy. First coat on each nail went on really easily, & I thought I was in the clear, but as soon as I attempted my second coat everything went lumpy & thick. & it took FOREVER to dry, even with my quick dry top coat. But given the age of this polish & the size of the bottle, I feel like that isn’t really it’s fault. & while it did take a bit of work to get on, the end result it a beautiful shade. I’m obsessed with a good robins egg blue, & this shade is no exception. Hello Spring!

There is also a really pretty shimmer you can see in the bottle, (& if you look closely at your nails), but was pretty much impossible to pick up on camera. It’s very very subtle. But this doesn’t stop this shade from still being absolutely beautiful & very perfect for Spring!

Sadly, this shade is way way way discontinued, & I doubt you’d likely to be able to find it online, but I did see some posts online saying it was a dupe for China Glaze For Audrey, so if you absolutely need this blue in your life, there is an easily found alternative! I didn’t paint them side by side on the nail, but I did hold the two bottles up beside each other & the only difference seems to be that For Audrey doesn’t have the subtle shimmer that You Belong To Me does.

 

What do you think about this shade? Have you started breaking out some lighter shades to rock on your nails (& maybe cheer yourself up during the hectic scary time?) Let me know what you think, & what colour family you’d like me to grab from next! Also for anyone who might be struggling with high anxiety during this scary time, here is a picture of our floofy boy sticking out his tongue to distract you, even for a minute. ♥

Posted on

Matte Pastel Ombre

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Hope everyone is having a lovely week. I’m still recovering from that awful cold (so. over. it) but that’s not going to stop me from painting my nails! I’ve really really really been longing for Spring which, in case you weren’t already aware, is 8 days away! I’m not excited or anything.

First up, how about a pretty matte pastel ombré look? Probably the easiest way to show off Spring on your nails!

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Mint
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Blue
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Purple
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Pink
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Coral

For this manicure, I actually grabbed my mini set of Claire’s pastel polishes because they’ve been sitting in my drawers way too long, & they remind me of Spring in the best way. The blue especially is just like Spring in a bottle! I also thought about adding some floral on my nails–because you can never go wrong with floral–but I was loving this look all in it’s own I decided to leave it be. & I got a ton of compliments on this look too!

Ombré looks are so easy to do, & look so fancy on the nails. I tried my best pair colours together so it looked like a true gradient. I’m glad that these ombre/skittlette looks are still popular & going strong, because they’re so easy to do.

Also I’m rocking nubby nails again, thanks to a couple bad breaks, so this makes me feel not so bad about how short my nails are right now. I feel like this happens at this time every year — my nails just get tired with winter & cannot handle being long anymore so I have to give them a break. Although it is always fun coming up with short nail designs!

What do you think about this pretty pastel ombré? Is this a look that you would try? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Posted on

Rosy Floral 🌹

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday.

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to the week — my whole house has been struck down with the cold from hell which had NOT been fun. Thankfully, I have a pretty floral manicure to distract me the fact I feel like I’ve been struck by a truck.

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Candy Coat 907
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen GPK Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen GKP Beet It
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Bubblegum
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

I hope you’re not getting sick of the floral, because I’m certainly not sick of creating them. I need something to distract me from what feelings like the most never ending Winter (even if we haven’t really had an overwhelming amount of snow this year — definitely not complaining!)

Also I have to shout out this Candy Coat polish because I wore these floral nails for a good 5 days before they started to chip, which gives me a lot of hope for when I go back to work. Got to love a Polish you can wear for an extended amount of time without worrying about the dreaded chips. I’m interested to see how these will survive an 8 hour shift in retail!

So what do you think about these rosy floral nails? Would you like to see some more floral soon? Let me know what you think & what your favourite flower is down in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Hard Candy Sky

Happy Sunday lovelies! Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Today I pulled a shade from deep in my stash to share with you — Hard Candy Sky. This beauty was released in early 2015 as part of the 20th Anniversary re-release & it’s still one of my favourite sky blues part of my collection.

If you’ve been around this blog a while, you know one of my favourite nail polish shades of all time is light blue. I have a lot of blue nail polish in my stash, & I don’t foresee it being a shade I’m like “nah, I have enough” any time soon. & now that I’m really craving Spring, I’ve found myself pulling out my baby blue nail polishes a lot more frequently.

You’re looking at 2 coats + top coat (Essie Gel Setter).

For a 5 year old polish, the formula on this shade is still pretty easy to work with. A little thicker than I remember, but that happens. However the colour itself is so beautiful, that I’ll take a little bit more caution to be able to wear this shade. The polish itself is a pale blue with the gorgeous blue shimmer that you can see really well in the bottle, but I struggled to capture in my light box but to does show up on the nail depending on the lighting.

This nail polish is so late 90s/early 2000s… which means it’s cool again right, since everything 90s is cool again, right? Seriously though, I feel like this nail polish would fit in so well in an early season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I could wear this while patrolling before hitting the Bronze. (& if you didn’t get that reference, you’re missing out!)

Sadly it doesn’t appear that Hard Candy even makes nail polishes anymore, which explains why I haven’t been able to find it at my local Walmart in forever.

Do you have this beautiful shade? What is your favourite baby blue nail polish? Let me know down in the comments below!

Posted on

FASHION FRIDAY — Headband Obsessed (A mini haul)

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone is having a lovely start to their Friday. This week’s Fashion Friday post is dedicated to my current favourite accessory — the headband. More specifically, the slightly padded & knitted headband that I’ve seen all over Instagram & Pinterest.

Here’s the thing — I LOVE headbands. I’ve always loved headbands. I have a whole drawer full of floral headbands I collected a few years back. & I’ve really been wanting to jump on this knotted headband trend for a while, but getting out to shop has kind of been a struggle the last few months. So I thought, now that I’m gearing up to return to work at the end of the month, it would be fun to get myself some new headbands. Plus with my new hair cut, I’ve been much more excited to actually DO things with my hair.

Cue a mini haul of headbands!

Continue reading “FASHION FRIDAY — Headband Obsessed (A mini haul)”

Posted on

A Pink-y Colour Block

{gifted/PR sample}

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Today I’ve got a beautiful colour block design to share with you, that I created using a few of the new Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure shades I received last month. I had this idea about using a few of the shades together to create a negative space geometric colour blocking look, & I’m quite excited because it turned out almost exactly like I had pictured it in my head (I love when that happens!)

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen GKP Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen GPK Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen GKP Golden Quartz
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (I used the 7mm liner brush) — use COFFEE10 to save 10% off your ord

I’m using feeling the delicate colour scheme of this manicure. I feel likes it subtle enough you could get away with it for any occasion — although I’ve never fretting too much about what I have on my nails in work situations, but I know for some people you can’t always go for crazy nail art. This look could definitely work in that kind of situation, or even if your not too keen on crazy nail art but want to give it a try.

& because I often get asked if I paint both hands, I though I’d include both hands. I almost always have both hands painted, but not always both hands with nail art. It honestly depends on how much time I think I’m going to have to do my nails & if I think I can get it done before either one of the kiddos wakes up. Because this design was pretty easy, I had no problem creating this look on both hands.

What do you think about this pink colour block? Have you ever tried a colour block design? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & if you would try this look out yourself!

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

Posted on

Groovy Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone has had a lovely start to their week. We had another beautiful almost Spring like day yesterday, which gives me hope that maybe — maybe — one day soon, Spring will be here to stay. I just keep longingly staring at the clothes in my closet, dreaming of the day when it’s warm enough to wear them!

In the meantime, how about some Spring on the nails! I’ve definitely been feeling myself drawn to my more Spring looking nail polishes. I just need a little brightness in my life!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (the blue version)
  • Essie Splash of Grenedine
  • Essie Blank Page
  • Essie Bobbing for Baubles
  • Nailstuff.ca 11mm Liner Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%) {gifted}

I love abstract stripe designs so so so much, especially when they turn out as perfect as these did! These totally remind me of one of those gorgeous abstract Pucci designs. The swirly lines & bright colours — perfect for Spring! Also I love the brighter pop of pink over the paler blue base. What is it about this colour combo? It makes me so happy!

If this doesn’t make you feel ready for Spring, I don’t know what will. I also just feel so proud of how these turned out too — it might just be the best version of the abstract stripe design I’ve done yet! & yeah, it kind of makes me want to do another!

What do you think about this look? Are you feeling these Spring-y colours? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!