Tag: beauty

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen InstaDri Prismatic Shine Purple Prism 💜✨

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The Summer weather is officially back in full swing — after some rainy chilly days — & I’ll be truthful, I’m loving it. I’m a hot hot hot Summer kind of girl always. Give me the sunshine!

& you know what looks awesome in sunshine — glitter. & today’s Swatch Sunday pick is a glitter bomb. This is Sally Hansen InstaDri Prismatic Shine Purple Prisim.

3 coats + top coat

I love a good purple, & I’ve really been loving glitter lately, so Purple Prism really brings the two worlds together. The base is a sheer purple jelly, which is packed full of multicoloured glitters, including holographic ones.

The base is very, very sheer so you need multiple coats. This is 3 not too thick coats — to achieve the bottle colour I would need at least one more thin coat, or to apply it thicker on the nail.

I do love the jelly like formula, with the exception of how it always seems to dry for me. There is always shrinkage at the tip, no matter how hard I try to cap my edges properly. I’m thinking it’s the fault of my quick dry top coat.

Look at all those glitters! Perfect to show off on a sunny day!

With how sheet the jelly formula, you could definitely get away with using it as a topper over another purple polish, & skip needing so many applications. The glitter might not be as dense on the nail, but it would definitely be beautiful!

How fun is this shade! Do you own any of the Sally Hansen InstaDri Prismatic Shine shades in your collection? Sadly my Shoppers Drug Mart has cleared out its stock of these shades, but I’m still hoping to find a few more of these beauties in my favourite clearance sections someday.

Happy Sunday!

🖤

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Cool Colour Block Stained Glass

Hello loves & happy Wednesday.

I hope everyone’s week has been peaceful so far. Summer is in full swing, & the weather has been… up & down. But I’m trying to enjoy the Summer none-the-less.

Today I have some actual nail art to show with you. I know — who is she? It feels like a while since I’ve been fully inspired in my nail art endeavours, so I was happy when I started this design & ended up loving it. That doesn’t always happen lately, so I was in love with this look when it just came together so perfectly.

Also, my nails are finally growing out after that bad break on my ring finger. Thank goodness!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Gel Setter Sheer Fantasy *
  • Essie Handmade With Love *
  • Essie Butler Please
  • Essie Swoon in the Lagoon *
  • Essie In My Cab-Ana
  • Essie Expressie Take The Espresso *
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

**pr/gifted product

I cannot begin to explain how much I love how these turned out. I started off with the block of colour, but it just felt like it needed something a little more to make it pop. & outlining it with the dark brown of Take the Espresso was definitely the right choice. I am very pleased with how these turned out.

&, if we’re being honest (always), it truly didn’t take as long as you would think it would take. No more than an hour from start to finish.

What do you think about these fun colour block, stain glass looking nails? Do you think this look turned out as good as I think it turned out? I’d love to know your option, or if you would wear it too! Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Happy Wednesday!

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Butter London Pure Colour 21X Piccadilly Prawn

Contains PR

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! A beautiful Sunday at that. Today I’m excited because I recently received a little PR package from Butter London, containing the most beautiful Summer-y shade from their Pure Colour 21X line: Piccadilly Prawn.

2 coats + Top Coat

Look at this beautiful fiery coral! The formula itself is very creamy & easy to apply which I loved. The colour is a beautiful bright coral, but leans red. It’s very vibrant, & very beautiful. We all know I’m a sucker for any shade from this colour family, & I really adore how it looks on me.

The Butter London Pure Colour 21X line is a 21 Free product — meaning it is free of 21 of the chemicals that can sometimes be added to nail polish. It’s a cleaner alternative for those who are careful with what they wear — it is also vegan, cruelty free, gluten free & designed to help with nail strength. All in all, it’s a fantastic choice for painting your nails!

You can find Piccadilly Prawn on the Butter London website here, or it can be purchased where other Butter London products are sold.

What do you think of Piccadilly Prawn? Are you a fan of this Butter London shade? Personally, I think the name is super cute! I don’t have a ton of Butter London in my stash, but the ones I do have all have the cutest names.

Happy Sunday!

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Gel Couture Tailored By Twilight

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Sunday — the first Sunday of Summer.

Surprisingly, today’s Swatch Sunday post isn’t super Summery, but I’ve been wearing really vampy polishes lately for some reason. While usually Summer screams neon for me, but I just find myself being drawn more towards darker shades. & today’s Swatch Sunday pick is just that: dark & vampy. & I love it.

This is Essie Gel Couture Tailored By Twilight. *gifted/PR

3 coats + top coat.

The first thing about this beautiful dark plum polish is the fact it is very jelly, which is not something I usually think I want when I’m reaching for a darker shade, but it really works with this particular shade. The formula is smooth, easy to apply, but with the darker colour I feel like I needed 3 coats in order to be able to fully cover the nail, & not have any streaky spots. But it did dry down quickly, especially with the added benefit of quick dry top coat (I used Essie Gel Setter.)

The more coats you apply, the darker the shade. You can see around my cuticle line where it is a bit lighter, but again I feel like for me 3 coats was what I needed to be fully in love with these nails.

Look how beautiful that shade is. I love love love a dark purple, & this one is just gorgeous.

Essie Gel Couture Tailored by Twilight is part of the core collection, so you should be able to find it anywhere you purchase your Essie shades, ranging in price from $11.49 CAD to $16.49 CAD (when not on sale).

What do you think about Essie Gel Couture Tailored by Twilight? Do you like these darker, vampier shades — even as the days are warming up? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & if you would wear this shade.

Happy Sunday.

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect 08 Flash Black

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. & happy Father’s Day to those who are celebrating those Dad figures in their lives.

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is another beauty pulled straight from my stash. Years ago, my local Lawton’s Drugs used to have a crazy selection when it came to their clearance nail polish. Honestly, it was my favourite place to shop because you could always find something new & different to you (it’s one of the first places I ever found Color Club). They also used to sell a ton of shades by the brand Layla Cosmetics, which is a European brand.

Today’s polish is from the height of the initial holographic craze, circa 2014/2015 or so — although I found blog posts dating back to 2012. This is Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect 08 Flash Back.

2 coats + Top Coat

This beautiful liner holographic nail polish is a stunning dark grey (I wouldn’t quite call it black) with a very strong & beautiful liner holograph effect. The formula was smooth & easy to apply — especially for a nail polish that is over a decade old.

The trick with holographic shades like this, is you really have to make sure your first coat is dry-dry before attempting a second coat, other wise it can drag up your first coat. But other than that, I have 0 negatives about this shade. I have 3 or 4 others from this collection, & I just love them all. They were my first real introduction to liner holographic nail polish.

Sunny days were just meant for holographic nail polishes. Look at those rainbows! 🌈

Do you remember this line of nail polishes by Layla Cosmetics — or any of their interesting polishes. I loved finding them in the clearance because they were usually $3-$4 & they had so many cool ones — thermals, spotted, etc.

What do you think about this holographic shade? Do you think it’s as fun as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤