Festive Berry Toned Colour Blocking

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. With the day off for Remembrance Day on Tuesday, I feel like my whole week is so askew! But I am trying to keep on my painting & posting schedule as best as possible, so here we go!

Today’s look is a simple one, but perfect for this time of year. The holiday vibes are really hitting hard now, so why not have nails to match! & I much prefer a pink Christmas vibe, myself.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri The Queens Velvet
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries
  • OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems

I’m a huge fan of designs like this which feature similar tones all paired together. It looks so beautiful. & I’m very into this pinky red colour scheme right now! As a lady truly dedicated to a crimson nail polish, it’s a nice change from my usual go to shades.

& colour blocking like this is so easy to do! Obviously if you don’t feel comfortable free-handing, you can use nail tape/vinyls — but honestly, once you practice doing it without, you realize how quick & easy it is!

What do you think about my berry toned colour blocking? Do you like this combination of colours? Let me know all your thoughts in the comment below, & if you would wear this design!

Enjoy your Thursday!

🖤

Pink Flakie Glitter Placement

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Is it chilly where you are — because it’s definitely chilly here.

Today I have another simple but beautiful design to share with you. I was already wearing this beautiful berry polish, & decided what it really needed was some glitter placement. My original plan was to do gold, but when I was browsing through my box of glitters I saw this beautiful pink flakie glitter I was gifted c/o: NailStuff & decided it would look just stunning over this base!

& I was right!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries
  • NailStuff Pink Foil Glitter (no longer available)
  • Sally Hansen Salon Chrome Top Coat (no longer available — but works so good for applying these kinds of glitters!)
  • Small Nail Art Brush

How pretty is this combination? I’m so glad I went with these pink foil flakies rather than gold. Obviously gold would have looked beautiful as well, but there is just something extra special about the pink on pink. I can’t believe this is my first time using it!

Also this is a beautiful not-holiday look that could definitely be used for a manicure for an upcoming Holiday party because it has that touch of something a little extra special. Obviously I don’t need an excuse to wear glitter, but if you did — I definitely recommend pulling out some glitter to add to an otherwise simple manicure!

What do you think of this pink flakie glitter placement look? Do you like the contrast of lighter pink on darker pink? Are you also in shock that it took me this long to use this beautiful pink glitter? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Wednesday!

♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Better Not Pout

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday.

Today is the first Sunday of December, so it only seems fitting to share another holiday shade from my stash! Today’s shade was also part of the 2015 China Glaze Cheers collection, like last week’s Swatch Sunday pick I Soirée I Didn’t Do It.

This is China Glaze Better Not Pout.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful metallic berry applied in two smooth coats. It dried down a little less shiny, so I applied a coat of top coat to give it some extra gloss. The colour itself is very festive, & a great alternative to red or green for the holiday season. The dark berry colour is definitely one I enjoy wearing (I kept this shade on for 3 days!)

You could also do some great holiday nail art with it as well.

Like last week’s pick, this shade was originally released as part of the holiday collection, so it’s no longer in permanent circulation—however, you can buy the Gelaze version on the China Glaze website for those who use gel nail polish.

What do you think about this beautiful holiday berry? Do you have Better Not Pout in your nail polish stash? Would you wear this shade to a holiday party? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday 💗

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Stop, Drop & Shop

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Good morning lovelies! Hope you’re having a beautiful day wherever you are. Today is my favourite day of the week: Swatch Sunday! & today I’ve shopped my stash to bring you another order polish perfect for Fall: Essie Stop, Drop & Shop from the Fall 2018 collection.

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This collection was released last year & I remember seeing Mani Geek’s swatches & falling completely in love with the whole collection, but at the time I only bought Fall for NYC. I actually found this bottle in the clearance bin at Shoppers Drug Mart for only $3, & knew I needed this shade in my life!

& I was totally right!

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For my swatches of Essie Stop, Drop & Shop, I did two coats of polish over my base & finished everything off with Essie Gel Couture Top Coat. The formula was easy to work with & the new thicker brushes make me so happy.

The colour itself is such a nice dusty berry & reminds me a bit of OPI Aurora Berry-alis from the 2017 Iceland Collection, only a bit darker & more red toned. Honestly, this is a fairly unique shade to my collection, which makes me happy. It gives me another reddish option to grab–as red polish is one of my favourites to wear just on its own–but is more unique than a lot of my other red polishes. & I love that.

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Do you own any of the polishes from the Essie Fall 2018 collection? Which one was your favourite? I find Essie does Fall shades really, really well. I don’t think I’ve ever not liked one of their Fall collections.

Ever!

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I must say, going through all these shades is making me very excited for all the Fall 2019 collections coming out! Which one is on your list right now?

Let me know down in the comments below!