Tag: Blue Nails

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Summer Ready Vibrant Blue & Mint Ruffian Nails

You guys! I’m so excited because it was actually sunny & warm yesterday! Like warm enough I could get away with wearing just a jumpsuit & denim jacket. It was very exciting, like maybe we’ll get Spring after all. In fact this whole week is supposed to be in the double digits! I haven’t been this exciting for anything since Starbucks got almond milk! Especially exciting–I have tomorrow off work & plan on taking advantage with an outside adventure with the Bubs!

Obviously this calls for bright & colourful nails. It’s been ages since I attempted a ruffian design & I really wanted something that would pop! So I grabbed a few of my older Essence shades from deep in my stash for an eye catching ruffian.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence Always On My Mint (an Unforgettable Kiss collection)
  • Essence The Gel Lets Get Lost!

Ooooooh this colour combo works so well. This is one of my all time favourite Essence shades, & when I noticed my local Shoppers was taking it out of their Essence display (& had marked them all down to $1) I may have stocked up on extras… like 3 extra bottles… pretty much all the ones they had. It’s just such a good shade! It pairs well with pretty much every colour–purple, pink, mint, light blue, yellow. I haven’t discovered a colour combination I didn’t like. But I have to say, pairing it with mint has definitely become a favourite thanks to this design!

Oh, I’m just so excited with how my ruffian turned out. I feel like I’m getting a lot better with creating that rounded look. It definitely helps that Essence polishes have those beautiful thick brushes. Makes things so much easier! You get a lovely (complicated looking) design with not too much trouble. I love when that happens!

Who else is ready for actual Spring & Summer?! Bring on the iced coffees, sunglasses & maxi dresses. It’s about damn time!

What do you think of this ruffian design? Would you wear this look? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — ACO by Ardene Twilight Zone

There has been a lot of pink & red happening on the blog in preparation for Valentine’s Day,  so I thought it would be fun to break it up with something a little different! So today’s Swatch Sunday is all about this beautiful multichrome from Ardene called Twilight Zone that’s been in my stash for a good 2-3 years now. I’m not sure if it’s still available in store, although I do know they come out with different (similar) duochrome & multichrome shades every so often, so I would recommend popping into a store near you to see what hidden beauty you might find!

For this swatch, I applied two coats of Twilight Zone over a dark base of Essie Under the Twlight because the polish itself is fairly sheer & would require more coats than I have patience for.

As you can see from the bottle, the base of the polish is a sheer-ish green blue with iridescent blue shimmers. You could definitely try & build it up to opacity, but I’m not sure how many coats that would be. If I had to guess, I’d say you’d be looking at least 4. & besides, I really find these shades work best with undies–it makes the change that much more apparent. You can see above that it flashes between blue & pink/purple depending on how you move your hand.

Ugh, it’s just so pretty! Why do I always forget how much I love shifty shades until I’m wearing them again? I’ve been reorganizing the nail room because I got some new storage, & gushing over my old school shades so much, like this beauty & my Claire’s Villain shade dupes from 2010. I keep trying to figure out how to best share my stash on the blog, but with 1000+ nail polishes I’m not sure the best way to document them. Any suggestions on the best way/app to organize what I have & be able to share?

 

Like I said, I don’t believe that Ardene Twilight Zone is still available for sale in store (unless you check out a Outlet perhaps) but I know that they’re always coming out with new & interesting shades so I would definitely recommend checking out what they have. I’ve bought some pretty fun polishes there over the years that are still favourites of mine.

What do you think of this shade? Have you ever bought an amazing polish in a surprisingly place? Let me know your thoughts on the comments below.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail

 

Happy Sunday lovelies! Even though it’s still January, I’ve been craving Spring like crazy & I feel like it’s been reflected in my nail polish choices a lot lately. Plus, I’ve been binge watching “Vanderpump Rules” so now I just really want to be able to wear cute flirty outfits instead of  winter boots & my extra large puffy jacket. Since mother nature doesn’t want to grant my wishes, I guess I’ll just have to dig into my polish collection & find Spring in whatever way I can.

So today’s Swatch Sunday choice is all about Spring. Today I’m showing off Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail. This shade is from Beyond the Nail’s their Spring 2017 Spring Mystical Dreams collection that I was beyond lucky enough to win last year. Shimmering Mermaid Tail is a pastel blue creme with scattering holographic glitters.

This shade is such an old school Shannon shade, circa the early 2000s. I mean, I didn’t know what holo was back then, but a beautiful blue like this is what I was I am all about!  This was 2 coats, plus top coat, & it self levels really well even before you add top coat which can sometimes be a problem when it comes to pastels like this. The holographic glitter is slightly hidden on the nail under this lighting, but it is there & in the sunshine you can really see it.

You can see those glitters in the bottle up above, so obviously I figured the best way to show it off was with some macro shots. Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with my macro lens? Also just staring at these pictures is making me just want it to be Spring already–I’m so ready for cute dresses, & my flats & to not be wearing 19 layers just to leave the house. I guess in the mean time, I’ll just have to wear all my favourite Spring colours which means Shimmering Mermaid Tail (& the rest of the gorgeous shades from the Mystical Dreams collection) in going to be in my regular rotation.

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If you’re staring at this shade telling yourself you need to own this in time for Spring–or just to get you through until Spring–you’re in luck! Beyond the Nail still has this collection on sale on their website!

What do you think of this shade? Are you craving Spring as much as I am? Let me know your favourite colour for Spring down below!

 

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Movember Moustache Nails

It’s Movember & I’ve had these Born Pretty water decals sitting in my nail art supplies for absolute ages. Like… 3 years. So after my successful first time experience with the water decals from NailStuff.ca, I decided it was finally time to give these babies a try, just in time to celebrate Movember! 

Sadly I searched Born Pretty to see if they still had these in stock & couldn’t find them or anything similar. But if you wanted to recreate this design, you could use this stamping plate as it has the same design on it. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Edge Perfection 
  • Born Pretty Store water decals
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

Thankfully I did these nails last week because while packing this weekend I accidentally packed up all my make up sponges, so I guess no gradients until we’re all moved into our new house!

I’m loving this design because it was surprisingly easy (thank you Edge Perfection! 🙏🏻 ) These water decals (as old as they are) were super easy to apply to finish off the look, & I had no issues with them. I always love when I discover all these new nail art items I’ve never tried before—I mean, usually I’m like 10 years behind everyone else, but they always rock my world & give me something new & fun to do on my nails! 

What do you think of my Movember nails? Comment your thoughts below! 💙

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SWATCH SUNDAY: Sally Hansen CSM Mermaid’s Tale


Have you ever had a polish that you’ve thought & thought & thought about but for one reason or another just don’t buy for whatever reason? I’ve got a few on my list, but a major one is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Mermaid’s Tale. 

Mermaid’s Tale is a dark teal jelly stuffed full of assorted sized glitters both large & small. It was originally released as part of the Under The Sea collection in 2013 & stayed as part of the permanent collection.  Recently I’ve noticed it popping up in the clearance section at my favourite pharmacy’s polish clearance, so I had no excuse not to pick up this long overdue lemming. 

Because Mermaid’s Tale is a jelly base, I was scared about building opacity so I applied two coats over a base of Essie Under the Twilight. It helped achieve the look without having to apply 40 coats. I tend to do this a lot with jelly based glitters to avoid polish waste–all you need to do is find a creme shade close to your glitter shade to keep any visible nail line from showing. From what I’ve seen online, without undies it takes 3-4 coats for opacity. That’s a lot of glitter to remove when you go to change your polish! 

Oh goodness, seeing this shade on my own nails makes me so happy to own it! Originally I started listing after Mermaid’s Tale because it was a very close dupe to Deborah Lippmann’s Across the Universe for about half the price. & because I waited, & waited & waited I got the polish for only $5 which is half the price Sally Hansen CSM shades usually go for in stores around me. 


What do you think of Sally Hasen Complete Salon Manicure in Mermaid’s Tale? Have you ever waited a long time to buy a much loved lemming shade? What is you #1 all time lemming shade? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!