Tag: China Glaze

Posted on

Blue & Grey Herringbone Pattern

Good morning lovelies & Happy Wednesday. I don’t know how it’s possible that we’re already half way through the week, but we are! & Today I’ve got a cute nail art look to share that is perfect for short nails (like mine!)

I’ve always been a fan of herringbone/chevron looks, mostly because they’re surprisingly easy to do! & for a bit of a rustic look like this, you don’t need to have the most perfectly thin of straight lines. & it will still look cute! This particular design was actually inspired by this pot, although I added the splashes of blue to make it a bit more Summery.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Strong Start
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area
  • China Glaze Boho Blue
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in white
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio — I used the small one to fill in my blocks of colour! (Use COFFEE10 to save 10%)

I really really love how these turned out. My white Kiss striper is definitely on it’s last legs which led to a bit of messiness of my stripes, but I feel like it works with this kind of pattern. Truthfully, I could have used a striper nail art brush to achieve the same look, but I was short on time, & this was a bit easier. I will definitely have to try again though, maybe with a few of the Essie Summer 2020 polishes I just received! I think I could do a beautiful quatrefoil design with them too, so stay tuned for fun nail art looks!

What do you think about this herringbone look! I feel like it looks really good on my super short nails! It’s a great way to fancy them up! Let me know what your favourite short nail design is in the comments below!

Posted on

Freehanded Floral & Anchor Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

It’s certainly been a while since I had some nail art to share! Actually, that’s a lie. I have a ton of nail art looks saved on my phone, but I’ve been struggling a lot lately with the motivation to keep posting. I love love love nail polish, & nail art, & blogging, but this year has really messed things up. I need to figure out a good blogging schedule for my free time, but right now it’s almost non-existent, hence my very sporadic posting schedule.

But new nails! Let’s get excited.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Strong Start
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • China Glaze Boho Blue
  • Essence Black is Back
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Sally Hansen CSM Fire Island
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Essence Don’t Be Shy
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

I’m so incredibly proud of the freehanding I did for this nail art look. I’ve never attempted a freehand anchor before, but I don’t think it ended up too bad! This idea is actually based on a tattoo I want to get in honour of my grandparents — the anchor for my Granddad who just passed, & the yellow roses for my Granny. My roses turned out a little more peachy than intended, but I think the overall look is lovely. 🌿⚓️🌼 & it pains me these didn’t last more than a day, because I absolutely adore them.

What do you think about this freehand look? Where do you get your nail art inspo? Let me know down in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Friends Forever, Right?

Hello lovelies & happy Swatch Sunday.

Today I am feeling something refreshing, & that can only mean one thing: white nails. Anyone who has been around a while knows my obsession with white nail polish, so I own quite a few of them. Today I’m all about this beautiful creamy off white from China Glaze — Friends Forever, Right? was originally released Fall 2014.

2 coats + top coat.

Whenever I’m feeling uninspired for nail art, my favourite polish to wear for a refresh is white. Anything white. What is lovely about Friends Forever, Right? is that it’s not quite white — it’s got a pinky undertone that keeps it from mimicking white out on your nails.

I was quite pleased with how easy this polish was to apply, even after all these years. I usually use it as the base for nail art, but I really do enjoy it all on it’s own. & obviously, it reminds me of my teenage love affair with Buffy & her fabulous nails, & who doesn’t love a little bit of nostalgia.

& in case you’re wondering, Sparkle Canada has a bottle of Friends Forever, Right? so if you don’t have this shade in your collection, & you’re realizing you need it, I would definitely pick it up! It makes such a good nail art base, or all on it’s own.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday (I know this post is going up later than normal.) I also hope everyone is feeling happy & healthy & staying safe in all this craziness. I plan on enjoying another coffee, maybe a social distanced maple latter now that our favourite small cafe is open for take out!

Posted on

Purple & Mint Chevron Moons

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. Another new week is here, & for the first time in months I feel like Spring might actually be really here. Our flowers are ever starting to bloom in our front gardens! So it’s inspiring me to pull out all the pastel, Spring-y shades I can find. 🌸

You know how much I love my chevron moons, so I decided it would be fun to pair a few shades I don’t wear to often. After my browse through my nail polish stash, I decided I should really make a better attempt at wearing more of my nail polishes.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint
  • China Glaze Ever Glaze Don’t Grape About It
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White

It’s been a while since I attempted to freehand a chevron moon, but I think my hands are getting steadier because they turned out pretty good! I used to do them all the time, before I had nail vinyls in my life. & while I do love the precision that nail vinyls give, sometimes I’m too impatient to wait for my base colour to dry. This was one of the moments, & I’m so happy that I didn’t muck them up! Because I’m absolutely in love with the end result.

Who doesn’t love a good chevron moon? Just look at that combo. The purple & green, the clean lines. I’m just really digging this design.

What do you think about these chevron moons? What Spring polishes have you been wearing most often lately? Let me know down in the comments below!

🌙

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Secret Per-wink-le

Happy Sunday lovelies! Is anyone else seriously craving Spring?

Today, I thought it would be nice to get a little Spring-y & share one of my favourite Spring nail polishes (& blue shades in general) — China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le. According to my internet, this shade dates back to 2008, & was part of the China Glaze Operation Color collection, or at least that was the earliest post I could find.

For my swatches, I did 2 coats of polish & finished with top coat.

This shade & China Glaze Fancy Pants are probably my two all time favourite blue shades ever — Fancy Pants to me is more a Fall-ish shade, & Secret Peri-wink-le is definitely perfect for Spring! It’s no secret I love, love, LOVE a good blue & this shade is no exception. I love the formula isn’t too thin, I love that it applies easily (even though my bottle is over five, maybe six, years old), & I love that whenever I wear this colour I just instantly want to start wearing all my favourite Summer dresses, regardless of how much snow may be on the ground.

Ah, it’s just so pretty! Seriously, like how can you not love a blue polish like that?

So, according to my internet there are a few places that this polish is available, although I’m not sure if you can still find it in stores (I looked it up on the Sally Beauty website, but no listing.) However, there are a few places you can find it, such as:

I have no doubt there are probably a few Ebay listings for it as well!

So what do you think about China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le? Are you already craving Spring, like me, or do you think it’s just too soon? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below! & let me know what shade you always pull out when you start feeling like you need a little Spring in your life!