Tag: Essie

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Sparkly Glitter Gradient ✨

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! A beautiful, sunny & warm Monday. It’s feeling like Summer today, & I’m loving every moment of it.

Today I gave a super simple, easy nail art look that anyone can do! I love a good glitter gradient, & it is such an easy way to spruce up a relatively plain manicure.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry
  • Essie Revenge’s A Beach
  • Sinful Colors Pride

What I love most about a glitter gradient is you don’t really need any tools. Obviously, you can sponge on the glitter, but I usually just apply it using the brush as I find it easiest (& least messy).

These are definitely the look you need to do if you have a special occasion you want fancy nails for, but aren’t too comfortable with nail art. I swear, anyone can rock this look easily! In fact, I’m already planning another one in my head featuring a few glitters I don’t use too often — stay tuned!

What do you think about this fun glitter gradient? Also yes — that is the same polish from yesterday’s Swatch Sunday post. Crazy how different lighting can make it look different! Natural light vs Light Box.

Have a fantastic beginning to your week loves! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Revenge’s a Beach (Summer 2022)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far & that the weather, where you are, is not apocalyptic.

Today’s Swatch Sunday post is decidedly Summer appropriate. I posted last weekend about the other polish I picked up during my small Shoppers haul, & here she is: Essie Revenge’s A Beach from the Summer 2022 collection.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve been eyeing this shade in their clearance bin for a month or so, but I’ll be honest — the price wasn’t right. But when I saw it for $3 on my last visit, I knew it was coming home with me.

Formula is pretty good on this one — I could almost do one coat, but I applied a second for full coverage. It dried down a bit flat, but adding top coat gave it that glossy finish you see. The colour is a beautiful blue leaning teal that you just know needs careful removal because it’ll be a stainer. I’m still wearing this shade, so we’ll see how it goes when I attempt to remove it tonight!

It really is a beautiful colour. Definitely a little bit bluer than Essie Garden Variety & a little more teal & darker than Essie Strut Your Stuff. It also definitely appears lighter in my light box versus natural lighting. Not necessarily a colour I immediately reach for in the Summer, but I very much get the beach vibes they were aiming for.

Obviously, as this was part of last years Summer collection, availability is limited. I did find it still available on NailPolishCanada.com, & I have no doubt if you Google around you can find more. My best advice is check the clearance section at your favourite place to buy nail Polish — that’s where I usually score finds like this. It’s also possible it will pop up at your local Winners/Marshal’s, as mine always seems to get in these previous collections.

What do you think of Essie Revenge’s A Beach from the Summer 2022 collection? Are you feeling the beach vibes? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! 🖤

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Throwback Floral (Using Just a Dotting Tool)

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! I hope it’s a beautiful day wherever you are. It’s supposed to be sunny, & slightly warm today, so I’ll take it.

Today I’m sharing a design which is a recreation of a design I did many moons ago—like… 2013 at the beginning of my nail art journey & before this blog. I just always love revisiting old designs, & when this one popped up on my Facebook memories, I knew I needed to do an updated version!

2013 version
2023 version

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Essie Peach Side Babe
  • Essie Worth the Tassel
  • Essie Blanc
  • Essie Turquoise & Caicos
  • Small & Large Dotting Tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

I didn’t have a list of the original polishes I used for my design, so I tried to go with what looked the closest to the colours — which was hard because my original photo is pretty poor quality. I think, though, I did a pretty good job on recreating the original look!

I know that was my first jump into “real” nail art after getting my first dotting tool. It was an Essence brand one that I found at Shoppers Drug Mart, & I got very excited to find something to do legit nail art.

What do you think of this floral nail art recreation? Do you remember what nail designs first got you into nail art? Let me know down in the comments below!

Have a fantastic Friday!

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Shimmery Mermaid Vibes 🧜‍♀️

Hello loves! It’s Monday again.

It’s also 3 days away from June, which just blows my mind. I mean, I’m happy for Summer weather — although, we could use some rain here so send rain vibes! — but also this year is speeding by & it’s kind of unbelievable. How is it even possible that we’re almost half way through this year?

But I digress; you’re here for nails, so let’s talk nails! Today’s look was what I promised in yesterdays swatch post. I knew that OPI Blue My Mind would be a beautiful base from some nail art, & I knew I was feeling mermaid nails. So naturally, I knew what I had to do.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • OPI Blue My Mind
  • Essie Viva Antigua!
  • Beyond the Nail Mermaid Scale Vinyls

My little girl is absolutely obsessed with all things mermaids right now, so this was the perfect manicure to impress her! This was also super easy to do. I only applied one coat of Viva Antigua! over my base, so it’s kind of spotty in some spots, but I like it because it gives a more watery scale look (if that makes sense). You can kind of see the base showing through, & I like that. Over all, it’s a very pretty look.

In fact, I’ve been wearing this manicure since Thursday, & it’s still holding up very well. I usually wear a manicure maybe 3 days max (& that’s if I’m really busy) but I’ve just loved this look so much, & it’s barely even showing tip wear, it felt like a shame to remove it. Of course, I will probably change my nails today, but it’s been fun to wear. I almost wish I had gone to see the Little Mermaid this weekend, as it would have been the perfect manicure for it. But I’ll have to redo one when I take my little girl in a few weeks.

What do you think of my mermaid nails? Are you feeling all the mermaid vibes? Let me know all your thoughts on this look down in the comments below!

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Dainty Negative Space Floral 🌿🌸

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

Today I’m starting off this week with another floral look. At this point, you can pretty much expect that I’ll be posting a floral design at least once a week for the foreseeable future. I’m kind of obsessed. Today’s look was another one of those random designs I kind of came up with in my head, & was beyond happy to bring to life on the nail. I really just wanted something dainty, & I think was successful in creating that.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Essie Gel Couture Princess Charming
  • Essie Blanc
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I’m kind of obsessed with how this turned out. I decided to go minimal on my floral — I usually use multiple polishes for each flower & my leaves — & I love how it looks. It’s clean & simple, which is exactly the look I was craving. A nice palate cleanser for the nail. I also really like that Princess Charming is quite neutral, so it doesn’t stand out too much on the nail & keeps that naked look I was going for.

What do you think about this dainty negative space floral design? Do you like simpler cleaner looks like this, or more bright & colourful nail art designs? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

You know you can count on me to do a nice mix of both.

Have a super amazing Monday. ♥︎