Tag: Essie

Posted on

Negative Space Red Chevron Moons

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday! We’re already half way through our week–how crazy is that. We’re also one week away from August… even crazier. This Summer is certainly rocketing by! I’m already feeling that familiar draw towards dark polish, pumpkin spice & cosy knits that starts happening around this time of year.

But not yet… we still have a bit of Summer left so bring on the bright polishes!

Today’s design was brought on by wanting to wear red nails, but more than just a solid colour. It wasn’t intentional, but these totally ended up reminding me of Bring It On! Does anyone else remember that movie. I was so obsessed with it when it first came out… & now I totally need to rewatch it again.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • L’Oréal Magic Top Coats —The Shift Me
  • Essie 5th Avenue
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Snail Vinyls small single chevrons (so sad the shop is closing!)

I love red nail polish, but I find it the hardest colour to do nail art over simply because it seems to be a colour I turn to during holidays (Christmas, Canada Day, ect) but it is by far one of my all time favourite polish colours. I seriously love how these turned out, even if they totally remind me of cheerleader uniforms. Also I’m pretty sure this red is my new favourite red polish — I’ve been wearing it a lot lately, especially as a pedicure.

What do you think of this design? Let me know in the comments below! & let me know what your favourite 2000s teen movie is!

Posted on

Easy Purple & Turquoise Half Moons 🌙

Happy Wednesday lovelies! Today I have another set of half moons to share with you, this time featuring a blurple & turquoise colour combination I’m kind of obsessed with! It’s been a while since I went with half moons, & colour combination was inspired by a t-shirt dress from Forever 21 that I own & love.

Colour blocking makes me happy. It’s a great way to test colour combinations out.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Venice
  • Essie In the Cab-ana
  • Paper Reinforcements (from the Dollar store)

Was half moons with paper reinforcements anyone else’s first nail art technique they learned? I remembering doing them back in the day & feeling like I was a nail art expert. For those of you who are still getting into nail art looking for easy designs… half moons are a great option with endless colour combinations. You can go subtle for more work appropriate designs or go crazy neon! I also love adding polka dots on top of my design for a little extra design.

what do you think of these half moons? What colour combination would you pick? Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

Pastel Sponging & Freehand Geometric Lines

Happy Friday lovelies! Yesterday was spent surviving the craziness of the mall with the big Build-A-Bear event! Our store was insane, mostly from the people who gave up on waiting in the 8+ hour line. Props to anyone who stood in that line & waited it out… you’re the real brave people!

Today’s look was accomplished thanks to some brand new stripers from Kiss! I was in the need of some new ones, & found them on clearance so I knew I had to pick them up. A brand new striper is one of my favourite things for creating crisp lines. & since it had been so long since I’d done a geometric design, I decided to play around a little bit!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie High Class Affair
  • L’Oréal Royalty Reinvented
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sweet Tea
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ocean Daze
  • Essie Splash of Grenadine
  • Kiss Products Striper in Black
  • Kiss Products Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Striper in Silver Glitter

Please excuse the tip wear & chip on my ring finger — I wore these nails for over 2 days before I thought to take a picture of them. I was just to enthralled with how they looked, I completely forgot about photographing them!

If I had to pick a favourite nail, I think it would probably be my middle finger. The design feels very Art Deco. Definitely going to need to try this design again over a gold or bronze. It was be very Gatsby, which is a style I haven’t tried a whole design over. I definitely think it looks really cool over my pastel sponging though.

what do you think about this geometric design? Which nail is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie High Class Affair

Happy Swatch Sunday lovelies. I realize this is probably the latest I’ve ever posted my Swatch Sunday post but it’s been a crazy day… & it’s still before midnight, therefore still Sunday, so this post still counts!

Today’s Swatch post is another polish I scored at Lawton’s on clearance. You know how much I love a good polish find, especially when it’s a limited edition shade I missed the first time around. Today’s polish is Essie High Class Affair, which was originally released as part of the Spring 2016 collection.

Originally I thought this shade was going to be a bit more pink-y, but it turned out to be more of a peach nude. Which I can get behind! I’m always looking for more neutrals in my stash, so when I find a great shade like this (especially from one of my favourite brands!) then I jump at the chance! They are great on their own, or perfection as a base for other nail art. I mean, how amazing would this polish look with some floral painted over top!? Although I did something a little more fancy with my swatches.

For my above swatches, I used 3 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat. Honestly, I prefer polishes which go on in less coats but I think it was because of how thin my coats were. It really needed that extra coat to hide any bald spots. Also adding top coat definitely levelled out the polish & left it with the flawless finish you see above. But that’s kind of typical with these kind of shades, regardless of brand. At least that’s been my experience with application.

Do you have this gorgeous Essie shade in your stash? What are your thoughts? Share below 👇🏻 what your favourite nude shade is!

Posted on

Mani Swap with @mugglenails

It feels like forever since I had to opportunity to join one of my fellow nail art addicts in a mani swap. So I was super excited to be able to team up with a fellow Canadian nail polish addict @mugglenails in a fun design swap. Meghan always comes up with such creative nail art patterns & colour combinations. So it was really fun to scroll through her feed to pick a design to recreate!

I had narrowed it down to two designs of hers, but in the end I kept coming back to this blue & aqua design. There is something about the colour combination which felt so nautical, I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Very, very Summery! For her design, Meghan recreated my green vine design from a few months back.

For this design, the polish I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie First Timer
  • Icing Stores Mermaid Mint
  • Essie All the Wave
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape (item #40423)
  • Medium sized dotting tool

There is something about this colour combination that just makes me swoon. Maybe because it feels so Summer-y & reminds me of the ocean. I mean, I’m an East Coat Girl… the ocean is in my veins. I will always adore a nail design with a nautical theme. All this design needs is a quick accent anchor for it to go full nautical. But I kind of like the fact that it’s kind of subtle–it makes this design a much more everyday look. This colour combo isn’t my everyday choice, & yet I’m completely obsessed with it!

What do you think of this mani swap? Do you think my recreation was successful? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!