Tag: Gold

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New Years Eve Golden Dotticure ✨

Hello Beauties & happy New Years Eve! I told you I would sneak in one more manicure before the year was over. Obviously, it being New Years Eve, I needed to give it my all, & decided to go with gold, silver & black for the full effect.

I also didn’t want to go too crazy because I am still exhausted from working through Christmas, & honestly by 10pm I’m just wrecked. So I decided to go with a classic dotticure… but with a NYE twist.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • OPI Rolling in Cashmere
  • Essie Hors d’Oeuvres
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Dotting tool (I always use mine from NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)

I like how I flipped the colours I would usually do. Normally, I would go with black (or another darker colour) as my base, & use the lighter colours as my dots. But I thought I needed more gold & silver, so I decided to use it as my base instead, & use black as my accent… & I love how it turned out! Very glam, with a hint of glitter. Perfect for New Years Eve celebrations, both over the top, & simple.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has visited this blog, liked my designs, & especially commented this last year! You make it worth it to keep posting, & make me excited to keep posting — especially as other social media changes so much! 2022 was a fantastic year for me, albeit challenging & full of change, but this blog was my happy place to come to, & I’m very excited to see what 2023 has in store!

Have a happy New Year Lovelies! Wishing everyone peace, calm, & joy.

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Giorgio Armani Nail Polish in Woodstone

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far.

Today I decided to dig deep into my stash, & pulled out a polish that was gifted to me back in 2015, & has been sitting in there, peaking my interest, for a long time. This is Giorgio Armani #214 Woodstone, which was originally released as part of the Fall 2014 Fade to Grey Collection. At least — I’m 99% sure this is #214 Woodstone. Mine didn’t have the official name on the bottle, but after some Googling, & seeing other swatches, it’s pretty clear that’s which shade this is.

2 coats, no top coat.

First up, this shade is such an unusual colour selection for me, but I was really really feeling this bronze-y brown shade, that I had to put it on. It’s such a deep, dark brown, but the gold shimmer really gives it another depth to it. For my swatches, I applied two coats of polish, but honestly it was pretty much opaque on the first coat, the second one was just to smooth things out fully.

Also, I really like the way the golden shimmer looks with this shade. With the matte finish, it really does almost give you the effect of being wood grain, which is really cool.

Just for fun, I wanted a comparison of the polish both matte & glossy. Top coat definitely takes it to a whole other level — I just love it!

I’m really loving this shade, & kind of sad it’s taken me 7 years to actually venture out of my comfort zone & try it out. It really is a stunning shade for Autumn & Fall. All is missing is a little bit of golden accent, maybe some leaves. A fantastic base for an Autumn inspired nail art look!

Sadly it looks like Giorgio Armani Beauty no longer produces nail polishes, which is a shame. If I had known how nice of a formula their polishes had, I definitely would have sought some out sooner. However, I’m glad to have this beauty in my stash, & I definitely won’t be waiting another 7 years to wear it again!

What do you think about this pretty bronzed brown? Do you ever wear brown nail polish? Do you prefer it with a matte or glossy finish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Vampy Deep Burgundy Dotticure 🍁

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday!

& happy Starbucks PSL release day for my fellow pumpkin spice lovers. I don’t care what anyone says, I feel like once the PSL is released, Fall is officially on its way. So honour of that, I thought why not go really hard on the Autumn colour scheme… & what is more Autumn than burgundy & gold?

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Revlon Color Stay Gel Envy Heartbreaker
  • L’oreal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

Nothing like a little dotticure action to welcome a new season. I love a dotticure all year round, but especially in the cooler months, & especially when it involves a dark vampy base like this oxblood shade. Doesn’t this just make you want to curl up with a big infinity scarf & cosy knee high socks? I know it’s definitely making me excited to pull out all my Fall fashion favourites.

& there is just enough of a chill in the air to let me know it’s coming very soon!

What do you think about this vampy dotticure? Are you as ready for Fall as I am? Did you stop by Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice latte today? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo Beauty Tint of Mint

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

My first Swatch Sunday post in a while. Last weekend was a bit of a sad week in our house as we lost our beloved cat. So this last week I just wasn’t feeling the blogging vibes. But it’s a new week, & I’m excited to get back into my blogging routine.

& we’re starting that off with a new Swatch post. Today’s pick: Quo Beauty Tint of Mint.

2 coats + Essence Colour Shield Top Coat

Quo Beauty is a Canadian brand, sold through Shoppers Drug Mart, as well as Loblaws stores. I picked up this shade a few months back at my local Superstore on a really good sale (I think like $4 each?).

Obviously, I was first attracted to the colour. I sound like a broken record at this point, but we all know I love a good pastel Buffy Season One-esque polish.

Formula on this one wasn’t too bad, although I did end up adding top coat to smooth things out a bit. The formula is a bit thin, so two coats is necessary. But it built nicely, & after a little swipe of top coat, everything looked perfect. Although, I will say: the colour seems to lean a bit more of the blue side than on the mint side.

This particular polish is from the Quo Beauty Breathable line. Like the Quo by Orly shades that Shoppers Drug Mart previously sold, they also have a few different lines: Breathable, Flash Dry, & Extreme FX.

I decided that since I was on a roll with my Quo Beauty, I should pull out another one of their shades that I recently found in the clearance for only $1. Quo Beauty Xtreme FX Shimmer & Shine. I thought the shimmery gold was a nice touch over this pale mint. I do love a nice touch of sparkle, especially when I’m wearing just nail polish & not nail art.

Also I’m already dying to apply this over a pretty burgundy/wine shade I own from Quo that’s been sitting in my stash, just waiting for the end of August/early September.

As I mentioned, Quo Beauty nail polish can be purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart & select Loblaws stores across Canada. I believe the regular price is normally around $11.99 (CAD) but I find they’re always having awesome sales, & you can find quite a few fun shades in the clearance, especially during seasonal shifts.

What do you think of the Quo Beauty brand? Have you tried out any of their nail polishes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Deep & Dark Chrevron Half Moons 🌙

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday.

I hope everyone had a lovely start to their week! I worked a crazy day at work yesterday, thanks to the holiday, so I legit feel hungover even though I didn’t have anything but coffee to drink! It’s going to be a 3 or 4 coffee kind of day.

But in the meantime, how about some fun nails? I actually did these nails back in… October, November (I think?) but for some reason didn’t get around to posting them. Which is actually a shame because look how beautiful they are! You know how much I love chevron moons, & I adore all the details on these ones.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Millionails
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Cinna-Snap
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Night Drive
  • Essie Mosaic On Down
  • Chevron nail vinyls
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

How pretty are these with the addition of the gold lines? I remember thinking these were so, so beautiful when I wore them, which is why I still can’t understand why I never got a chance to post them. Sometimes that happens, or — even worse — I’ll do a manicure I adore, but then wreck it before I have a chance to get pictures of it! That one always breaks my heart the most.

I feel like I haven’t done my chevron moons in a while, so I think I’ve been inspired to do another one very, very soon. Maybe one featuring some very beautiful Spring shades? Feeling inspired!

What do you think of this chevron moon design? Would you wear a look like this? Do you like the combination of colours with the maroon, navy blue & gold?

Leave me a comment down below, & let me know what you think of this look!