Outlined Glitter Jelly Nails

Hey lovelies, happy Wednesday!

Long time, no post. I’ll be honest — blogging has been really hard this month. Even wanting to do my nails has hit a road block. I’m still painting them, but I don’t necessarily have the energy to do nail art. Hoping once this month is over, I’ll feel super inspired again.

But I did manage to do a simple nail art look recently, so I’m excited to share it!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Love Sheen (Silk Watercolours collection)
  • Ardene Secret Diary
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper in Black

I started off by creating a jelly sandwich using Essie Love Sheen & Ardene Secret Diary. Originally that had been my only plan for these nails. But the next day, I couldn’t help but thing that some black outlining would really up the dramatic factor of this manicure — & I was right!

I don’t do outlining often, mostly because it takes a very steady hand I don’t always posses. But I’m so super proud of how these turned out & how neatly I managed to outline them! & nothing makes me happier than a cleanly drawn manicure!

What do you think about my outline glitter sandwich nails? Are they dramatic & fun? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& if you have some nail art inspiration you want to shoot my way, I’m always looking for new inspiration for my nails! & with this nail art block I’m going through, I’d love some help to break out of it!

Happy Wednesday loves

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Starry Starry Night (2016 Re-release) 🌌🌠

Hello loves & happy Sunday. It’s a rainy, miserable Sunday here but I guess it beats snow. Today I decided to take a little trip to the past… all the way back to early 2016 when life was just simpler & all the crazy in the world seemed manageable.

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is Essie Starry Starry Night from the 2016 Retro Revival Collection.

2 coats + 2 coats top coat

I’ll start off with this shade has definitely had a hard go since I bought it in 2016. While I have lots of shades over a decade old that apply perfectly, this was took some trick & finese to get a good looking application (& top coat… lots of top coat.) A little polish thinner, & I feel like she will be back to normal again.

The polish itself is a dark navy jelly base, with small silver glitters layered inside. The coats are thin enough that the glitter still peaks through, even with multiple coats.

I really like this colour & layered glitter look, which was why I originally bought it. I had no experience with the previous (original) version of this shade, but saw later people were upset about how different it was. Here is a great comparison post of the two different shades. While I love the revival version, I can see why lovers of the original could be upset, especially with change in colour & glitter size.

Do you remember this Essie shade? I kind of wish they had kept this one around rather than making it a limited edition release, but I suppose that’s how they build hype. I just find it so much more fun than a lot of the shades you see in the core collection.

What do you think? Should Essie bring this shade back (again)? Let me know what you think down in the comments below.

Happy Sunday

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo Beauty Xtreme FX Midnight Magic

Merry Christmas Eve lovelies! & Merry Christmas to those who Santa has already visited. 🎄

Today I’m excited to share an early Christmas present to myself. After a very long Christmas season, I decided to buy myself a little pick me up & hit up my local Shoppers Drug Mart for something sparkling. This is Quo Beauty Xtreme FX Midnight Magic.

3 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat

This dark purple jelly shade has a thin consistency & is packed with multicoloured metallic glitters. Originally I thought they were holographic, but they’re is just a variety of different colours. The formula is a very thin jelly, which allows the glitters to build up & show through the layers.

Because of the thin consistency, I did need 3 coats but they dried down very quickly. & the use of quick dry top coat helped speed things up even more.

The dark purple definitely does mask this shade a bit, but I still adore it. This shade reminds me a bit of Icing Disco Lights, but with much smaller glitters. It’s a fun little touch of sparkle.

For my Canadian friends, you can purchase this & other Quo Beauty shades at your local Shoppers Drug Mart or via their website. This one is currently in stock online & there were lots at my local Shoppers, so you should definitely be able to find it! I know I’ll definitely be going back after Christmas to pick up Stargazing or The Party — which were the other two I was deciding between.

What do you think of Quo Beauty Midnight Magic? Do you like this subtle touch of sparkle? What nail polishes are you hoping Santa leaves under your tree? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY— Starrily Cobalt (Co) {Noble Neons Collection}

Contains PR/gifted product from NailStuff.ca

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! & happy one week to Christmas Eve! Who else is feeling the last minute crunch of Christmas? Today though, I’m excited because I have a brand new (to me) polish to share with you that was recently gifted to me by my nail polish fairy godmother Victoria at NailStuff.ca.

This is Starrily Cobalt (Co) from the Noble Neons collection.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful & vibrant neon blue has a jelly like base with a scattering of holographic flakes for a sparkling effect. You can build it to opacity, like I did, or wear it over a white base for more of a pop. It does dry to a semi matte finish, like a lot of neons tend to do, so it’s best to finish it off with a glossy top coat.

Formula was smooth, easy to work with, & not too thin so I managed to achieve a good opacity with 2 coats. There is still a touch of visible nail line, but I feel like with a polish like this that’s not a bad thing.

As you can see from the macro shot above, the polish has a good density of holographic glitter. It doesn’t overwhelm it, but you get a good sparkle on the nail.

For those looking to add this colour to their own collection, I know it can be purchased from NailStuff.ca or from Starrily directly.

What do you think of Starrily Cobalt (Co)? Would you wear this holographic neon blue? Does anyone else consider blue nail polish a Christmas colour? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! 💙

SWATCH SUNDAY — L.A. Colors Neon Jelly Razzle Berry

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a safe St. Patrick’s Day. Mine was spent on the hunt for nail polish deals. Well, originally I had tried to find some thrift goodies, but that was a bust so I ended up checking out the clearance bins to see if I could find any fun shades & I was quite successful.

Today though, I’m excited because I have a brand new shade I found at my local Walmart. They have just started carrying the L.A. Colors brand — which I haven’t seen around here in stores in a while — so naturally I had to pick up a few new shades. I decided one 3 polishes from 3 different lines. First up today: Razzle Berry from the Neon Jelly line.

3 coats, no top coat

The first shade to catch my eye was this sparkly beauty Razzle Berry. It’s a syrup-y blue jelly base packed with multi-sized iridescent glitters. For my swatches, I needed 3 coats for full coverage but as you can see it obviously isn’t fully opaque. The colour of the polish itself, also, is a bit lighter on the nail than in the bottle, but I’m sure if I had the patience to apply more coats, it would darken. It did apply easily though, & the wider brush made application pretty simple.

This shade is definitely giving me peachy Summer vibes. I love the glitter in the bright blue base with those glitters. I was a little bummed that it wasn’t quite as dark as the bottle shade, but most likely if I was wearing this again, I would probably layer it over a blue base so I didn’t need as many layers of polish. I mean, how gorgeous would this look layered over Essie In The Cab-ana? I’m definitely going to be trying that ASAP.

What do you think about L.A. Colors Neon Jelly Razzle Berry? Are you a fan of glittery jelly formulas like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know if you’d like me to pick up anymore of these Neon Jelly shades to swatch.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

♥︎