Tag: Manicure

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Glam Nails Challenge August — Pineapples

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & happy long weekend to those who are celebrating.

This month I decided to do something I haven’t done in what feels like forever: GlamNailsChallenge! This month’s theme is fruit, which is a fun summery theme, so I’m excited to participate. I feel like it’ll be a fun way to get back into my nail art groove.

& the first prompt: pineapples. 🍍

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Royal Hue
  • OPI Just Can’t Cope-acabana
  • OPI How Great is Your Dane?
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art Pen in green
  • Cosmetics Arts Lime Green (name has long since worn off)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I thought a pineapple pattern look with be super cute, & I love the brightness of the yellow over the blue base. They just pop so well! It’s been a long, long time since I did a fruit themed manicure, but I think the first of this challenge is adorable. Haha I’m not sure how the rest of this challenge is going to go, but I’m excited to get planning for all the different (fruit themed) looks. It’s definitely going to be a challenge for sure!

What do you think about my first look for GlamNailsChallengeAugust? Don’t forget, you can follow along with everyone’s looks by using the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram. I’m definitely excited to see all the cute looks that everyone comes up with this month!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Grape Juice

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! & happy first day of August!

How is everyone’s weekend — is it a long weekend where you are? It is here in Nova Scotia, & (I think) most of Canada? It also always feels like the beginning of the end of Summer. I know that we still have 4 weeks left, but man, there is something about August which always gets me in an Autumn mindset.

Today’s polish pick for Swatch Sunday still feels Summery enough though! & it was originally released as part of the China Glaze Summer Days (2009) collection: China Glaze Grape Juice.

2 coats

This polish went on easily in 2 coats, although the formula went on a little thicker for coat #2. The colour is a really vibrant, although slightly darker, purple with a beautiful silvery shimmer — I also saw some flecks of blue in there too.

You can really, really see all the shimmer in the macro shot. It’s very densely packed, which I really like! I also can’t believe I haven’t featured this yet for Swatch Sunday! It’s been in my stash for years, but with the exception of nail art, I haven’t worn it a to. Which is actually a travesty, because it is such a fantastic colour! It’s also just dark enough to keep me from full out craving Autumn, while also keeping bright-ish for Summer.

Sadly, it looks like this shade has been discontinued, but I did find a few listings online for it like Sparkle Canada but I don’t think it’s an easy find. However, if you do happen to come across it, you should totally pick it up because it’s such a lovely shade.

What do you think about China Glaze Grape Juice? Do you have this purple beauty in your stash? Which shades are you loving as we inch towards Autumn? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to know what you’re wearing right now.

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Recreating Tribal Roses (from 5 years ago)

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! The weekend is almost upon us — & so is August! How crazy is that? We’re almost in the last month of Summer. I swear this year is rushing by way faster than 2020 did. I feel like Summer just started, & now Fall collections are already popping up in the stores. & I’ve already started thinking about what Fall fashion items I want to add to my closet…

But in the mean time, let’s concentrate on nails. More importantly, this tribal & roses design which is actually a recreation of a design I did 5 years ago. This time, though, I decided to go with a reverse colour scheme with the darker shade as my base, & the white for my line work.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • Essie Stop Drop Shop
  • Essie Gel Couture Princess Charming
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure So Much Fawn
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in green
  • Cosmetics Arts Lime Green (name has long since worn off)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How lovely is this combination? The beautiful blue, the line work — that I’m very, very proud of! — & the cute, cute roses. I feel like I did a very good job of recreating my original design, but making it even better! These turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Also the white pops so we’ll over Sally Hansen Beatnik, as does the floral. Just everything about this look makes me so happy.

It just feels so good to be getting back to my roots, & doing my favourite kinds of nail art again. Feels like I’m me again! Also, while having short nails is always a nice change, I’m very happy to have returned to my rounded my nails again. They’re so much more me.

What do you think about this look? Did a do a good job recreating my original? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & let me know if you’d like to see me do more of these posts recreating old manicures!

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Negative Space & Neon Leopard Print

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

Today is a beautiful sunny day, & I’m excited because I have some fun nail art to share. It feels like a long time since I was truly inspired to do my nails, but I did this manicure early last week & was OBSESSED. Some nights it feels like I have no energy to come up with creative nail art looks, but I feel like this one turned out perfect.

Plus it combines some of my favourite things: neon, leopard print & negative space!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky-O
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Miami Nice
  • Sally Hansen Miracle GelElectri-Lime
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Fuchsia Fever
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in black
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

Seriously, how cute is this look? I was really feeling something involving negative space — I recently returned to rounded nails, since square nails stopped working for me — & since they’re so short right now, they’re my favourite length for negative space peak-a-boo nail art.

For this look, I started off by freehanding my white space with just the polish brush, then used my smaller sized dotting tool to create my blobs of neon. Then I used my black nail art pen to draw the leopard spots around them. Finally I finished everything off with my black stripes! A little time consuming — I think it took me an entire episode of Dr. Death — but the end result just pops so well!

What do you think of my leopard print nails? Are you still feeling bright & Summer-y shades? I’m in a weird faze right now where I am going between being obsessed with neons, & more muted shades. But for the first time, in a long time, I’m not craving Fall as August starts, so I think I’ll enjoy what is left of Summer & get out a bunch more Summer-y nail art looks too!

Have a fantastic day lovelies!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — L’Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l’Huile by Colour Riche 554 Carmin Parisien

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. It’s been a busy weekend, but I can’t start a new week without a Swatch Sunday post. Quite honestly, I think they’re the most viewed posts that the blog gets, so we’ve got to keep them going!

I’ve been on a nostalgia kick this week, & that means I’ve been looking at lots of old photos. & you know what was a constant trend in my pre-nail art days? Red nail polish!

As I’ve mentioned, oh a million times, red nail polish used to be my signature during my University years — unless of course I was feeling broody, in which case I would break out the black. & even though my nail polish collection has expanded considerably over the years, red nail polish still holds my heart. Which is why I was excited to pull another red beauty from my stash to share: L’Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l’Huile by Colour Riche 554 Carmin Parisien.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat

Oh man, this is a beautiful cool toned red. The formula on this shade is really, really smooth which is lovely, & fairly opaque—I did two coats for full coverage, & I had no hint of visible nail line or anything. Very impressive!

I do find the colour brings out a bit of my yellow undertones, but I don’t mind it so much. As such, this is probably a red I would reach for more in the Autumn months, just as I feel the colour is a bit more suited to the cooler days. When it comes to Summer, I usually go for more orange-y/coral leaning reds as they compliment & enhance my tan a bit more.

This shade isn’t super vampy, but I do consider it a very “classy” red, if that makes sense. It has a nice creamy finish that just feels very luxurious. Plus I really like that the Color Riche line of L’Oréal polishes (or whatever the full name is) has oils infused into it. Because, when you polish your nails as much as I do, you’ll take any chance to give your nails some extra love.

What do you think of L’Oréal Color Riche 554 Carmin Parisien? Do you love a good red nail polish as much as I do? Would you be interested in seeing a post featuring my all time favourite red nail polishes? Let me know in the comments below!