Tag: Manicure

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Starrily Diamond Rain

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

We’ve almost reached the end of November, which is kind of insane, & Christmas is less than a month away. So you know what that means… gimme all the glitter! I figured for today’s Swatch Sunday I would pull out a gorgeous glitter gifted to me a few months back (by my nail fairy godmother Victoria at NailStuff.ca!): Starrily Diamond Rain.

2 coats + Essie Gel Setter Top Coat

Starrily Diamond Rain is a beautiful dark sapphire blue shade packed full of holographic flakes. It was released as a collab shade between Starrily & Kelli Marissa & apparently inspired by the Diamond Rain of Neptune.

The formula of this polish is very, very nice. I applied two coats for my swatches above, & I found it was the perfect opacity for me. The glitter is very thick & dense, which means it sparkles from every angle.

I don’t know about you, but the holiday season just makes me crave glitter in every colour, but blue is definitely one of my favs. As you can see in the above macro, the polish is very dense with glitter. That’s exactly what December needs… all the glitter. Our area has recently gone into stricter restrictions, & Christmas is… up in the air. So I definitely need some fun, beautiful glitter to cheer myself up! & this is the perfect polish for that.

For my Canadian friends, NailStuff.ca is currently having a Black Friday Sale, with deals on all the polishes (including this one!) so I definitely recommend checking it out! & you can even use my affiliate code COFFEE10 to save a little extra!

What do you think about this shade? Do you love glitter this time of year? What is your favourite glittery shade? Let me know in the comments below!

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Matte Knit Pattern (inspired by xglitzandpolishx)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! We are quickly approaching the end of November, if you can believe it — Christmas is officially one month away!

Today I’m sharing another nail art look inspired by one of my favourites on Instagram — @xglitzandpolishx! I was inspired by one of her old designs, & decided it was perfect for this time of year. & it would look amazing over my base of Zoya Ray from Sunday’s Swatch Sunday post.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Zoya Ray
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio — I used the 9mm size. (COFFEE10 saves 10%)

This design took a bit of patience, but was actually super easy to paint! It kind of reminded me of a doing a dotticure, but instead of polka dots, you’re doing dashes instead. The end result just looks like knit, & I’m totally obsessed with it. I’ve actually been meaning to recreate this look for a long time, so I’m glad that I finally did! & I’m totally going to do it again with some more colour combinations.

What do you think about this look? Would you wear this knit pattern on your nails? Was nail art look have you been meaning to recreate lately? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Zoya Ray

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Hope the world isn’t too crazy where you are — here on the East Coast, things are starting to get a tad crazy, so I need a good non-real world distraction. & what is better than nail polish? Lately, I’ve been really feel dark green shimmery nail polishes. They’re definitely out of my comfort zone, but they give me holiday vibes, & I think that is exactly what I need in my life right now.

So I decided to pull a fun Zoya shade from deep in my stash. Today’s pick: Zoya Ray.

2 coats + Top Coat (Essie Gel Setter)

Zoya Ray was originally released in 2012 as part of the Diva Collection. This shade came to be part of my stash in 2015 thanks to Winners, as it was tucked into their polish selection. I remember the colour catching my eye & the name is actually my middle name, so I knew I needed to have it. It’s a great Fall shade, but an even better pick for the holidays. & considering how quickly it’s looking like a lockdown for Christmas, I need all the beautiful polishes I can find to cheer myself up!

The formula on this shade is easy. I took 2 coats for application, although the first coat had almost complete opacity.

The shimmer is what really makes me love this polish — like I said, I’ve been really drawn towards green shades lately, & this one is just such a beauty. It’s also such a perfect Christmas tree green. I definitely will be pulling this beauty out again for some beautiful Christmas-y tree designs in the next couple weeks!

I did some internet snooping, but sadly it looks like this shade has been long discontinued. You might get lucky, & find it in a clearance bin, & if you do I definitely recommend picking it up!

What do you think about this Zoya shade? Do you own it? What is your favourite holiday Green? Let me know in the comments below!

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Criss Cross Freehand Pattern

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. It’s definitely a very, very chilly Wednesday here on the East Coast, & I don’t think I’m quite ready for it! I’m naturally a person who is always cold, so when the weather shifts, there is not enough layers or tea in the world to keep me warm!

But even if I’m cold, I still have cute nails to show off! I picked up a couple nail art stripers on clearance at Lawton’s a while ago, but hadn’t really played with them, so I decided to play around with some line work. I originally intended to do a kind of x-pattern look, which so of shifted as I was doing it. I’m not sure what to call this kind of pattern, but I absolutely love it. & it’s a look that even looks good on nubby nails like mine!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Clean Slate
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel

Oh man, I think this pattern turned out so neat! It actually wasn’t super difficult to do either; I started with painting an X on my nails, then when it each triangle section to repeat the same pattern over & over so you would get this interlocking/woven effect. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn’t. Just required a bit of a steady hand, & a little concentration, but the end result is totally worth it!

Also yes I’m totally obsessed with using my matte top coat again. I saw that Sally Hansen has a new Miracle Gel matte top coat, so I’m going to see if I can pick some up the next time I’m out. I also think I’m due for another “battle of the matte top coats”, so maybe I’ll have to add it to the mix!

What do you think about this look? Is this something you could see yourself rocking?

Also now that we’re hitting mid-November I was thinking of starting to post the occasional Winter/maybe Christmas look? Do you want to see that, or do you think it’s too soon?

Let me know down in the comments below!

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Pink Stamped Reindeer Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

Hope everyone is well caffeinated. Today I’m starting off the beginning of this week with some fun stamped sweater nails. It’s been quite a while since I last pulled out my stamper, & this time of year always makes me want to use it more often.

Today’s stamping plate combo is one I’ve used before, but I love the sweater print with the reindeer head. I also pulled a polish shade from deep, deep in my stash (definitely pre 2009) but it still applies like a dream! You’ve got to love that.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • NYC Color Lexington Lilac
  • Revlon Iconic
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L018 (item #19373)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper (COFFEE10 saves you 10% site wide!)

I had totally forgotten about this pretty polish. I picked it up years & years ago, I think at Zellars (for my fellow Canadians, who remembers Zellars?!) & probably only wore it once or twice. I also really like this untraditional sweater colour scheme. Sometimes, even this time of year, I just really feel these pale muted colours.

Also be prepared to see this stamped reindeer head over the next couple months, because it’s one of my favourites!

What do you think about this stamped design? Do you love this colour scheme as much as I do? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a happy Monday!