Tag: nail polish

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Subtle Red Colour Blocking

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week. Can you believe we’re in August now? That’s just… this Summer is really speeding by!

Today I’m sharing an easy nail art look I wore recently. We all know — I love red nail polishes. & I was feeling a red manicure. So I decided to pair a couple of red polishes together in a fun (& super simple) nail art look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine
  • Top Coat: Essence Colour Shine Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Warm Regards
  • Sally Hansen CSM Red Handed

I really like the subtle red on red nail art. Like I said, I really wanted to wear red nails — I always want to wear red nails — but I wanted to spice it up a smidge, & this subtle colour blocking seemed like an easy, cute option! From far away you might not notice to two colour paired together, but up close you can see the fun pattern. Next time, I might do a similar look, but with all red abstract stripes.

Any excuse for red nails!

What do you think about this subtle colour blocking design? Is this a nail art design you would wear?

Let me know what you think down in comments below — & what colour you would wear this design in!

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SWATCH SUNDAY—Essie Dive Bar

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I’ve been enjoying a lovely, although a tad rainy, weekend off from work. Today, though, I’m all about Swatch Sunday, & this classic Essie shade from my stash: Dive Bar.

This shade has been in my stash a long time — I’m pretty sure I found it on a good deal at Winners, as I do a lot of my shades. Dive Bar was originally released as part of the 2012 Spring collection, also named Dive Bar.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter

This colour is so gorgeous! It’s a deep navy blue base, with a striking teal shimmer. It just screams Fall to me — so I was surprised when I learned it was released as part of a Spring collection. It also reminds me of Space, so I feel like it would be an incredible base for galaxy nails because it has a great depth to it!

The formula is also still really awesome, which is good after all these years. I’ve own this bottle since at least 2015, so it’s going on 7 years old. It does have the original skinny Essie brush, which means you do have to be careful with application. I managed to get opacity in 2 thicker coats, but you could definitely do one coat over a black as well — it probably wouldn’t be as shimmery, but it would save on coats.

What do you think about this Essie oldie? Do you have Dive Bar in your stash? Do you love these deep shimmery blues as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

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Blue Shimmery Chevron Accent Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here — who else is excited? Today I’m also excited because I have some fun & funky chevron accent nails to show off! It feels like ages upon ages since I pulled out my nail vinyls, but after a coworker gifted me a few beautiful polishes — including this lovely shimmery blue, Sally Hansen InstaDri Cosmic Blu — I knew I needed to pull out some vinyls for some fun!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essence Colour Shine Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Cosmic Blu
  • Essie Suite Retreat
  • The Base Coat Vinyls Chevron/Zig Zag (Wide)

How pretty is Cosmic Blu paired with Suite Retreat? I feel like my nails have been so boring lately — still painting frequently, but at least 60% of the time, I’m just sticking with single colours/no nail art. It’s partially a time thing, but also I think life has just sucked lately, so my inspiration is lacking. I need to find my inspiration again, & that’s been the hard part.

& I won’t even get into how disappointed the Instagram algorithm leaves me. Ugh.

Never the less, I am still painting my nails, & this nail art brings me back a few years, to when I was nail art obsessed. That’s the nail art obsession I need to find again. Also, maybe a super fast drying top coat will help too.

What do you think of these blue shimmery chevron accent nails? Do you love how well these two colours paired together? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you’d like to see me creating more fun nail vinyls look again!

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Sparkly Holo Purple Swirls

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone’s week is off to a good & not too stressful start so far. I finally have a day off, which is very exciting — even if today seems to be the one day in the last, like 8, that isn’t beautiful & sunny.

Oh well. I do, however, have some fun & sparkly nails from a day which was very sunny! I wore these last week during a particularly sunny day, which was perfect to show off all the holo goodness.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Holographic Top Coat: Starrily Eclipse
  • Essence Colour & Go Little Lila Town
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • Colour Club Art Club Passion flower

Originally, I hadn’t planned on adding the holographic top coat, but I’m so glad that I did because it made the whole look feel complete. & it was just so much more fun! Definitely a fun Summer look.

Also, it’s reminding me of how much I love stripers. Don’t get me wrong, I love love love all my nail art brushes & they’re wonderful. But there is just something different about one of those striper polishes. I feel like I need to get some more, again. There is just certain times when those are the brushes I need in my life, & I keep forgetting that until I use one of my old ones again. Guess that means it’s time to take a little trip to Sally Beauty!

What do you think about this nail art look? Do you enjoy these holo purple stripes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you’d wear this nail art look.

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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!