Tag: nail polish

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Mint & Floral 🌿🌸

Hello lovelies & Happy Thursday. It’s been a minute since my last floral design, so I thought I was more than overdue. Truthfully, this started out as just a look featuring vining, but something felt like it was missing. So I freehanded a few roses & BAM! The look was complete!

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Thyme Is Money
  • Sally Hansen CSM One In A Melon
  • OPI Suzy Shops & Island Hops
  • Essie Stop Drop & Shop
  • Quo by Orly Diva
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • Essence Black is Back
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

You know I love a good floral — clothing, nails, phone cases. Give me all the floral! Also I really love the look of a pink floral over a pale blue or green vase — it really makes the flowers pop! Also using the micro detail brush from NailStuff really makes a difference when I’m free handing florals. The roses turned out so realistic! I’m so absolutely in love with them.

What do you think about this freehand floral? Have you missed seeing floral on my blog? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Freehand Moroccan Tile Accent Nails

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning to their week. Today I’m sharing a nail art look I did last week on a whim. I was just playing around with some lines, practicing, & ended up dreaming up these black & white Moroccan tile inspired accent nails.

& honestly, they turned out even more perfect than I had imagined!

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • L’Oréal Totally Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Essence Black Is Back
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • Small dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

First off, I have to be honest & say that while this L’Oréal shade Totally Turquoise is beautiful, oh boy is she a stainer upon removal. Which sucks, because she’s such a beautiful colour! Secondly, I am so so so happy with how these accent nails turned out. They’re definitely a little bit different for me, but that’s why I love them! Especially the pinky, & they totally turned out like what I imagined in my brain.

Ahhh, they look so cool! & even though my line work isn’t 100% perfect, I think it adds to the design. They looks a little rustic, which is neat!

What do you think of this accent nail design? Do you like the black & white against the turquoise? Share all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Morgan Taylor Looking For A Wingman

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

I had originally had different plans for my Swatch Sunday post — I had done a couple Insta-polls asking what people wanted to see for this post, & the consensus was still Summer-y & something new… but life got in the way (aka my 1 year old refusing to sleep) so instead I grabbed an untried shade from my stash that I bought pre-COVID times. & I think today’s shade is perfect for impending Fall weather: Morgan Taylor Looking For A Wingman.

Looking For A Wingman was originally released in 2016 as part of their Fall Sweetheart Squadron Collection. The shade is a beautiful (slightly) pink leaning burgundy cream, which is absolutely perfect for Fall!

For my swatches, I did 2 coats over my base coat, plus finished it with Essie Speed Setter top coat. Usually I would use Gel Setter, as it gives the glossiest finish, but my local Shoppers was all out when I went to pick some up.

The formula was really easy to work with, & the opacity built easily in two coats with no weird patchiness. Reds always seem to be hit or miss in formula, I find, so I’m very happy when I find an easy to apply one! As you know, I’m such a sucker for a good red!

What I really like about this shade is even though I would consider this a Fall shade, the colour itself is bright enough that it works as a good transitional shade. Am I the only one who has colours she prefers for seasons? I feel like people think I’m a little strange because I have set “Spring/Summer” shades & “Fall/Winter” shades. Maybe it’s my years of retail seeping into my brain?

I did find a few places online where it appears this shade is still available including, NailPolishDirect (UK based), but a lot of the places seem be for beauty professionals, so I’m not sure how easy it is to track this shade down.

What do you think about this Morgan Taylor shade? Have you started embracing the Fall vibes? Are you dreaming about Pumpkin Spice yet? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Neutral Leopard Print

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! I hope everyone is well caffeinated. Today I’m sharing my current nail art obsession: leopard print!

Not going to lie, I’ve been obsessed with leopard print a long, long time. I used to own the most amazing leopard print dress during my teenage years — sadly I have no idea what happened to it, but it was glorious. Now a days, I don’t have much leopard print in my closet, which is even more of an excuse to wear it on my nails! (& maybe go shopping…).

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • Essie Kaf-tan
  • Essence Black is Back
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Oh man, I really really love how these turned out. Obviously, with my nails being sort of short right now, I need to find cute looks I can wear on my nails. Small delicate designs like this work really well on short-length nails.

Can you tell I’m really, really obsessed with Essie Kaf-tan right now? It’s so funny because I didn’t think it was a colour that was all that “Me” but I can’t help but reach for it for every design I do right now. It’s just such a fun, unique colour for my stash. & it’s definitely going to be a Fall shade staple for me! Which means I’d better in go get myself another bottle then!

What do you think about this leopard print look? Are you digging this pattern right now? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Freehand Stripes

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. ♥️ I’ve been mostly stuck in bed or on the couch because I messed up my neck somehow, but at least that gives me a chance to work on some blog stuff!

Now I know I said I wasn’t going to start thinking about Fall quite yet, but man… I had one sip of Pumpkin Spice latte & now it’s all I can think about! Haha. I kid, but I’ve definitely been finding myself drawn more to darker colours the last few times I’ve painted my nails. In fact, I’ve already switched my pedicure over! Today’s manicure was a combination of both; a little bit Autumn, with some lighter shades thrown in as well.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM Pat On The Black
  • Essie Kaf-tan
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Sheer Luck
  • Dimension Nails Blue Morpho Butterfly
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)

Stripes make your nails look longer, right?

As you might have noticed from Sunday’s swatch post, I’ve rounded my nails off again. I’m really trying to get them to grow a bit better, & I find an almond/rounded look suits me better for healthier nail growth. So we’re back to rounded, & hopefully with some serious nail self care, we can grow them super long again! (Like circa 2017 long!)

I really like the pop of colour on the dark base colour. Pat On The Black is such a perfectly dark burgundy shade, I love wearing it in the Fall. & when you add the stripes of lighter shades overtop, they really pop! It also lightens things up, so I’m not fully committing to Fall just yet. However, I’ll drink Pumpkin Spice if I want to… that I’m not budging on! Haha.

What do you think about this striped look? Do you prefer a square or rounded nail shape? Let me know down in the comments below!