Tag: nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — A Color Club Mystery

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday… the first Sunday of September. The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last couple days, & I even had a chance to break out the knee high boots & my favourite tights. & I’ve been perusing through all my deeper nail polish shades, looking for fun dark shades that are calling my name.

Today, though, I have a bit of a nail polish mystery featuring Color Club. I’ve mentioned before I’m a huge fan of buying polish at Winners, & I found this beauty in a set of 6 at my local Winners — with no name or codes or any distinguishing information. A real nail polish mystery!

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter top coat

The formula on this beautiful dark plum is super rich. I probably could have gotten away with just one coat of I had been a bit more careful — the opacity is stunning.

The colour is beautiful & dark, & perfect for Autumn. In fact, this is the exact shade I’m thinking about putting in my hair for Fall.

So after some perusing on Google, & Veronica Mars level sleuthing, I think I’ve figured out this shade is Color Club Twice Bitten from the 2016 Under My Spell Holiday collection. There were a couple I thought it might be, but after reviewing bottle shots & other swatches, I definitely think it has to be that one!

The only downside I found to this polish — it stained my nails (& fingers) really badly upon removal. Like… my finger nails & cuticle area were seriously red. Which is a shame, because the colour itself is beautiful & I love a deep dark shade like this.

What do you think about this mystery shade? Do you think I was correct in surmising that it’s Color Club Twice Bitten? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & if you like these mystery shade posts?

Have a great Sunday!

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Autumn Vibes & Abstract Stripes 🍂

Happy September 1st! 🍂🍁

We are officially in my favourite months — the “-ber” months! & my favourite months for nail polish & nail art. We’ve got dark colours, all the knee high boots a girl could dream of, & the best season for coffee drinks! So obviously now it’s September, that means I can really dive into my favourite Fall nail art designs without feeling judged for it being “too soon”.

Today’s look is another one of those abstract stripes designs I love so much. This time, I wanted a few more Fall colours because let’s just be honest, I’m obsessed. Haha. I decided on a lighter base colour, with some darker accent stripes. & I think the combination is absolutely perfect!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo Beauty Just Peachy
  • Essie Under the Twilight
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Zip Wine
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ski Bunny
  • Sally Hansen MG Black-O
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush
  • Teeny dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

I love love love this colour combination. I know that peach is usually more of a Spring colour, but I feel like it works perfectly paired with the darkness of Zip Wine & Under the Twilight. Plus it’s a fun, easy design to do, & can pair with an assortment of outfits. For example: this cute peach dress my MIL bought for me at the thrift about a month ago. How cute do these look paired together? Who else loves parking nail art looks together with their everyday outfit choices — or is that just me?

What do you think about this Autumnal abstract stripe look? Are you happy it’s finally September? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & let me know what you’re most excited for in the coming months!

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Vampy Deep Burgundy Dotticure 🍁

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday!

& happy Starbucks PSL release day for my fellow pumpkin spice lovers. I don’t care what anyone says, I feel like once the PSL is released, Fall is officially on its way. So honour of that, I thought why not go really hard on the Autumn colour scheme… & what is more Autumn than burgundy & gold?

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Revlon Color Stay Gel Envy Heartbreaker
  • L’oreal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

Nothing like a little dotticure action to welcome a new season. I love a dotticure all year round, but especially in the cooler months, & especially when it involves a dark vampy base like this oxblood shade. Doesn’t this just make you want to curl up with a big infinity scarf & cosy knee high socks? I know it’s definitely making me excited to pull out all my Fall fashion favourites.

& there is just enough of a chill in the air to let me know it’s coming very soon!

What do you think about this vampy dotticure? Are you as ready for Fall as I am? Did you stop by Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice latte today? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY— Essie Bell-Bottom Blues

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far. Can you believe it’s the last weekend of August? That’s crazy! This Summer has definitely been a blip. But I had my first PSL yesterday from Second Cup, so I’m all in on Autumn.

Today though, I’m throwing it back to Fall 2015 with Essie Bell-Bottom Blues from the Essie Fall 2015 Leggy Legend collection. I remember when this collection was first released I was obsessed with all the colours in the collection, but especially Bell-Bottom Blues, & it was the one I almost immediately bought upon finding it in stores.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat

For a polish that is 7 (!) years old, this shade is just as perfect as it was back when I first purchased it. The formula is still smooth & easy to apply. The formula is pigmented enough it could be a one coat wonder, but I did used two coats for full opacity. The polish itself is a beautiful dark blue, with vibrant blue shimmer, & this hint of purple which you can, sadly, see best in the bottle.

On its own, it dries to a soft satin finish. I much prefer it with top coat though as I feel like it shows off the shimmer much better.

It’s been a while since I pulled this shimmery blue from my stash, & I’m super glad that I did. I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been paying that much attention to the upcoming Fall collections, aside from swatches posted on Instagram. But I’ve been spending a lot of time shopping my own collection for fun Autumn shades to wear, including some oldies but goodies.

What do you think about Essie Bell-Bottom Blues? Do you have any of the shades from the collection in your stash? Let me know down in the comments, & let me know when of the 2022 Autumn nail polish collections you’re most excited about!

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Geometric Colour Blocking (Autumn inspired)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. The excessively humid heat we’ve been having here seems to have broken, & the weather has that hint of Fall weather that always starts around the end of August.

I’m so ready for Sweaters, scarves & my favourite knee high boots.

& Fall nail art, of course.

I’m already making plans for September nail art & joining in for next month’s Glam Nail Art Challenge. But, in the mean time, I’m feeling a little more creative than I’ve felt most of this Summer. & today’s nail art look is a fun nail art look that makes me feel like old school nail art Shannon (circe 2015-2016).

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo Beauty Tint of Mint
  • Quo Beauty Whistler
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Zip Wine
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Petal to the Metal
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

Okay, so I’m obsessed. Originally this look started off as just a Autumn themed colour block, but I felt like something was missing — which happens a lot. I added an outline of the rose gold (Petal to the Metal) & then decided to get risky & add a few chevrons over the mint. It looked so good, I did the same thing on the block of grey, & tada! Freehand nail art perfection!

& all done completely freehand.

What do you think of this Autumn toned geometric colour block? Are you feeling the Autumn shades yet, or are your strictly Summer until September? Let me know what you think, & what nail art/nail polish collections you’re looking forward to this upcoming season!