Tag: NOTD

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Garden Variety

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is excited for the LAST week of January! It’s also our last Swatch Sunday of January, which means we’re that much closer to Spring. & oh boy am I ready to get into Spring. So that means it’s time to dive into my nail polish stash & start pulling out my favourite blues!

I did an Instagram poll yesterday on my Instagram stories — @coffeeandnailpolish — & asked which of two Spring-y blue polishes people wanted to see for today’s post, & with a 58% of the vote Essie Garden Variety was the resounding winner!

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Essie Garden Variety was originally released as part of the Spring 2015 collection, but has stayed on as part of the permanent collection. It has the most incredibly smooth formula, so it applied in just two easy swipes. This is pre-top coat, but still super glossy & shiny & perfect.

Now this is definitely a very difficult polish to capture on film — it can lean really blue at time which is hard to avoid. It’s definitely a little bit darker than you’re seeing in my pictures, but I tried not get the photos to show as close to reality as possible because it really is one of the prettiest teal-y blues that I own. & I don’t have anything else quite like it.

Just look at that beauty — it’s perfect! Oh man, doesn’t it just make you think of Summer dresses & sunglasses & the beginning of flowers budding in the garden. I know we’re only at the end of January, but I need to dream of Spring days to get me through these dreary snow filled grey days. It gives me something to look forward to! (Like the days when I don’t have to worry about layering as many pairs of tights under my jeans as I can fit… & wearing something other than layers of sweaters.)

Like I mentioned, Garden Variety is part of the permanent Essie collection, so you can find the beauty whenever Essie is sold. For those who don’t feel like venturing out to the store, but need this bright beautiful shade in your life there are a few online places you can purchase Essie:

What do you think about Essie Garden Variety? Do you have this shade in your collection? What is your favourite Spring-y blue? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Scattered Holo Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Hope everyone is having the loveliest of weeks! Today I’ve got some brand new nail art to share with you, featuring an easy technique I love to do: abstract stripes. I’ve been doing some version of this look for a couple of years now, & I think they’re such a great way to jazz up your nails — they’re also relatively easy & hard to mess up, & who doesn’t love that!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Color Gloss Fit (clear)
  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Wrenn Polish Intoxicated
  • Revlon Iconic
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White

First off, check out that scattered holo because it’s absolutely amazing. If you missed my earlier Swatch Sunday post on it, Intoxicated is one of the two new holographic nail polishes that Wrenn Polish released recently. It’s STUNNING. Second I’m kind of obsessed with this grey by Revlon — Iconic. I recently picked it up at my local Lawton’s for only 99 cents. It really compliments this dark purple polish & just goes so well together.

& I don’t know why, but greys are just a favourite for me this time of year (with the exception of early February for Valentine’s Day).

I feel myself digging into my past posts for inspiration lately. The (nail art) nostalgia is real. But maybe Paris Fashion week & the Oscars will give me some new nail art inspiration & inspire some fun new looks.

What do you think about these abstract stripes? What nail art trends are you excited about? Let me know!

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Dry Brush & Gold Flakies

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Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. Today I’ve got another fun design to share. It feels like absolute ages since I did a dry brush design, & so it felt long overdue! I love a good dry brush, because they’re so quick & easy to do. It had also been a while since I’d pulled out any of my Flakies from nail stuff, so I thought some gold was in order!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Color Gloss Fit (clear)
  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Aloe, Goodbye
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pat on the Black
  • Essence Black is Back
  • Nailstuff.ca Gold Metallic Flakies (COFFEE10 to save 10%!)

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I totally, accidentally, knocked half my gold Flakies all over my couch when creating this look, which was probably the most difficult part of doing this design. Haha. I had tucked these gold pieces away in my nail art draw, & had completely forgotten about them… & how much I love using flakies! They’re just so pretty!

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I’m loving these. The colours, the whole overall look, how freaking easy they were. Everything about these are so fun.

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What do you think about this manicure? Do you love dry brush designs? Let me know all your thoughts on this look.

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SWATCH SUNDAY— YSL 49 Rouge Pablo

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Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! A very very snowy & blustery Sunday here in Halifax. So why not heat things up here with a nice fiery red polish! 🔥

This is YSL Beauty Rouge Pablo, gorgeous pink toned red cream polish. I’ve written before about my love affair with red nail polish, & the fact that I used to literally wear it almost exclusively during my University days, so whenever I get a new red I get VERY excited to add it to my collection.

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2 coats + top coat.

I was really really impressed with the formula on this shade. Sometimes red nail polishes can have a tricky formula, but this one goes on very buttery & smooth. The colour is also a very flattering shade of red that is great just to wear for everyday.

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This shade reminds me a lot of another favourite red — OPI My Chihuahua Bites. It really is an awesome red on its own, as part of nail art, on your toes, etc. Just all around a beautiful red! & a red that I think I’ll probably end up one that I grab quite a bit. I really need to do a post on my top five red nail polishes, even though I think when it comes down to it, it would be hard to narrow things down.

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If you’re looking for this red, I had trouble finding it online unfortunately. The YSL Beauty website has a few polishes listed, but this particular one is out of stock currently.

What do you think about YSL Rouge Pablo? What is your favourite red nail polish? Hope on over to Instagram & let me know what you think!

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Subtle Vertical Stripes

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Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! We’re back into our nail art routine & I have another fun look to share. Two things I’ve been trying to do this year: wear more of my polishes from deep in my stash, & bring my manicures back to the beginnings. Sometimes it’s fun just to go a little more simple. I’ve been seeing a few looks of simple vertical stripes — @xglitzandpolishx & @apolishedcolleen recently did beautiful versions that I’m obsessed with.

So I decided to do my own version!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Color Gloss Fit (clear)
  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • China Glaze Jungle Queen
  • China Glaze Up All Night
  • Straight Nail Vinyls

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For this look, I decided on two shades that would compliment each other really well, but was kind of a subtle look. First I grabbed Jungle Queen because it’s a gorgeous shade which I don’t wear nearly enough & the grey-ness of it is something I love in the depth of January. It is a bit of a darker shade, so I needed to find something dark that it would still pop against. China Glaze Up All Night has been in my stash for a long time (since before baby #1) but I haven’t worn it… ever. That’s kind of crazy because it’s SUCH a pretty shade.

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I think my only regret with this look is a wish I had gone with skinnier nail vinyls/striping tape. But I think these single stripe nails are so chic, & they end up making your nails look SO long. Such a fun look to wear, & there are so many different ways to wear it & so many different colour combinations.

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Have you done this single stripe design yet? What do you think about this subtle version of this look? Hope over to Instagram (since my blog comments don’t seem to want to work), & let me know what you think & what colour combinations you would rock.