Tag: NOTD

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Deep & Dark Vintage Floral Nails 

Okay so I know every time I paint floral on my nails I gush that they’re my absolute favourite floral… but I swear this time I really mean it! It may have something to do with the super vampy perfect-for-Fall base colour. These are definitely not a Spring floral & I think that’s why I love it so much. I am also really in love with the slightly messy look of this floral–they’re not perfect, & I think that’s what makes them so perfect to me. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat
  • Essence Plump Power 
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Mauve Over
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Peony 
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Montley Hue
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Green
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Quo by ORLY Diva 
  • Large & Small dotting tool 
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster

Obviously nothing could make me love this mani any more…. except adding Matte top coat to it! It’s been forever since I mattified anything, so it was long long over due. For this mani I used an inexpensive matte top coat I picked up on vacation this summer for a $1, but if you’re looking for suggestions my all time favourite Matte top coat is L’Oréal The Matte Velvet top coat. 

Anyone else just love love love Matte nails as the weather gets cooler & Fall creeps into the air? Maybe it’s because I always grab my darker shades & they look so fabulous mattified? Whatever the reason, it makes me very very happy! 


What do you think of this vintage floral design? Which do you like better–shiny or matte? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

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SWATCH SUNDAY– ACO by Ardene Jacob Green

It’s Sunday, & you know what that means… it’s Swatch Sunday! This has pretty much become my favourite day of the week, because it’s been encouraging me to go through my stash & pull shades that aren’t in my everyday polish repertoire & from my many, many untrieds. 

 Today I’m showing off a shade I’ve owned for quite a while (I believe I bought it two Falls ago) but I’ve never worn. 

This is ACO by Ardene Jacob Green–a deep smooth Forrest green. I’ve written before that green isn’t a colour I’m usually attracted to. Most of the time the greens in my stash are saved for the leaves in my floral designs & Christmas or St Patrick’s Day designs. But there is something about this shade that I find just weirdly beautiful. For my swatch, I used two coats plus top coat, although I’ll be honest it was just as shiny before top coat. The formula is nice & buttery, & easy to apply. 

This is a great Fall shade & a great shade in general which is crazy for me to say. It’s crush worthy, & I really love it. Also there was absolutely no staining with removal which is always a fear for me when it comes to dark shades like this so it gets bonus points. 

For my Canadian girls, you can find ACO by Ardene shades at your local Ardene store usually on special for 3/$10 or something similar. Because this shade is from 2 years ago, your best bet for finding it would be an Ardene Outlet store. 

What do you think of this gorgeous green shade? Do you have a particular shade that is out of your comfort zone, but you can’t help but love? Let me know in the comments below!
Stay tuned because I’ll have some pretty nail art to share that I added over my swatch! 

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Fall Leaf Stamping 🍁

Sorry for my lack of posting this week. If you follow me on Instagram you would have saw that I was struck down by the gluten gods this past weekend & I’ve been recovering from a particularly bad attack the last couple days. I spent Monday & Tuesday in bed sleeping but I finally had a bit of a burst of energy, enough at least that I could post this mani. 

& can I just say I freaking love how this design turned out?! Okay so my husband may have said that he thought they looked like spiderwebs but he’s a boy & it doesn’t count. 😂 

For this manicure, the products I used were: 

I started off with a base shade of This Isn’t Iceland the used my other OPI shades to create a Saran Wrap splatter. I topped that with clear nail polish that I knew would smear the polishes so it blended them together better. Then I stamped the leaf print over top over the blend using Back to Black to finish the design. I topped everything with top coat to seal in the design, & used a brush dipped in acetone to clean up around the cuticles. I love using Back to Black for stamping because not only does it stamp well, it cleans up easily & doesn’t leave my cuticles stained black when using acetone. There is nothing worse! 

I’m digging this pattern. I wish I could have gotten a picture with an actual leaf but mine aren’t quite on fire yet. I’ll have to repeat this stamping again when the leaves are in full colour change, just for the chance to take a picture! That, or I’ll recreate one of my all time favourite Fall designs. 

What do you think of these Fall leaf nails? Do you see leaves or spider webs? Let me know what you think in the comments below! 

Some of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

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Pink Plaid featuring OPI Aurora Berry-alis 

Hello lovelies, & happy Wednesday. Are you already for some more Fall designs? I know, I’m obsessed. But I’ve already had my pumpkin spice latte & school is officially back in so that is enough of an excuse for me for full force Fall (plus I’m heading out today to buy a bunch of Fall themed decorations for the house.) 🍁🍂

 I know I already shared some plaid nails last week, but plaid is just so engrained with Fall to me I wanted to share another (& slightly different) plaid design with you. This time we’re going pink! These were inspired right out of my closet & my favourite pink plaid shirt. 

For this design, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • OPI Aurora Berry-alis 
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • OPI  Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots
  • Striping Brush from Bundle Monster

Let’s just gawk over how beautiful Aurora Berry-alis is for a moment. Everyone needs a dusty berry pink shade in their life like this. I definitely find myself pulled towards more pinks & red this Fall so far, so this shade is absolutely perfect! & I will never not love plaid nails for Fall. Even though they look so complicated, they’re really not as hard to do as they look. Even if your lines aren’t perfect, they way they blend together hides any imperfections! 

What do you think of these Fall plaid nails? What pattern do you immediately think of when you think of Fall nails? Let me know in the comments below! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

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Geometric stamping over Sally Hansen Mermaid’s Tale 

Yesterday I featured a swatch of Sally Hansen CSM in Mermaid’s Tale–a beautiful teal jelly glitter shade. Today I have the mani I did using that shade as my base colour! I’ve really had a lot of fun getting into stamping, & practicing, so I decided to try stamping a pattern over the glitter. I knew black wouldn’t show up over such a dark base, so I decided to grab something fun & bright (Turquoise) & the end result turned out perfect. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: Finger Paints Peel Off Base Coat for Glitter
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Under the Twilight 
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Mermaid’s Tale
  • China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise
  • Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper item #24059
  • Older Born Pretty Stamping Plate that’s no longer available — this plate contains the same image. 

Can I just say how impressed I am with how well Turned Up Turquoise stamps? I was shocked with how opaque it was on the nail, especially over such a dark base colour. I wasn’t sure how it was going to look, but it turned out awesome! I always find myself so drawn to dark shades in the Fall months, but the pop of colour over top works well for a transitional manicure–just enough of Summer & just enough of Fall, all in one design. 


What do you think of this stamping? What polishes do you love for stamping? Share all your secrets in the comments below! I’m going to be ordering a bunch of new stamping plates (especially Halloween/Christmas themed plates) in the next couple days so I’m looking for all the best stamping polishes for playing.