Blue Spring-y Stripes

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday!

I’m trying really hard to get back into the swing of posting again, & I’m hoping I can get back into a regular posting schedule. Today, I have a fun easy stripe design to share with you that was surprisingly easy to do!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Quo Beauty Stormy Night
  • Quo Beauty Bluebell
  • OPI Nature Strong Emflowered
  • BKIND Sauble Beach
  • Color Club Art Club Striper Passion Flower
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

I tried my hardest to make my lines straight, which I definitely find hardest when I’m doing horizontal lines verse vertical lines! But I think this look turned out really perfect. & I absolutely love the combination of colours. The base (Quo Beauty Stormy Night) may be quite dark, but the lighter colours really pop against it! &

I got so many compliments when I wore these at work — which is always what I base my designs on. If people start complimenting them, I know it’s a good design.

What do you think about this colourful stripe design? Do you like my freehand stripes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Have a happy Tuesday ♥️

SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo Beauty Show Stopper

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday — the first Sunday of 2024.

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is actually a reader request! I had someone on my Facebook message to ask if I had any pictures of Quo Beauty Show Stopper, & it made me realize I had this shade in my stash — but hadn’t actually swatched it. So immediately I had to pull it out so I could feature it for this week’s Swatch Sunday post!

2 coats + Top Coat

Quo Beauty Show Stopper is a beautiful shimmery fuchsia, with a flash of hot pink depending on how you move your hand. It’s from the Breathable line, so it’s designed to be “healthier” on the nail — allowing your nails to “breathe”.

The formula on this one was easy to apply, giving me full coverage in 2 coats. On its own, it dries down to a nice shiny finish, but I did apply top coat as I was planning on wearing it for a few days. The shimmer is absolutely beautiful, & give me early Valentine’s Day vibes.

Quo Beauty nail polishes are a Shoppers Drug Mart exclusive brand, which means it’s sold exclusively in Canada. The Breathable line retails for $13.49 CAD, although you can on occasion tucked into to clearance bin–which is, I’m pretty sure, where I picked up my bottle.

This shade can also be purchased from the Shoppers Drug Mart website if you cannot find it in store.

What do you think about Quo Beauty Show Stopper? Are you a fan of shimmery pink polishes like this? Have you already started feeling those Valentine’s Day vibes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& if you ever have a nail polish you’d love to see me feature on here, reach out! I’m always down to share the nail polish love.

L.O.V.E. nails (Happy Valentine’s Day!) 💗

Good morning loves & happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s a snowy Valentine’s Day here in Halifax, after a big dumping of snow. Not super impressed with the weather, but that won’t stop me from sharing my last Valentine’s Day look for this year! I really wanted to do more hearts — like accent hearts — but at the last second I decided to write L.O.V.E in the middle of them. & I’m obsessed.

They’re like heart shaped scrabble tiles! & I love it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • QUO Beauty Velveteen
  • ACO by Ardene Flawless
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Dotting tool (NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I’m not sure why, but I really wants to do heart accent nails at the base of my nails. But when I finished my little pale pink hearts, they looked a little basic, so I decided to outline them in black — my go to for jazzing up a manicure. BUT THEN, I thought: what if I attempted to spell out Love in my hearts. It was a risk, but it turned out so awesome, so I couldn’t be happier!

What do you think about this love themed design? Do you like this simple nail art? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

I hope everyone has a happy Valentine’s Day, & if it’s not your thing then I hope you enjoy tomorrow which is 50% of chocolate day!

♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — QUO Loud & Proud

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s a beautiful, sunny & slightly chilly weekend here on the East Coast. It’s also 2 days until Valentine’s Day, so I went searching for something pink to share for this week’s Swatch Sunday. Pink’s not a colour I wear very often, but one I love to buy. So I thought why not bring out one of those untouched pink’s for this week’s post.

Today’s pick: QUO Beauty Flash Dry Loud & Proud. I picked up this shade last Winter, on clearance–naturally–& have only used it in a couple manicures since. But, since it’s a sunny day, I was feeling some neon.

2 coats, no top coat.

Loud & Proud is a shocking coral neon pink which dries to a semi matte finish, as most neons do. The formula was a bit crelly, leaning on the creme side, but had almost full opacity in two coats. I was actually a bit nervous about needing a ton of coats, but 2 was perfect for me. If you had longer nails, with more of a free edge, you might need another coat, or some white undies.

This shade comes from the QUO Beauty Flash Dry line, which means it’s supposed to dry quicker than your average nail polish. The first coat was definitely quick to dry, although I found the second coat a little bit slower — maybe because I had applied my second coat a bit thicker? The shade was also incredibly hard to photograph the colour correctly, but I tried my best. Originally, it was leaning very orange, which wasn’t true to colour at all.

This were definitely as close to the true colour as I could get it to show.

What do you think about this fun pink neon from QUO? Would you bright this bright, matte pink for your Valentine’s Day celebrations? Let me know what you think & what you’re going to be wearing for any upcoming Valentine’s Day celebrations!

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER — Christmas Plaid

Good morning lovelies & happy Wednesday! & happy Day two of Glam Nails Challenge December. Also… can you believe it’s December 7th? I mean… it’s raining here on the East Coast & above freezing so it certainly doesn’t feel anything close to December. At least I have Christmas nails to keep me in a somewhat festive mood.

But onto the nails — prompt #2 is Christmas Plaid. I do love a good plaid manicure, & for today’s look I decided to go with a sparkly plaid design.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Quo Beauty Green With Envy
  • ACO by Ardene Crystal Fog
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Red It Twice
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • China Glaze New Year, New Boo
  • W7 Gold Dazzle
  • Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

Originally I thinking of a sparkly green plaid, but as soon as I put Crystal Fog over Green with Envy it gave it a teal/turquoise colour instead. But I decided to go with it, & I think all the sparkly lines still give it the Christmas Plaid look I was hoping for. & I do love all the sparkle & shimmer of the look. If there is any time to break out the glitter, it’s obviously Christmas.

What do you think about my Christmas plaid design? What colour combination would you wear for a Christmas plaid. I feel like usually I go for more a red look, but I’ve been wearing a lot of red nails lately (& I’m sure there will be more!) so it’s fun to change things up a bit.

Don’t forget to check out all the fun #glamnailschallengedec looks on Instagram, & stay tuned because we have a whole lot more Christmas-y looks coming in the next few weeks!