Tag: Red Nails

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essence Me & My Lover (Sparkle Sand Effect)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. ❤️

I thought since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I should pick out something sorta Valentine-y for my nails. After digging through my stash, & through a lot of red nail polishes, I decided on this oldie from Essence: Me & My Lover.

2 coats, no top coat.

This shade was originally released in 2014/2015, which is when I picked it up at my local Shoppers Drug Mart. It is a sparkle sand effect shade, which means that it dries down to a textured finish.

Unlike some other sand effect polishes I’ve used, Me & My Lover has a finer grit, so the textured finish is a bit more subtle. It’s there, but it’s also easy to smooth out with a coat of glossy thick top coat.

The red is a beautiful pink leaning red — there seems to be some gold glitters & magenta glitters mixed in. It makes for a very, very beautiful polish. It also dries fairly quickly, which is an important thing when it comes to textured polishes. No body has time to be waiting around for their polishes to dry for hours.

The formula is also really easy to work with, which I always get excited about when it comes to extra old polishes in my stash. I’m definitely glad I decided to pull it out, because it was just the red I was looking for!

What do you think of this Essence shade? Do you remember the textured polish craze? Do you still have any of your old textured shades—which ones were your favourites?

Let me know in the comments below!

& have a happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Smith & Cult The Message

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Today I have another fun new to me brand to share with you, that once again I found thanks to Winners! Smith & Cult The Message.

It actually came in a gift set, which included 2 other polishes & an adorable make up bag. & the price for all those goodies? $9 on clearance. Even if I wasn’t already itching to try out the brand, a deal like that cannot be passed up! Plus I’ve been following Smith & Cult on Instagram for YEARS but have never actually seen their polish in stores! So it was definitely meant to be.

2 coats + top coat

First things first — these are some heavy duty bottles. The feel very upscale compared to other nail polish brands, which is neat. Of course, finding a spot in my drawers took a second, but they’re definitely the kind of bottle you want to display. Also I originally thought that I had got a dented polish top, but all my shades were like that, & it appears to be intentional.

The formula of the polish itself was smooth & easy to work with. I needed two coats for full opacity. The shimmery red is very nice, which shows a bit more berry on my nails than straight up red.

The Message is definitely a red polish I could easily throw on if I was stuck on anything else to wear— red is always my go to in those moments— & also would be a lovely choice for Valentine’s Day! This would definitely be a lovely date night polish. I ended up topping my nails with some liner holo top coat (Starrily Eclipse… my go to), which I’ve been wearing for the last couple days. Excited to see how this polish holds up during an extended shift at work.

Like I mentioned, I found this shade at my local Winners — I’ve also seen some single bottles at Marshalls as well. If you’re not finding them at yours, or don’t have a Winners/Marshalls you can also purchase Smith & Cult polish through their website, as well as on Amazon. Although, I will say — the prices are considerably higher than the deal I got at Winners, so they’re definitely on the higher end of nail polish prices.

What do you think about this beauty of a red? Have you tried Smith & Cult The Message, or any of their other shades? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below & tell me what’s the most you’ve ever spent on a single nail polishes?

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Subtle Burgundy Dotticure

Good morning lovelies & happy Friday!

Who else is excited for the weekend. I can’t believe it’s the weekend already. & the first week of November is pretty much over. The shift in the weather is definitely evident. I can feel the Winter slowly approaching. Which means let’s get crazy for jewel tones. I’ve been going through all my old holiday polishes from years past, & getting excited for the season to come.

Does anyone else have these arbitrary rules when it comes to polish? My brain always seems more drawn to darker jewel tones as the weather gets cooler, which summer I’m more likely to reach for brighter, poppy shades.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Garnish Attention
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I’ve literally been wearing this manicure since Tuesday, & I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. My nails are super short now, so I’m not sure inspired for nail art right now, but I do love a subtle dotticure. I had originally thought about doing some gold dots, but I felt like it might be a bit too Christmas-y, so I went with darker dots.

What nail art are you loving right now during this cooler November months? Which nail polishes would you like to see me feature leading up to the holiday season? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — L’Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l’Huile by Colour Riche 554 Carmin Parisien

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. It’s been a busy weekend, but I can’t start a new week without a Swatch Sunday post. Quite honestly, I think they’re the most viewed posts that the blog gets, so we’ve got to keep them going!

I’ve been on a nostalgia kick this week, & that means I’ve been looking at lots of old photos. & you know what was a constant trend in my pre-nail art days? Red nail polish!

As I’ve mentioned, oh a million times, red nail polish used to be my signature during my University years — unless of course I was feeling broody, in which case I would break out the black. & even though my nail polish collection has expanded considerably over the years, red nail polish still holds my heart. Which is why I was excited to pull another red beauty from my stash to share: L’Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l’Huile by Colour Riche 554 Carmin Parisien.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat

Oh man, this is a beautiful cool toned red. The formula on this shade is really, really smooth which is lovely, & fairly opaque—I did two coats for full coverage, & I had no hint of visible nail line or anything. Very impressive!

I do find the colour brings out a bit of my yellow undertones, but I don’t mind it so much. As such, this is probably a red I would reach for more in the Autumn months, just as I feel the colour is a bit more suited to the cooler days. When it comes to Summer, I usually go for more orange-y/coral leaning reds as they compliment & enhance my tan a bit more.

This shade isn’t super vampy, but I do consider it a very “classy” red, if that makes sense. It has a nice creamy finish that just feels very luxurious. Plus I really like that the Color Riche line of L’Oréal polishes (or whatever the full name is) has oils infused into it. Because, when you polish your nails as much as I do, you’ll take any chance to give your nails some extra love.

What do you think of L’Oréal Color Riche 554 Carmin Parisien? Do you love a good red nail polish as much as I do? Would you be interested in seeing a post featuring my all time favourite red nail polishes? Let me know in the comments below!

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Red, Navy & White

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Can’t believe this week is going by so quickly. But also, I have the next two days off work so I have big BIG plans. Cupboard organizing plans. It’s very exciting.

But first, how about some nail art? That’s what you’re all here for, right?

I finally decided to pull out my nail vinyls, because it’s been a while, haha. I was feeling coral/red with some stripe-y accent nails, so that’s exactly what I did. Actually I was inspired by this look after some Pinterest-ing, & thought it was be an excellent nail art combo.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Illamasqua Aorta
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • SnailVinyls straight nail vinyls (multiple thickness)

Such a classic combo, & I really like it. I feel like I’ve been neglecting my vinyls so much so it was nice to pull them out again. Plus I could never even attempt to freehand lines this straight. I also really like how simple this colour combo is, but that the red gives you that bright pop of colour. It’s definitely a fun combination. I might not wear a head to toe coral suit with striped shirt, but I can definitely achieve a similar look in my nails!

What do you think about this look? Wojld you wear a combination like this? Let me know in the comments below. & speaking of nail vinyls — I just stocked up on some mermaid vinyls from Beyond the Nail, so stay tuned for some fun mermaid nails to come!