SWATCH SUNDAY — 6 Nail Polishes I’m Loving for Valentine’s Day!

Happy Sunday lovelies.

Since we’re into the first week of the month of love, I thought it would be fun to dedicate Swatch Sunday to some perfect polishes for Valentine’s Day. I own a lot of pink & red shades so I had fun going through my stash to find 6 polishes that I will definitely be loving this month in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day (okay & pretty much always because pink & red nail polish always have my heart). I actually did a post like this a few years ago, so I thought it would be fun to do another one!

So here are my 6 polish picks for Valentine’s Day 2018.

 

CHINA GLAZE — SEDUCE ME

Firtst up is China Glaze Seduce Me, a deep berry red that applies in 2 coats, although if you’re careful you might be able to get away with one careful coat. My bottle is pretty old, so I went with two. I chose this colour for Valentine’s Day because I feel like it’s a really grown up colour: it has pinkish undertones but it’s not bubblegum pink & it’s also not that classic candy apple red shade either. It’s a little bit different, & I honestly feel like this shade is one that will look great on everyone! It also pairs really well with other pink & reds for nail art (like some zig zag chevrons perhaps?)

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L’OREAL VERNIS A L’HUILE — JARDIN DES ROSES

L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses is my first pink choice & it’s a pink I’ve really been loving lately. This is two coats for full coverage of this soft romantic pink & it applies really well. This pink is great because of how soft the colour is–you won’t look like you’re Barbie when you wear it.

 

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN BEAUTY — ROUGE LOUBOUTIN

If you’re looking for a classic red to wear on Valentine’s Day, I feel like you don’t need to look any further than Christian Louboutin Beauty Rouge Louboutin! I received this beautiful red nail polish from a family friend the night before my wedding, & because it is so special to me I tend to save it for special occasions. I used two coats for coverage — it’s pretty good after one, but I wanted to make sure there was no hint of visible nail line. This is definitely the perfect classic red for a Valentine’s Day date, & if your significant other forgets about Valentine’s Day, you can always stab them with the bottle!

 

ACO BY ARDENE — BOUDOIR

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion, & sometimes I want a little glitter & Ardene Boudoir is a fun glitter choice. It a clear base stuffed full of berry glitters. I used 3 coats for my swatches (thank god for peel off base coat) but normally I would either apply it over top a complimentary shade or sponge the glitter onto my nail. You can build close to opacity though, although I couldn’t imagine the dry time. I just love the colour of the glitter in this polish–sometimes you just need to sparkle a little (or a lot)!

 

OPI — FIRE ESCAPE RENDEZVOUS

Next up we have OPI Fire Escape Rendezvous. This is 2 coats of this metallic ruby red polish with glitters–both shard glitter & hex glitter. The glitters are interesting, but I really dig them.  They give this polish an interesting texture which makes it unique, although I definitely prefer it top coated (Seche Vive). If you’re looking for something a little more than just red, this would be a great choice.

SINFUL COLORS — BLOOM BLAST FLOWER POWER

Last, but definitely not least, is Sinful Colors Bloom Blast in Flower Power. This milky pink shade is stuffed full of large & tiny matte pink metallic & white glitters. I belive it’s supposed to be worn on it’s own but I think it looks best over top other pink polishes. This is one coat over OPI Two Timing the Zones. How cute does this look? I know not everyone is a nail art person, so a topper like this is a great way of zazzing up your nails without having to worry about freehanding anything! It’s almost a dotticure without any of the work!

 

So those are the six polishes I’m loving for Valentine’s Day this year? What shades/polishes are your Valentine’s Day favourites? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY— Deborah Lippmann New York State of Mind 

It feels like forever since I’ve shared a Swatch Sunday — October has been a bit of a crazy month! But today I’m sharing a gorgeous red I just recently rediscovered in my stash: Deborah Lippmann New York State of Mind. You know how I feel about red polish & this one is definitely a polish for all my fellow red lovers out there! 

This candy apple red takes two coats for opacity (which personally I find hard to find in a red polish). It also has a beautiful pinkish shimmer scattered throughout & gives an extra pop on the nail.  It’s almost like it glows from within. I own a lot of red polish (that’s what happens when you spend 3+ years wearing nothing but red shades), & this one is definitely special. It would be a great choice for the holidays, because Christmas (& Christmas nails) will be here before we know it! 

I scored this polish as part of a mini collection of Deborah Lippmann shades at Winners, so I’m not sure how easy this polish will be to find. But if you can get your hands on it (& you like red nail polish… or really just red nail polish in general) I definitely recommend picking it up!

What’s your favourite red polish? Let me know in the comments below! ♥️

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 9: Rainbow nails.

I’ll start by saying this nail art was inspired by my three year old nephew.

I was babysitting the other night, trying to decide what I was going to do for my rainbow nail art challenge. I thought about doing just rainbows, but as you might have noticed, I don’t always going typical with my challenge prompts. My little nephew was looking at my stash the other night–he is adorable when it comes to my nails. He always asks to look at my nails, and is very vocal when he doesn’t like them haha–and asked him what colors I should do on my nails. And he listed them off–blue, yellow, pink, red, green. He might have just been listing off the colors he knew, but never the less I did what he told me!

rainbow nails

The polishes used were:

  • OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls — the white base.
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow— the yellow.
  • ACO by Ardene in Techno Green — the green
  • ACO by Ardene in Lagoon –the blue
  • ACO by Ardene in Sunkissed –the orange.
  • ACO by Ardene in Strawberry Blush — the red
  • ACO by Ardene in Ardene’s Secret — the pink.
  • Stripe Rite striping brush in Black — the black outline.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat.

I love these nails because it looks like a coloring book to me.

This manicure was not as difficult as you’d think. After applying my base coat, I started with a blank canvas of My Boyfriend Scales Walls, then added top coat. After that had dried, I started with my black striping polish, creating a different pattern on each nail (you could also do the same pattern on each nail, but I like to shake things up a bit.

mosaic

After my outline was created, I then went with a small nail art brush (from Icing), and colored in some of the shapes with my variety of chosen colors. I did have to go back with my black, and touch up some of the lines were the colors had bled a little bit. When that was all finished, I topped with my trusty top coat and tada! Rainbow coloring book nails!

I think my nephew would be proud.

 

 

 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 1: Red Nails.

I’ve been thinking about doing the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge for a while now, and towards the end of last month I decided there was no time like the present to do so. If anything, I figured it would help break my nail art block–those nights when I couldn’t figure out anything to do with my nails! And I was right!

The first prompt for the challenge was red nails. I didn’t want to do just basic red nails (even though there was a period in time with I was 17-18 that I wore nothing but red nails), so I went a little fancy with a leopard print. When I was first starting my nail art adventure, right after I bought my first dotting tool–leopard print was always my go-to design. It was nice to go revisit a classic.

rednails

The polishes I used were:

  • Nicole by OPI Scarlett (from the Selena Gomez collection) — my base.
  • Nicole by OPI Basking in Gloria (from the Modern Family collection) — the inner part of my leopard print.
  • Stripe Rite striping brush in black — the outer part of my leopard print.

I finished everything with my trusty Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat, and Icing’s It’s a Matte World matte top coat.