Tag: Shimmer

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Dimension Nails Kronosaurus

•pr sample/gifted•

Hello lovelies & happy 2022!

It’s the first Swatch Sunday of 2022, in fact, & I’m excited because I have a beautiful polish to share with you that was gifted to me c/o: the oh so sweet @NailStuff.ca: Dimension Nails Kronosaurus. This shade was released as part of the Prehistoric Collection — a whole collection of polishes named after Dinosaurs!

Two coats, no top coat.

How freaking stunning is the beautiful blackened blue? It’s absolutely perfect for this time of year!

The formula is smooth & easy to apply. I applied 2 coats for full coverage, but you may be able to get away with one thick coat if you have shorter nails. The brush on the Dimension Nails bottle is also great because it’s wider, meaning you need less swipes for full coverage.

The shimmer is so beautiful, & I love how you don’t have to fret about too many brush strokes because the wider brush. You might remember I used this shade for one of my New Years Eve looks, & I feel like it has a lot of nail art possibilities! I also really want to see how it looks with matte top coat over top — I bet it is stunning!

Dimension Nails are Vegan, Cruelty-free, & Certified by PETA, Leaping Bunny, and Logical Harmony. They are also “10 free” which means they don’t contain any ingredients like formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, etc.

In Canada, you can buy Dimensions Nails via NailStuff.ca. In the USA, Dimension Nails can be bought directly via her website.

What do you think about Dimension Nails Kronosaurus? Do you love a deep blue shade like this? Do you own any Dimension Nails in your stash? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Frostbite ❄️

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a rainy one here in Halifax — we even had thunder & lightning last night. A really big Thunder & Lightning storm! Which is not something super usual for Nova Scotia in December haha.

But you know, even though the weather is very un-December like right now, I’m still showing off a very Winter-like polish for this week’s Swatch Sunday: China Glaze Frostbite.

2 coats + Seche Vive top coat

I’ve had this China Glaze shade in my stash for a long time–at least 6 years–but truthfully , it’s not really one I reach for that often. Which is crazy, because this shade is very, very beautiful! The formula applied very smoothly, reaching opacity by the second coat. I’m not going to lie, the first coat was bit thin, but the second coat gave me the beautiful application that you see below.

As for the colour, I really really adore this vibrant sapphire blue shade, with an underlying aqua blue shimmer that gives the polish a real glow. It definitely reminds me of something that an ice queen would wear — maybe with some holographic snowflakes, or something. How gorgeous would that be?

In my close up, you can really see that shimmer, which gives the polish the glow. It’s something else. Definitely one of those shades you can wear all on it’s own, without the need of anything added. But, as you would have seen in my last post, it also makes a beautiful base for nail art as well!

I did find a few listings online for Frostbite, & it would appear that it’s still part of the permanent collection, so it should be easy to find if you’re looking to add it to your collection. NailPolishCanada.com, Sally Beauty, & the China Glaze website are a few places I found that you can buy this beauty of a shade!

What do you think about China Glaze Frostbite? Do you have this icy blue shade in your stash? Would you wear this polish for the holidays? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below — or shade which Christmas/Holiday/Winter shade you’re absolutely obsessed with this time of year!

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Brown & Gold Shattered Glass Glitter Placement

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

Can you believe we’re in the final days of September? It’s kind of crazy. Where has this month gone already? It’s certainly been a busy month at our house with school starting. I can’t believe that we’re already a month in… & Summer is already feeling like a distant memory. Although, I cannot lie — I’m super pumped for my favourite month: October!

Now that we’re officially deep into Autumn, & the late September weather is in full force, I’m really feeling the Fall nail art. I realized the other day I haven’t done a shattered glass nail art design in way, way too long. I was wearing this beautiful brown shade, & realized it would be the perfect base for some gold shatter glitters, so I decided that was just the nail art look I needed in my life.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sinful Colors Essen-chills Smoky Palo Santo
  • Sinful Colors Twilight Twinkles
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

First of all, how absolutely beautiful is this brown shade? This is another one of the Sinful Colors Essen-chills scented shades that I picked up at Walmart earlier in the month. I really love the dense silver shimmer with the dark, dark brown base. & I know I keep saying this, but I’m just absolutely obsessed with brown nail polish, which is such a weird thing for me because I was not expecting to be a brown nail polish girl. But I totally am!

Second, this gold shard glitter goes so well over top. I used to be absolutely obsessed with these style of manicures a few years ago, & I think I need to bring them back again. It’s such an easy look to achieve, because it requires minimal tools. Sure, it does take a bit of time to do… but not nearly as much as you would expect! I think I’ll have to keep my eyes out for more of these style of glitter polishes

What do you think about this nail art look? Are you feeling these shattered glass nails? Have you ever tried a glitter placement look like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below — & get excited because Halloween designs are coming very soon!

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Purple Metallic French Tips

Hello lovelies & happy Monday… it’s been a while! Sorry for my bit of an absence—this last couple weeks have been a little crazy, & I was trying to accomplish too many things at once, & my head ended up not in a great place. So I decided to pause doing the challenge for this month, & take a little breather.

I did miss posting my nails though.

I did these easy metallic French tips last week, when I needed an easy to do look. I used to love French manicures circa 2002 — inspired by Kaley Cuoco on 10 Rules… who always rocked a classic French manicure on the show. The classic French still remains too boring for me now (sorry) but I have been loving the updated versions I’ve been seeing on Instagram, so I wanted to try them myself! Of course, we had to give it an updated Fall feel.

& easiest part was no tools needed.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Arabian Nights
  • Zoya Devin

Oh man, long nails look so good with these kinds of designs. This was pre-me breaking a few nails last week & needing to trim my claws back. I really adore how this looks so I’ll definitely be doing it again in a variety of colours when I need an easy go to nail art look — a nice change from my usual dotticure. & again, this look was so so easy to do, with no tools needed. I just carefully used the brush from Zoya Devin & ran it along the tip of my nail ever so carefully.

Of course, if you were feeling uneasy about trying to freehand this look, you could definitely use French tip guides, or my favourite: paper hole reinforcers.

What do you think about this nail art look? What are your feelings on this new version of the French manicure? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & which colour scheme you would love to see next!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Grape Juice

Hello beauties & happy Sunday! & happy first day of August!

How is everyone’s weekend — is it a long weekend where you are? It is here in Nova Scotia, & (I think) most of Canada? It also always feels like the beginning of the end of Summer. I know that we still have 4 weeks left, but man, there is something about August which always gets me in an Autumn mindset.

Today’s polish pick for Swatch Sunday still feels Summery enough though! & it was originally released as part of the China Glaze Summer Days (2009) collection: China Glaze Grape Juice.

2 coats

This polish went on easily in 2 coats, although the formula went on a little thicker for coat #2. The colour is a really vibrant, although slightly darker, purple with a beautiful silvery shimmer — I also saw some flecks of blue in there too.

You can really, really see all the shimmer in the macro shot. It’s very densely packed, which I really like! I also can’t believe I haven’t featured this yet for Swatch Sunday! It’s been in my stash for years, but with the exception of nail art, I haven’t worn it a to. Which is actually a travesty, because it is such a fantastic colour! It’s also just dark enough to keep me from full out craving Autumn, while also keeping bright-ish for Summer.

Sadly, it looks like this shade has been discontinued, but I did find a few listings online for it like Sparkle Canada but I don’t think it’s an easy find. However, if you do happen to come across it, you should totally pick it up because it’s such a lovely shade.

What do you think about China Glaze Grape Juice? Do you have this purple beauty in your stash? Which shades are you loving as we inch towards Autumn? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to know what you’re wearing right now.