Tag: short nails

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Simple Peach Floral

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! It’s a sunny, albeit chilly, Monday here which gives me hope that maybe Spring isn’t as far off as it feels. Today, I’m summoning Spring with a pretty floral design because…. I’m so over Winter.

I painted this look over yesterday’s Swatch Sunday pick, & I have to say even though it’s not blatantly a Spring colour scheme, I love how it came out.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear With The Beet
  • OPI A Great Opera-tunuity
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Rock Steady
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Almond Tan
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Black Stone
  • OPI Life Gave Me Lemons
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Satin Sisters
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I just love how these turned out. Usually, my go to floral is a rose design, but I’m trying to brand out of my comfort zone. Originally, I had planned just to do a few accent nails, but it looked so good I did all 10 nails instead! I really like this light peach over the dark base — it really makes it pop!

Over all, one of my absolute favourite designs I’ve done in a while.

I’ve been feeling so stupid & meh when it comes to my nails lately — especially after my serious nail break — but as soon as I did these I just few renewed again. It’s true, floral makes everything better.

What do you think of this floral design? Are you as ready for Spring as I am? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what design you turn to when you’re feeling meh about your nails!

Have a fantastic Monday loves.

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear With The Beet

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you all survived your week okay. Can you believe that February is almost over? This year is speeding by quickly, which is kind of insane — but I’m definitely looking forward to Spring.

Today though, I’m sharing a shade that has been in my stash for ages but I’ve never swatched. This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in With The Beet.

2 coats + top coat

I wish I knew when this shade was originally released (I know I’ve had it for a few years) but it is still in current rotation as part of the Xtreme Wear core collection.

This beautiful berry shade has a great glossy formula that builds to full opacity in 2 coats. This dark shade is a nice mix between a purple & a burgundy, which is kind of the best of both worlds in terms of shades I love.

Look at that colour! It’s just beautiful! I don’t know why, but when my nails are extra short like this I tend to feel more drawn towards darker shades as I just feel like they look more classy, or something. I did end up painting some really pretty floral over this base that I can’t wait to share with you, so stay tuned for that!

What do you think about this beautiful shade from Sally Hansen? Are you a fan of the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line? What is your favourite shade? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Have a beautiful Sunday 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Chocolate Cakes

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a blustery snow day here on the East Coast.

I apologize for my unannounced absence this week. The beginning of 2024 was a lot, & I didn’t realize I needed a week just to not do anything. But I’m back, & I have some new (shorter) nails to share with you to start off this new week. I’ve actually been loving darker shades a lot lately — January vibes.

For today’s Swatch Sunday pick, I grabbed an older shade from my stash — Essie Chocolate Cakes.

2 coats + top coat

This shade originally came to me in a set with Essie Ballet Slippers that I bought post-Christmas a few years ago. I remember loving the dark reddish brown shade, but being confused because I’d never heard of an Essie shade called Chocolate Cakes. I’m still not 100% sure which collection it was originally released with.

The formula though, is nice. This is two coats for full coverage. It was a bit thin, so I did find I needed the two to make sure I had no patchiness. It also pooled slightly at the cuticle line, so I had to make sure that I was careful with application. Mine came in what I think is an Expressie bottle, so it had the same wider brush which I always like.

I saw it described as a creamy dark chocolate shaded, but the red undertones really show up for me so I feel like it’s more a deep dark burgundy. We all know my love affair with red nail polish, so this is such a good alternative or option. Like I said, I’ve been wearing this shade for the last 3 days, so I’m really loving it.

I did find a few sites through Google that had this shade listed for sale, but I don’t know how reputable they are, so I’ll avoid posting them. However, I feel like this shade isn’t 100% unique, so you could definitely find a common dupe easily to get the vampy dark vibe this shade is giving off.

What do you think about Essie Chocolate Cakes? Are you a fan of this deep dark reddish brown? Do you remember this shade upon its original released? I always get excited when I find new to me shades, so I’m curious about the collection it was originally released with!

Have a lovely Sunday!

♥︎

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Easy Christmas Party Nails (with NailStuff.ca)

Contains PR/gifted product from NailStuff.ca

Good morning & happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their day. It’s windy, cold, & icy here — so I’m probably going to skate to work!

I know I don’t usually post on Thursdays, but I decided I wanted to try & squeeze in a few more manicures before Christmas! Today’s look is a super simple one, using another set of nail art stickers I received from NailStuff.ca.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Dimension Nails Pygmy Sloth (c/o: NailStuff.ca) — such a good shade for Christmas
  • NailStuff.ca Merry Christmas (Gold & White) Nail Art Sticker

First off… yes my nails are super short again. I have a break on my thumb down super low, so I had to trim it down to avoid disaster, so I trimmed them all down for a fresh start. I swear, the same thing happened this exact same time last year too.

But HOW CUTE are these stickers?! I thought this gold & white set would be perfect over my red base, & I was right! These are perfect for last minute party nails, or any occasion for a little extra pizazz (without a lot of extra time!)

What do you think about these quick & easy Christmas party nails? Do you like easy nail art designs with stickers? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Stay warm today! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Blue Iguana (& some bonus sparkle ✨)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The first Sunday of November, if you can believe it! Sadly, I’m starting off November with some extra short nails thanks to a bad, bad break at work on Friday.

So I wanted to make my nails feel extra pretty, so I dug through my stash & landed on this sparkly old school China Glaze shade. This is China Glaze Blue Iguana.

2 coats + top coat

Blue Iguana was originally released as part of the 2011 Summer Island Escape collection. It has an electric blue foil finish with a great micro shimmer. The formula was fairly thin, but I had adequate coverage in 2 coats. It also appears lighter on the nail than in the bottle, which was kind of a bummer — but maybe an extra coat or two would have fixed that. I also wish you could see more of the purple duochrome flash on the nail, as much as you can see it in the bottle. But it’s still beautiful regardless.

I was feeling like my short, stubby nails needed a bit more sparkle, so I pulled another oldie (released around the same time) from Icing to add a little pizazz: Icing Radio Super Star.

1 coat over Blue Iguana + top coat

I was actually really impressed with how closely the blue glitters in Radio Super Star matched Blue Iguana. It has a clear base with blue micro glitter, fuschia hex glitters & these fun silver star glitter. What you see above is just one coat over my base — & I had great luck with getting the star glitters onto the nail with minimal fishing.

It gave me exactly the sparkle I was craving to cheer myself up!

How are you feeling up these two fun polishes both together & apart? I feel like it’s just a smidge too early for holiday polishes (although I’m keeping my eyes open!) but I may see what glitter shades I can pull out for this month.

Have a happy Sunday!