Tag: Spring

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SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Scenic Route

Hello lovelies, & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is enjoying the first weekend of Spring. We’re supposed to have some actually enjoyable Spring-like weather today, so I’m very excited for warmer days… I might even wear a Spring dress!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is another oldie from the stash: ORLY Scenic Route, which was originally released as part of the Summer 2016 Pacific Highway Collection. I originally picked up my bottle at Winners, when it was originally released.

2 coats + Essie Good To Go Top Coat

The formula on this lilac purple cream is smooth to apply. I did need some top coat to really level everything out, but for the most part it was quite easy to work with. The colour is also fantastically bright; a perfect pop of colour for Spring into Summer. & I think we all need a bit of brightness in our lives right now! (Or, at least, I do.)

Even more exciting, Scenic Route appears to now be part of the permanent ORLY line, & is listed at a variety of different places for sale:

I also saw listening on Amazon, & eBay, although I would say these are more official listings. So if you’re seeing my swatches, & thinking “oh man, I definitely need to pick up ORLY Scenic Route to complete all my Spring nail polish dreams!”, you’re definitely in luck.

What do you think of ORLY Scenic Route? What you wearing for the first weekend of Spring (unless of course, you’re in a different hemisphere so the first weekend of Fall?)

Let me know down in the comments below all your thoughts!

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Spring Floral with Peak-a-Boo Holo

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

I’ve been slacking a bit on my posting this week, haha. Sometimes real life just gets in the way of blog life. But I’ve got a big, big coffee to start my day, & I’m finally sharing this floral I teased on my Instagram stories last week. 💗🌸

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel In The Sheer
  • Starrily Eclipse
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Aside
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Pink
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Blue
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri VaVa Violet
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Thyme is Money
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie In The Cabana
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Whew, this was a lot of polishes to bring it alive, but the end result…. well I think it speaks for itself! Also check out that peak-a-boo holo! I’m kind of a obsessed with dainty holographic looks over a nude-ish base. It’s a nice introduction to Spring, & since here on the East Coast it’s apparently going to be above average temperatures for the next 3 months, I think we’re going to have an early Spring! Which, you know… I’m okay with. Give me Spring dresses, no snow, & pastels, & I’ll be happy. It’s the least 2021 can do for us after the dumpster fire that was last year.

What do you think about this Spring floral, & it’s sneaky holo base? Are you, too, ready for more Spring? Let me know what you are looking forward to the most about Spring down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Essie Check Your Baggage

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. We’ve had some beautiful weather the last few days, so I’ve been soaking in the sunshine wherever I can. So when in at Shoppers recently & saw some pretty Essie shades, I decided I needed to get something bright & sunny for my nails too! & you can’t get more bright & sunny than this beautiful yellow from the Essie Flying Solo Collection: Check Your Baggage.

2 coats + Top Coat

You know, yellow nail polish isn’t always my first choice, but as soon as I saw this bright & cheery shade, I knew I needed to add it to my collection. The formula is really nice, & levels out perfectly with two coats. I added top coat, naturally, which gave it an extra little boost of shine. I’m also liking the new wider brushes that Essie has introduced, because it means less strokes of polish are needed on the nail. My one & only complaint about this shade is the fact that it gives me a bit of red hands, but that’s more the yellow colour itself & has nothing to do with the actual polish.

Oh man, I just have to say sorry about the cuticle/hand dryness. Even with a ton of hand cream & cuticle oil I am hurting. But never the less my nails look pretty, & that’s what is most important — right? Unless of course you have some suggestions to help the dry hand situation, because I am always open to suggestions.

What do you think about Check Your Baggage from Essie? Do you have this beautiful yellow in your collection? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Pastel Geometric Dry Brush

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! I hope the weather is more beautiful where you are — here in Halifax we have rain, & clouds & an overall dreary day. Well at least yesterday was beautiful!

How about I brighten things up a bit with some new nails? I actually did this look a few weeks ago, but (again) didn’t get around to posting it. I’m really feeling this coral/purple/turquoise colour scheme right now, & I have been putting out these shades a lot. This look was kind of me just playing around, but it turned out to pretty I decided to wear it!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Malibu Peach
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • Essie Where’s My Chauffeur? 
  • Essie Play Date
  • Claire’s Matte Sorbet Blue
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)

I’ve been a little bit obsessed with dry brush designs lately, just because they make such a pretty back ground for nail art. I really like how the clean white lines stand out so much against the blurred pastel background. Originally I had thought about doing some more complicated tribal print, but I think the simplicity of a few geometric lines works way better. You see both the background & the graphic lines as well. I like it a lot. Plus it was a great excuse to work on free-handing straight lines, which is definitely something I find tricky.

Please excuse my horrendously dry hands. I’ve been struggling through finding the right hand creams to help under these extreme circumstances! I think I may have found my new favourite one, but I want to give it a couple weeks of real hands on testing before I make any posts about it. It’s actually one my Dad recommended to me. Got to love suggestions from Dad! Haha.

 

So what do you think about this design? Have you ever worn a dry brush design before? Do you like them on their own, or with nail art added on top. Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & for fun, share what hand cream is currently saving your dry hands right now!

♥♥♥

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SWATCH SUBDAY — OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini 💜

Hey lovelies. I hope you’re having a lovely start to your Sunday, full of coffee, maybe a delicious breakfast treat of some kind. The good things in life.

Today I’m showing off a pretty purple nail polish, which was just what I needed on my nails: OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini. This beautiful purple was released as part of the 2015 Spring/Summer Hawaii collection. Naturally, I purchased myself the mini pack  that was released, which included 4 of the shades, at my local Marshall’s.

2 coats + top coat

You know I love a good purple, & this is definitely a good purple. In fact, I’m currently kicking myself for not buying a big bottle of this polish because my mini has been well loved & I don’t think it has many manicures left in it. The formula itself is smooth, & levels out easily after 2 coats. The shade itself is a nice blue-ish purple, which I tend to favour over pinky toned blues.

Another look. One thing I really love about mini bottles — besides the fact you can discover more colours for a smaller price tag — is that the brushes are easy to use around the cuticle area. I really don’t have big fingers or nail beds, so sometimes my application can be messier than I would like. These tiny brushes definitely get that perfectly rounded cuticle swipe so much more easily.

What do you think about this pretty purple? Do you have a favourite purple from a past collection you love to wear? Let me know what purple is your currently favourite down in the comments below! & if you know any dupes for this shade, share it down below! Because I am going to be so sad when this bottle is completely empty!