Tag: Summer

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Pink & Cactus 🌵🌸

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! It’s hot & balmy here on the East coast (our second day of heat warnings) but that’s exactly my kind of weather. As someone who is always cold, I live for this kind of weather! So I though, why not paint some bright, poppy nails to match the weather!

It’s been way too long since I rocked some cactus print nails, & I thought they would look gorgeous over a base of Essie Pucker Up.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Pucker Up
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie Watermelon
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Oh man, these are so bright & colourful! They are definitely giving me Summer vibes. I got so many compliments on them at work as well (which always makes me feel awesome). I’m also not sure why I haven’t painted any cactus nails in a while, but it was definitely an oversight. I won’t be waiting this long again!

What do you think about this cactus pattern look?

I’m absolutely loving this Essie shade, which is from their Summer 2021 collection! I had planned to share swatches this past Sunday, but real life got in the way. So hopefully this coming weekend!

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Easy Groovy Floral with Essie!

Hello lovelies & happy sunny, beautiful Thursday! I’m finally feeling excited about Summer — because it’s finally starting to feel like Summer! & what is more summery & fun than an easy floral look using some very Summery shades?

On Tuesday, for National Nail Polish Day, I was invited to participate in a Zoom event with Essie Canada with Rita Remark, who is Essie’s global lead educator. This was my first opportunity participating in an event like this, & it was super fun to hear about Summer trends, & polish shades, manicure tips, & even follow a live tutorial on how to create a very cute (& very easy!) floral look created by Rita. They even sent each one of us who attended a selection of polishes so we could follow along while we watched!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Tangerine Tease
  • Essie Pucker Up
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie Blanc

How seriously adorable are these colours together? Two shades (Tangerine Tease & Pucker Up) are from the Summer 2021 collection, & the other two (Mint Candy Apple & Blanc) are core shades, but all 4 go so beautifully together to create this fun, groovy, poppy nail art look. I really love it!

In fact, I can already picture some more Summery nail art looks that I’ll be creating using these shades. I need some brightness in my life.

What do you think of this super cute, super easy nail art look? This was my first time following a live tutorial, & I think it turned out really awesome! Also stay tuned, because I’ll be sharing swatches of Tangerine Tease & Pucker Up! this weekend.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Color Club Evolution

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

It’s another start to the week (& almost another month!) so that means another edition of Swatch Sunday! We’ve been having some beautiful sunny weather, so I was feeling something bright & colourful. I decided to go through my stash & settled on an oldie: Color Club Evolution.

2 coats, no top coat

As you can see, like so many of my Color Club polishes, I scored this beauty on clearance at my local Lawton’s. According to my Google research, Evolution was originally released as part of their Spring 2013 Kaleidoscope collection.

For my swatches, I only needed 2 coats of polish for full opacity. I loved how easily the polish applied on the nail — it also dried down very smoothly, even without top coat, which I always appreciate.

I’m really, really loving this shade. It’s very vibrant, which is perfect for this beginning of Summer time. I do love a good blue polish, & I feel like I’ve been wearing it a lot lately. It’s nice because it brightens things up quite a bit. It reminds me a bit of Essie In The Cab-ana, which has always been a favourite of mine. It’s not quite a dupe, I don’t think, but it’s a nice alternative.

I found this shade on nailpolishcanada.com for sale (& at a discounted price) so if you need this shade in your life that’s always an option. I’m not sure if it’s in Color Club’s regular rotation, so it might be harder to find in store.

What do you think about Color Club Evolution? Would you wear this bright vibrant blue? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Mermaid Gradient Nails

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday!

How is it almost the weekend again? I’m not complaining, it’s just crazy how this weekend is speeding by. & it’s Victoria Day weekend here in Canada, which has always felt like the kick off to Summer to me! Of course it’s going to be a rainy mess all weekend here in Halifax, but you can’t win them all.

Today I’m sharing some very fun, very Summer-y nails. I’ve been saying forever that I needed to order some new mermaid nail vinyls, so when I placed my Mother’s Day order at Beyond The Nail, I made sure to include some mermaid nail guides in there!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter + Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Beyond the Nail Blazing Blush
  • Beyond the Nail Honeymoon
  • Beyond the Nail Auburgine
  • Beyond the Nail Mermaid Scale Nail Guides
  • Latex free make up sponge (I buy mine from Dollarama)

Okay, so I know I call pretty much every manicure I do my favourite, but seriously just look at this design. I’m obsessed!

I decided to go all out with a gradient (another look I haven’t done in a while) for my scale base, then added my Aubergine over top. & I am so freaking in love with how these three polishes look together. Seriously— I wore this design for three whole days, before I snapped my middle finger nail clean off. Plus the combo totally matches my current hair colour combo.

I can’t even begin to explain my love for this look. I also really like the mermaid scale guides because they were super easy to use, & they’re quite large so I managed to split them so I could use one guide per 2 nails. That makes me so happy!

What do you think about these bright & colourful mermaid nails? Does this design scream Summer to you? Have you done mermaid nails in a while? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond The Nail Blazing Blush

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Today I’m excited because I have a fun bright shade to share with you that I picked up for myself for Mother’s Day: Beyond the Nail Blazing Blush. (I also picked up Aubergine & some mermaid & chevron vinyls!) I was really drawn to this soft neon pink, & thought it would be perfect for our impending Summer months!

2 coats, no top coat.

Blazing Blush is described as “a delicate pink shade with a hot pink attitude!” & honestly, I can totally see it. The polish itself is a beautiful cream formula with this underlying glow. I love that this isn’t quite a neon & isn’t quite a neon — it’s like the perfect combination of both! It also glows under UV/Blacklight, which is pretty cool.

I’m not usually drawn to pink as a first choice of polish, but I really loved Blazing Blush which is why I had to have it. It really is a great option for Summer — I’m already picturing pedicures & nail art. Also look how freaking tan this makes me look! I love any polish that gives me an instant tan.

All of Beyond the Nail shades are available via their website, as well as nail vinyls & decals, & some other neat items! All polishes are hand mixed & Canadian!

What do you think about this fun bright pink? Would you wear Blazing Blush? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!