Tag: vintage

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Venomous

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s an especially beautiful Sunday because it’s my birthday! Okay, so I’ve never really been a birthday person — even before I hit my 30s — but I do love a free Starbucks drink so I’l celebrate it slightly.

Today though, we have another Swatch Sunday & I dug & dug through my nail polish stash to find an Halloween-esque nail polish shade, & I found this very special shade circa 2010/2011. This is Claire’s Venomous.

2 coats over OPI Black Cherry Chutney + top coat

So a little back story on this shade. I purchased this during the beginnings of my nail polish addict stages. I remembered reading this Claire’s (which I worked at during this time) had released some nail polishes that were dupes for the MAC Venomous Villian’s collection, so naturally I knew I needed them. I only have 2/3 shades (I believe) but they are prized treasures in my nail polish stash.

Now, for my swatches I did two coats over a one coat of Black Cherry Chutney. The formula is very, very thin — requiring 3-4 coats — so I always prefer to add some undies. (If you want to see swatches on this shade layered, check out Deez Nailz post. ) I love the foiled finish of this shade, & how the polish shifts depending on how you move your hand. Depending on the undies you choose, you can bring out more of the green shift you see in the bottle.

As above, you can see a good example of how the shade shifts on the nails. I wrote in a previous post about Quo by ORLY Wrong so Right that they were dupes, but looking at the close up above I feel like you get a lot more of the gold/green flash with this shade which I quite like. This was actually the colour I chose for my nails for a wedding I attended this weekend, & I thought it was the perfect colour for Autumn. & the nail is very Halloween-y, obviously.

What do you think about Claire’s Venomous? What is your oldest/most prized nail polish in your nail polish collection? Do you think this is a great Halloween-y polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday Everyone. ♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Icing Stores Starlight

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s a rainy, grey, & extremely blah day here on the East Coast — & it’s starting to feel like we’ll never see the sun.

I needed some cheering up after this blah, blah week so I started digging through my Claire’s/Icing drawer & found this old school beauty! & I just knew that I had to pick it for this week’s Swatch Sunday.

This is Icing Starlight.

3 coats + top coat

The formula on this beautiful jelly glitter is thin thin thin, but it builds to nice coverage. & because the formula is so thin, each coats dries down quickly before you apply the next one. It also means you can see each & every silver & holo glitter suspended in the base, which I love.

Truthfully, I could have applied a forth coat for a bit more opacity, but with the exception of my tips (where it shows of a bit of my natural yellowing from my nail polish obsession) I really love how this looks. & that could easily be corrected with a colour correcting base coat. Or, by using it as a topper over another blue polish.

In the bottle it reminds me a bit of China Glaze Dorothy Who? but the base is much thinner leaving the colour on the nail much, much lighter. However, it has those beautiful holographic glitters that really show up, so I can’t be mad about it. It’s a beautiful shade all on its own.

Sadly, this colour is long long out of circulation. If I had to hazard a guess, based just on the bottle shape, I would say I purchased this bottle somewhere between 2009-2011. The brand has gone through quite a few bottle changes since then, but I’m happy to see even a decade later, this shade applies & wears beautifully.

& sometimes it’s just fun to take a walk down nail polish memory lane with a shade you haven’t seen in a while.

What do you think about Icing Starlight? Do you have any oldies in your stash you haven’t pulled out in a while? This Sunday is a great day to find a shade you haven’t worn in a while, & pull it out!

Have a lovely day! 🖤

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Vintage Inspired Polka Dot & Floral 🌹

Hello loves, I hope you’re having a beautiful start to your Thursday!

Today’s look is giving me early blog vibes, & most specifically this early design featured in the younger days of this blog. I love a good floral, & to be honest I haven’t really been inspired to paint floral on my nails in a while. I think June was the last time I posted any kind of floral, & even that was a simple daisy design. So to say I was long overdue would be an understatement.

So obviously I decided lets do a throwback inspired design, grabbed some pink & red polishes, & I ended up with this pretty look! The throwback vibes are strong, & I’m okay with that. I feel like old school nail art designs are making a comeback — heck one of the indie brands even released a whole collection of crackle nail polish — so I thought I would join in on the fun.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • L’Oreal Vintage Vinyl
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ski Bunny
  • L’Oreal Feeling Kilty
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Racing Rose
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Cinnasnap
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Montley Hue
  • China Glaze Shore Enuff
  • Essence Cosmetics Green is the new Grunge
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Dotting tool (I always use mine from NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

Ooooh it’s so pretty! I mean, being a self confessed perfectionist I can definitely see some flaws, but I’m not going to concentrate on those, & instead focus on the good things… like floral being on my nails again after far too long. It just feels good, especially during these frigid days we’ve been having. I’m not a fan of Winter once Christmas is over, so I don’t really enjoy January at all.

A girl can only drink so many extra hot coffees in a day.

So I would expect to see a few more florals popping up on my nails over the next few weeks, especially as we start inching closer to Valentine’s Day.

What do you think of this floral design? Have you missed seeing it around? What is your favourite nail art design to do of all time — or for others to do? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below.

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FASHION FRIDAY —OOTD: A Vintage Flashback

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. It’s been a while since I posted a OOTD post, so I thought it would be fun to share a new outfit post!

Recently, I’ve been going through my closet rediscovering old clothing all over again. I have the worst habit of wearing the same favourites over & over again, so I’ve been making an effort to grab shirts I haven’t worn in a long time. & today’s look is featuring a very old shirt I’ve had since my university days, & was actually my Mom’s in the 80s!

Shirt: Vintage

Jeans: Ardene High Waisted Flare Cut ( Similar ones from the Gap here)

Shoes: Ardene Strappy Sandals (similar ones here)

Earrings: Claire’s Lace Cut Gold Earrings (Similar ones here)

Not even lying, slipping into this shirt was a serious trip back to my University years (click here to see baby Shannon rocking this shirt circa 2009). This shirt used to be one of my go to shirts during those years, & I feel like I haven’t worn it nearly enough in the last 10ish years. The shirt was actually found deep in my Mom’s old clothing stash, & I think technically it was a PJ shirt. But I think it makes the most boho blouse ever, & it’s so much fun to wear!

& I think pairing it was my favourite flare jeans & gladiator sandals really completes the look. Also I’m glad flare jeans are making a comeback, because man I love them so much. They’re definitely my favourite jean style!

What do you think about this look? What item of clothing from your closet have you not grabbed in a while? Let me know in the comments! I

definitely encourage you to grab that shirt/dress/whatever from the recesses of your closet & give it a spin! It’s fun talking a trip down outfits past for sure!

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FASHION FRIDAY — Jeans & T-shirt OOTD

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. Today I’ve got another OOTD post for you!

While I’d love to say that every time I leave the house I feel put together & channel my inner fashion blogger, most of the time if I’m going out for a reason — groceries, coffee run, etc– I tend to go for simplicity over high fashion. But that’s not to say I don’t want to look & feel cute! So one of my favourite looks to pull together for those errand kind of days is a jeans & t-shirt & cardigan combo.

Vintage Suzuki t-shirt. Black DYI ripped skinny jeans {Ardene — similar pair here}. Grey oversized knit Cardigan {Garage}. Not pictured: Black studded knee high boots {Ardene}

So true story: this tee has been in my possession since my University days (circa 2005}, when I used to channel Mary Kate Olsen during the mid to late 2000s. Originally it was my Father’s, & I’m not exactly sure how it came to be in my possession, but I’m going to assume it had something to do with shrinking in the dryer. Haha.

Suffice to say, it’s well lived in & well loved.

What do you think about this outfit of the day? What’s your favourite clothing item to grab for a quick & cute everyday outfit? Let me know down in the comments below!