Fall 2015 Nail Polish Favourites

This fall, my favourite polishes include a mix of bold creams and shimmery neutrals.

Nail Look: Sweet Winter Frost

Some winters I get into a dark polish rut and spend months wearing polishes in shades of deep plum and rich berry. While these colours are very pretty and festive, sometimes it’s nice to honour the season by drawing inspiration from aspects of nature, like snow!
Sometimes I find white nail polishes a bit difficult to work with so I added a little twist to this snow-inspired nail look and used a light pink instead. I wore this iridescent nail look over the winter holidays and received many compliments. I created the look by creating a base with two coats of Butter London’s Teddy Girl, one of my favourite opaque pink crème polishes. Once Teddy Girl was completely dry, I used a makeup sponge to dab a light layer of Essie’s Shine of the Times on the lower half of my nail. This flaky glitter is very subtle, so I was still able to wear this polish to work.
Not only is this look great for the winter, it’s also a nice year-round wedding look for a bride, wedding party member, or a guest.
What do you think of this pink snow-inspired nail look? Is it something you would wear in the winter?

Edgy Summer Nails (with rhinestone studs!)

With summer just a few days away, I thought it was time to break out some bright polishes. Normally my summer manicures begin with floral designs and progress to something a little different. This time around, I wanted to start out with something edgy, so I created this pink and blue look accented with silver rhinestone studs.
The studs are from bornprettystore.com and can be found HERE. BPS was kind enough to offer a coupon code for my blog followers/Youtube subscribers (use BEAUTY4K31 for 10% off sitewide).
The blue polish is For Audrey by China Glaze and the pink is Primrose Hill Picnic from Butter London.

The 10% off coupon also works for this super cute, sparkly panda bear ring that can be found HERE

What will you be wearing on your nails this summer?

Nail Polish Haul (Zoya, Essie, Butter London & more!)

Since my favourite nail polish brands can be a bit expensive, I usually only purchase a few colours at a time. After months of collecting, I thought that it was time for a collective haul. Check out my polish pictures below to see which colours I picked up from Zoya, Essie, China Glaze, & more!

Zoya Paloma, Zoya Daul, Zoya Monika

Zoya Shawn, Zoya Carmen, Zoya LC

Zoya Rory, Zoya Gei Gei, Zoya Trixie

Zoya Kennedy, Zoya Jacqueline, Zoya Barbie, Zoya Erika

Essie Shine of the Times, Essie Russian Roulette

Butter London Teddy Girl, Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic, Butter London Jaffa

Butter London Toff, Butter London Queen Vic

China Glaze Snowglobe, China Glaze I Herd That, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

NOTD: Butter London Queen Vic

Butter London’s nail polish in Queen Vic is the perfect berry shade for my pale cool-toned skin. Although the colour looks very pretty in the photos above and below, it is even richer in real life. Since my camera finds it difficult to accurately capture anything with red tones, the colour appears a lot more red in the photos. Queen Vic is actually deeper and more purple toned. In fact, Butter London describes it by saying, “Stunning, elegant and classy. Red wine meets cranberry. Fit for a queen.”
Aside from the colour, the formula of this polish is very impressive. It applied smoothly, dried quickly, and lasted for six days without any chipping. I couldn’t help but look at my nails every few minutes while wearing this polish to admire the way that it brightened up my hands with its rich tones and shiny finish. I received many compliments while wearing this shade.
My only complaint is that Queen Vic left my fingers with a red stain for a few days after I removed it with nail polish remover. To avoid this type of staining, I recommend using a good base coat and a strong polish remover.
Overall, Queen Vic is a gorgeous polish with a great formula. It will continue to be a go-to shade for me during the fall and winter months.

NOTD: Butter London Teddy Girl

Butter London’s Teddy Girl is a creamy baby pink polish. It is similar to Fiji by Essie but it has subtle hints of lavender, whereas Fiji is more of a true pink. Butter London describes Teddy Girl as a pale retro bubblegum pink. I think that this is accurate because bubblegum often has those slight purple tones mixed in with the pink base.

This polish gives the nails a very clean, polished look, which is why I knew that I needed this shade as soon as I found out about it. It’s perfect to wear year round and can function as an every day, work-appropriate shade, or an understated shade to complement a formal dress.

As you can see from the photos in this post, it is a pigmented cream-finish polish that gives a pop of colour despite its light shade.

I found the application to be a bit streaky after two coats so I needed a third coat to even everything out. Compared to other Butter London polishes that I have tried, Teddy Girl did not last as long. After about three days I began to see a bit of tip wear.

Something else that I noticed was that it took quite a while to dry. I applied it at 4:00 PM and it was still a bit sticky at midnight (I was able to make marks in it with my nails). By morning, it had dried completely and any marks had faded.

Despite these issues, I will continue to get a lot of use out of this polish because the shade is beautiful and works well with my pale skin. I always get compliments when I wear Teddy Girl.

Valentine’s Day Nail Look: Purple & Pink

When I create festive nail looks, I often try to come up with designs that honour the holiday, but can also be worn long after. For this Valentine’s Day nail look, I stayed away from traditional hearts, and used dots in shades of pink and purple.

To see how I achieved this look, and which products I used, check out my video tutorial below. There are also more photos of the design below.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Snow Inspired Nail Look

This snow inspired nail look is my first entry in Nail Polish Canada’s Holiday Nail Art Challenge.

I wanted to create a design that reflected the beauty of snow flakes and the winter fun associated with snow.

I began the look with a medium blue base (Zoya Jo), and then added a bit of glimmer by dabbing on a thin layer of China Glaze OMG with a makeup sponge. Next, I created snowflakes with a white polish and a nail art stamping kit. I used a larger snowflake for the thumb nail and smaller designs for the others. Using a dotting tool and Zoya Snow White, I drew the snowman’s body on one nail, and added a hat, buttons, and eyes with a black polish. The final touch was the carrot nose which I created using Butter London Jaffa.

What do you think of my snow inspired nail look? I would love for you to take a few moments to check out the other amazing designs created by bloggers, and show your support for my nail art and my blog by voting for my design here: http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/holiday-nail-art-challenge-week-1-snow/

I can’t wait to see what next week’s challenge will be!

Fall Nail Polish Favourites

At the beginning of each season I wade through my nail polish collection to find the perfect colours to wear for the months that will follow. This Fall I have selected a range of shades from deep purple to vintage green and everything in between. Many of my current favourite polishes have cream finishes but I’m also loving glass-flecked glitter and sheer jelly formulas.
Check out my Fall favourites below…and don’t forget to tell me which shades you will be wearing through mid December!
~Beauty Writer

Butter London Teddy Girl and Essie Fiji

Zoya Shay, Zoya Pandora, and Zoya Minka

Zoya Mia, Essie In Stitches, and China Glaze Fifth Avenue

Zoya Paloma

Essie Island Hopping, Butter London Toff, and Zoya Jana

Zoya Neeka and Zoya Petra

Zoya Daul and Zoya Monica

*Click HERE to see the glitzy Fall look that I created with these polishes*

Zoya Jules, Zoya Bevin, and Zoya Harley

Butter London Haul from Glymm.com

After receiving my September Glymm box, I decided that it would be best to cancel my subscription. I had accumulated quite a few Glymm points over the last year and wanted to use them before my account was closed.
As a nail polish lover, I knew that I wanted to spend all of my points on Butter London polishes. I placed an order for five bottles on September 17 and was planning to wear Teddy Girl to a wedding in early October.
Two weeks passed and my order still had not shipped. I contacted the company more than once and was told that my order would ship the following week. A couple more weeks went by, and so did the wedding (I wore Essie’s Fiji instead). Glymm finally confirmed that my order would be shipped on Monday, October 15, but could not explain the delay.
I finally received the package on October 18. It contained my five polishes, in perfect condition, and a free gift for the delay.
Check out my photos below to see what I received. Swatches and full reviews of each polish will appear in future posts.
Have you ever purchased from Glymm.com? What were your experiences?

Principessa Beauty Cattiva Diva Silky Hand Cream

Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic

Butter London Toff

Butter London Jaffa

Butter London Teddy Girl

Butter London Quick Change Artist Duo – Queen Vic

Nail Polish Haul! (Zoya, Essie,Butter London, China Glaze, & More!)

Over the past few months I have accumulated some new polishes. I have posted close up photos and swatches of each polish below.
Hope you enjoy!

Zoya Snow White

Zoya Jaime (post on Jaime: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/05/notd-zoya-jaime.html)

Zoya Bevin (post on Bevin: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/05/notd-zoya-bevin.html)

Zoya Shelby (post on Shelby: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/06/notd-zoya-shelby.html)

Essie Fiji (post on Fiji: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/04/notd-essie-fiji.html)

Essie Tart Deco

Butter London Knackered (post on Knackered: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/04/butter-london-spring-summer-2012.html)

Butter London Trout Pout (post on Trout Pout: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/04/butter-london-spring-summer-2012.html)

China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic

China Glaze Purple Panic

Misa Polka Dot Bikini

Deborah Lippman What Lola Wants

Purple Magnetic Polish (post on Magnetic Polish: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/04/magnetic-nail-polish-review-and-demo.html)

Ylin Mood Polish in Purple/Sky Blue (post on Mood Polish: http://putbeautytowords.blogspot.ca/2012/06/colour-changing-mood-nail-polish-review.html)
Which polish from this haul is your favourite?