My Top Nine Nail Polishes For Valentine's Day

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so I’m sharing some of my favourite polishes to wear for this occasion. Pinks, purples, peaches, and reds are the colours that I wear during this time of year. For each polish, I have a review and swatch post that goes into more detail about the shade and formula.

Click the links below for more information.

NOTD: China Glaze Fifth Avenue

I can’t believe that this is my first official blog post on China Glaze’s Fifth Avenue. I’ve owned it for many years (as you can see from the condition of the lettering on the bottle), and it has appeared in some of my seasonal favourites posts, but I have never written a full review on it.

NOTD: China Glaze Change Your Altitude

Have I mentioned lately that grey is my favourite colour? I can’t seem to get enough of this versatile shade, so I added another grey polish to my collection. This one is Change your Altitude from China Glaze’s Fall 2015 collection, The Great Outdoors.

Winter 2016 Nail Polish Favourites

My nail polish favourites for this winter feature a range of different shades from iridescent glitters to snowy baby pinks to blue and purple jewel tones to rich reds and berries and everything in between.

You can see my nail polish favourites from previous years and seasons by clicking HERE.

Which polish is your favourite from my list below? To see swatches and more detailed posts on the polishes below, click on any names in mint green text.

Valentine's Day Nail Art Flashback

In honour of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share this festive nail look that I created in 2012. It’s fun to look back at these old nail art pictures and reflect on how much Writing Beauty (and my nail painting skills) have evolved over the last four years.

Shimmering Snowflakes Nail Art

I know that winter isn’t everyone’s favourite season, but I think it’s one of the most beautiful. There’s something magical about the way a fresh snowfall can transform a dreary winter landscape by decorating it with layers of bright, glittery snow.

With this nail art, I wanted to capture the beauty and uniqueness of snowflakes by using a combination of white and holographic polish.

Fall 2015 Nail Polish Favourites

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

NOTD: China Glaze Wanderlust

I first posted about Wanderlust in my June Nail Polish Haul (check it out HERE). This pink polish with hints of purple is part of China Glaze’s Spring 2015 Road Trip Collection.

Spring Polka Dot Nail Art

Before I start creating summer nail looks, I wanted to post one more spring design.

This look features Light as Air from China Glaze, a polish that I reviewed recently in the Nail of the Day section of my blog. It’s the perfect pastel purple shade! The shimmery polka dots are in the shade Meadow from Zoya. It’s a beautiful golden peach colour. I love the contrast between the creamy finish of the base colour and the glowy peach dots.

I used a dotting tool to create the polka dots and alternated larger and smaller dots to add a bit of texture. This look was very quick and easy to create.

What do you think of this spring nail look? What did you wear on your nails this spring?

Nail Polish Canada Haul: Essie Romper Room, China Glaze Wanderlust, and Zoya Leslie

It’s been a while since I purchased new polishes and wanted to add a few new pinks and purples to my collection for spring. Where I live, it’s not easy to find salon-quality polishes that are decently priced, so I always tend to order from Nail Polish Canada where prices are lower and shipping is free on orders over $25.

The first polish in my order is Romper Room from Essie. Although my polish collection includes many light pink cream finishes, the ones that I have from Essie are my favourite—especially Fiji and Ballet Slippers—so I’m excited to try out Romper Room. This polish came out with Essie’s Spring 2014 Hide & Go Chic Collection. Essie describes the shade as a pale tea rose pink.

Next is Wanderlust from China Glaze’s Spring 2015 Road Trip Collection. I haven’t decided yet if this shade is more pink or more purple. Either way, it has a beautiful shimmery sheen that sets it apart from the other pinks and purples in my collection.

And, of course, a nail polish haul of mine would not be complete without something from Zoya. For the most part, I usually buy cream finishes from Zoya and take little interest in their shimmery shades—until I saw Leslie. This soft lavender metallic with turquoise flecks is part of the Spring 2015 Zoya Delight Collection. While this shade looks a bit more purple than Wanderlust, it has those gorgeous pink undertones that make it very fresh and wearable. I can’t wait to see how those flashes of turquoise look in the sunlight.

Over the next little while, I will be swatching and trying out these polishes, so check the NOTD (Nail of the Day) section of my blog for my upcoming reviews.

See my other nail product hauls and reviews HERE.

Which polishes have you purchased lately? Which ones are on your wish list?

NOTD: China Glaze Light as Air

Light as Air was released with China Glaze’s Spring 2010 Up and Away Collection. This collection is one of my favourites from China Glaze since it includes a good amount of pastel cream-finish polishes. Since Light as Air is one of my favourites in the collection, I thought it was about time that I reviewed it.

GIVEAWAY: Glitter polishes from Deborah Lippmann, China Glaze, Cuccio Colour and Nanacoco

I wanted to give away a few glitter polishes to add a bit of sparkle to the winter season. Polishes include Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, China Glaze I Herd That, Cuccio Colour Remix, and Nanacoco Beatbox. 

You can enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.

Good Luck!

****This giveaway is open internationally and will close on February 20, 2015 at 11:59 PM****

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cherry Blossom Nail Art

One of my favourite aspects of floral nail art is how easy it is to create by hand. It doesn’t take a lot of artistic skill and can be created with a steady hand and a few helpful tools. 

I drew the flowers in this look with a nail art pen and a dotting tool. The base is a soft “greige” (grey-beige) colour from Essie called Chinchilly. I ordered this polish online after hearing lots of hype about it and was very underwhelmed when I first saw the colour. It looked like a mud mask and I was afraid to see how it would clash with my pale skin. 

It sat in my polish drawer for months before I was brave enough to try it. As I had expected, I didn’t really like how it looked on its own. But then I had an idea: perk it up with a bit of pink. I created the pastel pink petals in this cherry blossom nail look using Something Sweet from China Glaze and the brighter pink centres using Bianca from Zoya. Once this look was completed, I decided that I really like Chinchilly…when it’s paired with pink. 

To see a tutorial of this look, click here or on the photos above. 

What do you think of this nail art? How do you wear Chinchilly?

Hello Kitty Nail Art

Yesterday, I posted a Cat Inspired Nail Look that I created a while ago and forgot to add to my blog. I have since found a few other nail looks from the past that I would like to share. The first one is this Hello Kitty Nail Look.
I created this look using a dotting tool and a nail art stamping image plate. To see a tutorial on this look, click here or on the photos above.
What do you think of this nail design?

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

St. Patty’s Day Nail Look

Even though my busy schedule often prevents me from painting my nails as often as I would like, I always make time to create holiday-themed nail looks. Since St. Patrick’s Day is this month, I created this green, white, and gold design.

To see a video tutorial of this look, click HERE.

To see more of my nail art, click HERE.

New Year’s Eve Nail Look

I can’t believe that 2013 is almost here! I really enjoyed 2012, especially since this was the year that I really got into blogging and met a lot of great blogger friends.

I’m ringing in the new year with a shimmery nail look featuring my favourite shade of dark purple, holographic swirls, and white accents.

I also filmed a video tutorial (below) to show you exactly how I created this look.

New Year’s Eve Nail Tutorial

Have a wonderful 2013!

Holiday Stripes Nail Look

Due to my hectic schedule this year, I knew that I would only have time to create one holiday nail look. I wanted something quick, easy, and very festive.

Shades of sparkling red (OPI Smitten with Mittens), glimmering gold (China Glaze I Heard That), and creamy white (Zoya Snow White) make up this year’s look.

I began by painting a thick vertical stripe of each colour on my nails. Next, I took a long, thin nail art brush and painted a stripe down each coloured section using the shade beside it.

The finished look is simple, unique, and holiday chic!

See more of my holiday nail looks by clicking HERE.

And don’t forget to enter my Holiday Beauty Giveaway!

November Topbox

After a bit of disappointment last month, this month’s Topbox was a pleasant surprise. All four samples were deluxe and one was a beautiful polish from China Glaze.
Like the last three months, the November box contained a makeup product from a high end brand.
For those of you who do not know what Topbox is, it is a service similar to Loose Button, Glymm, Birchbox, Glossybox, etc., which offers monthly boxes of deluxe size product samples. Topbox currently offers its services across Canada. For more information check out topbox.ca