Soft Spot for Essie

I popped into CVS this evening after work and saw this fantastic array of shades that I just couldn't help snapping a picture of. If I wasn't so madly in love with Shellac, I probably would have purchased all of them. 

From left to right: Go Ginza, Boxer Shorts, Where's My Chauffeur?, Mojito Madness, Topless & Barefoot, and Lapiz of Luxury

On the subject of Shellac manicures, it's time for me to get mine redone! I'm going in the morning so in the meantime, what have YOU been wearing on your nails lately?

Review: Maybelline's Express Manicure Quick Dry Protecting Top Coat

Since my previous post was a loose tutorial on nails, I thought I would stick in the same theme for today's review. My grandmother and I Facetime each other every few days or so. (I would call her every day but work gets in the way of doing that. She's basically my Mum minus the fact that she didn't give birth to me, to give you an idea of how close we are.) A few months ago we were chatting and she raved about this new top coat she had just gotten. She picked one up for me and mailed it out the next day from France.

She was not exaggerating one bit in her praises! A fast-drying protecting lacquer, it also adds a lot of shine and makes a manicure last significantly longer without chipping. I'm talking my manicure has gone eleven days strong and all the nails looked like new minus the visible growth. How impressive is that!? I've looked at Maybelline's varnish line here in the States and regrettably have to say that they don't have something like this available. They do have the Express Finish line with a variety of colours but no top coat - quite silly in my opinion. Please don't think of me as a tease, I'm just smitten with this product and wanted to share. If you or someone you know is going to either France or the UK, definitely add this to your list of things to bring back! 

What is your all time favourite top coat? Leave me some recommendations in the comments or on Twitter. I would love to try out some more options and eventually post a compare and contrast perhaps? Thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you soon! 

How-To: Colour Blocking Nails

I don't know why, but I always feel like doing my nails really late at night. Especially nights where I have to wake up early the next day. And I always want to do something fancy and complicated. Because you know, why just settle for one colour and be done with it? That's just too simple.

Case in point, the other night, I felt like colour blocking my nails at 23h30. I had never tried it before but I had seen a few tutorials here and there and it looked easy enough. I found some tape, picked two colours I thought would look good together and dove right in. Let's just say, it did not go well. But on the bright side, by every possible thing going wrong in that attempt, I can now tell you how to colour block your nails to perfection! Rather, I can tell you what not to do and hope that your attempt turns out better than mine did.

1. When selecting your two colours, make sure they're both opaque. Laquers that require multiple coats each have a tendency of never fully setting thus leading to disaster and therefore, heartbreak. We don't like heartbreak. Preferably, try to pick colours that only need one coat each. The two laquers I chose are Lilacism and Where's My Chauffeur, both from Essie. 
   
2. I clearly don't have the patience to do everything in one sitting, so I would recommend applying the base coat and the bottom colour at night while winding down before going to bed than apply the second colour in the morning. It's a little more foulproof for me. If you want to do this in one time, make sure to have ample time for the bottom colour to dry. If it is even remotely wet, the tape will peel it off, like so. Look! It's a smiley face. It's a smiley face because it feels accomplished about ruining my nail.
   
3. Once you are absolutely, positively certain that the bottom colour is completely dry, it's time to put the tape on. The way I did it was I put the tape on the half closest to the root which made it harder to make sure the bottom half was completely protected on the sides. I would recommend doing the opposite and putting the tape on the outer nail plate instead. Allow lots of time for the second colour to dry before removing the tape slowly. 
4. Apply your favourite top coat, wait for it to set, and off you go! Your finished product will hopefully look significantly better than this. I had to do a lot of touch ups on both colours which resulted in noticeable lumpiness. I was so frustrated at this point that I didn't even bother cleaning up the sides, which I apologize for. 
   

I hope you find these pointers useful in your colour blocking endeavours. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. If you do try this or have done this already, please send me a picture of your nails either in the comments, on Twitter, or on Instagram. I would love to see your colour combinations. Hope to see soon!