Dark Navy Blue Manicure using Chanel

Hello gorgeous girls!!

Hope you are all well and not too hungover from last night! Again, Happy 2014!! I've decided not to post what I got for Christmas. I really didn't want it to look like I was showing off. Obviously, you'll see some of what I got in the last couple of posts I did and upcoming ones. I just didn't want it to be staring you in the face. Anyways, I will be posting my Boxing Day haul because it wasn't that insane. I'm just waiting to get my Sephora package in the mail and I'll do everything together.

This nail polish was one item I did get for Christmas from my mom. My very first Chanel nail polish!! Woo!! Actually, she got two, but I haven't tried the other one yet. The dark navy blue one is called Magic and the other one is a lovely greige, kind of similar to the Ciate Cookies N Cream tutorial I very recently did; this one's called 559 Frenzy. So after using the polish, I have to say, I didn't notice anything special about it. Now I'm not crazy into nails, so maybe I'm just weird, but I really didn't think it was above and beyond, not to say that it wasn't good, because it was. It just wasn't remarkable, I guess is the word I'm looking for. I'm also going to say that I didn't do the best job in the world on my nails, so don't hate. It was night and I didn't have a lot of light on. But I don't care if they're not perfect, so long as they're not seriously messed up.

So I've explained how I prep my nails in other posts, but I'll just go over it very briefly in case you haven't seen those posts. I use only Essie for my base and top coats and I use a few other brands for the actual nail polish colour. 

Nail Prep

To prepare my nails for a manicure, I remove any left over nail polish with nail polish remover. I moisturize my nails and hands with the Body Shop's Almond Hand and Nail Cream. I like to do this step the day before I do my nails. If I need to trim my nails, I use Tweezerman's nail trimmer and then I file my nails using the Sephora Crystal Nail File and I use their 4-step nail buffer. Then I use my Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil and I apply it to my cuticles and nails for extra hydration. Then I use my Tweezerman 2-in-1 cuticle pusher and nail cleaner to push my cuticles so I can use my Tweezerman Cuticle Snipper to trim my cuticles. Then I use the other end of the cuticle pusher to clean my nails. I wash the cuticle oil off and I'm ready to start the manicure!

Manicure Time

I always start with Essie Millionails treatment. My nails used to be super brittle in between manicures, but since I started using this and her base coat, wow my nails are so much stronger! I usually do about two coats. Next, I apply Essie Grow Stronger Base Coat to my nails. I use this particular one because my nails were very weak and brittle like I mentioned before. To make the polish dry faster, I sit with my nails facing the light bulb in my lamp. The heat makes it dry much much faster! Now, time for the colour! I'm using Chanel Nail Polish in Magic, which is a limited edition shade from their Christmas 2013 collection. I applied two coats and the colour was very opaque, even with one. Then to seal this in, I used Essie Good To Go Fast Drying Top Coat. I used two coats just to make sure I sealed everything in. Now my nails are a lovely navy blue colour!

The Manicure

Products Used

Sephora Collection Mini Crystal Nail File - 10$CAD for mini, 12$CAD for fullsize

Sephora Collection 4-Step Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Sephora Collection 4-Step Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Tweezerman Hot Pink Nail Rescue Kit - 24$CAD

Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil - 10$CAD

Essie Millionails Treatment - 10$CAD

Essie Grow Stronger Base Coat - 10$CAD

Chanel Nail Colour in Magic (LE) - approx. 30$CAD

Essie Good To Go Top Coat - 10$CAD

So that's the manicure! Hope you enjoyed the post and seeing me get my first Chanel polish!! I know I was pretty excited to try it. The colour is nice, not something I would have picked personally, but it's nice. I would have picked Cosmic or Black Satin, hopefully I'll get my hands on them soon! Have you ever used Chanel nail polishes? What's your opinion of them? And would you say they're better than brands like Essie and OPI?

I'll also try to let you know how long the nail polish lasts on my nails before chipping. I've had it for a couple days so far and it's doing great, but it's hard to say how they'll turn out in the long run. I'll probably post a short status on Facebook and Twitter.

Steph xo.

PS. Working on a Best of 2013 Makeup post as well as a What I Regret Not Buying in 2013. And I'll try to get my Perfect Palette Tag post up soon too.

Neutral Greige Manicure using Ciate

Hello dear readers!!

I am so so so excited. I just got my Babyliss Miracurl in the mail today!! I used it on my mom's hair and it's so easy and amazing. I'll be doing a tutorial and review too soon. Reminds me, I never did that tutorial/review on my Sultra Curling Wand. Oh well, I'll catch up on all my hair tools soon!

It's time for another nail post. I've been working at school this past and will be working during exam week. That means that my nails will probably be destroyed by the end of it since I'm always touching things with my hands. I'm either stacking books into boxes, or stacking boxes in the closet. So you can see how hard it is for me to keep my nails nice and manicured and not broken. That's also why I chose to go with a light color for this week's manicure. I really wanted to go dark but I knew that when it starts chipping it would be a million times more noticeable on a dark color than a light color. After bugging a male friend to help me eliminate my choices down to the one, I ended up with a very light greige color. It's hard to describe the color but I like to say it's coffee with a lot of milk. That's what it makes me think of, though Ciate calls this particular color Cookies n Cream. I don't really see Cookies n Cream unless you pureed it haha.

If you've read some of my other nail posts then you know all about my usual nail routine. I like to use Essie because I find that their quality is superb. I even like Essie's top coat more than Ciate's. I've never tried OPI so you should suggest some colors for me!

All the Ciate polishes I have come from that huge 24 Days of Christmas box from last year, unless they are the Caviar Manicure sets from way back (the black and white ones). I think that last year's set had a lot more diversity in its color range compared to this year's. I like a lot of the shades and I'm always coming back to it. For those that don't have the set, I know that The Bay sells Ciate but I'm not sure about this specific color.


Neutral Greige Manicure using Ciate

Nail Prep

To prep my nails I start by removing any nail polish that's still on. Then I moisturize my nails and hands using The Body Shop's Almond Hand and Nail Cream. After my nails have moisturized for a little while I remove the excess cream. I file my nails using a Crystal Nail File I got at Sephora. I also use Sephora's 4-in-1 Nail Buffer. Then I put Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil on my cuticles and nails too. As they're soaking I use my double-ended cuticle pusher / fingernail dirt remover manicure tool from Tweezerman's Hot Pink Nail Rescue Set to get rid of the dirt under my finger nails. Once my cuticles are soft enough, I use the other side of the tool to push them down. Then I use the Cuticle Nipper from the same set to trim my cuticles. Then I wash off the excess oil.

Polish Time

I start by applying two coats of Essie's Millionails Nail Treatment. This stuff really helps your nails to grow stronger. My nails used to be so fragile and damaged, especially after removing nail polish, but after using this product I can see a huge difference! The next step is to apply a base coat, I use Essie's Grow Stronger Base Coat because I want my nails to .... well... grow stronger! Hah! Once that's dry, I applied two coats of Ciate's Cookies n Cream. Two coats was enough to make the color opaque, you don't need a third coat. The last step is to apply a fast drying top coat, I quite like Essie's Good To Go. I put two coats just to make sure I covered every part of my nail. Since using this top coat, my nails never smudge after I've done them and they don't start chipping til over a week after I did the manicure.



The Manicure

Products Used:

Sephora Collection Mini Crystal Nail File - 10$CAD

Sephora Collection 4-in-1 Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Sephora Collection 4-in-1 Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Tweezerman Hot Pink Nail Rescue Kit - 24$CAD

Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil - 9$CAD

Essie Millionails Treatment - 9$CAD

Essie Grow Stronger Base Coat - 9$CAD

Ciate Cookies N Cream

Essie Good To Go Top Coat - 9$CAD

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my nail post even though it was nothing fancy. I didn't even realize that the color matched my sweater until I got home haha. What do you think of the Cookies n Cream color? I thought it looked weird when I looked at it in the pot, but when I tried it on, it totally changed my mind. It's a beautiful light greige color and it's the type of color you can wear with anything. What do you think of Ciate's nail polish line? I love Essie, I find their stuff really works from me, whether it's a treatment, top coat, or color, which is why I'm always using it lately. Is there an Essie product that you love the most? And what about your favorite Essie shade ever? I think mine would have to be Mint Candy Apple.

How do you like my little sneak peak of the next makeup look I'm planning on doing? I tried out the Makeup Forever Aqua Shadow sticks and did a look based on it. I'm still not sure if I like it cuz the colors I used are so out of my element!

Steph xo.

Pastel Manicure using Essie (and a little review of some Essie products)

Hello ladies!

I am long overdue for a nail post. I've discovered that Essie is, so far, my favorite nail brand. I'm not that big on nails, so I haven't tried that many brands and I'm sure you all have your own opinion as to which nail polish brand is the best, but I do love my Essie polishes. I'm going to tell you a little bit about each product I use to prep my nails and why I like it so much. I know I already spoke a bit about that but I don't feel as if I really articulated my thoughts very well so here we go again. Now that I've used them quite a few times I feel that I can give a proper review. I really do prefer Essie to other brands that I've tried, though I am open to suggestion.

I'm sorry if some pics are a bit out of focus, my camera's battery was dying so I was rushing to get all my pictures done and uploaded before it died.

Want to know what my next post is going to be about? Read down til the bottom to find out!

Prep Time

As I've said before, I prep my nails by filing them with Sephora's crystal nail file. Then I use their 4 step nail buffer. Then I apply Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil to my cuticles and nails. I let them soak for a few minutes and then I take my cuticle pusher and push them down. Sometimes I trim my cuticles, but only if it's really bad. I also make sure to clean any gunk from underneath my nails. I find that their cuticle oil is pretty hydrating and does a good job prepping them. I'm also going to mention that after I remove nail polish from my last manicure, I like to put a ton of hand and nail cream on my nails and just let them soak up and re-hydrate. I use the Body Shop's Almond Hand and Nail Cream. I really like it as both a hand and nail cream. It does a great job keeping my hands and nails moisturized. This is the first cream that actually works on my nails. So now that I've prepped my nails and cuticles, it's Essie time.


Treatment Time

I use their Millionails treatment, which is a strengthener treatment. I find it's the best one I've tried so far. When I first started doing my nails often (and I mean once a week or every 2 weeks as opposed to never), my nails were always incredibly frail after I took the polish off and would break and chip very easily. But since I've started using Millionails, my recently depolished nails are as strong as they were before I started my nail polish binge. And this also helps them to not be so darn yellow! If you do your nails often, you know that the lack of oxygen to your nails is what yellows them. I don't know what this stuff does but my nails barely get yellow anymore. It's amazing.


Base Coat Time

I also use their First Base strengthening base coat. I do like it. I can't tell if it has been strengthening my nails, but only because I started using Millionails the same time as I started using this. But I like to think that combined, they help my nails a lot. It also does a good job of prepping the nail for color. It looks like a very opaque light pink in the bottle, but it goes on clear.


Color Time

Now for the colors I used in today's manicure. I did all my nails (except ring finger) one color and my ring finger another. Cuz I'm cool like that. The main color is Essie's Mint Candy Apple. It's a very light pastel minty color. I find it's almost like a light turquoise color in the sense that it isn't strictly green, but has some blue in it as well. The polish goes on quite nice and it takes me 2 coats to get full opacity. There's something about this shade that I just love. The only thing I don't like is the small brush. It usually takes a few strokes before I get the whole nail, and sometimes it dries fast, causing streaking. The last time I used this, it lasted for over a week without a single chip. I was pretty darn impressed. The color on my ring fingers is Essie's Muchi Muchi. It's a very light pastel pink. It takes 2-3 coats for full opacity depending on how thick they are. I used two for today's. It goes on pretty sheer looking so you definitely have to put on a few coats depending on how you want it to look. It does get a little streaky so I suggest thinner coats and minimum 3 coats for full opacity. It is a very nice color once you've reached full opacity. You might be able to use this as a french manicure color if you use one coat. Even now, if I look closely, I can tell where my nail tips are. Out of the two colors, Mint Candy Apple is definitely my favorite, both color- and quality-wise.


Top Coat Time

To seal in my manicure, I use their Good To Go fast-drying top coat. Out of what I've tried, this is by far my favorite. It dries my nails and hardens them in a couple minutes after application. I do two coats to make sure that I've sealed every inch of my manicure in. Whenever I use this, my nails never smudge. It dries them very thoroughly so you don't need to worry about not touching anything. They also never chip. My manicures usually last between 1-2 weeks before I redo them, and that's only because I get annoyed with the part of the nail that has now grown out.



Products Used:

Sephora 4 Step Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Sephora 4 Step Nail Buffer - 7$CAD

Sephora Mini Crystal Nail File - 10$CAD, and 12$CAD for fullsize

Tweezerman Hot Pink Nail Rescue Kit - 24$CAD

Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil - 10$CAD

Essie Millionails Treatment - 10$CAD

Essie Grow Stronger Base Coat - 10$CAD

Essie Mint Candy Apple - 10$CAD

Essie Muchi Muchi - 10$CAD

Essie Good To Go Top Coat - 10$CAD

My Nails:

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed today's nail post! Usually I love wearing darker colors on my nails, like black, dark red, dark purples, anything dark really. I also have this random love for the color green. I gravitate to green makeup and nail polish. It's weird. I'm not one to wear pastels, like you wouldn't catch me dead in pastel colored clothes, but there's something cute about this nail color scheme. Mint Candy Apple is such a beautiful color, no wonder it's one of Essie's most popular shades. Her nail polishes go on super smooth and have a nice glossy finish. For my accent nail, I decided to stick with the pastels and do a light pink using Muchi Muchi. The colors complement each other very well. The only other time I've worn pastel nail polish (and I'm not counting when I was kid) was when I did my water marbling tutorial. I mean hello, most of my clothes are black, shades of white, browns, zebra and leopard print. Not typically a color girl, let alone pastel. But like I said, Mint Candy Apple just has something about it that I couldn't resist!!

So what do you think of Essie's Mint Candy Apple and Muchi Muchi nail polishes? What other shade(s) would you pair Mint Candy Apple with? What is your favorite Essie nail polish color? What do you think of her other products that I mentioned (treatment, top coat, etc)?

My next post is going to be my VERY FIRST DRUGSTORE HAUL!!!!

Steph xo.