NAILS | #77 Hermes Rouge Grenade #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

Happy September 1st! I love the summer vibe, but there is something productive-feeling about the month of September. I just organized my shoe collection yesterday into some stackable clear bins and I think I am finally ready to let go of the press samples that have been cluttering my life! Unfortunately, my poor nails have still been suffering and at time of this nail painting, my cuticle area was also sadly involved.

NAILS | Dior #999 #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

Forgive the lack of posts again, but I had a very long weekend with Inventory at work and I pretty much crashed around 4pm for a 2 hour nap and then just wanted to diamond paint and do Pixyls all night long. Thankfully, I have today off so I was able to head out and run some errands at London Drugs as well as pick up a press package from UPS. I have not had the urge to sit down and do my nails just yet (I still have not decided on my design for today) so I am cheating a little with sharing this swatch of Dior 999, but for a red, white and pink theme this month I think 999 takes the cake in terms of iconic shades in the luxury beauty space!

NAILS | Trust Fund Beauty Gossip Mag Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

Press sample

Ok ok, so my excuse for posting my nails late this week is because it was ma birthday this weekend! I turned 41 yesterday and had a great time doing it! I feel a lot better about 41 than 40. 40 felt a little uncomfortable and I was scared, but this time around there was nothing but just looking forward to having the time to celebrate even though I was on my own on my actual birthday. It actually felt nice to have a birthday that was purely on my own terms. I could get up whenever, leave the house whenever, take a nap, have dinner whenever. It was great!

NAILS | OPI Nail Envy Big Apple Red #MidWeekMani

Press sample

This week is just FLYING and yet I feel like I have accomplished nothing and am playing catch up. This week at work we have had a few corporate visits which always seem to take half the day along with a new hire which always takes some extra time to make sure they are up and running. I feel like I haven't had a moment to myself until today in the late afternoon and though I know that my job title involves giving up my time for others, I know that what makes me happiest is dealing just with clients so when there are weeks like this where I can't really do that, I can feel my energy resources depleting. Tomorrow I have about three hours to get what I need done and then the rest of my afternoon will be client-based which is nice.

NAILS | OPI Infinite Shine Kiss My Aries Swatch #MidWeekMani

Press sample 

I wore this manicure the week before Christmas because it truly is a festive holiday red! Though this was from the Fall Big Zodiac Energy collection, I totally think that "Kiss My Aries" is the perfect Christmas red with how much fire it has in it AND this was a one coater! Like, what?! I have used this shade a few times in my manicures since receiving the collection and it is one of my FAVOURITE reds to use. It also works for Lunar New Year, so I might keep it out for next month as well!

NAILS | Layla Ceramic Effect Red Jelly Flakie CE53 Swatch

Purchased by me

I have been going back to my nail polish stash and looking and so many of the beautiful untrieds in my collection that thankfully are still usable! I definitely went crazy in the first few years and basically got every colour in every finish and tried to stay on top of the latest trends, but over the last 5 years I have noticed that there haven't been a lot of truly innovative changes in the nail polish world and it's really the same colours over and over again. Maybe a little darker, warmer, brighter, but nonetheless the same. I feel like 10 years ago, there were some really different nail polish finishes out there like the flakie! The flakie is still one of my favourites and gets me every time I see one!

NAILS | Strawberry Dreams #ManiMonday

I was lazy AF yesterday and did nothing but get groceries and take two flatlays. I even had to take a nap at noon. I just felt so zonked of energy and I still do. A part of me thinks I have some sort of chronic disease because I always wake up tired and sometimes need to take naps on my lunch break instead of eat. Some might say that it a bit concerning, no? This sort of leads to my more laidback Strawberry nail art today as I really didn't feel like taking out too many polish colours are dealing with little nail art brushes. This indie polish from The Hungry Asian is actually called Strawberry and is one that I purchased, I kid you not, 7 years ago! The best part was that it still applied flawlessly!