Mani Monday - Inspired Living SA

Essence Nail Polish {Mani-Monday}

Essence Nail Polish

I recently featured the The Nudes Essence Nail Polish, from the I Love Trends Collection, which you can find out more about here. Today on Mani-Monday, I thought I would feature a shade from The Pastels Essence Nail Polish range, which is also from the I Love Trends Collection. I have also used the Essence Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat, in this feature.

The Essence Nail Polish shade I chose, for this look is called I’m So Fluffy, which is a peachy colour. I thought I would try something a bit different for Mani Monday this week, as lots of my features recently have been darker autumn/winter shades.

The Essence The Pastels range, is available in eight shades, seven of which have a matt finish and the eighth a glitter effect. I’m so Fluffy has a matt finish and I would recommend at least two coats, if not three to get the full effect of the polish.

To try something different, I decided to use the Essence Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat, which lightens the colour of your nail polish, with each application. The image above I have one coat of the Essence Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat and the image below I have two coats.

The effect is not dramatic but it does result in a much softer, milky finish. Essence does recommend that you use darker nail polish, with the Essence Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat, to get more of a dramatic effect.

What do you think of this look?

RRP: Essence I love Trends The Pastels Collection Pure Soul R34.95, Essence Nail Art Pastel Ombré Top Coat R38.95.

Beauty, Beauty Products, Nail Polish

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish {Mani-Monday}

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish

I decided on something quite bright for Mani-Monday! I was recently sent a few of the new Maybelline Color Show Nail Poilsh shades to try – these two caught my eye immediately!

The Colors~

As you know I simply cannot resist pink nail polish and the brighter the better! The first colour I used to create the look below is Maybelline Color Show Park Avenue Pink, which is a gorgeous cerise pink. I painted a coat of Maybelline Color Show Wine Shimmer, over the Park Avenue Pink, to create a pretty sparkly effect. Wine Shimmer is a pinky red shade, with fine iridescent glitter.

I think this look would be particularly good for wearing out in the evening – to a glamorous event or dinner party. It will look especially good against black!

The Application ~

The Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish, applies very easily and is fast drying, as the label indicates – in 60 Seconds! I could have gotten away with one coat of Park Avenue Pink, if I was only wearing the one colour.

The Verdict ~

I think Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish is a winner! It applies well, is fast-drying, reasonably priced and looks great. I am not sure about how well it lasts yet, that remains to be seen but it definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish is available from selected Clicks Dischem, Foschini and Edgars stores. RRP R49.95

Disclosure Ranking:2

Beauty, Beauty Products, Nail Polish

Essie Style Cartel {Mani-Monday}

Hello from a very gloomy and grey Cape Town! It is the 1st of June and officially Winter in our neck of the woods…brrr. I thought I would feature something a bit brighter today on today’s Mani-Monday! Essie Style Cartel is from the Essie Fall Collection 2015, which I have featured previously.

The Colour ~ Essie Style Cartel is a inky cobalt blue. I am not a lover of blue nail polish but I loved the colour of this in the bottle. The colour on the nail, is slightly darker than I an anticipated but I do like it!

The application ~ The polish applies well as with most Essie polishes I have used. My only negative is that the colour tends to stain your skin, so try not to paint outside the lines! I am hoping this will not be the same case, with staining my nails but I guess I will only find out once I remove the polish. I used two coats of Essie Style Cartel and the Good To Go, fast drying top coat, to achieve the look below.

The Verdict ~ I really do love Essie Style Cartel, mostly because it is something a bit different, from my usual go-to colours for Autumn/Winter.

The Essie Fall Collection is available at selected Dis-Chem, Clicks and Foschini Stores, as well as selected Beauty Salons.

Follow Essie on Facebook to keep up to date with new collections and product launches.

Disclosure Ranking:2

Beauty, Beauty Products, Nail Polish

Essence I Love Trends The Nudes { Mani-Monday }

Essence I Love Trends The Nudes

I have had fun, trying out a few of the new nail polish shades, from the Essence I Love Trends The Nudes Collection.

This weekend I decided to give my nails a bit of a break from all the dark wintry shades I have wearing, which is great to a point but then I begin to feel a bit naked! So the natural choice for nail colour today was nude. I decided to try this pretty shimmery pink, Pure Soul from the Essence I Love Trends Nude Collection.

Essence I Love Trends The Nudes, are perfect for that groomed – your nails but better finish. From light beige to soft apricot and rosé shades, to brown tones, there is something in the collection to suit everyone.

The polish applies well and two coats gives you a great coverage, you could opt for one if you wanted a slightly more natural finish. I used the Essence The Gel Base and The Gel Top Coat. The Top Coat gives you a great gel finish without the need for an LED or UV lamp.

I have only being wearing the polish for just over a day, so I cannot testify to the long-lasting formula but at R34.95, you cannot really go wrong! There are eight colours available in the Essence I love Trends The Nudes Collection.

RRP: Essence I love Trends The Nudes Collection Pure Soul R34.95, Essence The Gel Base or Top Coat R47.95.

Disclosure Ranking:2

Beauty, Beauty Products, Nail Polish

Wedding Manicure Ideas { Mani-Monday}

Wedding Manicure Ideas

When I got married {all those years ago}, the only real option for a Wedding Manicure was a classic French Manicure. With the introduction of nail art, a Wedding Manicure has become far more exciting.

A classic french manicure is still gorgeous but I love that there are now other fabulous Wedding Manicure alternatives!

I decided to create a Wedding Manicure look, using Worth The Wait from the Essie Bridal Collection, available in September 2015 and Tuck In My Tux, from the Winter Collection, available July 2015.

Worth The Wait is a light coral kissed pink. To achieve this look you can use any similar light pink shade, such as Adore-a-ball or Sugar Daddy. Apply two coats of this shade as a base. Once this has dried, apply Tuck In My Tux or a white polish such as Essie Marshmallow, with a dotting tool near the end of your nail. Once the dots have dried, apply a top coat – Essie Good to Go is my favourite and you are “good to go”!

I will be creating a few more Wedding Manicure looks over the next few weeks, so keep a look out for those.

What do you think of this look? What type of Wedding Manicure did you have or are you thinking of having? Please leave a comment below.

Essie Nail Polish is available at selected Dis-Chem, Clicks and Foschini Stores, as well as selected Beauty Salons. RRP 125.

Follow Essie on Facebook to keep up to date with new collections and product launches.

Disclosure Ranking:2