Mani Monday: Christmas Tree Manicure

December 5, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 3 Comments

Hi guys! I’m trying really hard to get into the festive, Christmas spirit this year. So much so that I did this Christmas tree manicure to try to lift my spirits. While I do enjoy Christmas, I find this time of the year way too busy. Considering how much of an introvert I am this time of the year makes me a bit anxious. But, my tree is up, my nails are festive and I’m looking forward to giving thoughtful gifts to the people I care about. So, lets take a look at how I did this Christmas tree manicure! Continue reading →

Mani Monday: Let it Snow!

November 21, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 1 Comment

Hi guys! Today’s manicure is inspired by the snow that fell this weekend. I’m not on board with it being here, but it made me want to pull out Girly Bits January Morning which looks like sparkly fresh snow! To top it off, Girly Bits is a fantastic Canadian indie brand! Now… if the snow that arrived over the weekend feels like melting, I’d be okay with that. Continue reading →

Mani Monday: Julep Rochelle

November 14, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 9 Comments

Hi guys! It’s time for another Mani Monday and today I’ve got Julep’s Rochelle on my nails. After how much I loved the last Julep polishes I wore, I knew I had to try the next one in my collection out. I had won four Julep polishes in a giveaway on Classy on the Run so now I’ve tried three of them. The next one that stood out to me was Rochelle which is a beautiful purple shade with a pearly finish. Simply stunning!

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Maintenance
Julep Rochelle (2 coats)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat Continue reading →

Mani Monday: Simple Halloween Manicure

October 24, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 8 Comments

Hi guys! Given that Halloween is ONE week away, I thought it would be fun to get into the spirit and share a simple Halloween manicure! I love split manicures like this because they look great but are so quick and easy to achieve. So, to achieve this simple Halloween manicure, I did a split manicure with the classic festive combination of orange and black.

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Maintenance
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Orange Zest (1 coat)
OPI Metallic 4 Life (1 coat)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat Continue reading →

Mani Monday: Julep Sue & Jocelyn

October 10, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 10 Comments

Hi guys! I’m back with another Mani Monday! Today I’m using two Julep polishes that I won as part of a giveaway from the fantastic Canadian Beauty Blogger Classy on the Run. I hadn’t tried Julep polishes before so I was super excited to try these out! I won four Julep polishes so I chose to use two of them: Sue and Jocelyn.

Products Used:

OPI Nail Envy Maintenance
Julep Sue (1 coat on all except ring fingers)
Julep Jocelyn (1 coat on ring ringers only)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat Continue reading →

Mani Monday: Dermelect Unscripted

September 26, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 1 Comment

Hi guys! Two Mani Monday’s in a row? Look at me go! This week I have Dermelect Unscripted on my nails. I previously posted about this in my August Ipsy Glam Bag. It’s a beautiful violet-pink shade and is infused with peptides to strengthen weak nails. This 5-free formula also claims to stand up to chips and splitting “like armour”. I’m looking forward to seeing how long this lasts!

While the shade is beautiful on it’s own, I really wanted to add a glitter accent to give it a little something extra. For my glitter accent I added in OPI Divine Swine from the 2011 Muppet’s Christmas Collection. That collection is usually my go-to for glitter accents because they really did a fantastic job with them. I loved that collection so much that I actually own every shade from it!

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Original (1 coat)
Dermelect Unscripted (1 coat)
OPI Divine Swine (1 coat on ring fingers only)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat (1 coat)

Yes, you read that correctly, ONE COAT of Dermelect Unscripted! Amazing! I was extra impressed since I was in a rush when I did this manicure so the minimal coats greatly helped out my dry time. I’m really impressed so far, so I’ll be sure to update you on the wear-time in next week’s Mani Monday! In addition, the formula of the polish was also a nice consistency so it applied quite smoothly and neatly.

What do you have on your nails today? Let me know in the comments down below!

xoxo,

Robyn

You can also find me here…

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Mani Monday: OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

September 19, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / Leave a comment

Hi guys! It’s been awhile since I last did did a Mani Monday (I feel like I’m always saying that) but I’m back today with one of my favourite nail polishes ever, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. I love this vampy shade of eggplant purple all year round, but I always feel a particular need to wear it when fall begins. What I love about it is that it is such a rich dark purple that it is nearly black, but you can still see that it is indeed purple.

Products Used:

OPI Nail Envy Original (1 coat)
OPI Lincoln Park After Dark (2 coats)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat (1 coat)

The formula of OPI Lincoln Park After Dark is creamy and smooth. It applies like butter and is easy to control. My bottle has gotten a bit thick (I’ve had it for about six years) so it was a bit more difficult to apply than normal, but that’s nothing a few thinning drops won’t fix.

I particularly love this shade on short/medium length nails, I feel like there is something sophisticated about how it looks worn that way. Personally, I can’t stop staring at my nails when I have this polish on. This polish is definitely a staple in my collection, and since it is quite popular, I imagine it is a staple to many. This is one shade that I can’t imagine OPI would ever retire. But, if they do, I have two bottles of it in my collection! That is how much I love this shade.

What do you have on your nails today? Let me know in the comments down below. You can find all of my previous Mani Monday posts here!

xoxo,

Robyn

You can also find me here…

YouTube | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Mani Monday: O Canada

June 27, 2016June 26, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 7 Comments

Hi guys! It’s time for Mani Monday and since this upcoming Friday is Canada Day, I thought I would match my manicure to the occasion. As well, as promised, I’m using the Formula X Wingwoman nail polish that I got in my last Ipsy Glam Bag! I also wanted to do something a bit different so I attempted to water marble which is something I haven’t done in years. I’m definitely rusty. I always photograph my left hand but this time the right turned out better which was super awkward to take a picture of. I definitely need more practice at water marbling to get back into it but I thought I would share my manicure anyways. Who hasn’t had a manicure fail?

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Original
Formula X Wingwoman (1 coat on all fingers except ring ringers and used in marble)
OPI Alpine Snow (2 coats ring fingers only)
OPI Kyoto Pearl (used in marble)
OPI Haven’t the Foggiest (used in marble)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat Continue reading →

Mani Monday

May 23, 2016May 22, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 3 Comments

Hi guys! I’m back with another Mani Monday! I bought two nail polishes a few weeks ago, the first one I posted in my last Mani Monday, so today I have the second one which is OPI Show Us Your Tips! It is a shimmery periwinkle shade that airs more on the sheer side from the New Orleans Collection (Spring/Summer 2016).

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Original (1 coat)
OPI Show Us Your Tips! (2 coats)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat (1 coat)

Generally, I’m not into sheer nail polishes on myself. I did originally have 3 coats on but no matter what I did they seemed to smudge or get dinged up, even with a fast drying top coat. I think next time I would attempt 3 coats again but make sure I’m not in a rush and really let each coat dry before applying the next. My normal method I use to paint my nails seems to work well with 2 coats, but the third is just too much. All in all, this colour is gorgeous and I would definitely wear it again. I actually don’t even mind how sheer it is.

What do you have on your nails today? Let me know in the comments down below!

xoxo,

Robyn

You can also find me here…

YouTube | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Mani Monday

May 9, 2016May 8, 2016 / thecorkedreader89 / 9 Comments

Hi guys! It’s time for another Mani Monday! Today I have a new polish that I picked up from the recently launched OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection. After much debate I decided to just pick up the light purple shade, I’m Gown for Anything! I thought it was a fairly unique shade and it seemed to appeal most to me. However, once I applied the polish it felt so familiar. It seemed identical to OPI’s Rumple’s Wiggin from the Shrek Forever After collection in 2010. That polish has been long discontinued though so if you don’t own it, this polish is for you! I’ll be comparing them side by side at the end of this post.

Products Used:

OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy Original (1 coat)
OPI I’m Gown for Anything! (2 coats)
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat (1 coat) Continue reading →