We were lucky to be able to attend this years annual Allied Beauty Association (ABA) Beauty Show at the Toronto Convention Centre this past weekend, where we had tons of fun - got to try some new products and met some amazing people! We decided to attend both days so we could get a feel for the event on Sunday, and check out the media fun on Monday. The event was super busy, and there were lots of new, exciting products to try and great deals (which we love!) - who can say no to a $3.57 essie? …Not us!

On Sunday, we walked around and saw some great live demos and hair competitions, picked up a few goodies for ourselves and friends, and then made our way to the dermalogica booth at the front of the showroom. We had our skin mapped and tried out what a day in our ideal skin routine would be like which was fun (although we were makeup less after!). We ticked a few items off of our must try list (Matrix Biolage Shampoo and Conditioner, Rowenta Infini Hair Dryer) and finished the day feeling quite accomplished.

Julia gets her nails done by Rita Remark of Essie, in Emerald Green (colour of the year)!

Julia's finished nails, colour block style!

On Monday we arrived and got to try out the latest innovations from well known brands (like Moroccan Oil, China Glaze, and Essie) and up and comers (such as Cuccio Colours, and the Wet Brush). We got our nails done by Rita Remark, of Essie, and J Darlene Johnston, of Pampered and Polished Salon and Spa! We also got our hands on the China Glaze Textures collection, which we've tried and love so far - look forward to swatches and nail art featuring these polishes!

Overall it was a great experience and we would definitely go back… if any of the products we received catch our attention we will be sure to let you know first (we're already loving our Wet Brushes!). The ABA Beauty Show Toronto 2013 was a great success in our eyes and we look forward to seeing what innovations the next year will bring in the beauty world. Now for the photos!

Essie's Steps to a Perfect Manicure

Boutique Brand Venique Lacquer Artist shows off easy and fun nail art!

While we love a good festive mani, we truly can't deny our love for glitter… This easter, we're going glitter placement all the way with '24 Carrots' (get it?). Since bunnies eat carrots, it's completely appropriate and not to mention, gorgeous over black. This glitter is a mix of Orange, Green, and Yellow-Orange hexes, dark Green shreds and tiny gold circle glitter. We love. Sweet Tips Nails is proudly Canadian (Eh?) and available on Etsy! 

This mani was easy to do and all the colours (especially the green) really pop on black (we used Essie's Licorice). Jen from Sweet Tips Nails also sells delicious smelling cuticle oils, our favourite is Vanilla Icing. Check out Jen from Sweet Tips Nails on Facebook, and let us know below what you're wearing this Easter!

Disclaimer: These products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Who wouldn't love to be off vacationing at a resort right now? Essie is releasing their Resort Collection for 2013, which includes 4 rich, deep spring hues. We were so excited to get over the winter blues (literally and figuratively!) and bring on the brights! When we first saw this collection, we were so excited about a fresh green (the least represented colour in our collection) and we can definitely say it did not disappoint!

First, this is Come Here! - a bright red-orange which is borderline neon. This shade is reminiscent of coral, but definitely reads more to a true red on the nail. This swatch is three thin coats with topcoat, we love this!

Next is In The Cab-ana, an aqua which leads to only one conclusion: I should be on a beach right now. We love how light and creamy this shade is, but it still has the pop of colour on par with the rest of this collection. The swatch is three thin coats with topcoat. 

While Emerald is the colour of the year, this shade, First Timer, could definitely pull for the shade of the season! It is impossible to capture the brightness of this polish. In the bottle, this could go either way; once on your nails, it transforms completely in to a light, bright green. We've been describing it as an ultra-vibrant mint: this swatch is again, three thin coats with topcoat.

The final shade of this collection, Under Where?, reminds us of the pastel jeans which were so in last spring, and seem to be making a comeback! We wish this shade was a bit more sharp (neon collection… we're ready for you!) but it makes a great accent for any occasion, can you say spring weddings?

Overall, we love where essie is headed with their trend shades, which have been bang on for the last few seasons. And yes, we are hoarding Mint Candy Apple from the Winter collection. Don't judge. Our top pick from the Resort Collection? In The Cab-ana… What's your fav?

Disclaimer: These products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Today we are sampling a new subscription service which will be available monthly called Club Nail Polish! They market themselves as being like 'candy for your nails' - you receive one mystery colour per month in the mail. The catch here is the mystery. Unlike other polish subscriptions, like Julep, you will have no idea what is coming in your package each month. Here is what we received in our sample package:

We received OPI Can't Find My Czechbook (we swatched this as part of the Euro Centrale Collection, here), three mini nail files (perfect for the purse) and three cotton swabs. While we do like this colour and are happy its current, we already have it and think that this service could be better if it focused on hard to find and/or even indie polishes!

The price point for this subscription service has yet to be determined, but the shipping on our package was over $10! Seeing as the retail value for this polish is only approximately 10 dollars, it seems unreasonable to charge more than 12 for the whole package. If this company cannot get its shipping cost down, it may be difficult for them to succeed in the long run.

We're excited to see where this goes in the future, and you can check out Club Nail Polish online, or on Facebook. What do you think, would you subscribe to this service, and what would you pay?

This week Target Canada had a soft opening and finally Sinful Colours polish (1.99 a bottle!) was available! We were in need of another black, so I picked this one up! Some gorgeous PolishMeToGo polishes had also arrived in the mail - and I was so excited to finally be able to make some glow in the dark magic! PolishMeToGo is an indie brand which makes the most vibrant glow in the dark polishes out there! You can check out their line on their bigcartel store! This mani was inspired by @preciouspolishxo on Instagram, who runs the precious polish blog!

We started with PolishMeToGo's White Undie, which went on totally opaque in one coat! Then we used a cosmetic sponge to dab the ombre of PolishMeToGo Yell, Oh Mint and I'm So Blue on the full nail. We did this approximately three times per nail to opacity. Then, using a nail art brush and the black Sinful Colours polish, we outlined the nail (excluding the free edge) and then followed that shape about a third of the way down the nail. We then used PolishMeToGo White Undie again to brighten the crescent at the top of the nail. Then, using a clean nail art brush, we painted the colour of the free edge of the nail over the crescent. Add top coat, and you're good to go! To keep this mani fun, we inverted our colours on our two middle nails.

The best part of this mani… is that is glows! This photo was taken in the dark after approximately 20 seconds under a LED desk light. This is the brightest glowing polish we have seen, and we just cannot get enough! Be sure to check out PolishMeToGo on Facebook, and Instagram!



Disclaimer: These products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Colour Gossip is a new brand which we first heard about on Instagram, and we were lucky to receive a few polishes to try out! The brands mission is to donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of each colour to a specific charity, based on the colour collection which is comes from. For this look, we use (from left to right, above) Love Child, Bora Bora, and Not A Size 6. We love the 'wear a cause' aspect of this nail polish and were impressed with the formula of these 3 free polishes! We especially love the brushes which allowed us to create nice edges, which we took advantage of when creating the triangles without using a nail art brush! 

We started by using a wet cosmetic sponge, with lines of polish in the order we wanted our ombré, on each of our nails. After the first layer dries, with fresh polish on your sponge - repeat until opaque. We used three layers on each of our nails, and love the results! Because you're repeatedly sponging, it creates a more blended ombré, as opposed to defined lines. Then we used the polish brush to create triangles on the bottom of each nail. We only realized after that these actually resemble mountains with a sunset behind… but we prefer to look at these more abstract. The photo below actually has no topcoat, and the ombré section turned out almost matte, while the painted polish turned out quite shiny! 

Let us know what you think, and be sure to check out Colour Gossip Nail Laquer on Facebook and Twitter!

Disclaimer: These products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

iNails (aren't we clever?):

When the idea for these nails came up, there was some scepticism about how the black dancers on the neon backgrounds would come out…Would people get it? I think our shadows dancing to iPods came out perfect - what do you think? The apple logo nails are matte, and the iPod ad replicas are glossy, although they didn't seem to shine from the camera flash at this angle. The index finger is a girl's head listening to earbuds, the middle is a guy dancing with his iPod in his hand, and the pinkie, which is harder to see in this shot, is a man holding his iPod up beside his head.

For those who are too young to remember these iPod ads...

This OPI Euro Centrale inspired mani contains 4 OPI Euro Centrale shades, including: 

• A periwinkle for the base colour, in You're Such a Budapest
• A deep blue-purple, for the triangle colour (and line details) in Eurso Euro
• The glitter, in Polka.com
• A turquoise for the circle within each triangle, in Can't Find My Czechbook

We also used striping tape and a nail art brush to place the glitter and draw fine lines for this look!

For this look, we started with the two coats of the base shade, a purple based periwinkle colour. We were really loving the blue tones in this collection, which is how this mani came about! We then placed striping tape where the outline of our triangle pattern would be. Using the deep blue-purple and a nail art brush we lined the inside of each triangle. Then, we used the nail art brush to place the glitter within this boundary in a rough triangle. Note: this look can be simplified by filling the whole triangle with glitter instead of tediously placing the glitter! Then we used the nail art brush to paint the centre of each triangle with a turquoise shade, and then filled the open space with some more pink glitter and fine details.

We love how this turned out! Glitter placement is definitely a time-consuming task, but we think it's worth it. What do you think?