Essence Twins Romeo & Julia - Degrassi Showdown Finale Week

Super quick post for today!!

Things went down on Degrassi last night in a way I wasn't really expecting so I am pretty apprehensive for the finale this evening. Tonight is supposed to be the opening night of Romeo and Jules, a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that stars two gay men as the lead characters. This play has caused a huge uproar amongst the students and parents at Degrassi so we're not quite sure that it's actually going to happen. I'm excited (and extremely nervous) to see what goes down in the season finale tonight!

In honor of Romeo and Jules, I thought it only fitting to wear my Essence Twins Romeo and Julia duo! This Essence duo is a European exclusive and I was lucky enough to have one of my overseas nail friends send me a few of these duos. Romeo is a smooth medium grey creme that took an easy two coats for full coverage. Julia, the square silver holo glitter, is most definitely the star of the show here!! I am kind of obsessed with square glitter and Julia is one of my favorites in my whole collection of square glitters. LOVE IT!

Here is one coat of Essence Julia over two coats of Essence Romeo. Enjoy!

And here's one in really low light because look at how awesome those holo squares look!

Here is the poster for Degrassi's production of Romeo and Jules. Knowing Degrassi, nothing ever goes as planned at it will be a small miracle if that play opens tonight!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Girly Bits Canadian Eh? - Degrassi Showdown Finale Week

Good morning lovely readers!! I am still reeling from last night's episode of Degrassi, how about you? LOL. Today I have for you a polish from one of the many indie brands out there in the nail world today, Girly Bits. I chose Canadian Eh? for one of my Degrassi posts of course because Degrassi is a Canadian show but also because I am a huge fan of Canada in general. It has been said that American Degrassi fans have Canadian pride and it really is true. I also chose these colors for this mani because they are the colors of Degrassi's new junior pro hockey team, the Toronto Ice Hounds. Since they caused THE BEST FIGHT IN DEGRASSI HISTORY on last night's episode, it's only appropriate to honor them in today's post!

I chose Etude House Black Holo as the base for Canadian Eh? and I'm so glad that I did. Black Holo is a black jelly packed with holo microglitter and it really helped set off the white and red glitters in the Girly Bits polish. Canadian Eh? is a multi-shaped red and matte white glitter in a clear base with teeny bits of blue microshimmer. I'm not usually a huge fan of white matte glitter but it definitely works here. Application of both polishes was super easy, though I wish more of the square glitters in Canadian Eh? would have come out to play on the nail. I only got three square glitters on all ten of my nails, and two of them ended up on the same nail! Overall though, both had great formulas and no major problems.

So here is one coat of Girly Bits Canadian Eh? over 2 coats of Etude House Black Holo. Sorry for the less-than-stellar shots, I was rushing and didn't get any good ones. Oh well, at least with the bit of blur you can see the lovely holo sparkle in the Etude House polish. Enjoy!

And here are some of the Ice Hounds, the only hockey team that Degrassi has had in 12 seasons and "the worst thing to ever happen to Degrassi." They may be jerks but there's a few cuties in there, eh?

Edited to add this totally amazing action shot of last night's epic brawl. So cool.

Image source

I can't believe that the season finale of Degrassi is tomorrow already! It went by so fast, but at least we will have new episodes this fall again so we don't have to wait long.

Anyways, Hope everyone has a fantastic day and I will see you all tomorrow!

Vintage Chanel Clair-Obscur - Degrassi Showdown Finale Week

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today I have for you one of my vintage Chanel polishes, Clair-Obscur. I chose this polish for Degrassi countdown week because it reminds me of my favorite character on the show Clare Edwards (hence the "Clair" portion of the name). Clair-Obscur (chiaroscuro in Italian) is a term that originated during the Renaissance period used to describe the tonal contrasts between light and dark in art. The backgrounds and shadows during this time were often quite dark and obscured, while the bodies depicted would be very light, bright and clear. Hence, clair-obscur.

*Degrassi babble ahead*

I felt like Clair-Obscur was the perfect polish to dedicate to Clare because she has really been having such a rough time lately. Her parents divorce, boyfriend crashing his hearse into wall, new boyfriend becoming stepbrother, getting arrested, etc. all seem to pale in comparison to what Clare has been going through this season. Sure, she has her boyfriend Eli and her bestie Alli back in her life but things have become a bit darker for Clare, obscured if you will. She landed her dream internship only to be fired for reporting that her boss sexually harassed her. She is afraid to tell Eli about the harassment, so she has been lying about the whole situation. A girl who once prided herself on the clarity of her writing and purity of her faith is now spiraling down into a dark and depressing place.

*end Degrassi babble*

Chanel Clair-Obscur was released in 2000 and is no longer available to purchase from Chanel anymore, so I picked up this bad boy from eBay. Vintage Chanels can be quite pricy but this one wasn't too bad. The formula on this was typical for a non 3-free polish, a bit runny and thin so had to do 3 coats here for opacity.

The color of Clair-Obscur is hard to explain. It has a dusky lavender base with a very strong flash of greenish-gold. I have nothing like this color in my stash and I've never seen anything like it! It is subtle but has an unexpected edge with the hint of green in the gold. It dries to a satin finish, but I preferred the look with a topcoat so that is what I have pictured here.

So here is 3 coats of Chanel Clair-Obscur with topcoat. Enjoy!

And here is the character who inspired this post, Miss Clare Edwards, who has been described as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery stuffed inside an enigma." (Notice the use of clair-obscur in this picture....mind blown!)

Thanks for stopping by today! See you all tomorrow =)

Geometric Blue on Yellow Stamping - Degrassi Showdown Finale Countdown!

Happy Monday everyone!! For most people, Mondays are the worst of the worst, but for me, that means a brand new episode of Degrassi! *cue the groans* If you follow me on Twitter, you know that every Monday-Thursday for the past 4 weeks, I have been tweeting incoherently from 10-10:30 every evening using terms from the Degrassi vernacular such as Eclare, Jatie, Drianca, etc. intermingled with frequent cussing and sometimes just straight up jibberish. What can I say, I really get into my teen dramas!

This is the last week of the summer season of Degrassi and I wanted to do some Degrassi themed manis for the finale week! For a crash course on Degrassi, it is a Canadian teen drama that has been around for around 30 years in one form or another, with its current format in its 12th season. Degrassi isn't hugely popular like Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries or all those other teen dramas out there but it has a huge cult following. The cast and crew of Degrassi are so responsive to and appreciative of the fans and it's such a fun community to be a part of. Yes, I am nearing the end of my twenties and still watching this teen drama, but I can't turn away. DEGRASSI I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU. But not really, because it's FLIPPING AMAZEBALLS.

Anyways, for my first Degrassi themed manicure I wanted to take inspiration from the Degrassi Community School building itself. The front of Degrassi has this huge pastel blue and yellow tile pattern and I always thought that would look so cool as a mani! I couldn't find the exact stamping plate I wanted so I went a bit abstract with it and I hope you guys like it!

For the yellow base, I used two coats of Orly Lemonade, a pastel yellow creme, and one coat of L'Oreal Eclair, a sheer yellow with silver shimmer. *fangirl alert* Yes, I used Eclair specifically because Eclare is my favorite Degrassi couple FOREVER AND EVER. *end fangirling* For the stamping, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Away. Hope you enjoy!

And here is the building (set) I took inspiration from, the infamous Degrassi Community School!

Thanks for stopping by and enduring my Degrassi-ness today!!