Author: Shannon Rae

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Earth Day nails with #thenailartsquad


For Earth Day 2017 I joined up last minute with a couple members of #thenailartsquad–@25sweetpeas & @nbnailart–for some Earth inspired manicures! Each one of us had a cute, unique take on the idea & all the designs turned out so awesome! 

For my Earth Day inspired manicure, I had an idea to create a drip marble that would look like the Earth, & I’m so happy with how it turned out! 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat 
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Coat. 
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Boho Blue
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Babe Blue
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Jazzy Jade
  • Silicone Craft Mat


To achieve this design, I used the same technique as my last drip manicure. The more I practice this technique, especially applying the decals, the easier it gets! Also I think it actually looks like the Earth, which makes me so happy! I wasn’t sure if this idea was going to turn out, but it actually worked so well! 

What do you think of this Earth inspired design? Let me know in the comments below. 🌎 and don’t forget to check out #thenailartsquad on Instagram to see these designs, as   well as all past collaborations! 

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Tropical Leaves Accent Nail featuring OPI Fiji minis. 

Recently I entered a contest hosted by OPI Canada on Instagram, and surprise! I won! And my prize was the OPI Fiji Collection minis. I will hopefully have full swatches of the minis coming soon, but first I have a mani featuring a few of the colours to share. 

For this manicure, the Products I used are:

  • OPI Two Timing The Zones
  • OPI Getting Nadi on My Honeymoon 
  • OPI Is That A Spear In Your Pocket? 
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • What’s Up Nails Tropical Leaves Stencil

I seriously couldn’t think of a more perfect combination than these gorgeous colours and this pretty leaf accent nail. I ordered these stencils from What’s Up Nails recently on my vinyl buying splurge. They just looked so fun for Spring/Summer. 

These OPI Fiji polishes are gorgeous. I’ve always loved the mini sets OPI releases because it gives you the chance to try out a few polishes for a great deal, & then go pick up a big bottle (or bottles) of the ones you really love. 

Have you picked up any of the polishes from the OPI Fiji collection? Which ones are you favourite? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Unicorn Inspired Gradient 🦄

So by now you’ve probably been introduced to the Unicorn Frappuccino that Starbucks released yesterday. I know it completely blew up my Instagram & Facebook feeds… everyone & their grandma was showing off the drink on social media. Personally I have no interest in trying it–not a fan of frapuccinos (too much sugar), I can’t have any dairy so no whip cream, & there isn’t even any coffee in it! But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to join in the unicorn fun, so I took inspiration from the colours of the drink to create a Unicorn inspired gradient! 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat 
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Orchid Around
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Royal Hue
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Latex Free cosmetic sponge (purchased at Dollarama)
  • Born Pretty Store Peel off Liquid Tape

It’s been so long–too long–since I played around with a gradient, so I’m a little rusty. But I’m pretty happy with how these turned out. The colours might not exactly match its inspiration, but I thought it was a good attempt. It would have been more fun if I had one of those cute unicorn stencils (I think they’re by Twinkled-T) to add a holo glitter unicorn on my ring finger, but with a little Fairy Dust added it still has that magical feel. 

Have you tried Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino yet? Does it taste as magical as it looks? Part of me wants to order one just to take a picture of it with my nails (because I’m silly like that) but that would be a serious waste of money that could be better spent (on coffee, for example). Oh well, when you can’t drink it, why not wear it in your nails!

What do you think of this gradient? Do you see the inspiration? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 🦄

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Freehand Floral

Lately it’s been  warm enough to wear flats, & it makes it feel like Spring is really here to stay.  I’m just so ready to put away my winter boots & jackets, & replace them with all the Spring dresses I can. In the mean time, I’m just going to have to settle for some Spring floral accents nails, because let’s be honest–it could easily snow again next weekend (but I hope not). 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat 
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Stones N’ Roses
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Sinful Colors Hip To Be Square
  • Essence Break Through
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art Pen in Pink
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art Pen in Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art pen in Purple
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art pen in Green
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art pen in White
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art pen in Black
  • Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art pen in Red
  • Essence The Green and the Grunge 
  • Essence LOL

What do you think of this floral? Has Spring found you where you are? Let me know in the comments below! 🌸

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Water colour shattered glass nails. 


I recently won a few contests on Instagram, & one of them was the Spring collection of decals from Kayla Ray Vinyls, as well as 6 sets of stencils that I got to pick. One of the stencils I picked was the Shattered Glass stencils. 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • ORLY Color Blast Valley Girl
  • Hard Candy Coconut
  • China Glaze Sun Upon My Skin
  • LA Colors Gloomy
  • OPI Where Did Suzi’s Man-go?
  • Kayleigh Ray Loves Shattered Glass Vinyls

I was really impressed with these vinyls. They were so easy to use, & even though I was creating this water colour effect, there was very little bleeding under the vinyl. This was my first time using clear vinyls, & I can understand the appeal of them. & the end result turned out so neat! This was one of my favourite techniques last Spring/Summer, & I can see it making a comeback. I had kind of forgotten how good this technique looked! 

What do you think of this design? What is your favourite vinyl design? Let me know in the comments below!