Author: Shannon Rae

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March Favourites! 


This is my first time in a while I’ve done a manicure round up! It’s been way too long. March saw my return to nail art, which has been really nice. I just don’t feel like myself when I don’t get to do my nails. March also saw my craving for Spring become real, which meant lots of Spring colours! 
From top left, here are my March manicures favourites

It’s so hard to chose my absolute favourite of all my designs this month (&always), but I really really love my Pink Drag Marble chevrons & my Spring Floral! 

Did you have a favourite design this month? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Pretty in Pink Drag Marble nails. 

It may be the second week of Spring, but it certainly does not feel like it here on the East Coast. Oh how I long for warm sunshine-y days & pretty sun dresses. So in the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to make due with channeling Spring on my nails! For today’s mani, I decided to continue my trend of pulling forgotten shades from the stash by choosing a few favourites from years past.

For this manicure, I used:

  • Essie Lounge Lover
  • Essie The Girls Are Out
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Drag Marble Stencils from The Base Coat.


I just love love love how these colours compliment each other! The Girls Are Out has always been one of those colours I forget how much I love until I pull it out again. I picked it up a couple years ago for $3 at the Dollarama, and instantly fell in love.  The flecks of glitter are so pretty, & pairing it with Lounge Lover’s soft pinky coral really brightens up the whole mani! These two colours with the drag marble pattern really remind me of a beach ball, or something equally Summer-y.

Spring fashion may feel like forever away, but my nails are definitely ready with these vibrant chevrons! I’m currently away on a mini family vacation to Northern New Brunswick where there is currently 4 feet of snow, so I definitely need some brightness in my life. 

What do you think of this mani–what are your favourite shades to pair together to brighten up your days? Let me know in the comments below.

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My Spring Polish Picks


If you’re like me, your love of nail polish may run into barriers such as money & time. Being a new Mom, I can’t afford to go crazy on buying nail polish like I used to, because you know… diapers. That means when I do want to buy polish, I have to make sure it is really something special. So instead, I’ve been “shopping” my own stash instead of buying new polishes.

In that spirit, I decided to go through & pick my favourite polishes for Spring from the shades I already own! It took me a while to pick my personal favourites from all the polishes I own, but these are all shades I can see myself reaching for in the coming months, & screams Spring to me!  I’ve listed the seasons these polishes were released, but I know some are part of the permanent core collections.

Continue reading “My Spring Polish Picks”

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Yellow Polka Dots

We’ve reached that time of year where I start craving square nails again, so I decided to take the plunge & change things up again hence the new square shorties! I just  recently cut off my very long mermaid hair after 4 years of growing it out, so why not a fresh start all around! 

For my first manicure on my new shorties, I wanted something vibrant & just happy feeling. 

This mani makes me think of that Itty, Bitty Yellow Polka Dot bikini song. It’s the only thing that played in my head the whole time I was doing these! This is definitely not my best Polka dot work (I’m a little rusty) but I love the two colours together so much, I don’t even care. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • OPI My Chihuahua Bites 
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Small dotting tool from Amazon. 

How well do these polishes go together?! These definitely remind me of Summer & the beach (& yes, a bikini pattern). Summer might feel like it’s ions away–especially here in Halifax where we just had another winter storm–so why not channel Summer on your nails! Although you’ll probably want to leave the flip flops at home. 

What do you think of this mani (& my return to square nails?) 

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Blue (Chevron) Moons

It’s been way, way too long since I did chevron moons. My stash of nail vinyls is seriously dwindling so I’ve been hoarding them for special occasions until I ordered new ones (which we did this weekend so I hope they arrive quickly!) But it had just been way too long without chevrons in my life, &  I just couldn’t wait any longer to break them out. 

I’m really trying to make an effort to wear polishes I don’t wear, or don’t wear nearly enough–whether it be an unusual colour for me, or just a polish which hasn’t been pulled out in a while. With close to 1000 bottles of nail polish (I need to do a recount soon), obviously that makes for a lot of ignored polishes! I went through the other night trying to sort through favourite polishes to figure out my favourites for Spring for a future post, & it made me realize there are way too many I that don’t get enough of my love. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (the blue version)
  • Essie Strut Your Stuff
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Kiss Products Chevron Nail Art Guides
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat


An update on testing put this new top coat I bought from Cutex: it’s pretty awesome for nail art. It dries quick… like 20 minutes & you can add nail vinyls without pulling up your base colour. As much as I love Essie Gel Setter, it takes close to an hour of dry time for me to be able to apply nail vinyls without ruining my base colour. That’s a pretty big difference. Not to mention I have a 6 week old & sometimes I’ve painted my nails only to have him need to eat within 5-10 minutes. With this top coat, I’ve had no issues with messing up my colour when having to pick him up & feed him. I still need to do an official review post, but I had to share. I’m really, really impressed! In far I’m going to go stock up on more bottles while it’s on sale at Shoppers for when I start running out. 

I love, love, love the brightness of this mani! Plus the Blues just feel fun for Spring. I definitely seem to pull out my blues more often in the Summer months. Also, even though I’ve owned it for over a year, this is only the second time I’ve actually worn Essie Mint Candy Apple. I am definitely going to have to change that! It is such a gorgeous colour. 

What do you think of this mani? Are you feeling the blues (in a good way)? Let me know in the comments below. 💙