Category: Accent Nails

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Happy National Coffee Day Nails! ☕️


You know I love a good excuse to celebrate a holiday & what better holiday to celebrate than National Coffee Day! I joined my girls in #thenailartsquad for some caffeine inspired manicures in order to celebrate this day in style! 

Obvious if we’re doing coffee inspired nails, I had to do something Starbucks inspired! I also thought I would pull out some of the acrylic paints I recently picked up for my freehanding details. 



For this design, the products I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash
  • Essie Mochacino
  • Essie Cocktails & Coconuts 
  • Sally Hansen Hard To Get
  • Acrylic Paints (black, white, brown & green)
  • Silicone Mat
  • Tiny dotting tool 
  • Small Detail Brush

I had this idea of how I wanted this design to turn out, & it turned out exactly how I imagined in my head… I love when that happens! I used my pink silicone mat to create my “latte art” drag marble decals which (I think) turned out really good. I also tested out my acrylic paints for the first time, & they were so easy to use for nail art! I definitely understand why they are such a popular option for nail art—I would have had a much harder time creating my little Starbucks cup using just regular nail polish. Now I want to buy even more colours to test out designs! 

What do you think of these coffee nails in honour of National Coffee Day? What’s you favourite coffee drink of choice? Obviously I love pumpkin spice this time of year, but if we’re picking favourites I absolutely can’t wait for Gingebread lattes to return! 
Don’t forget to check out the hashtag #thenailartsquad to see all the coffee themed designs, as well as our past collaborations! 

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Fall Inspired Floral Accent Nails 🌻🍁

I am not one of those people that thinks floral should exclusively be worn only in the Spring/Summer. Seriously, I don’t think there is a season that can’t use a little floral inspiration. For today’s design, I used some Fall inspired shades to achieve my look.


For this design, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Cashmere Bathrobe
  • Essie Wrap It Up
  • Essie The A List
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • Essie Peach Daiquiri 
  • China Glaze Sun Upon My Skin
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Essie Off Tropic 
  • Dotting Tool from Bundle Monster
  • Small Nail Art Brush from Bundle Monster

Floral nails always take a few (dozen) polishes to get right, but I never seem to mind because of how beautiful they look. My flowers still aren’t as perfect as I dream about them being, but I still always have fun painting them on. Hopefully if I keep practicing, some day I can get my floral up there with the likes of @polishpeach & @just1nail! They’re serious floral nail goals–I wish I knew the secrets to painting such realistic & beautiful designs!


& just for fun, here is a shot of my nails & my sons sippy cup that is inspired by a Starbucks cup! When I was pregnant my Mom & my Aunt both bought me one so now the whole family can match with our coffee cups. Haha I think it’s too cute & I figured why not borrow it for a “coffee shot” since I had forgotten to take one with my own coffee.


What do you think of this Fall floral design? Do you think floral nails are perfect for any time of year? Let me know your thoughts on this mani in the comments below!

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Black & White Chevron Accent Nails


I hope I’m not the only one who takes pictures of their nails, & then totally forgets to post them. I blame it on my excitement over the exciting polishes which have come my way recently (hello OPI Iceland collection!) I did these nails a few weeks back, & totally forgot to share them! So while going through pictures on my phone, I knew I’d have to post them ASAP because who doesn’t love a good chevron design.

For this manicure, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: Cutex Brittle Nail Fix
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • OPI My Chihuahua Bites!
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Essence Back to Black
  • Snail Vinyls Single Chevron Vinyls

You can never go wrong with a good Black & white accent nail (or nails). Also this mani shows off my love for OPI My Chihuahua Bites! which is forever & always my favourite coral-y red. I’ve been so caught up with Fall colours & polishes I haven’t even thought about bright polishes, & looking at pictures of this design is making me think I might need one or two more Summer-y manicures before I officially say hello to Fall. Plus red nails are forever my favourite, even if I don’t wear them as often as I used to. 


What do you think of these black & white chevron accent nails. Do you have a favourite accent nail/colour combo you love to wear? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Diamond Pattern Accent Nails

I keep telling myself “It’s Summer! Wear Summer colours!” & then immediately reach for some questionably Fall tones. That’s what August does to me–the calendar flips to August & I start thinking about Fall, & pumpkin spice & sweater weather & it’s always reflected in my polish choices. 

For this mani, I tried to go Summery… but they ended up feeling Fall-like anyways. For this mani I grabbed a bunch of shades that I won from Essie Canada thanks to their Suddenly Summer contest! (I won 10 Essie shades & a very cool InstaMax 9 Camera!) These nails remind me a lot of argyle… I used the diamond pattern vinyls & if you added a couple thin lines overtop I think it would make for some great argyle pattern nails. Going to keep that in mind for some future Fall nails. 

For this mani, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: Cutex Brittle Nail Fix
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Essie Pool Side Service
  • Essie Splash of Grenadine
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Diamond Stencils (applied sideways) 


When do you start feeling a craving for Fall? I’m used to retail life so it’s usually end of July, early August when all the back to school shopping starts popping up in store (& when all the Fall polish collections start coming out). 

Let me know what you think of this mani by leaving a comment below & let me know what Fall polish shade (or collection) you’re looking forward to the most! 

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Happy Birthday Canada Day Nails 🇨🇦

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Today is an important birthday for my country–it’s the 150th birthday of Canada’s Confederation. & in honour of the occasion I created these festive nails using maple leaf stencils I received in honour of the occasion free from Nail Polish Canada (& thanks so a discount code @jennieshaw posted a few weeks back). 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All In One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • China Glaze Ruby Slippers
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Skinny Waves Vinyls
  • What’s Up Nails Canadian Flag Nail Stencils c/o: Nail Polish Canada

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Canada Day (& it’s not too rainy where you are!) Myself & the baby are heading on vacation tomorrow so we’re keeping our plans low key today since he’s a little too young for fireworks this year. We are however having a fun Canada Day supper with my inlaws before we leave. Whatever your plans are today, I hope it includes a little red & white (& maybe something maple flavoured). 

How are you celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday?! Let me know in the comments below!