Instagram Mermaidcore Collab 🧜‍♀️🩵

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! Todays nail art look is another special collaboration I did with some fellow nail artists on Instagram. & it’s very fitting, as I’m currently on my way to vacation at Ocean’s Playgound (aka Prince Edward Island, Canada). So this Mermaidcore look is totally fitting for our fun ocean vacation this weekend.

For my mermaid themed look, I decided to go with a classic scale look. I don’t have a scale stamping plate, sadly, but I decided to pull out one of my older stamping plates & see if it would work for a scale pattern — & it did!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Icing Stores Matte Effects 60217
  • Icing Stores Mermaid Mint
  • Essie Under The Twilight
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Unicorn Top Coat
  • Bodico Stamping Plate B-12
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper 

Do you think I captured the Mermaidcore aesthetic? Obviously I had to add a little extra shimmer with the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Unicorn Top Coat over my stamped design. & I think it turned our absolutely perfect, & just the nail art look I was going for.

Mermaid vibes all the way.

What do you think about this Mermaidcore design I did for this Instagram Challenge? If you get a chance, hop over to Instagram & check out everyone else’s amazing mermaidcore manicures: #mermaidnailartmanicollab2023

Have a great weekend! I’ll be back to posting next Wednesday! 🩵

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER— Black Cats 🐈‍⬛

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & happy first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October! It’s been a while since I participated in one of these challenges, so naturally I had to jump back in for my absolute favourite month because it’s all about my favourite holiday: Halloween!

First prompt this month: Black Cats.

This one has a special place in my heart because not only do I adore black cats in general, but we recently lost our own black cat. So I was very excited to do a special black cat manicure.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Craze
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Knighttime
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Stargazer Lily
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • OPI DS Extravagance
  • Bodico Stamping Plate B-20
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper & Scraper 
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How cute is this stamping plate? These aren’t very spooky black cats, haha, but that’s okay I like my cute little kitties with sparkly collars. I thought about trying to paint some tiny little witch hats on my kitties, but I was so scared of messing them up, I decided to go for a pretty kitty look instead of a spooky one. Plus there is still lots of time left for spooky nail art looks — & there are lots of spooky nail art looks to come!

What do you think about this nail art look? Have you started planning your Halloween nail art looks? Are you as pumped as I am for another round of Glam Nails Challenge October? Let me know down in the comments below!

& don’t forget to follow along with #glamnailschallengeOctober on Instagram to see all the fun (& spooky) nail art looks.

Purple & Blue Stamped Geometric Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! I hope it’s as sunny & beautiful where you are, as it is here in Halifax.

Today I have a fun stamped nail are look to share with you! I know… who is she? It’s been a bit since my last foray into stamping, & I was looking for a quick & easy nail art look, so I landed on this stamped pattern. & I have to say, I’m really happy with how the finished look turned out!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essence Extreme GEL Top
  • Essie Mint Candy Apply (blue version)
  • L’Oreal Color Riche Le Vernis Violet Vendome
  • BODICO Stamping Plate B-12
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set

I was super pleased with how these turned out! I love, love, LOVED this stamping plate from BODICO, but if you remember from this (very old) review, I had a bit of trouble getting a clear pattern to show up. So I was super pleased that I got such a clear & crisp image for this design.

I absolutely adore the contrast of purple over the pale blue. It really pops! We all know blue & purple are probably two of my favourite nail polish shades, so pairing them together just makes for the perfect combination.

& this geometric pattern is just so much fun — I love that it almost looks like flowers.

What do you think about this geometric stamped design? Do you love the end result as much as I do? I always forget about my other nail art tools like my stamping plates, or even my nail vinyls, so I’m really trying to make a conscious effort to pull them out more. We will see how successful I am, haha.

Have a lovely Tuesday!

#GlamNailsChallangeFeb — Stars

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & happy March — how crazy is that? We have reached the end of February already! But I did have one more manicure from #GlamNailsChallengeFeb to share: stars! ✨⭐️

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • L’Oréal Colour Riche B01 Pistache Royale
  • China Glaze Flying Dragon
  • Bodico Stamping Plate B-17
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

I really, really adore how this manicure turned out. I haven’t tried to use this stamping plate since I reviewed it, but I decided to try it out with a matte shade from China Glaze, as I find they sometimes work quite well for stamping. & I think my stars turned out really, really well! & I think the bright purple really pops against my pale minty pastel base. It’s giving me Spring/Summer vibes, which is perfect because I’m officially over winter. I just hope that this March doesn’t last as long as last year.

What do you think about this star design? Which design from February has been your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Metallic Smooshy Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. Today I have some more nail art to share with you that I recently did. I’ve been experimenting with different nail art techniques that I either haven’t done in a long time, or never tried. Today’s look is inspired by a technique by @grapefizznails — smooshy nails using a stamper!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Nail Primer
  • Color Club Silver Lake
  • Color Club You’re My Soul-Matte
  • Color Club Matte About You
  • Color Club Put A Ring On It
  • Bodico small clear stamper
  • Silicone nail art mat

So I definitely love how these turned out, but I don’t think trying to do a marble look like this is easiest with matte shades, which I decided to use. They tend to try faster than non-matte shades, so you get more blob-ish smooshes instead of the delicate effect that I see in a lot of others smoosh looks. I’m going to try it out again for sure, with a different variety of polish formulas. I

t was definitely an easy look to do, which I always appreciate, & I always love seeing other people’s smooshy nails, so I’m dedicated to nailing this technique! I’m already imagining one using a Valentine’s Day inspired colour scheme.

What do you think about this nail art look? Do you enjoy smooshy nail art looks? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & share any other nail art techniques you would like to see me try out!