Category: Bundle Monster

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Mani Swap with @hjs_nails!


Good morning lovelies! Hope you’re enjoying your week so far, & what’s left of August. Isn’t it crazy how quickly the month is speeding by? Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond excited for Fall but it is crazy to think how quickly this Summer has speed by. 

I thought I would break up the Fall colours I’ve been obsessing over, & joint in a fun (& bright & colourful) mani swap with Hannah of @hjs_nails! For this swap I picked her super neat abstract design, & she recreated my recent watercolour lines design (& lets be honest, she did it 100x better! I’m so jealous!) 

For this design, I used: 

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Peony
  • Essie In The Cab-ana 
  • Essie Splash of Grenedine
  • Essence Back to Black
  • Small Bundle Monster dotting tool 

I thought this was such a neat design when I originally away Hannah’s so when she was looking for someone to swap with I knew already what design I was going to pick! Plus it’s such a great pop of colour which I kind of just needed in my life. You can never go wrong with a good abstract nail & the right pop of colour. 

What do you think of our swap? Let me know in the comments below! & don’t forget to head over to Hannah’s instagram & give her a follow if you’re not following her already. 💜

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Polka Dots! Featuring Essie’s New Speed Setter Top Coat

You know, I don’t think there is anything that I enjoy more (aside from my daily caffeine) than discovering a new quick dry top coat to make my life easier. While some people are top coat loyalists, I am always on the look out for what’s new! & if you go back through the archives I’ve been varied in my top coat love, but one brand I’ve always seem to return to is Essie. So when I saw they had a brand new quick dry top coat coming out–touting 60 second dry times!–I knew that I was going to need to give it a try. 

A few weeks back I found it hiding on the shelves at my local pharmacy, & I quickly snatched it up so I could see if it was worth all the hype. Now that I’ve used it on quite a few manicures, I felt safe giving it an honest review!

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All In One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Peach Daiquiri
  • Essie Butler Please
  • Small dotting tool from Bundle Monster 

I have to say the Speed Setter dries impressively fast. You won’t be applying nail vinyls after 60 seconds, but there is definitely a serious increase in dry time as opposed to Essie’s Gel Setter or Good To Go. Within 15-20 minutes my nails were dry enough to apply nail vinyls without having to worry about ruining my base colour. & when you have limited time to get your nails dry, that comes in handy! It also adds a good amount of shine to your manicure. As far as lasting time, I rarely leave on a manicure for more than 2-3 days but it held up with minimal tip wear.  

After a few weeks of using this top coat, I’m impressed enough to buy a second bottle. Unlike a lot of quick dry top coats, I haven’t noticed it thickening up towards the end of the bottle which is a plus. Nothing worse then trying to scrap those last few sticky drops of top coat out of the bottom of the bottle. But my only complaint with Essie’s new Speed Setter is the fact it smears nail art if you don’t apply it carefully (or, sometimes, even if you do.) But with all the pluses, I’m willing to overlook the smearing issue. Having to wait an extra couple minutes to apply my top coat still doesn’t take as long over all as some other to coats I’ve used in the past. As long as it keeps impressing me, I will definitely keep using it as my #1 top coat of choice. 

Have you tried Essie’s new Speed Setter top coat yet? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below! & if you haven’t given it a try yet, let me know which top coat is your holy grail top coat of choice. 

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Hug Your Cat Day Collab! 😸


Happy Hug Your Cat Day! Did you know that June 4th was Hug Your Cat Day? I didn’t until @highchanceofpolish announced on Instagram she was organizing a collab for it, so obviously I had to join in on the kitty love. 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • Colour Club Peppermint Twist
  • OPI Who You Callin’ Bossy
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Mellow Yellow
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Small Nail Art Brush from Bundle Monster
  • Small Dotting Tool
  • Kitty vinyls from The Base Coat 

For my design, I was inspired by my own kitties Abbath & Hades. It’s been a long time since I tried freehand kitty nails, but I think they turned out so lovely! 

So what do you think of my kitty cat nails? Are you celebrating Hug Your Cat Day? I feel like wearing my kitty cat shirt just for the occasion. 😸 & just for fun, how about my inspiration for this mani? Who doesn’t love kitty pictures? 

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Gold & Blue Holo X-Pattern Nails

After a bit of an impromptu hiatus, I’m back with some new nails! Today I’m showing off these gold & blue holo nails featuring more of the great vinyls from Xroma Polish & Vinyls. 

For this manicure I used: 

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formulas Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • ACO by Ardene La Luna mixed with Nicole By OPI Make A Comet-ment
  • Color Club Dirty Money 
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls ‘X’ Stencil
  • Small dotting tool from Bundle Monster 


First can I mention how much I love this polish combination? ACO by Ardene La Luna is such a pretty cruelly, & it occurred that it would show off some holo really well so I took a risk & mixed it with some of my bottle of Nicole by OPI Make A Comet-ment. & it turned into an absolutely perfect blue scattered holo. I’m kind of in love. So I wanted to create a design that would compliment this colour & I think these x pattern stencils are perfect for that. 


I need to start coaxing myself into wearing colours other that blue. Maybe that will be my goal for June! Although I did just pick up Revlon To The Chapel which is… you guessed it! A pretty baby blue. Haha. But after I wear that it’s going to be a blue free month! Think I can do it? Guess we will have to see. 

What do you think of today’s design? What’s your favourite colour to wear? Let me know in the comments below! 💙

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Simple Rose Accent Nails

Sometimes a polish is so pretty, it doesn’t need much in tens of nail art. That’s how I felt about the combo of CND Vinylux in Dazzling Dance & Nicole by OPI Love Song. It looked so dang pretty on its own I didn’t want to ruin it by overwhelming it with too much. So what would be the perfect simple nail art? Roses of course! 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formulas Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance
  • NOPI Love Song
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Peony 
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Bourbon Belle 
  • Essie Brides No Grooms
  • Essie First Timer
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Dotting Tool from Bundle Monster
  • Small Nail Art Brush from Bundle Monster 

First off, check out the holo glitter in Dazzling Dance! I’ve worn this polish before a couple years ago, but without any undies & it took way too many coats (4+ with visible nail line.) So undies we’re necessary. I picked out NOPI Love Song to bring out the purple undertones. I bet a gray base would be beautiful too. 

These roses make me happy. So simple but beautiful. I will never get tired of roses & floral designs in general. They’re just the perfect pop of nail art for when you don’t want (or don’t have time for) something more complex. 

What do you think of my roses? Don’t forget to comment below & let me know you thoughts!