Category: Freehand

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Quatre-floral nails 🌸

Another day, another floral design to share with you! Hence the punny blog title! Today’s design is actually inspired by a sponsored ad that popped up in my Instagram feed. I was inspired by the combination of patterns that I decided to create a pretty Spring design with a mixture of patterns–quatrefoil & floral, with a few gold studs to bring the whole manicure together!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • YSL Beauty Gris Underground
  • OPI Angel With A Lead Foot
  • OPI Mod About You
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Bourbon Belle
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose To The Occasion
  • Sally Hansen MG Little Peony
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Essie First Timer
  • Sally Hansen MG Super Charge
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in black
  • Bundle Monster Small Detail Brush
  • Bundle Monster medium sized dotting tool
  • What’s Up Nails Moroccan stencils
  • NailStuff.ca Mixed Decoration Nail Wheel in Gold

This design just turned out so fun! I love the combination of everything–colours, patterns & styles. The mixture of pinks (with grey) is so lovely for Spring. & I really, really love how my floral came together. Feels oh so very Spring like to me! & with sunshine & Spring temperatures today, it will be the perfect manicure for enjoying my day off outside today.

I love when my nails come together from random inspiration & turn out being a favourite design for me! Also I totally forgot how perfect this YSL grey was… it has a hint of purple in its undertones which the pink really brings out when they’re paired together. Oooooh between this design on my nails & the sunshine pouring in through my windows as I write this, I’m feeling Spring so much. In fact, since temperatures will be agreeable today, I’ll definitely be pulling out one of my Spring dresses or rompers to wear while adventuring today.

A shot of my pretty floral with the beautiful bouquet of flowers my husband surprised me with the other morning.

What do you think of this design? What was the last thing that inspired your nails? Share your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know where you find your nail inspo!

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Quick & Easy Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies… it’s been a moment!

Today I’ve got some fun abstract stripes to share with you. This is one of my favourite easy designs to do when I’m struggling with inspiration. I recently picked up a few new polishes from Icing so I decided to grab them as the main polishes of choice. If you’ve been around this blog a while, you know that while I adore my big brands, there is something wonderful about polishes from non-cosmetic brands–stores like Ardene, Claires, Icing & H&M have some serious awesome polishes with awesome formulas! & even more awesome — they’re super affordable! So now that I’m back to work, I’ve been adding a lot more shades to my collection.

So I thought why not create a design using them as my feature shades!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Icing 60858 Light Blue Shimmer
  • Icing Matte Effect 85900
  • Art Club Nail Art Striper in Blue Paisley
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper in white
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper in black

I just love how this design turned out. I wore these to work & got quite a few compliments on them! I feel like I know a design turned out well if random strangers are complimenting them (&asking if I did them myself!) That’s always a huge compliment to me!

Also this blue shade is definitely fitting in with the rainy weather outside. Blue abstract stripes always give me water vibes.

What do you think of these abstract stripes? Share you favourite quick & easy nail art design down below!

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Rifle Paper Co Style Floral

Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day, I had the day off, & I took full advantage of it. In honour of the occasion, I decided some floral nails were in order. Originally I was going to just do some more negative space nails with pastels, but I discovered a bottle of Essie 5th Avenue in my stash I bought a few months back at Lawton’s, & decided red nails were in order. I’ve been loving all the Rifle Paper Co inspired nails that pop up on my Instagram feed, & while these are not even close to an exact recreation, I was inspired by this pattern initially.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie 5th Avenue
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sweet Tea
  • OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Piggy
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Around
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Magenta
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Black
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wet My Thistle
  • Bundle Monster detail brushes
  • Bundle Monster dotting tools

This design definitely looks very similar to this manicure I did a few months back. Something about floral on a red base just looks so good to me. & red nail polish in general… I’m so glad I found this gorgeous polish (& did I mention I scored it for only .99 cents?)

There is something just so lovely about floral. The more I paint them, the more I want to do them again. It was totally worth staying up the extra hour & a half to create them. I’m also going to keep attempting to recreate more patterns from Rifle Paper co. Their brand is such a floral loving girls dream! I pretty much want one of everything on their website (especially the phone cases… all of the phone cases!)

Where do you find your nail art inspiration? What do you think of this floral design? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 🌸🌿

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Summer Ready Vibrant Blue & Mint Ruffian Nails

You guys! I’m so excited because it was actually sunny & warm yesterday! Like warm enough I could get away with wearing just a jumpsuit & denim jacket. It was very exciting, like maybe we’ll get Spring after all. In fact this whole week is supposed to be in the double digits! I haven’t been this exciting for anything since Starbucks got almond milk! Especially exciting–I have tomorrow off work & plan on taking advantage with an outside adventure with the Bubs!

Obviously this calls for bright & colourful nails. It’s been ages since I attempted a ruffian design & I really wanted something that would pop! So I grabbed a few of my older Essence shades from deep in my stash for an eye catching ruffian.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence Always On My Mint (an Unforgettable Kiss collection)
  • Essence The Gel Lets Get Lost!

Ooooooh this colour combo works so well. This is one of my all time favourite Essence shades, & when I noticed my local Shoppers was taking it out of their Essence display (& had marked them all down to $1) I may have stocked up on extras… like 3 extra bottles… pretty much all the ones they had. It’s just such a good shade! It pairs well with pretty much every colour–purple, pink, mint, light blue, yellow. I haven’t discovered a colour combination I didn’t like. But I have to say, pairing it with mint has definitely become a favourite thanks to this design!

Oh, I’m just so excited with how my ruffian turned out. I feel like I’m getting a lot better with creating that rounded look. It definitely helps that Essence polishes have those beautiful thick brushes. Makes things so much easier! You get a lovely (complicated looking) design with not too much trouble. I love when that happens!

Who else is ready for actual Spring & Summer?! Bring on the iced coffees, sunglasses & maxi dresses. It’s about damn time!

What do you think of this ruffian design? Would you wear this look? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Vine Nail Art inspired by @ameliasaccount & @polishpeach

Happy Tuesday lovelies. Craving some serious greenery nails because Mother Nature decided to curse us with a whole ton of snow on Sunday… like 20cm of snow. So that’s fun! Just when it was starting to feel like Spring (for real) Mother Nature decided to ruin everything. That’s why I definitely needed something Spring-like on my nails.

I’ve done this design once before, & it’s originally inspired by @ameliasaccount who was inspired by @polishpeach. Instead of a white base, I decided to go with a brand new polish I recently picked up at Shoppers Drug Mart called Thyme is Money. It’s a beautiful pale green that’s part of the newly formulate Insta-Dri line & holy is it ever lovely!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Thyme is Money
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in green
  • Quo by ORLY Second Hand Jade
  • YSL Beauty Vert D’Orient
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in black
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster

Seriously, I can’t even begin to describe how much I love the outcome of these. Definitely achieved a much more delicate design versus my first attempt at this manicure. & the green of the leaves pop so well against the pale base polish.

I spent my Sunday off from work out shopping for new plants to fill our house with & I’m just loving the look of fresh greenery in every room. We’re trying to find the perfect hanging plant/vines for in the living room, but in the mean time at least I can enjoy them on my nails.

Here’s hoping that these nails inspired Mother Nature to get her act together. After all, nobody wants to deal with shoving the driveway when they would much rather be basking in the mildly pleasant Spring sunshine. Here’s hoping the snow will be melted in a few short days, & I can go back to wearing flats & the occasional Spring dress.

What do you think of my version of the vine design? Have you tried this shade from Sally Hansen yet? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!