Category: Freehand

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Leopard Print & Stripes

Happy Saturday lovelies! I know, a Saturday post… how crazy is that?! Today I’m sharing a super fun design I did a few days ago. First off, yes my nails are exact short again–the crack on my middle finger let go. BUT that’s okay, because I’ll just create fun designs that make me happy.

& this leopard print look makes me extra, extra happy!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Witchcraft protein Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze What’s She Dune
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Black
  • Kiss Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Small dotting tool

I started off by doing the leopard print, & realized the blank base needed something extra, so I added the stripes. & I really think they completely the look! Kind of reminds me of something that @nailsbyarelisp or @badgirlsnails.

I love the look of leopard print, but I think this is my first time doing one in this colour combination–I’ve done rainbow & neon & pink & grey, but never such a neutral colour scheme. & I’m absolutely in love with this look!

This would be a cute look to wear with a cat costume for Halloween, although it’s not a Halloween look. But if you were going for a more “glam” kitty for Halloween, leopard print are totally appropriate. But in general I feel like this is a fun, not too crazy, look for this time of year. I rocked this design while doing interviews at work , so who says leopard print isn’t work appropriate!

What do you think of this leopard print design? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Recreating my Wedding Nails (Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!)

Happy Wednesday lovelies! Not only is today the middle of the week & halfway to the weekend, but today marks 3 years since I married my best friend. If you’ve been around originally, you may remember my original post featuring the nails on our special day.

Naturally, I wore a floral design–which is a surprise to no one. & in honour of this day, I decided I really wanted to recreate my original design. & spoiler: I love it just as much today as I did on this date 3 years ago.

For my recreation of this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Suite Retreat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel After Altar
  • L’Oréal Getting Kilty
  • Julep Vivien
  • Sally Hansen CSM Killer Heels
  • Sally Hansen CSM Red It Online
  • Sally Hansen CSM Rose To the Occasion
  • Sally Hansen CSM Blush Against The World
  • Quo by ORLY the Antidote
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Quo by ORLY Diva
  • Essie Sew Psyched
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Art Brush
  • Dotting Tools

I’ve written before how much I love going back to recreating my manicures, & I’m so glad I got to do the same for this one. I know some people go for more classic wedding & bridal manicures, but it just felt more “me” to do a full floral look (with something blue & a gold accent nail.) & no matter how much time passes, I don’t see myself ever getting “over” floral nail art. It’s just too perfect.

How did you wear your nails for your wedding day? Did you go more classic or a little more fun? (& for those planning to get married soon, do you know how you’re wearing your nail yet?)

& for fun, a few pictures from our wedding day ♥️

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Fall Colour Blocking 🍁

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday. The weather here in Halifax has definitely made the shift from Summer to Fall, especially in the mornings! You definitely need a sweater (or two!) to keep from freezing. Which means that I’ve been breaking out all my favourite Fall colours. When it comes to Autumn, I’m all about the purples, navys, maroons, greys & bronze-y shades.

Today’s manicure makes up 3/5 of those, so not bad!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Cocktail Bling
  • Essie Leggy Legend
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Small dotting tool

This totally wasn’t the manicure I had originally planned on doing, but then I saw this bronze shade & thought how well it would go with this purple. & I haven’t done a colour blocking look in a while, so I though this would be perfect!

This was definitely one of those manicures that came together each stroke at a time, which is kind of my favourite kind. Sometimes I have a solid plan in mind when doing my nails, & sometimes I have no plan at all.

Oooooh this is my favourite time of year for pretty much everything — fashion, food, & especially nail art. Not that I don’t like Summer, it’s just I really come alive in the Autumn months. I love being able to layer, I love plaid, I love wearing tights, & I love these dark jewel toned polishes (especially purples!) Everything about Fall just feeds my soul.

What do you think about this colour block look? What are you favourite Fall shades? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Wedding Appropriate Floral & Polka Dots

Happy Monday lovelies & a long weekend Holiday Monday at that! Going to try & make up for my lack of posts last week with a few extra this week (after a crazy last week at work with back-to-school).

First up is a nail design I wore to a wedding this past weekend. Obviously, I had to do roses & I decided to add it a few polka dots as well. To me, this design kind of looks like wallpaper, but like cute wallpaper. & I absolutely love how they turned out. But then again, when have I ever not been happy with floral on my nails!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • ACO by Ardene Flawless
  • Essie A List
  • Essie Peach Daiquiri
  • Essie Cute As A Button
  • Quo by ORLY the Antidote
  • Essie Off Tropics
  • Essie Sew Psyched
  • Essie Absolutely Shore
  • ACO by Ardene Day Dreamer
  • Medium & Small Sized dotting tool
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush

This look turned out so perfectly, just how I imagined in my head. They were the perfect nail art look for attending a wedding, actually ended up matching the dress that I wore which also had roses all over it. Not going to lie, I totally picked my dress because it matched so well with my nails!

what do you think of this nail art look? Do you have a go-to wedding look for your nails?

Have a happy Monday lovelies! ♥️

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Freehand Tribal Print Accent Nails

Hello lovelies! & happy Saturday!

Today I’m sharing the most amazing design with you. It feels like absolute ages since I created any kind of tribal design. (I went back & checked–it was December!) So it felt like the perfect time for a new tribal design.

I’ve done tribal a lot in the past, but sometimes I struggle creating the line work. I love my prepolished stripers, but they end up junky & chunky so quickly. Thankfully I received some new nail art brushes from NailStuff.ca & couldn’t wait to see how they would work for freehanding!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence Let’s Get Lost
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow!
  • Sally Hansen CSM Ruby Do
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essence Black is Back
  • Nailart.ca Mermaid Tail nail art brush trio
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape in purple (item #40423)

I cheated a little bit & used striping tape to create my thicker lines of colour & then use my smallest detail brush from Nailstuff.ca to go in & create my print details with black polish. & I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly proud of myself for how this design turned out! Especially the chevron/zigzag line work on my ring finger. This design just ended up looking exactly how I hoped & I feel so accomplished. My new nail art brushes were definitely the main reason this look turned out so well–not only were they so easy to use, but how find the brush was meant my line work didn’t end up looking like a blobby mess!

This look turned out so lovely, & I like the hint of Fall it’s giving off. These colours are such good jewel tones & just what I need in the inbetween time before Fall really hits!

So what do you think of this design? Shade your thoughts down in the comments below. ♥️