Category: Fun

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Crazy Dotticure Pattern Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, & didn’t eat too many chocolate eggs or jellybeans.

We had a pretty lovely weekend here in Halifax, which meant perfect weather for our annual Easter Egg hunt outside. Usually, all the cousins would gather out our house for it, but with social isolation & distancing it was just us. Never the less, our little guy had a blast finding all the eggs, & his baby sister had fun trying her first real taste of chocolate! I could definitely get used to warm sunny days, & they’re calling for sunshine & 16 degrees today, so I’ll take it!

So let’s show off some fun nails, shall we?

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo by ORLY pale peach (no label — it was a mini bottle circa 2013/2104)
  • Essie Splash of Grenedine
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essie Playdate
  • Essie Bikini so Teeny
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10% on your purchase!)

So I’ve been thinking about doing one of these dotticure pattern nails for a while, but for some reason was nervous to do it (& kept falling back into old trusted designs — like floral). But I’ve really been wanting to try something different, out of my comfort zone, & I’m really glad I did! At first I wasn’t sure about how these turned out, but I actually really adore them! So much so, I wore this look for a full 3 days until they started chipping.

These sort of remind me of like printed tiles, or something. I really like the bright pop of colour over the pale base shade. I’ve had this Quo shade in my minis drawer for a very long time, but I don’t think I’ve pulled it out to wear before. It makes a great almost neutral base for nail art.

What do you think about this dotticure? What was the last manicures out of your comfort zone you tried–did you grab a colour you never wear, or try out a design that made you nervous? Let me know in the comments below!

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Rainbow Easter Egg Inspired Accent Nail

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week, however you’re spending it. I did a fun yoga class last night (via zoom) so I’m feeling refreshed this morning. If there is one thing this home isolation has been doing for me, it’s been inspiring me to work out almost daily, which is awesome!

Today I gave an Easter inspired design to share with you. I wanted a look that would be perfect for Easter celebrations, but could also be worn just to celebrate Spring!

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Blue
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Mint
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Purple
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Pink
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • TheBaseCoat Chevron/ZigZag (regular) Stencils

I really, really wanted to do something Easter-y on my nails, without going your typical bunny ears/Easter egg design. I started off on my ring finger by applying 2 coats of Ballet Slippers & my Essie Gel Setter to dry. Then I took my nail vinyls, & applied them to my ringer finger. Using a dotting tool, I started from the bottom of my nail, I worked quickly applied the alternating colours. All my shades were matte, which dry quickly, so I actually pulled off the vinyl one I had filled a section. Next up, I decided outlining would bring the look together, so I went through with my tiniest brush, & outlined all my chevrons with my white polish, as well as the outside of my nail.

& I feel like the end result looks so cool, & dainty, & just Easter-y enough. Like a “grown up” Easter egg design.

Seriously, I’m obsessed. It’s been a while since I pulled out the zig zag chevron nail vinyls, & oh man have I missed them! I guess one thing I can thank this whole situation for, is that I’m really putting more effort into my nail art, & love rediscovering all these old tools of mine. It’s a fun way to distract myself from all the craziness happening outside of the house — or from the fact that I really miss my extended family. Hopefully the world returns to some form of normalcy again, so we can all get together & celebrate all the events we’re missing out on.

Do you have a special manicure planned for your Easter? What is your favourite Easter candy? Let me know down in the comments below! (Mine are Peeps by the way, I know… I’m strange but I LOVE them!)

 

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Easy Yellow Floral Nails

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! How is your isolation going? So far I’ve attempted to organize baby girl’s wardrobe, watched 2 &1/2 seasons of Gossip Girl, & spent a lot of time drinking coffee & hanging out with the fam. I’ve also been organizing my nail art supplies, again, because I tend of having a habit of letting them get a bit messy in between. & while organizing my supplies, I realized it’s been a long time since I attempted using my striping polishes & nail art pens in a full manicure. Once upon a time, they used to be the main way I would draw my flowers, so I thought it would be fun to attempt a simple floral design using my old favourites.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • ACO by Ardene Lemon Sorbet
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in Magenta
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in Purple
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in Turquoise
  • Art Club 2Way Nail Art Striper pen in Neon Green

I’m so used to using my good nail art brushes that creating my leaves & vines were more difficult than I thought they would be. I used to be absolutely obsessed with these strippers & nail art pens, & I think they’re still an amazing option for beginner nail artists or traveling as all your polish & tools are co,boned together. Is it the best floral I’ve ever done? Well, no. But I do think it’s still a very beautiful floral & I love them a lot! Plus the colour combination is very, very Springy! & I’ll take any hint of Spring I can get.

What do you think about this floral? What are you favourite nail art tools? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

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Blue & Silver Holo Chevron Moons

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. Hope everyone is doing well — don’t forget to wash your hands!

How is life where you are today? We got snow, so it feels like Winter is back again & I’m so unimpressed. But you know what does make me happy? Holo. I did these nails a few weeks back, before chaos really ensued because I was really craving some holo, & I’m glad I did because look how beautiful they turned out!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence Out Of Space Stories We Will Spock You
  • Color Club Crystal Baller
  • TheBaseCoat Stacked Chevron vinyls

I love chevron moons. I love chevron moons. I love chevron moons! 🌙 Next up maybe some holo chevron claws. The possibilities are endless, & I definitely have lots of time to paint my nails right now (& it keeps my brain calm.)

Gah, I just love holo. Look at those rainbows! 🌈 Way better than drab & grey & yucky like today’s weather we’re currently experiencing. We’ve been trying to get as much sunshine & fresh air as we can, mostly in our own backyard. Tomorrow is supposed to be bright & sunny, & somewhat warm, so we should be able to hang out outside for a good portion of tomorrow. Maybe I’ll pull out some more holo for tomorrow!

What do you think about this mani? What are you wearing on your nails right now?

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Matte St. Patrick’s Day Dotticure 🍀

Hello lovelies! Happy St. Patrick’s Day 🍀 although this feels like a very strange thing to say considering the state of the world right now. I hope wherever you are, you’re safe & healthy & stocked up on all the essentials you need. Like coffee.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t feeling the St. Patrick’s Day nails this year, but decided at the last minute (yesterday) to do something, anything. & what is more fun & festive than a green themed dotticure!

For the manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • My Beauty Spot pistachio green (no name)
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo by ORLY Diva
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio  (COFFEE10 to save 10%)

This look makes me happy, not only because it’s relatively quick & so easy to do! A dotting tool was the very first nail art tool I ever purchased, & by far they are the ones I’ve used the most over the last decade of me obsessively painting my nails! The great thing about a dotticure is that you grab a few festive colours & you can create a manicure for any holiday! Orange & black = Halloween. Green, red & White = Christmas. Pastels = Easter.

Easy peasy.

What do you usually do for St. Patrick’s Day? Back in my bit crazier days, I would take the day off from work & go party at a friends house literally all day. Those were crazier times for sure. Now I pretty much stick to kombucha & maybe Irish Cream flavoured coffee!

This year, like I said, with all the fear about Covid-19, we’ve stocked up on goods for the next little while. But I am set when it comes to coffee — we made sure to hit up Selby’s for some at home coffee! ☕️

Stay safe (& healthy!) loves