Category: Holographic

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Holo Accent Nails using NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment! 

Happy Wednesday everyone! The week is already speeding by, which is crazy—halfway to the weekend. To get us over this mid week slump, today I’ve got another item I was so kindly sent to try out by NailStuff.ca: holo pigment flakies. 

This is my first time ever using any kind of pigment for the nails (I know, I’m so behind on the times) so I was super excited to give it a whirl & also totally unsure of how to go about it. I know these pigments work really well over gel nails, but I change my nails too often for that so I decided to create these holo nails using just nail polish! So after watch a bunch of YouTube & Instagram videos, I felt pretty confident I could do this! 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • L’Oréal Pino Purple
  • NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment Flakies
  • Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier  

To accomplish this look: 

  • I painted all my nails with L’Oréal Pino Purple (including my ring finger.) 
  • I applied top coat to all my fingers except my ring finger & on that nail I applied Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat. (I originally tried used just wet nail polish but found the flakies didn’t stick as well for me.)
  • Next I applied my Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier around my ring finger & let it dry completely. 
  • I then took the small eyeshadow applicator that comes with the flakies, & patted them down onto the nail & tried to rub them in some. It took about 2 applications to completely cover my base. (You can see at the edge of my nails where I missed a few spots.)
  • Seal in flakies with top coat (I used Seche Vive for that shine.) 

Super simple & only slightly messy. I did end up getting holo flakies in my bed (where I do my nails pretty much always) which in turn ended up sticking to my son for a couple of days but nothing wrong with a little holo glitter! 

I will say, my second attempt using a sticky base coat over my polish worked much better (as opposed to using just my base of polish). The first time I tried half the flakies came off with my top coat, but it could be my polish had dried too much for the flakies to really stick. 

Have you used holo flakies before? Any tips  for application that you’ve discovered? Leave all your thoughts below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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Nail Art Goodies from NailStuff.ca & my first experience with Water Decals. 

I’m back from my vacation, & while I enjoyed being away I definitely missed home! I was also excited to arrive home because I knew I had some nail mail waiting for me! My hubby was sweet enough to open my packages for me on a video Facechat, which added to my excitement. I couldn’t wait to get home & play with these goodies.

One of the parcels I received was from the new nail art site in town: nailstuff.ca! I’d recently seen items from them popping up on my Instagram feed, & when they offered to send me a few items to try out I couldn’t say no! I received a sheet of nail water decals, a sheet of nail stickers,  a wheel of nail art studs, & three little tubs of glitter (silver, holo pigment & flakies.)

First up, I had to try out the Halloween themed water decals!

This was my first expirence using water decals. I’ve bought them before, but never actually used them. Thankfully these decals came with very clear instructions to make applying them easy. Here’s what I did to apply the water decals (as a first time user):

  1. I started off by painting my base shade (China Glaze Swanky Silk topped with Revlon Holographic Pearls) & letting dry.
  2. While my polish was drying I grabbed a cup of room temperature water & scissors.
  3. Once my Base was dry, I cut out my desired designs & dunked them in the water for 10-20 seconds. I recommend doing this with tweezers.
  4. Pull out your design & using a dry finger pick up the design carefully. Make sure your finger is dry, or else your decal will crinkle up.
  5. Immediately press the decal down on your base. You only get one try with this, so make sure you’re putting it down where you want it.
  6. The instructions recommend using a blow dryer to dry your decal, but I found if you wanted a minute or two it also worked.
  7. Seal in your decal with top coat. I used Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat.

These decals were surprisingly easy to use even though I had no prior experience with them. They sit so flawlessly on the nail, you don’t have to worry about them sticking up or peeling off (after you seal them in with top coat). They are a quick & easy way to spruce up a basic colour & would look even more awesome over a gradient! There are also a whole variety of different design options in a variety of shapes & sizes for whatever look you’re craving.

Nailstuff.ca is based out of Canada, so shipping is a lot faster some than those other nail art companies, & it’s free shipping for Canadian orders over $29 & US & international orders over $45.

Even better, they’re currently having a promo that if you use coupon code SCARYNAILS you’ll save 15% off all scary nail items for all your Halloween nail needs. So if you haven’t checked out them yet, I definitely recommend giving their site a look & stocking up!

Stay tuned because I have lots more goodies to review!

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own

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Throwback Thursday Halloween Nails

October is quickly speeding by, so I need to amp up my Halloween designs! 🎃

 This time I decided to recreate a design I did all the way back in 2014 (originally done with @mynailpolish_addiction as part of a bestie twin nail collab.) Even though I had spiders, I always thought this design was adorable so I wanted to recreate it. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • L’Oréal Orange You Jealous?
  • Color Club Wham! Pow!
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI 
  • Sally Hansen Hard To Get Black Heart
  • Essie No Place like Chrome
  • Revlon Holographic Pearls
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue
  • The Base Coat Spiderweb nail stencil 
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge 

I thought these nails were super cute when I did them originally, & I still think they’re super cute. & I definitely feel like they turned out a little less wonky this time around. Sometimes when I feel like my nails suck & I have no talent & I’m feeling especially hard on myself it’s nice to do these recreations to see how far I’ve come. I may not be the most insanely talented nail artist, but I’m hugely proud of how far I’ve come. 

What do you think of this Halloween design? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

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Dripping Blood French Featuring URSugar Vinyls


Ready for some more Halloween inspired nails? Today I have what I’m calling a dripping blood “French” Manicure that has just the right amount of scary & sparkles—which is just how I like my Halloween designs! 

The few times I’ve tried to do a dripping design, I’ve always done it using a dotting tool (which isn’t always easy to accomplish the right look.) These drippy nails were made much easier by using URSugar Vinyls which were kindly sent to me for review. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Gosh Holographic Hero
  • China Glaze Ruby Pumps
  • URSugar Drip Nail Vinyls item #AUB39877 —click to buy. 

These URSugar vinyls are great for a design like this. You have two options—you can paint your nails a base shade & apply the stencils & paint over with a second shade, pull off & reveal or you can use the other half to paint inside (like a stencil). I find the second option works best for a design like this, done at the tip of your nails. 

What do you think of this Halloween-y take on a French manicure? Would you wear this design? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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SWATCH SUNDAY—Essence Out Of Space Stories in Beam Me Up!

Happy Swatch Sunday! Hope you’re having an exciting weekend. I’m excited because I was at my local Shoppers Drug Mart & found they’ve recently put out the Essence Out Of Space Stories collection. I actually squealed when I saw them, which lead to awkward stares from those around me. Haha. 

I first saw these shades when Mani Geek posted about them, but was disappointed they were only available on the website. Well surprise… not anymore! I decided to only pick one (for now) which turned out to be a hard decision. I must have picked up each shade & put it down again about 3 times before I finally decided on Beam Me Up! 

Beam Me Up! is a vibrant pink with golden shimmer with a slight scattered holo. This was two coats, plus top coat. I’ve been a fan of Essence shades for a long, long time & I always get so excited when new collections are released & this shade definitely lives in to the inner excitement I had brewing for these shades! This pink is just perfect & it manages to stand out from the other pink scattered holos in my stash. 

This pink is seriously everything. That little bit of scattered holo takes a pretty polish & makes it a gimme gimme gimme polish. Also I have to mention how much I love the Star Trek inspired names! I grew up in a totally Trekky house so it’s a nice bit of added geekiness. 

Have you found any of the Essence Out Space Stories shades in stores yet? These polishes had definitely only been recently added at this location (I usually go there every couple days) so if you haven’t found them yet, keep checking. I plan on checking my local Superstore (Loblaws) to see if they’ve added them to that display as well. 

Have a great Sunday everyone! 💅🏻