Category: Inspired by.

Posted on

Happy 10th Birthday Coffee & Nail Polish! ✨🌈

Hello my loves & happy Friday. Not just any Friday — we are celebrating the birthday of this little nail blog of mine. 10 years of fun nail art, pretty polish & my love of combining the two. & it’s been quite the journey since my very first blog post! We’ve seen new jobs, weddings, babies, a pandemic, & a whole lot of nail shape changes!

& if you’ve been here since the beginning — thank you!

I thought to mark this occasion I needed some pretty floral (my go to favourite since the beginning) featuring my all time favourite nail shade: red.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Delightful
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Heather Hustle
  • OPI Sickeningly Sweet
  • OPI Nature Strong Emflowered
  • OPI Nature Strong Make My Daisy
  • Essie Muchi Muchi
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • BKIND Sauble Beach
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

Obviously I had to do some floral to celebrate this next decade of Coffee & Nail Polish. My favourite back then, my favourite now! & I’m particularly in love with how these turned out over this beautiful red from Sally Hansen.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart everyone who has joined this nail journey with me. It means so much to see the likes, the comments, the love. It means so much & I hope you stick around to see what the next ten years brings.

🌸💗

Posted on

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE MARCH — Pastel

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. This weekend was the beginning of March Break, which meant that work was pretty busy. It also means my kids are home all week during the day, which should make trying to get any nail art done a moot point haha.

But today we’re diving into the 3rd prompt for Glam Nails Challenge March, & this one was an easy one — pastel. Obviously, I had to do a pastel skittle look using a few Spring-y shades.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Crying Out Cloud
  • Londontown USA Bell Flower
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie Chillato
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sun Shower
  • Essie Expressie FX Iced Out

Oh I love a good skittle, & I’ve really been loving the pastels lately as well. This look is an easy way to do some “nail art” that isn’t really nail art but totally passed for it. Quick, easy, super cute; all the things I look for in a manicure, to be honest. & the addition of Essie Expressie FX Iced Out gives all the nails a nice cohesive look that pulls everything together. I know the glazed nail look is kind of on its way out, but I’m kind of obsessed with it.

I’ve never been one for following trends anyway.

What do you think of my pastel skittle look for Glam Nails Challenge March? Is it beginning to feel a bit like Spring where you are? We’ve had nothing but rain upon rain the last couple days… so yeah, definitely feeling like Spring haha.

Have a great Monday.

♥︎

Posted on

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE MARCH — Lines

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! It’s officially the first week of March, & I decided to jump into Glam Nails Challenge March for this month, as I loved the prompts listed. I’m just feeling like I need to be inspired to do some fun, Spring-y nails.

The first prompt for this month is lines. Obviously, I went with a classic stripe design for my line inspired look, in a rainbow of pastel Spring-y colours. It matches perfectly with the warmer temperatures & sunshine we’ve had the last few days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top 
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Crying Out Cloud
  • Sally Hansen MG Sweet Pea
  • Sally Hansen MG Sun Shower
  • Color Club Art Club Striper Passion Flower
  • Color Club Art Club Striper Pink Pastel
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

This look was simple & easy to do. The colour combination is definitely giving the Spring vibes & inspiration that I was looking for. It’s been a while since I was feeling good about doing my nails, or really feeling inspired to do anything more than just a simple solid colour, but with warmer days ahead I’m feeling good about it again. & I always like when I have a whole month where I don’t have to think too much about what designs I’m going to have to do.

What do you think about my lines design for the first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge March? Do you like the Spring-y colour combination that I chose? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

♥︎

Posted on

Matte Black Roses

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! Still trying to get back into the routine of blogging & posting, but this weekend has been a bit crazy.

Today, though, I have another design to share from last week. I had mentioned I really, really wanted to try a black rose design so this was the result of that attempt. This was actually harder than I had anticipated, mostly because creating roses involves layering different shades of the same colour, but black is black, so I had to see what shades of grey I could find for highlights. I think, though, in the end it turned out beautifully!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • OPI My Address is Hollywood
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Gunmetal
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Jumpin’ Jade
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri SCRAM!
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

When I first started painting these, I wasn’t sure if the black rose idea was going to work out for me, but once I layered a few shades of grey, my vision came to life. & I just love them! We all know my love affair with floral nails, so it’s fun to switch up what I usually do. Plus, I think this look is a great alternative for Valentine’s Day.

Red roses are lovely, but black roses just have a fun vibe. Plus I’ve been feeling my Emo roots lately, & this would fit in with that whole vibe.

What do you think about this black rose look? Do you think I captured the vibe that I was going for? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

♥︎

Posted on

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER — New Year Celebration

Good morning & happy New Year! 🍾🎆 It’s officially 2024 & I hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve. I’m very excited for things to come, but before we focus on a brand new year, I still have one more manicure from Glam Nails Challenge December to share!

The last prompt is New Year Celebration.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Make Spirits Bright
  • Ardene Style Icon
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Let’s Snow
  • Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I really wanted to do a fun year inspired design, especially because 10 years ago I did a similar design for New Year’s Eve. Plus, I’m really hopeful for 2024. Last year had some rough moments for me personally, so I’m hoping that 2024 holds better things.

Obviously, I needed a lot of sparkle. & I added a little dotticure on my thumb to look like confetti.

What do you think of my New Year’s Eve design? Did you wear something sparkly to ring in 2024? ✨🍾

Let me know in the comments below!