Category: Nail Art

Posted on

Classic Marble Nails

{GIFTED}

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Here in Halifax, we’ve been having a surge of almost Spring like weather, which leaves me feeling refreshed & hopeful! I’m totally going to ignore the Winter storm heading our way in a couple days, & just pretend that Spring is on it’s way.

Today’s look feels very refreshing & Spring like as well. I decided to wanted to try & create a “classic” looking marble.

For this manicure, the polishes I’m wearing are:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat & Colour Gloss Fi
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • Black Acrylic Paint

For this look, I started off with a base of Ballet Slippers, & then watered down some acrylic paint & brushes it along the nail using my skinner brush. If I felt like my lines were too harsh, I’d take my round clean up brush, dip it in water, & water down the paint on my nails (or remove it completely, which is the benefit of using acrylic paint!)

& then obviously I needed some gold. & these gold flakies from NailStuff are kind of my new obsession. They’re so beautiful!

What do you think about this look? What is your favourite technique for creating marble nails? Let me know in the comments below!

Some items were gifted in exchange for content. All opinions are genuine & my own.

Posted on

Teeny Tiny Gradient Dotticure (perfect for Valentine’s Day)

{PR SAMPLE/GIFTED}

Hello lovelies & Happy Thursday! 

We have one more day until Valentine’s Day, so I thought I would share a cute look that you could totally wear for the holiday — this teeny tiny gradient dotticure! I’m kind of obsessed with polka dots right now, & there is nothing I love more than a gradient dotticure. For this look, I decided to use my beautiful Sally Hansen Canada Good Kind Pure shades because I thought all the colours I received would make for a beautiful not-so-classic Valentine’s Day look.

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen GKP Beet It
  • Sally Hansen GKP Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen GPK Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen GKP Golden Quartz
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

Remember, you can use COFFEE10 at checkout at Nailstuff.ca to save 10% off your purchases!


How pretty are these dainty polka dots?

Also please forgive the lack of photo quality. My phone is on its last life, & trying to capture my nails in good quality is just not happening. I need a new phone, & maybe a new camera too. If you have any camera suggestions you love, let me know! I’m so ready for/in desperate need of an upgrade.


I haven’t actually decided what I’ll be wearing on my nails for tomorrow. Usually I have some elaborate idea in my head of what I want to do on my nails, but this year I’ve been distracted. We’re also traveling tomorrow to Northern New Brunswick to visit family for a couple of days, so I don’t know if I’ll have time to do anything more than a single colour. Maybe I’ll pull out one of my pink holo shades for the occasion!

What do you think about this nail art look? Have you ever done a gradient dotticure before? What is your favourite colour combination? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

Valentine’s Day 💕 Glitter Gradient

Hello lovelies! Happy Tuesday!

Today I’m getting in the Valentine’s Day mood! I’ve had this polish — OPI Bearest of them All — in my stash for going on 5 years, but somehow hadn’t thought to use it in a glitter gradient! But since I’m all about speedy designs right now, I thought this would be the perfect Valentine’s Day nail art look when you need something quick & beautiful!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Colour Gloss Fit
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Haute in the Heat
  • OPI Bearest of them All
  • Latex Free make up sponge

How cute as these little heart glitters?! I won’t lie, this wasn’t the easiest glitter gradient I’ve ever done. Basically, I had to sponge the smaller glitters onto my nail in the gradient, & then fished my heart glitters out of the polish to apply onto the nail. Not the easiest to do, but you can’t lie about how freaking adorable the outcome is! I’m absolutely in love with how this looks! & still super quick to do.

I feel like usually I’m more on the ball about doing Valentine’s Day looks, but I just haven’t been as into it this year. I had plans to do some love heart nails & a few others, but I just wasn’t as inspired as I usually feel. I do have one more look to share on Thursday, but this year seems to be more about simple Valentine’s-esque designs more than blatant heart designs.

What do you think about this glitter gradient? Do you have this limited edition OPI in your stash — have you ever thought to use it this way? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Posted on

Vintage Floral featuring Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure

phonto

{PR SAMPLE/GIFTED}

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday! I hope everyone’s week has been going well!

Today I’ve got a super pretty manicure to share with you, & one of my absolute favourite nail art designs — FLORAL! I was feeling inspired by the beautiful Good Kind Pure polishes I shared in my Swatch Sunday post, & naturally they were calling for me create a pretty floral look with them! & oh how I adore the outcome; it looks like vintage wallapper, in the best possible way.

phonto-1

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen GKP Almond Tan
  • Sally Hansen GKP Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen GPK Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen GKP Peony Origins
  • Sally Hansen GKP Beet It
  • Sally Hansen GKP Golden Quartz
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (I used the 7mm liner brush)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

Remember, you can use COFFEE10 at checkout at Nailstuff.ca to save 10% off your purchases!

Usually I try to paint pretty realistic designs when it comes to floral (green for leaves for example) but I really wanted to use all the Good Kind Pure shades for this design. & I actually really love how these turned out! The dusty colour scheme definitely reminds me of vintage wallpaper, or that couch that everyone’s grandmother had (you know the one). But I really, really, really love it. Plus I never get tired of painting roses on my nails.

Ahhh, I just love these so much! The pink roses, the burgundy leaves. Gives me those Spring vibes I desperately need as we slide full force into Winter now. We have like 3 winter storms headed out way in the coming week or so, so I’m probably going to pull all the floral in my closet I own so I can just live in denial about the fact Spring is not-so-close.

What do you think about this floral look using these new shades from Sally Hansen? I’ve been having a lot of fun playing around with them, & still have a few more looks to share, including the perfect dotticure for Valentine’s Day!

Also let me know any tips you have for escaping the Winter Blahs!

 

Posted on

Dainty Polka Dots (take 2)

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone’s week is off to a fantastic start — we had some beautiful, dare I say Spring-like, weather yesterday which has me feeling excited. I am not a Winter person at all. It’s just too cold & wet, & the days are too short & dark. With the exception of snow for Christmas, I really can’t deal with it at all. I miss my flats.

But you know what cheers me up? Pretty nails! & it’s be eons since my last true dotticure so I thought some simple & chic polka dots were in order. Plus I got this neat Essie Christmas set at Walmart for 50 % off, & I really wanted to pair these two polishes together.

I seriously love a good deal, & when I saw this set of two mini polishes plus my beloved Gel Setter top coat for $7.50, I knew I needed it. I also did not yet own Ballet Slippers (crazy I know), so it was a deal I couldn’t pass up.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Colour in Gloss Fit
  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • Essie Chocolate Cakes
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10%)

I don’t think I can begin to describe how much I love a good dotticure, & this one is particularly lovely. The darker dots just pop against the delicate base of Ballet Slippers & gives it such a girly feel overall. It’s such an easy look to wear for everyday, or maybe for a date with a special someone for Valentine’s Day (which is quickly coming up!) Also I always feel like a dotticure is such a perfect option for someone who isn’t into nail art or doesn’t have time for complicated nail art — they’re easy to do, but not super flashy! You could even go with a paler dot colour — white or blush — if you needed something even more office appropriate & no one would really be able to tell you had nail art on!

What do you think about this dotticure? Are you a fan or is it too simple for you? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! & share what Valentine’s Day nails you’re thinking about wearing (or anti-Valentine’s Day nails if you’re not into the whole thing 🖤)