Category: Nail Art

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI?

Happy Sunday! Today I have some shots of one of my favourite OPI shades–Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? which was originally released as part of the OPI Spring 2012 Holland Collection. This shade was on my “gimme” list a long time, & I finally scored it at Winners last year which was super exciting! I love the fact you can find so many hidden polish gems, especially those shades which are harder to find. 

Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? is a shimmery dark grape-y purple that takes 2 coats for total opacity. There are gorgeous magenta & golden shimmers that catch under the light. It also wears very well on its own–I managed to keep this polish on for 2 days with just minimal tip wear. 

This is one of those shades that I love to wear on it’s own without any need to nail art (which doesn’t happen too often with a non-holo shade!) There is just something about the pinkish golden shimmers against the grape base that makes me swoon. Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter this shade is perfect every season. It’s a particularly favourite shade on rainy days like I recently wore it. 

Do you have a favourite shade you love to wear on its own? Let me know your go-to shade in the comments below! 

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Born Pretty Store Review — Potted Plant Stamping Plate L036 item #38420

Good morning! I was recently sent some awesome items from Born Pretty Store for review & I can’t wait to show off what I received. Today I’m reviewing this Potted Plant Harunouta Stamping plate L036 (item #38420) featuring my current garden obsession–cacti! 🌵

As soon as I saw this plate, I knew I needed it! I’ve been trying to get into stamping more, even though I find it a tad challenging. This cute plate comes in it’s own little envelope, sealed with blue plastic to protect it from scratches. For this manicure, I was inspired by some outfits I recently bought for my son, & thought this plate would be perfect to recreate the look! 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI That’s Hula-rious 
  • OPI Care to Danse
  • Born Pretty Store Black Stamping polish (from this set) 
  • Harunouta Potted Garden stamping plate L036 —item #38420
  • Born Pretty Clear Jelly Stamper 

For stamping, I used the Born Pretty Store brand stamping polish which I received as part of another set for review. I am still relatively new to this stamping thing, so it took me a little bit to get the hang of stamping. My advice–do not try to do this at midnight when you’re sleep deprived. I tried a couple different looks–including filling in the design. I also tried a couple different stampers in my collection but decided on my clear Jelly stamper (also from Born Pretty.) It took me a couple tries to figure out how to pick up the images perfectly, but as you can see when it finally worked for me, the images were perfect. 

For this particular design, I stamped both the cactus pattern on my middle finger & the stripes on my pinky. The black stamping polish was definitely the best for picking up the images (I tested with some of my other blacks & couldn’t pick anything up). You definitely have to move quick though–if you wait too long, you won’t pick up anything! But even with all the work, the end result is gorgeous. & I couldn’t stop staring at my nails. 

All in all, I love this stamping plate. For me the cactus is what caught my eye (because cactus! 🌵) but their are so many cute designs to choose from depending on the occasion. I can definitely see myself using this plate for a while slew of occasions! You can definitely expect to the cute images from this plate pop up again! 

If you’re interested in ordering this plate (or something else) from Born Pretty Store feel free to use my discount code COFFK31 to save 10% off any regular price items! I’ve been ordering from them for years, & I love the wide variety of products you can find for all your nail polish addict needs! 

Stay tuned. I have a few more items coming out to share! 

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Saran Wrap Splatter–Summer Edition!

It’s officially Summer, & even though the weather here in Halifax is being less than agreeable (go away clouds), I just want to wear pretty dresses & sandals & enjoy the sunshine. In the meantime, I decided some bright Saran Wrap splatter nails would be appropriate. Maybe it will even encourage the sun to stick around longer than a few hours! 


For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Hard Candy Coconut
  • Sally Hansen Boho Blue
  • Ardene Whacky
  • Maybelline Color Show Fiery Tulip

I seriously love how these turned out–the blues & purple work so well together. My barista even complimented me on my nails, which always makes me feel good when someone other than my husband notices. I am just never disappointed when I pull out the plastic wrap for this design! Sometimes it can be messy, but always easy to clean up (way easier than cleaning up a classic splatter manicure!) & the end result is just so much fun. 

What do you think of my Saran Wrap design? What’s your favourite Summer manicure design?  Let me know in the comments below! 

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Jade Abstract Stripes

Today I’ve got some abstract stripes to share with you featuring another untried polish from the stash! I’m ashamed to admit I have way too many untried polishes, so I’m trying really hard to pull them out & actually wear them. Except it’s me, & I just end up going out & buying a new one that then adds to the collection haha. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Problem? I don’t have a nail polish problem. 

But today I’m wearing Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy which is a pretty jade green shade which my Mom picked up for me at Marshall’s.  The colour is obviously gorgeous, but I felt like it definitely needed something added, so I came up with these abstract stripes over top. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in Gold

This design never gets old to me.  It’s like floral or polka dots–easy to pull out when I’m too tired to think about what to do on my nails. It’s all about the colour palate. You have to make sure your secondary colour (in this case Essie Mint Candy Apple) falls within the same colour family as your base for the stripes to really just look awesome together. Also I need to stop forgetting to do a tutorial for this design because I keep promising one. Blame it on the fact I do my nails on the couch in my pjs  (bottle balanced between my knees) & not at a table like a normal person haha. But now that I have this fancy new iPhone, maybe I’ll finally be able to film a long promised tutorial. Crazier things have happened! 


Am I the only person who buys nail polish then proceeds to forget to wear it? What polishes do you currently have waiting to be worn?

I recently went through & reorganized my stash so I’m really trying to make a point to pull out those forgotten shades that I forgot I owned! Hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate more into my blog posts before I end up buying more! 

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Flashback Inspired Prom Nails

Yep! I’m showing off more prom inspired nails. Last week I created some nails that I thought would be beautiful to wear to prom, & today I’m sharing a manicure inspired by one of my own prom dresses! I totally got nostalgic thinking about prom after my last post, & started looking through old prom pictures on Facebook & figured why not create a mani inspired by those pretty dresses. 

My inspiration above. 🔺 Can you believe me that dress only cost me $17 & I still adore it so much. Man, if only we had occasions to wear formal dresses more often! Now obviously this is a simple look, so I thought a simple line of holo would perfectly represent the sparkly sequin belt on my dress. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal One Stop Base
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Layla Cosmetics Ocean Rush
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Brisk Blue
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Skinny Straight Nail Vinyls

Who doesn’t love holo? This is a serious question… I would love to meet this person. I’d put Layla Cosmetics Ocean Rush on their nails, because it would definitely change their minds. I mean just look at it–even though it’s a small line of holo, it just shines.  You can see some serious rainbows. 

What do you think of these nails inspired by my very own prom dress? I hope you like them, because I may have accidentally clicked “like” on a prom picture of my high school boyfriend & I while trying to scroll through & find a picture of this dress on Facebook & that’s awkward. Haha. 

Would you ever create nails based on a favourite dress of yours? Let me know in the comments below! 💙