Category: Nail Art

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Happy 3rd Birthday Coffee & Nail Polish



Today is a very special day… it’s Coffee & Nail Polish’s 3rd blog birthday! 🎈 So in honour of the occasion, I decided to celebrate with a gluten-free cupcake & a recreation of one of my favourite early manicures–chevron tips.

Three years, how crazy is that?! When I first started my nail blogging adventure I was still learning about nail care, nail art & taking pictures. Back then I was still using my Blackberry for less than stellar pictures, & hadn’t yet learned the magic powers of cuticle oil. I was just a girl who liked painting her nails & decided to share pictures with the whole internet instead of just her Facebook friends. 3 years, a bit better phone, & countless bottles of cuticle oil later here we are! 11.2k followers on Instagram, featured in Nail It magazine 3 times, & the occasional chance to swatch & review polish brands I love. It’s been an awesome amazing journey.
I cannot even begin to explain how much it means to me that you out there read and follow this blog. So to anyone who had ever read this blog, commented on my posts, or decided to follow: thank you.  You helped make my nail art dreams come true. I used to joke that the goal was for someone to want to send me free nail polish. But honestly, having people love my designs enough to recreate them? That’s how I know I’ve made it. 💜

So enough mushy stuff! In honour of this special anniversary, I wanted to go back to the beginnings & recreate one of my favourite manicures from  the early days: Green Chevron Tips. This was my first foray into chevrons, way before my obsession with chevron moons exploded. I remember creating them (freehand!) & being so excited about how well they turned out. For my recreation, I obviously still had to free hand these… & still feeling pretty proud of how these turned out! 

For this manicure I used:

  • ORLY Gumdrop
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat

What do you think of my special recreation? Do you think it lived up to the original?  As always, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Thank you so much for 3 awesome years, & here is many more manicures to come! 💜

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Vibrant colour block tips. 

I was stuck on inspiration the other night, so I turned to an old favourite: colour block tips. You seriously can never go wrong with a good colour block manicure–it looks super complicated, but is actually really easy to do. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Quo by ORLY Nail Nutrition Base Coat 
  • China Glaze Purple Panic
  • China Glaze I’ve Got A Blue Attitude
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat

Now I created my blocks of colour freehand using just the brush in my polishes, but you can also using striping tape or nail vinyls to create straight lines if you don’t feel comfortable freehanding them. Just make sure you’re putting down Quick Dry Top Coat in between layers so you don’t pull up the first colour! 

This style looks so good using a variety of colours together: pinks & purple, different shades of blue, holo. Basically you can go with anything your heart desires. It’s like an updated version of the French manicure, only more fun! 

If you’re not quite sure if two colours go well together, test the two together on a price of paper first. This is how I always test my colour schemes when doing manis. 

I’m loving these two colours together. I’ve Got A Blue Attitude has been sitting untouched in my China Glaze drawer for way too long! I remember when I picked it up last summer I was so obsessed, wore it a few times, then completely forgot about it… whoops. I’ve got to stop forgetting about polishes like that! I’m working on documenting swatches of all my polishes so fingers crossed I get it finished soon, and that keeps me from losing track of my favourite shades. 

What do you think of these colourful tips? What is your favourite colour block combo? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Negative Space Abstract Stripes. 


If there are two kinds of manicures I love, it’s negative space & abstract stripes. I had this crazy idea to try & combine the two together, & the end result might just be one of my favourite things ever! These also fit in really well with the geode nail art trend happening on Instagram. 

& the best part about this design? Regardless of your line skill, it’s pretty much impossible to screw up because you want them to look abstract & imperfect. 

For this design, I used: 

  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Peony
  • Essie Lounge Lover
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat

To me, it looks like a cross between a water marble & geode nails, & I couldn’t be more smitten with them. All I can think is what other colours can I do this with! I think purples would look especially amazing, and obviously holo. For the prettiest result, I find chosing two complimentary shades, one darker & one lighter, plus your black & white for detailing, turns out best. 


If I had to chose a favourite nail, it’s a tie between my ring finger, pinky & thumb. I can’t pick just one!
What do you think about this mani–do you love it as much as I do?! Let me know in the comments below what you think! 

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March Favourites! 


This is my first time in a while I’ve done a manicure round up! It’s been way too long. March saw my return to nail art, which has been really nice. I just don’t feel like myself when I don’t get to do my nails. March also saw my craving for Spring become real, which meant lots of Spring colours! 
From top left, here are my March manicures favourites

It’s so hard to chose my absolute favourite of all my designs this month (&always), but I really really love my Pink Drag Marble chevrons & my Spring Floral! 

Did you have a favourite design this month? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Pretty in Pink Drag Marble nails. 

It may be the second week of Spring, but it certainly does not feel like it here on the East Coast. Oh how I long for warm sunshine-y days & pretty sun dresses. So in the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to make due with channeling Spring on my nails! For today’s mani, I decided to continue my trend of pulling forgotten shades from the stash by choosing a few favourites from years past.

For this manicure, I used:

  • Essie Lounge Lover
  • Essie The Girls Are Out
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Drag Marble Stencils from The Base Coat.


I just love love love how these colours compliment each other! The Girls Are Out has always been one of those colours I forget how much I love until I pull it out again. I picked it up a couple years ago for $3 at the Dollarama, and instantly fell in love.  The flecks of glitter are so pretty, & pairing it with Lounge Lover’s soft pinky coral really brightens up the whole mani! These two colours with the drag marble pattern really remind me of a beach ball, or something equally Summer-y.

Spring fashion may feel like forever away, but my nails are definitely ready with these vibrant chevrons! I’m currently away on a mini family vacation to Northern New Brunswick where there is currently 4 feet of snow, so I definitely need some brightness in my life. 

What do you think of this mani–what are your favourite shades to pair together to brighten up your days? Let me know in the comments below.