Category: Nail Art

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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.

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Yellow Polka Dots

We’ve reached that time of year where I start craving square nails again, so I decided to take the plunge & change things up again hence the new square shorties! I just  recently cut off my very long mermaid hair after 4 years of growing it out, so why not a fresh start all around! 

For my first manicure on my new shorties, I wanted something vibrant & just happy feeling. 

This mani makes me think of that Itty, Bitty Yellow Polka Dot bikini song. It’s the only thing that played in my head the whole time I was doing these! This is definitely not my best Polka dot work (I’m a little rusty) but I love the two colours together so much, I don’t even care. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • OPI My Chihuahua Bites 
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Small dotting tool from Amazon. 

How well do these polishes go together?! These definitely remind me of Summer & the beach (& yes, a bikini pattern). Summer might feel like it’s ions away–especially here in Halifax where we just had another winter storm–so why not channel Summer on your nails! Although you’ll probably want to leave the flip flops at home. 

What do you think of this mani (& my return to square nails?) 

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Blue (Chevron) Moons

It’s been way, way too long since I did chevron moons. My stash of nail vinyls is seriously dwindling so I’ve been hoarding them for special occasions until I ordered new ones (which we did this weekend so I hope they arrive quickly!) But it had just been way too long without chevrons in my life, &  I just couldn’t wait any longer to break them out. 

I’m really trying to make an effort to wear polishes I don’t wear, or don’t wear nearly enough–whether it be an unusual colour for me, or just a polish which hasn’t been pulled out in a while. With close to 1000 bottles of nail polish (I need to do a recount soon), obviously that makes for a lot of ignored polishes! I went through the other night trying to sort through favourite polishes to figure out my favourites for Spring for a future post, & it made me realize there are way too many I that don’t get enough of my love. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Essie Mint Candy Apple (the blue version)
  • Essie Strut Your Stuff
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Kiss Products Chevron Nail Art Guides
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat


An update on testing put this new top coat I bought from Cutex: it’s pretty awesome for nail art. It dries quick… like 20 minutes & you can add nail vinyls without pulling up your base colour. As much as I love Essie Gel Setter, it takes close to an hour of dry time for me to be able to apply nail vinyls without ruining my base colour. That’s a pretty big difference. Not to mention I have a 6 week old & sometimes I’ve painted my nails only to have him need to eat within 5-10 minutes. With this top coat, I’ve had no issues with messing up my colour when having to pick him up & feed him. I still need to do an official review post, but I had to share. I’m really, really impressed! In far I’m going to go stock up on more bottles while it’s on sale at Shoppers for when I start running out. 

I love, love, love the brightness of this mani! Plus the Blues just feel fun for Spring. I definitely seem to pull out my blues more often in the Summer months. Also, even though I’ve owned it for over a year, this is only the second time I’ve actually worn Essie Mint Candy Apple. I am definitely going to have to change that! It is such a gorgeous colour. 

What do you think of this mani? Are you feeling the blues (in a good way)? Let me know in the comments below. 💙

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Squishy Marble Nails

Now that we have baby on a bit of a schedule, I have a bit more time for nail painting! My goal is to try & use polishes I don’t reach for often, & colours that aren’t my typical shades. 

On top of that, I just want all the Spring colours. I decided to pull out a few polishes from deep in the back of my stash that I haven’t worn in ages for a fun squishy marble manicure. 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Pacific Blue
  • Nicole by OPI I’ll Have the Salmon
  • OPI  That’s Hula-rious
  • China Glaze Meet Me at the Mirage
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 

First off, trying out a brand new top coat so I hope to have a good review on that coming up soon! Secondly–how pretty is this mani?! I wasn’t so sure about pairing these colours together at first, but they ended up looking really awesome together! I’m not sure how others test mani shades, but I literally just brush my colours beside each other on paper until I find the ones that look best beside each other. I definitely need to download some of those nifty nail guides for designing manicures so I can plan more easily! 

What do you think of this manicure? What colours are your favourite to pair together? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Spring Stripe Inspiration. 

Oh yes, I’m all about the Spring colours.

 I was looking to do a manicure different from my usual colour scheme, and I was inspired by a stuffed Giraffe belonging to my son that I yellow with blue and white striped feet. I thought the colours looked so lovely together, I wanted to recreate the look on my nails!

 It took me a couple tries to find the right shades, but I really like how well these colours compliment each other. If you threw an anchor into the mix, you would have a great nautical themed design! I also love how bright and Spring-y these are! It’s time to push the winter shades away, and embrace all things sunny and bright. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • China Glaze Sun Upon My Skin
  • OPI Angel With A Lead Foot
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Essie Gel Setter 
  • Born Pretty Store thick striping tape. 

What do you think of this mani? Funny the places you can find inspiration! This has kind of made me think about each week (or every couple weeks) doing a manicure inspired by something baby related! I’ve already got a few ideas brewing, so stay tuned.