My Husband Paints my Nails for Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day lovelies!

Today I have a special & fun post I’ve been hoping to do for a while. I’ve been trying to convince my husband he should paint my nails FOREVER (probably as long as we’ve been together), & he finally agreed to do it in honour of Valentine’s Day!   I really wanted to record to whole thing, but I figured it was enough that he was doing them all at so I didn’t want to push my luck too much.  But I did manage to take a few pictures of the whole experience, just for fun! After all, it’s not often someone else does my nails!
Continue reading “My Husband Paints my Nails for Valentine’s Day”

Pretty Pink Gradient & Stamping

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We’re quickly speeding through February, can you believe we’re already half way through? Kind of crazy! Today I have a super fun gradient design to share. I’ve been kind of obsessed with gradients lately–I go through fazes, & now that I’m all stocked up on my Edge Perfection I’ve been a little gradient crazy.

For today’s design, I was feeling pink. I wanted something a little Valentine’s Day-esque without being too over the top. I started out with the gradient, then added some holo glitter. & then I thought–why not some stamping too? I was a bit scared it was all going to be too much, but I think because I didn’t use contrasting colours, the whole design really works together.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by Orly Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Joe Fresh Cotton Candy
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mauve Over
  • China Glaze Life is Rosy
  • Quo by Orly Falling Star
  • Essie No Place like Chrome
  • Born Pretty Store Image Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

I’m really loving this gradient!

& obviously I took some macro shots! You see the holo glitters much better this way, since my desk lamp doesn’t show them off as well as I would like. Also it shows off the blend on this gradient, which I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of. Especially since my early gradients looked something like this.

 

I’m so happy with this whole design! I know it’s not oh my god Valentine’s Day, but it’s pretty & pink & what is more lovely than that?

What do you think of this design? Do you like all the layers, or do you think it’s too busy? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — ACO by Ardene Twilight Zone

There has been a lot of pink & red happening on the blog in preparation for Valentine’s Day,  so I thought it would be fun to break it up with something a little different! So today’s Swatch Sunday is all about this beautiful multichrome from Ardene called Twilight Zone that’s been in my stash for a good 2-3 years now. I’m not sure if it’s still available in store, although I do know they come out with different (similar) duochrome & multichrome shades every so often, so I would recommend popping into a store near you to see what hidden beauty you might find!

For this swatch, I applied two coats of Twilight Zone over a dark base of Essie Under the Twlight because the polish itself is fairly sheer & would require more coats than I have patience for.

As you can see from the bottle, the base of the polish is a sheer-ish green blue with iridescent blue shimmers. You could definitely try & build it up to opacity, but I’m not sure how many coats that would be. If I had to guess, I’d say you’d be looking at least 4. & besides, I really find these shades work best with undies–it makes the change that much more apparent. You can see above that it flashes between blue & pink/purple depending on how you move your hand.

Ugh, it’s just so pretty! Why do I always forget how much I love shifty shades until I’m wearing them again? I’ve been reorganizing the nail room because I got some new storage, & gushing over my old school shades so much, like this beauty & my Claire’s Villain shade dupes from 2010. I keep trying to figure out how to best share my stash on the blog, but with 1000+ nail polishes I’m not sure the best way to document them. Any suggestions on the best way/app to organize what I have & be able to share?

 

Like I said, I don’t believe that Ardene Twilight Zone is still available for sale in store (unless you check out a Outlet perhaps) but I know that they’re always coming out with new & interesting shades so I would definitely recommend checking out what they have. I’ve bought some pretty fun polishes there over the years that are still favourites of mine.

What do you think of this shade? Have you ever bought an amazing polish in a surprisingly place? Let me know your thoughts on the comments below.

Valentine’s Day Chevron Accent Nails

Another day, another fun Valentine’s Day appropriate design to share with you! The day is quickly approaching, so I’ve been trying to get creative while I have time. Last year with having a newborn (& spending extra days in the hospital) I wasn’t able to do anything Valentine’s Day related on my nails, so I’m definitely making up for it this year!

For this design, I decided to grab a few of the colours I picked from my “6 Polishes I’m Loving for Valentine’s Day” post on Sunday. To pair all these shades together, I decided on son stacked chevrons to show off all these pretty shades! This is definitely a design that is all about Valentine’s Day–it might be too flashy of a design to wear, for example, to the office (depending on where you work) but would be awesome for date night, or a Valentine’s Day themed party!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Christian Louboutin Beauty Rouge Louboutin
  • China Glaze Seduce Me
  • L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses
  • ACO by Ardene Ice Mist
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in Gold
  • NailStuff.ca Heart Stud — Gold Mixed Decoration Nail wheel
  • UR SUGAR Stacked Chevron Nail Stencils item #AUB39877 — click to buy
  • Dotting Tool

I think these turned out so cute with the mix of colours together!  Next time I might use the stacked chevron vinyls upside down so it matches the V-shade of the heart. But I’m really happy with how these turned out, & the addition of the little heart stud just makes it even more perfect! ♥

Do you like these Valentine’s Day themed nails? Have you figured out what you’re doing on the day yet? My hubby & I usually stay in–because trying to make reservations is hell on Earth–& make heart shaped gluten free pizza or something else delicious. & of course, cupcakes! It’s become holiday tradition for me to make him cupcakes for special occasions.

 

Let me know your thoughts on this design in the comments below!

5 Cute Valentine’s Day Designs (inspired by Pinterest)

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Are we getting excited for Valentine’s Day? T-minus one week until the big day! & even if you’re not a fan of the holiday itself, it’s always fun to have an excuse for cute nails. I decided it would be fun to browse my nail art inspiration folder on Pinterest for some fun Valentine’s Day nails. I decided to pick 5 relatively easy nail art designs & recreate them for you, just in case you need a little last minute inspiration.

DOTTICURE HEART — original design (by @majikbeenz) pinned here

First design I picked to recreate is this adorable dotticure heart design that was originally done by @magikbeenz. I’ve actually recreate this design before (pre-this blog & instagram) but I loved it so much I wanted to give it another attempt. All you need for this design is a couple of polishes (pink, white, red, coral) & a dotting tool. It looks super complicated, but it really isn’t. If you weren’t sure if you can get the heart shape right, you could always use a heart stencil & fill the dots inside.

My main pink is Essence Perfect Match.

TIC TAC TOE HEART ACCENT NAIL — original design (by @nailstorming) pinned here

The next design I attempted was this tic tac toe heart design originally done by @nailstorming. I thought this design was super cute & a little bit more challenging. Your best bet for you accent nail is to use acrylic paint, so that if you make a mistake you can wash it away easily. For this design you’ll want a striper brush, detail brush & small dotting tool. I have this set from Bundle Monster, which was actually a Valentine’s Day gift from my hubby a few years ago.

Main pink is L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses & main red is L’Oreal Carmin Parisien.

PINK HEART & POLKA DOT ACCENT NAIL — original design pinned here

I found this cute simple heart nail design on Pinterest & loved how girlie it was. I wish there was a proper Instagram account to link to, but sadly I couldn’t find one. (I guess my Veronica Mars sleuthing skills aren’t as up to par as I thought). This is a great design for a nail art beginner to wear on their nails! I created my heart using a larger dotting tool & a small detail brush (you can see how I create hearts by checking out my tutorial here) but again if you’re not comfortable with freehanding, a nail stencil also works!

Main pink is L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses.

VALENTINE’S DAY LEOPARD PRINT — original design (by @mayasnailart) pinned here

If you’re not in the mood for a super obvious Valentine’s Day design, but still want to feel festive, this design originally done by @mayasnailart is a super cute option! Again this is a design that is not super complicated to do, even though it looks super complicated! I like the contrast of the leopard hearts against the neutral base colour. All I used for my leopard print was a red & black nail art pen (Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art)  & it was just as easy as drawing on paper. You just have to make sure your base is dry.

My main beige is OPI You’re So Vanilla.

BLUE VALENTINE NAILS –originaldesign (by @karrisabianco) pinned here

Not everyone is a fan of pink or red, so this is a great Valentine’s Day nail art option. This design was originally done by @karissabianco & what drew me to it was the fact it wasn’t your typical colour scheme. For this design, I also used a Sally Hansen Nail Art pen (this time in Silver) but for your heart you could use a stamping plate or nail stencil, & create your polka dots using a dotting tool.

Main Blue colour is Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Beatnik

So that’s 5 cute Valentine’s Day designs inspired by Pinterest! I hope I’m not the only one who can spend hours on pinterest saving nail art design (& style idea, & home ideas & food ideas). Do you have any fun nail art designs you’re planning on creating for Valentine’s Day? Share your favourite designs in the comments below!

If you’re interested in checking out my favourite saved manicure designs on Pinterest, my username is xcoffeeandnails.