Category: Nail Vinyls

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Tropical Leaves! 🌿

Happy Friday loves! Still feeling like Winter here in Halifax (yesterday was the worst) so I’m feeling like embracing Spring on my nails as much as possible. Tropical leaves have been popping up on my Instagram feed a lot lately (shout out to @nailsbyharlig & @thebasecoat for each of their pretty designs!), so it felt like a good time to pull out my tropical leaves stencils from What’s Up Nails.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • OPI My Address is Hollywood
  • YSL Vert D’Orient
  • China Glaze In The Limelight
  • What’s Up Beauty Tropical Leaves Stencils
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

The green against the pink base is such a pretty combination. I adore the look of tropical leaves, but I could never imagine trying to freehand them… yet! Thankfully, nail vinyls makes it way too easy to create the look. 🌱🌿🍃

Anyone else love the tropical leaf look that’s been so popular on Instagram lately? I’ve been obsessed with all the greenery (a reaction to the lack of Spring in my life, I’m sure) so it’s fun to see everyone’s version of the look! Also it gets me excited for a month or two when it finally feels like Spring is really here.

What’s your favourite Spring nail art look right now? What are you obsessed with? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Colour Block Half Moons

Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I’ve been having an exciting week here in Ottawa (although I miss being able to do my nails, I won’t lie.) I thought while I had a minute, I’d write up a quick post! Today’s nail design is one of my long time favourites & I love how versatile it is for all seasons. Half Moons! Seriously, you can never go wrong with a half moon design–they’re fairly quick & easy to do, & always look so put together. Today’s particular half moons were to curb my craving for something bright. I won Essie Flowerista last summer in their Summer Nailphie contest & I haven’t worn it nearly enough! So with Spring coming, I knew I needed to pull it out.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Cocktail Bling
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essence French Manicure Tip Guides

How pretty is this combo? Usually I would use paper hole reinforcements for my design, but because I wanted the half moon to be the darker colour, I used my french manicure tip guides from Essence & filled them in (similar to what I would do with a chevron half moon). Still super easy & gives you even more colour combination options! Does anyone else remember when almost every single half moon I did was pink & purple? I’m really glad I’ve expanded my colour options! Although, I’ll be honest… I really like that colour combination!

So what do you think of these half moons? Do you have a favourite colour combination? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Easy Nude & Gold Ruffian

Good morning lovelies! It’s currently 6:33am as I write this & I’m sitting here waiting for my bright & early flight to Ottawa–my first time on an airplane in 9 years & my first time being away from the little guy. I figured I would distract myself from reality by posting! I have quite a few manis saved up that I haven’t posted yet, so even though I won’t be doing my nails this week I’ll still have lots of content to share.

Today’s design is a design that I’ll be thinking about in my head for a while. I did them when I started out my job search & was trying to come up with interview/office appropriate designs. Sometimes you just want a little more than plain nude nails, but don’t want to push it too far.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Topless & Barefoot
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo By ORLY Fallen Star
  • Paper Hole reinforcements

Oh man, I love ruffian designs but sometimes they can be tricky to get right. Using the paper hole reinforcements means you can create the look with barely any trouble. This was the first time I’ve tried it this way, & I’ll definitely be “cheating” & using them from now on. Just like my favourite half moons, it’s just so much easier. & I like easy.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried this technique for creating ruffian designs? Do you find freehand or nail vinyls/guides easier? share your thoughts in the comments below!

Now I’m off to Ottawa, so I will see you later! Have a great Monday!

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Matte Greyscale Ring Pattern Nails

Happy Friday!

Today’s nails are definitely matching the weather in Halifax–completely greyscale. Cloudy skies, rainy,  & lacking any colour what-so-ever.

I thought after all that pink & red for Valentine’s, a palate cleanser manicure was in order. Pink is nice, but I don’t think I’m used to wearing so much of it on my nails. I’ve also been doing house planning (figuring out room paint colours & putting together some prints for our walls) & completely obsessed with everything grey. So naturally that means it will end  up on my nails eventually!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by Orly Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Butter London Matte Finish
  • OPI My Pointe Exactly
  • Essie Cashmere Bathrobe
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Ring Vinyls
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

I love colourful manicures, don’t get me wrong! & I really enjoyed wearing all that pink for Valentine’s Day. But sometimes I just want to wear something a little more monochromatic & simple on my nails. Plus any time I get to wear Essie Cashmere Bathrobe–which is my ALL TIME favourite grey–is a good day & matte top coat just makes it look even better. To me, this design is just absolutely perfection.

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I feel like with all the stamping I’ve been doing, I’ve been neglecting my nail vinyls a bit! I’ve been organizing my nail room though, so hopefully I will be starting to use them more often. But not next week… next week I have a special theme planned for all my manicures, but you’ll have to stay tuned to see what it is!

What do you think of this greyscale manicure? What is your favourite palate cleanser manicure or polish? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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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!