Category: Nail Vinyls

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Diamond Pattern Accent Nails

I keep telling myself “It’s Summer! Wear Summer colours!” & then immediately reach for some questionably Fall tones. That’s what August does to me–the calendar flips to August & I start thinking about Fall, & pumpkin spice & sweater weather & it’s always reflected in my polish choices. 

For this mani, I tried to go Summery… but they ended up feeling Fall-like anyways. For this mani I grabbed a bunch of shades that I won from Essie Canada thanks to their Suddenly Summer contest! (I won 10 Essie shades & a very cool InstaMax 9 Camera!) These nails remind me a lot of argyle… I used the diamond pattern vinyls & if you added a couple thin lines overtop I think it would make for some great argyle pattern nails. Going to keep that in mind for some future Fall nails. 

For this mani, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: Cutex Brittle Nail Fix
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Essie Pool Side Service
  • Essie Splash of Grenadine
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Diamond Stencils (applied sideways) 


When do you start feeling a craving for Fall? I’m used to retail life so it’s usually end of July, early August when all the back to school shopping starts popping up in store (& when all the Fall polish collections start coming out). 

Let me know what you think of this mani by leaving a comment below & let me know what Fall polish shade (or collection) you’re looking forward to the most! 

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Gradient Psychedelic Pattern Nails

Am I the only one who does their nails & immediately dubs them “my new favourite nails”? I do it a lot, but in my defence most manicures I do are my favourite. Maybe it’s in part to the fact my nail art skills used to consist of occasionally being able to create semi-straight dots. Either way, these sideways gradient nails featuring the psychedelic pattern vinyls from Xroma Polish & Nails are definitely my new favourite! I don’t think I’ve ever created a gradient so flawless. 

For this manicure, I used: 

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All In One
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Hard Candy Sky
  • Nicole by OPI Love Son
  • Deborah Lippmann Groove Is In the Heat
  • Essie Under the Twilight
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge 
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Psychedelic Stencils

This gradient just makes me so happy… the colours & the blending just turned out so perfect! & the use of the pattern over top just brings the whole design together (I think at least). Trying to wear as many Summer-y designs as I can before I start feeling the call of Fall, which thanks to my years in retail usually starts around early-mid August. Haha. But in the mean time, I’ll try to stick to a purely Summer pallet. 

What do you think of this gradient/nail vinyls combo? Let me know in the comments below! I have to say, these psychedelic vinyls are definitely my new favourite pattern. 

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Rainbow Wave Nails 🌈 

Hello Lovelies! It’s been a little while. I spent last week & the beginning of this week away on vacation which meant no posts! But I’m back & refreshed & I have pretty nails to share with you. 

It’s been way too long since I share one of my favourite sponge manicures with you. This manicure is actually from a while back (whoops). I’m so bad for doing my nails & then completely forgetting about them in the recesses of my phone. But I think this kind of rainbow design is perfect for warm Summer days… even if today is feeling less than Summer-y. 

The polishes used for this manicure:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Hard Candy Sky
  • Essie Chillato
  • ORLY Scenic Route
  • Nicole by OPI Love Song
  • Color Club Peppermint Twist
  • OPI Where Did Suzi’s Man-go?
  • OPI Who You Calling Bossy?
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls skinny wave vinyls

Am I the only person obsessed with sponging? I just used up the rest of my peel of latex for my more messy manicures, BUT  while I was away on vacation I found a peel of by a brand I’ve never heard of in the local pharmacy (which is a big deal because I was in a pretty small town!) so I’m excited to try it out for gradients & the like, as well as seeing how it will fair as a peel of base coat. It’s not glue or latex based so I’m really curious to see how it fairs, especially since it means I can pull out my make up sponge again! There is nothing worse than trying to clean up nail polish mess from around your cuticles. Ugh. 


What is your favourite way to use a make up sponge on your nails? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Happy Birthday Canada Day Nails 🇨🇦

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Today is an important birthday for my country–it’s the 150th birthday of Canada’s Confederation. & in honour of the occasion I created these festive nails using maple leaf stencils I received in honour of the occasion free from Nail Polish Canada (& thanks so a discount code @jennieshaw posted a few weeks back). 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All In One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • China Glaze Ruby Slippers
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Skinny Waves Vinyls
  • What’s Up Nails Canadian Flag Nail Stencils c/o: Nail Polish Canada

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Canada Day (& it’s not too rainy where you are!) Myself & the baby are heading on vacation tomorrow so we’re keeping our plans low key today since he’s a little too young for fireworks this year. We are however having a fun Canada Day supper with my inlaws before we leave. Whatever your plans are today, I hope it includes a little red & white (& maybe something maple flavoured). 

How are you celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday?! Let me know in the comments below! 

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Born Pretty Store Review — UR Sugar Adhesive Nail Vinyls Heart Pattern Nail Art item # 39723 


Good morning & happy Friday! Today I’m sharing another review of a fun item from Born Pretty Store. This time I’m reviewing some sugar adhesive heart pattern nail vinyls (item #39723). These vinyls comes with two different styles — the swirly hearts & the multiple hearts. Let’s consider this part one as I’m just reviewing the swirly hearts. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Paparazzi 
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight
  • UR Sugar Adhesive Nail Vinyls Heart Pattern item # 39723 

I’ve used a lot of nail vinyls over the last little while & I have to say these are definitely high up on the list. They are easy to peel off their backing & stick to the nail–easily adjustable but not so flimsy that they just stick together & crumple. Also they stick really, really well. I had zero issues with colour bleeding underneath. Also, you get two stencils in one with the heart swirls, which means you can do 20 nails total! I also really like that they have the useful little tab for pulling up your vinyl. 

All in all, I really like these vinyls. They’re easy to peel off & apply, they don’t bleed & they just work really well. Using nail vinyls can be difficult sometimes, but these make it easy! I also like the fact you get 2 different designs per sheet which can be used separately or combined together. I can definitely see myself using these again & would say anyone who is curious about trying out nail vinyls should give them a shot! 

& for fun—a shot of this holo manicure in action. 

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If you’re interested in ordering these nail vinyls (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!