Navy – Page 11 – Coffee & Nail Polish

December 30, 2019

#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Fireworks/Confetti

Good morning lovelies & Happy Monday! Today is officially the last day of #GlamNailsChallengeDec & the prompt is Fireworks/confetti. I can’t believe this is the final prompt of this month, & the final prompt of this year! I’ve had so much fun stepping out of my comfort zone to join in on these challenges, & I’m really hoping to keep going into the new year!

For today, in honour of New Years Eve tomorrow, I naturally had to go with the fireworks inspiration because who doesn’t love fireworks!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Colour Strengthener
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Essie In Hot Purse-uit (Rebecca Minkoff collection)
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
Sally Hansen MG Good As Gold
Sally Hansen MG Five Golden Blings
NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)

I’ve attempted fireworks designs before, a few times, but they have never quite turned out as good as I pictured in my head… but I actually quite love how these look. I started off by drawing with my most opaque polish (Goldie Rocks), then my thinner holo glitter (Five Golden Blings) & then added some gold glitters in the middle (Good As Good). I really wanted these to look glittery, like how fireworks look right after exploding in the sky. & I think I achieved that!

How pretty is this gold against the blue. I got the Essie Rebecca Minkoff collection from my Mum for Christmas, so obviously I couldn’t wait to dive right in & try them out. & can I just say this is one coat of this blue shade! I mean… that’s amazing & it makes such a perfect base for my golden nail art!

What have you thought of this months challenge? Don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeDec for everyone’s final looks for this month!

I must say, even though Christmas made me fall a little behind, I had so much fun coming up with designs that I may not have come up on my own. & I love feeling inspired for nail art again!

October 7, 2019October 3, 2019

GlamnailschallengeOct — Stars ⭐️

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday!

Hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their Monday! Today I have the second challenge for #glamnailschallengeOct: stars. I was trying to come up with the most witchy star manicure I could–because it’s October, & that means every manicure needs to be Halloween related, naturally.

I decided that yesterday’s Swatch Sunday pick China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You was so magical, it would be the perfect base for this star design, that kind of came out reminding me Wizard robes.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You
China Glaze Sleeping Under the Stars
L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

Latex Free Make Up Sponge (for the gradient)

I’m really digging the gradient of China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You & Sleeping Under The Stars, I feel like they really compliment each other well. But I also feel like there is this grungy quality (in a good way!) when Choo Choo Choose You is sponged that makes me so happy. Add in the stars, & I really am getting a wizardly vibe… & I dig it.

Oh look, a cat hair… are you even really a nail blogger if you don’t occasionally get cat hair in your manicure.

Also this gradient combination is just soooo good. I wasn’t sure how well these two colours would blend, but I think it turned out really really awesome. & I ♥️ it. So much so I wore this manicure for a full 4 days before having to change it due to a whole lot of top wear happening.

Are you excited for the manicures to come this month thanks to #glamnailschallengeOct? We’re two prompts down, & 7 more to go! Don’t forget to keep track of all the manicures by following the above hashtag, & stay tuned for some fun designs that will be coming! & let me know down below if you like these challenges & want to see me take on more!

October 1, 2019September 27, 2019

3 Easy Accent Nail Ideas

Hello lovelies!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week & October! Can you believe it’s October already?! It is absolutely my favourite month of the year because HALLOWEEN! & my birthday as well, but still haven’t decided if I’m excited for my birthday this year or not.

Today though I have a fun nail art post to share with you featuring 3 different accent nail art looks that are both quick & easy! For these designs I used the same polishes for all 3 looks, & tried to do nail art that #1. wouldn’t take forever to dry, & #2. didn’t need a whole lot of complicated tools

For all three designs, I decided to use the same polishes:

Essie After School Boy Blazer
Essie White Page
Quo by ORLY Breathable Nail Superfood
Joe Fresh Gel Look Sparkling Glitz
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries

As always, I used my base coat & top coat for a complete look. As well, I used a couple nail art tools in order to achieve my look–a dotting tool & a striping brush. Mine are both from NailStuff.ca, although there are a ton of different places you can purchase nail art tools.

Continue reading “3 Easy Accent Nail Ideas”

September 17, 2019September 13, 2019

Fall Inspired Abstract Nails

Good morning lovelies! Hope you’re enjoying the beginning to another beautiful week. Also how is it possible we’ve passed the middle of September & it’s creeping (quickly!) towards October?! It feels like just yesterday I was dreaming wistfully about pumpkin spice, & now it will be Halloween before we know it!

Today I have a really, really fun design to share with you that I had an extremely hard time figuring out what to call. It has a little bit of everything in it: negative space, polka dots, colour blocking, abstract lines. This look was partly inspired by a few of these looks I’ve seen popping up on Instagram & partly inspired by my daughters new soothers. But I am 100% in love with the end results!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Gel overlay
Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
Wet N Wild 2% Milk
Essie Fall For NYC
Essie Bobbing for Baubles
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

This look is super easy to do, even though it comes across as more complicated & fancy. Basically the hardest part is figuring out how to layer your lines of colour, but because they’re “abstract” you don’t have to worry about making them perfectly straight. & then just go in with a small dotting tool for some extra dots, & you’re finished! I originally was going to add a few random lines as well, but was worried about kiddos waking up (I literally did these at 6am while everyone was asleep) so I went the safe route. Definitely want to try them again & see if I can get even closer to my inspiration! This was a fun first attempt though!

Love love loving this look! Seriously, it feels so good to paint my nails, & even if it means waking up earlier than I might want, it’s so worth it in the end. Painting my nails is what keeps me feeling like me, & it’s important to have that “thing” that makes you feel like you, especially when you’re a new Mom.

I know I get asked a lot how I have time, with two young kids, to keep doing my nails & the honest answer is: I just make the time when I can. It’s not always easy, & sometimes it takes into the next day to finish a manicure, but sometimes that’s what you have to do. We’ll see what happens when my maternity leave is up & I go back to work, but I will keep trying as much as possible to keep the routine going & finding my times to paint & create.

What do you think of this nail art look? What kind of manicures would you like to see next? Share down below your favourite nail art look!

🧡

September 4, 2019September 3, 2019

VACATION NAILS — ocean inspire Saran Wrap splatter.

Hello lovelies! Still on vacation, but even though I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean I’m not painting my nails! Like I wrote in my last Swatch Sunday post, visiting my parents means I get to take advantage of my Mom’s massive nail polish collection she uses for her jewelry. So I decided to take a few of her polishes to create an ocean inspired design perfect for an East Coast vacation!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Duri Rejuvacote
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Sally Hansen CSM A Bleu Attitude
Quo by ORLY April Showers
Santee ACO6433
China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
Crinkled up Plastic Wrap

Obviously, being away from my own nail polish stash & supply, I’m not going to attempt to crate one of my more complicated designs–like floral– which is why something like a Saran Wrap splatter is such a perfect design! Easy to do, minimal clean up, but still looks fancy & fun! & obviously because my nails were inspired by the ocean I had to take pictures of this look right on the beach! 🌊

Looking at these close up, I realized how much these look like the mussel shells we used to collect off the beach as kids! This colour combination is definitely one of the best versions of this design I’ve done, but I find that happens whenever I do anything in shades of blue! They always just turn out so beautiful!

What do you think of this look? What do you do about your nails when you’re on vacation–do you still paint them, or go with something like soak off gel that lasts 2+ weeks!

Let me know your vacation nail routine down in the comments below!

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