Category: NOTD

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Drip Marble decals inspired by @SimplyNailogical 


I’ve tried water marbling, & it was… not my thing. I’ve tried drag marbling, & it’s usually hit or miss. But I really love marbled nails, so naturally when I picked up a silicone craft mat I knew I needed to try drip marbling recently done by @simplynailogical.


For this mani I used:

  • ORLY Decades of Dysfunction 
  • Sally Hansen Pretty Piggy
  • Nicole by OPI We Got Beiber Fever
  • Finger Paints Wanna Gogh Dance?
  • ACO by Ardene Base Coat
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat

To create my decals, I started off by dropping my polished of choice onto the mat, starting with my lightest colour (ORLY Decades of Dysfunction) as my base, then continued with my darker colours, & finished with my metallic shade (Finger Paints Wanna Gogh Dance?). Once all my colours were down, I moved my mat around to create my marbled effect. Once I was happy with one decal, I’d let it sit & dry for a few minutes before starting on the next one. When I was happy with the amount of decals I’d made, I left them to Dry for a few hours (around 2 hours).

I’m not going to lie, trying to apply these wasn’t the easiest. I started off by painting my accent nails with a base colour (again I used ORLY Decades of Dysfunction) and let dry. I then peeled off my decal & figured out which part I wanted on my nail, trimming it down to a more manageable size. When I was ready, I applied a coat of my ACO by Ardene base coat & immediately stuck my decal onto the nail. Using a brush dipped in acetone, I cleaned up around the cuticle. This was probably the least fun part–I wish I had better nail art scissors to trim off the access instead! When the decal was fully cleaned up & my cuticles were clean I sealed everything in with top coat to finish. I also surrounded my cuticles in oil to help after all that remover. No one likes wrecked cuticles.

And how does the final result look?

Continue reading “Drip Marble decals inspired by @SimplyNailogical “

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Neon Cactus nails. 


Cactus nails 🌵 are having a moment right now on Instagram, so I decided to join in & create my own version. I originally did cactus nails last year, which can be found here. With my design from last year, my personal complaint was my base colour was too dark, so this time I wanted to go with something brighter. And what is brighter than neon pink!


For this manicure, I used:

  • China Glaze Hang Ten Toes
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Green
  • Essie First Timer 
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie Stylenomics
  • Essie Peach Daquri 
  • Essie Haute As Hello
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Small nail art brush from this set by Bundle Monster.


Have you jumped on the cactus nail art trend yet? I absolutely love cacti. When my son was born, I didn’t wanted flowers, I wanted my mum to bring me a cactus (which is pictured above). The little guy also has a little cactus onesie that is too cute, and I’m planning on filling our house with a few more plants too! I’m a little obsessed.


And just for fun (because I’m so obsessed with this mani I couldn’t stop taking pictures), a shot of both hands:

What do you think of this mani? Are you as obsessed as I am? Let me know in the comments below!

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Tribal Print Accent Nail

Today I have some more nail art to share with you! I’m really enjoying being able to do my nails again. It’s surprising how relaxing it is to be able to sit down & pull out my polishes at the end of the night.


It’s been a while since I did anything tribal-esque on my nails, so I felt like it was about time. Again, I continued the trend with some pretty Spring polishes that I haven’t pulled out in a while.

For this manicure, I used:

  • ACO by Ardene Whacky
  • ACO by Ardene Flawless
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie Lounge Lover 
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Thick striping tape from Born Pretty Store.
  • Small dotting tool.

It’s been too long since I’ve tried to freehand lines like this, hence why I only did an accent nail, & used striping tape to create my thick lines. I really should invest in some acrylic paint for nail art, eventually. (Although I’ve been saying that for ages, & still haven’t.) Even with the wonky lines though, I really love this accent nail. Makes me feel like I’m officially back in the nail art game again!

I think if I went with some pastel polish, & white lines, these would be great for Easter Egg nails! I’m starting to plan my Easter manicures so I will have to try this again with the right colour palette.


What do you think of my tribal-esque accent nail? Let me know in the comments below!

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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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Joe Fresh Gel Look in Key Lime Pie 7 day test. 

As I teased in my last post, I wanted to test out the durability of the new Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes. They boast up to 14 day durability, so I wanted to see how long I could get the polish to last on my nails. I used to never wear my polish more than a day or two, but now that life has gotten busier I need a polish in my life that lasts between mommy mani time! 

Day one:

From my original post, Key Lime Pie on the first day. For those who don’t remember from my previous post, I used three coats for application, with no base or top coat required. 
Day two:

After a day of wear, (and many diaper changes on top of other Mummy duties!) polish still looked  the same as the day before. 
Day Four:

After four days of wear, there was minimal tip wear, most notably on my thumb and pointer finger. Also you can really notice the growth at my cuticles after four days. 
Day Seven:

After 7 days of wear there is noticeable chipping on my pointer, as well as serious tip wear on my other fingers. You can also see how much growth is at the cuticle after a week of wear. My other (dominate) hand saw similar chipping, although more. 

The chipping was enough for me that I wouldn’t want to go longer than I did (not to mention the growth at the cuticles). That’s not to say it couldn’t last longer, but for this experiment 7 days was my cut off. And for a polish that requires no base or top coat, I thought that was pretty impressive!

As mentioned in my previous post, these Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes can be found at your local Loblaws or Superstore for $5.