Category: OPI

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Happy Birthday Nails! šŸŽ‰šŸŽˆšŸŽ‚Ā 

I know, itā€™s Sunday which means normally I would be sharing a swatch with you. But today is not just any Sunday… itā€™s my birthday! So obviously I had to do something fun on my nails in honour of the occasion & I couldnā€™t think of anything more fun to put on my nails than a glittery purple cupcake nail (which are a few of my favourite things.) After perusing Pinterest searching ā€œcupcake nailsā€ I had an idea of how I wanted my design to look, & Iā€™m so happy that they turned out exactly how I imagined! 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • ORLY Plum Sugar
  • Nails INC Cherry Road
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Color Club Evolution
  • Cosmetic Arts Unnamed Baby Pink
  • Color Club A Warm Place
  • URSugar Zig Zag Nail Vinyls item #AUB39877 
  • Dotting Tool
  • Small Detail Brush


I really really love my birthday cupcake nails. I feel like itā€™s been ages since I freehanded anything & I was a little nervous about my cupcake but it turned out so cute! These are going to be fun to wear for my birthday celebrations with my family later this afternoon. Last year I spent my birthday in a dark room with an eye infection, so Iā€™m determined to make up for that this year! 

Have a great Sunday everyone! šŸ’œ

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Saran Wrap Smoosh Nails

I donā€™t do a lot of Saran Wrap smoosh nails, mostly because I find them fairly messy (& I ran out of liquid latex & Iā€™m being lazy in replacing it). But every time I see one pop up on my Instagram feed I tell myself I need this technique in my life again. They just always look so cool! Iā€™ve been struggling with inspiration lately, so I decided to risk the messy clean up & do a smoosh. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • Essie Cocktails & Coconuts
  • China Glaze VII
  • Quo by ORLY Fairy Godmother
  • Saran Wrap, or plastic bag of some sort. 

If youā€™ve never done a Saran Wrap smoosh, there are lots of tutorials on the internet (this one from @snowglobenails is great). From my expirence, I find sometimes they can take a few tries before you figure out what works for you, but for me less is more.  I prefer to use maximum 3 shades together, otherwise I find my nails can end up looking kind of swampy. & I also try not to push blend colours too much when pressing down on my plastic. 

Whatā€™s your thoughts on smooshy nails? Do you have a favourite colour combination? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

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Halloween Glitter GradientĀ 

Who else is super excited for October? I am! Obviously I love Fall & the fact the weather has cooled down to much more seasonable temperatures (I got to wear my Uggs the other day!) has me pumped for the month to come. Thanksgiving, my birthday, & especially Halloween! šŸŽƒ October is full of lots of fun, & Iā€™m ready for all the accompanying nail art designs. So I thought I would start off with a quick & easy Halloween-esque glitter gradient. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash
  • OPI Lincoln Park After Dark
  • Sinful Colors Pumpkin Spice
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

Please excuse the bubbles in my mani… my top coat is reaching the end of its life & starting to get a little thick & bubbly. Thankfully the glitter hides a lot of the bubbles. Even still, I love this comboā€”it just screams Halloween to me without being too over the top! Itā€™s also a super easy design that anyone can do without too much fuss. 

Sinful Colors Pumpkin Spice is such a great Fall glitter shade, & not just because it caters to my latte loving inner basic white girl! I bought my bottle a few (I think close to 3) years ago, but I saw it at my local Lawtons yesterday so definitely check in store if youā€™re looking for it! I believe itā€™s a seasonal shade that Sinful Colors releases every year. 

I have a whole list of Halloween manicures Iā€™m planning (thank you Pinterest!) so stay tuned for lots of fun nail art designs. Also still trying to come up with something fun to wear on my birthday. So if you have any design suggestions, let me know in the comments below! 

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My Very First V-Gap Design

Over the years, Iā€™ve expiremented with lots of different nail art designs. One I havenā€™t tried though is the v-gap! This design has been around a long time & according to Google the creation of the design is credited to a nail artist by the name of Sophy Robson. Yes, I know. Iā€™m always so behind on these trends! But you know how much I love chevron moons, & I thought this would be a nice change up for my favourite look. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash
  • OPI My Favourite Ornament
  • OPI Lincoln Park After Dark 
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls skinny Straight Vinyls
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls X-stencil (inner pieces) 

There are lots of different tutorials for creating this look you can find online, but I chose to use nail vinyls to make it easiest. I applied my chevron vinyls first then added the straight vinyls down the middleā€”this was the easiest way to make sure everything was straight. For those who want to make this design even easier, I know Whatā€™s Up Nails has stiletto nail vinyls that would work perfectly for this design! 

I just love how these turned outā€”they feel super classy with the dark over the gold! This would be a great design to wear to any kind of fancy event… I know Fall is just beginning but itā€™s almost time for holiday parties, & these would look beautiful with a cocktail dress. 

Whatā€™s the last new design you tried? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Happy National Coffee Day Nails! ā˜•ļø


You know I love a good excuse to celebrate a holiday & what better holiday to celebrate than National Coffee Day! I joined my girls in #thenailartsquad for some caffeine inspired manicures in order to celebrate this day in style! 

Obvious if weā€™re doing coffee inspired nails, I had to do something Starbucks inspired! I also thought I would pull out some of the acrylic paints I recently picked up for my freehanding details. 



For this design, the products I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash
  • Essie Mochacino
  • Essie Cocktails & Coconuts 
  • Sally Hansen Hard To Get
  • Acrylic Paints (black, white, brown & green)
  • Silicone Mat
  • Tiny dotting tool 
  • Small Detail Brush

I had this idea of how I wanted this design to turn out, & it turned out exactly how I imagined in my head… I love when that happens! I used my pink silicone mat to create my ā€œlatte artā€ drag marble decals which (I think) turned out really good. I also tested out my acrylic paints for the first time, & they were so easy to use for nail art! I definitely understand why they are such a popular option for nail artā€”I would have had a much harder time creating my little Starbucks cup using just regular nail polish. Now I want to buy even more colours to test out designs! 

What do you think of these coffee nails in honour of National Coffee Day? Whatā€™s you favourite coffee drink of choice? Obviously I love pumpkin spice this time of year, but if weā€™re picking favourites I absolutely canā€™t wait for Gingebread lattes to return! 
Donā€™t forget to check out the hashtag #thenailartsquad to see all the coffee themed designs, as well as our past collaborations!