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!

Pink & Purple Spring Floral

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Happy Friday Lovelies! Today is my last dedicated post for floral week… at least for now! I’ve been so about Spring this week & the weather the last couple days has flipped to be somewhat agreeable & sunny & only slightly chilly. I’ve even been able to wear a few of my dresses! I mean, with tights & boots… but it still counts! It just means we’re that much closer to the days where I can wear nothing but my pretty Spring dresses.

Today’s design is another floral featuring pink & purple. This design also turned out a little tropical to me which I’m really loving. I’m still trying to practice creating other flowers than roses–I’ve been doing roses so long they’re kind of easy for me, but other flowers aren’t as easy. Hopefully with practice, it’ll be just as simple. I dream of creating florals as beautiful as my floral idols @just1nail & @polishpeach. They just make it look so easy.

For this manicure, the polishes that I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence As Long As You Love Me 
  • Icing Pink A Boo
  • Sinful Colours Amethyst
  • Essie Play Date
  • Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Pen in Turquoise
  • Essie Strut You Stuff
  • Small & Large dotting tool from Bundle Monster
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster

 

This time of year is such a hard time for nail art inspiration which is why I think I love painting flowers. It gives me something to look forward to! Also it’s an excuse to pull out those Spring-y nail polish shades that have been sitting in my Melmer drawers all Winter, missing me. I’ve been dying over all the new Spring collections being released (especially China Glaze’s Chic Physique collection) so I can’t wait to treat myself with a few new shades… or you know, the whole collection if I happen to stumble across it at Winners.

So that’s it for floral week, although I already have a few more floral designs ready to show you in the next little while! Like I said, I just can’t get enough. I definitely had fun dedicating this whole week to my love for floral, & I can definitely see myself doing it again!

 

What do you think of this design? Have you enjoyed this entirely floral themed week? Would you like to see me do more of these themed posts? Let me know your thoughts below!

Simple Vintage Roses

Happy Wednesday lovelies! I hope everyone is having an excellent week so far. Today marks the second post of my all floral week! & yes, I’m still obsessed. I went shopping yesterday for new work clothes (because I start training at my new job next week) & I kept having to tell myself to not buy all the florals, since I already have a closet full of floral patterned shirts. However, you can never have enough floral on your nails.

Today’s design is you classic vintage floral design. When I got my first ever dotting tool, I was obsessed with these simple kind of designs & nothing has changed in the last 6 years. They’re still one of my favourites, especially because they’re just so easy to do! Plus they always look so pretty & girlie on the nail.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Nude Glam Iced Strawberry Cream
  • Essie Bachelorette Bash
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Tickled Pink
  • OPI Two Timing the Zones
  • Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Dotting Tool from Bundle Monster
  • Small Detail Brush from Bundle Monster

Who else remembers my very first ever floral posted on here? Almost 4 years & I’m never bored with these designs. I don’t think I could ever be bored by a floral design. According to the “floral nails” tag, I’ve done 46 designs so far. That’s a lot of flowers! Haha, you’d think that after 46 different floral designs I would be tired, but going through that tag just makes me want to do more. I think I’m addicted. But honestly, is there ever such a thing as too much floral? I just want Spring so badly.

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What do you think of this simple vintage floral? Have you ever/would you ever try this design yourself? Share you thoughts in the comments below, & let me know what you think!

Pretty Pink Gradient & Stamping

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We’re quickly speeding through February, can you believe we’re already half way through? Kind of crazy! Today I have a super fun gradient design to share. I’ve been kind of obsessed with gradients lately–I go through fazes, & now that I’m all stocked up on my Edge Perfection I’ve been a little gradient crazy.

For today’s design, I was feeling pink. I wanted something a little Valentine’s Day-esque without being too over the top. I started out with the gradient, then added some holo glitter. & then I thought–why not some stamping too? I was a bit scared it was all going to be too much, but I think because I didn’t use contrasting colours, the whole design really works together.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by Orly Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Joe Fresh Cotton Candy
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mauve Over
  • China Glaze Life is Rosy
  • Quo by Orly Falling Star
  • Essie No Place like Chrome
  • Born Pretty Store Image Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

I’m really loving this gradient!

& obviously I took some macro shots! You see the holo glitters much better this way, since my desk lamp doesn’t show them off as well as I would like. Also it shows off the blend on this gradient, which I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of. Especially since my early gradients looked something like this.

 

I’m so happy with this whole design! I know it’s not oh my god Valentine’s Day, but it’s pretty & pink & what is more lovely than that?

What do you think of this design? Do you like all the layers, or do you think it’s too busy? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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!