Category: Purple Nails

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Sweater Nails with Water Decals from NailsStuff.ca

I’ve written before about my obsession with creating sweater nails. It’s one of my favourite styles for this time of year! So when I received these water nail decals from NailStuff.ca, I couldn’t wait to have a new way to create sweater nails, especially ones that I could do a bit faster (& a little less messier).

You can find my first experience with water decals–also from NailStuff.ca–here.

For this manicure, the products I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Revlon Elusive
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Power Packed
  • NailStuff.ca Christmas Fair Isle Water Decal in Grey/Black

These decals were super easy to use. There are a whole bunch of different designs you can chose from, & you can pair different ones together or wear just wear the decals alone.

My only struggle was applying top coat–you want to make sure you’re using enough top coat when you seal in your design. My Seche Vive was a little low so I dragged the same spot twice & it pulled on the decal a little bit (on my ring finger). Also I found that sealing in your design with top coat was best before trying to clean up any excess with acetone so you don’t accidents pull your water decal sideways on your nail (if it isn’t dry enough). Since I’m still relatively new to these decals, these issues are definitely all on me. I think as I practice more, I’ll learn more of these little application tricks.

what do you think of these water decals? Would you try out this sweater nail look? Let me know what you think in the comments below! ❄️

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own

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Winter Chevron Moons

Hello & Happy Tuesday! Sorry for the lack of posts this weekend–it was kind of a rough weekend & my motivation for posting took a hit. (Also I noticed the majority of my last post disappeared & I’ve been too frustrated thinking about having to rewrite it so I’ve been avoiding the blog. My bad.) But today I have a brand new post with something that has been seriously lacking in my life lately: chevron moons!

I’m calling these winter chevron moons because… it sounds cool? The colours just kind of give me that Winter vibe, so I thought it worked. Also I figured everyone might want to see something other than snowflakes.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2 Foundations
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Nubar Queen
  • Essie Parka Perfect
  • OPI My Favourite Ornament
  • URSUGAR Chevron Nail Stencils (I used the inner pieces.)

I love the combination of the pale blue, deep purple & sparkly gold. I thought this colour combo was a nice switch up from all the Christmas-y designs I’ve been doing, & features two of my favourite winter polishes: Essie Parka Perfect & OPI My Favourite Ornament. Every Christmas, this gold has to come out because the sparkle is just so perfect. ✨

For me, Christmas/Winter nails are all about the sparkle. These aren’t your typical holiday nails, but I think they would look fantastic with a pretty dress at a Christmas/New Year’s party, especially if you don’t want to resort to the classic Christmas shades. It’s all about the sparkle that makes it perfect. I’m so obsessed with Christmas party looks right now because I have no Christmas party of my own to go to. I just keep coming up with looks I would wear if I had somewhere to go (& then imagine what fancy dress sitting in my closet I would pair with it.)

What do you think of these chevron moons? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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My New Favourite Purple & Swirly Accent Nails 

Happy Friday everyone! Today I’ve got a quick mani I did recently when I was feeling some nail art, but didn’t want to do anything too complicated. This mani was actually inspired by a design I did back in September 2016 as part of my failed attempt at the 31 Day Challenge. I loved the look of the design over a super sheer polish, so I decided that it would make for the perfect accent nail. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • L’Oréal Elusive
  • Ardene Ice Mist
  • Essie Frock N’ Roll
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster 

Okay can we talk about L’Oréal Elusive for a second? I found this bottle at my local Lawtons in the clearance section (my favourite place for polish finds) & I had to buy it! It’s just such a good shade of purple, & I’ve been wearing it a lot lately. Also I totally apologize for the chipping at the tip of my nails—I took these shots after 2 full days of wear so they were looking tougher than they should. But this purple…. it’s just such a good purple! 💜 I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been on a huge purple kick lately. 

What do you think of this accent nail? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. & leave some suggestions for any nail art you’d love to see! 

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Holo Accent Nails using NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment! 

Happy Wednesday everyone! The week is already speeding by, which is crazy—halfway to the weekend. To get us over this mid week slump, today I’ve got another item I was so kindly sent to try out by NailStuff.ca: holo pigment flakies. 

This is my first time ever using any kind of pigment for the nails (I know, I’m so behind on the times) so I was super excited to give it a whirl & also totally unsure of how to go about it. I know these pigments work really well over gel nails, but I change my nails too often for that so I decided to create these holo nails using just nail polish! So after watch a bunch of YouTube & Instagram videos, I felt pretty confident I could do this! 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • L’Oréal Pino Purple
  • NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment Flakies
  • Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier  

To accomplish this look: 

  • I painted all my nails with L’Oréal Pino Purple (including my ring finger.) 
  • I applied top coat to all my fingers except my ring finger & on that nail I applied Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat. (I originally tried used just wet nail polish but found the flakies didn’t stick as well for me.)
  • Next I applied my Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier around my ring finger & let it dry completely. 
  • I then took the small eyeshadow applicator that comes with the flakies, & patted them down onto the nail & tried to rub them in some. It took about 2 applications to completely cover my base. (You can see at the edge of my nails where I missed a few spots.)
  • Seal in flakies with top coat (I used Seche Vive for that shine.) 

Super simple & only slightly messy. I did end up getting holo flakies in my bed (where I do my nails pretty much always) which in turn ended up sticking to my son for a couple of days but nothing wrong with a little holo glitter! 

I will say, my second attempt using a sticky base coat over my polish worked much better (as opposed to using just my base of polish). The first time I tried half the flakies came off with my top coat, but it could be my polish had dried too much for the flakies to really stick. 

Have you used holo flakies before? Any tips  for application that you’ve discovered? Leave all your thoughts below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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Half Moons & Gold Studs 

Happy Monday! How was everyone else’s weekend? We’ve been starting to pack for moving which is about as much fun as it sounds… I hate packing & I hate moving. (& I haven’t even starting thinking about moving my 1000+ nail polishes yet.) 

So what am I sharing to cheer myself up after a packing haze? One of my favourite go-to designs—the half moon. & thought I’d share a quick pictorial on how easy these actually are to create! & no special vinyls are needed!

The products used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Fancy Pants
  • China Glaze Glamcore
  • NailStuff.ca gold Mixed Decoration Nail Wheel

Paint your base colour & apply quick dry top coat. Let dry completely, roughly about 20 minutes depending on the top coat you use. 

Once your nails are completely dry, pull out your pack of paper hole reinforcements & apply at the base of your nail. Make sure to press down at each end. 

Repeat on all 5 nails. I always do one hand at a time. 

Press down each side of hole reinforcement (to make sure polish won’t bleed under) & then quickly paint second colour over top. A one coat polish works best, but she make sure base colour is covered. 

Immediately remove your reinforcement. 

Repeat steps on all fingers & then seal in design with top coat. Bam! Almost instant half moons (with a few steps in between). I loved the blue with purple but I wanted to add a little more of a snazzy finish to my nails. I’ve been obsessing about this wheel of nail studs lately adding it to a lot of my manicures lately so I figured it would be the perfect addition to this design. 

For my accent nail, I applied some blobs of coat, then picked up my studs with a wet nail art brush & arranged them. I always make sure to pull my studs out of the wheel ahead of applying them, as it takes less time trying to find them. Also, sometimes you will have to dab on more clear polish/top coat to make sure the studs stick. Also I always seal my studs in with top coat so no edges catch & get pulled off. 

What do you think of this half moon? How do you create your half moon designs? Let me know in the comments below! 🌙