Category: Purple Nails

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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! 🌙

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Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month 💜

The month of November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, & my fellow girls in #thenailartsquad & I wanted to create some manicures to bring awareness to this terrible disease that has touched so many of us. 

The color for Pancreatic Awareness Month is purple, so we grabbed a selection of our favourite purples. 

 For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Plur-ple 
  • ACO by Ardene Ice Mist
  • Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Essence Nail Art Stampy Set stamping plate. 

For my design, I picked to go with purple hearts. Like so many, I’ve lost someone I loved to this terrible disease—-when I was just a little girl, my Poppy was diagnosed & passed away from pancreatic cancer. I don’t remember much about him sadly, except from pictures & home movies. 

This is why I think it’s such an important cause to bring attention to because I feel like so many people have lost someone they love way too soon. 

We’d love for anyone out there who would like to bring awareness to Pancreatic Cancer to join us in posting a purple design using the hashtag #pancreaticcancerawarenessmonth

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Happy Birthday Nails! 🎉🎈🎂 

I know, it’s Sunday which means normally I would be sharing a swatch with you. But today is not just any Sunday… it’s my birthday! So obviously I had to do something fun on my nails in honour of the occasion & I couldn’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 “cupcake nails” I had an idea of how I wanted my design to look, & I’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 it’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 I’m determined to make up for that this year! 

Have a great Sunday everyone! 💜

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Deep & Dark Vintage Floral Nails 

Okay so I know every time I paint floral on my nails I gush that they’re my absolute favourite floral… but I swear this time I really mean it! It may have something to do with the super vampy perfect-for-Fall base colour. These are definitely not a Spring floral & I think that’s why I love it so much. I am also really in love with the slightly messy look of this floral–they’re not perfect, & I think that’s what makes them so perfect to me. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat
  • Essence Plump Power 
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Mauve Over
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pretty Peony 
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Montley Hue
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Green
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Kiwi Bikini
  • Quo by ORLY Diva 
  • Large & Small dotting tool 
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster

Obviously nothing could make me love this mani any more…. except adding Matte top coat to it! It’s been forever since I mattified anything, so it was long long over due. For this mani I used an inexpensive matte top coat I picked up on vacation this summer for a $1, but if you’re looking for suggestions my all time favourite Matte top coat is L’Oréal The Matte Velvet top coat. 

Anyone else just love love love Matte nails as the weather gets cooler & Fall creeps into the air? Maybe it’s because I always grab my darker shades & they look so fabulous mattified? Whatever the reason, it makes me very very happy! 


What do you think of this vintage floral design? Which do you like better–shiny or matte? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!