Spring Stamping

Happy Friday lovelies! & happy March! Can you believe another month is down? I definitely can’t. Our countdown to Spring is officially at 18 days…. can you tell I’m really excited? Especially since the last couple days have been so beautiful & warm! I can’t wait. Which also means my nails have to match.

Give me all the Spring polish picks!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie In The Cab-Ana
  • Essie All the Wave
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP-L026 (item #21812)
  • Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

I really love the blue on blue with the vine pattern. It reminds me of a Spring dress pattern! & you know how much I love my dresses & cant wait to wear them again. Hopefully maybe by Easter & the end of the month I’ll be able to wear a few. A girl can dream!

I’m so glad I bought this stamping plate from Born Pretty! There are so many beautiful patterns that are going to be perfect for Spring & Summer. Obviously I love freehanding Floral patterns, but something I just don’t have the time to do it so this gives me another option. Plus leaves have never been my strong suit–Roses I can do, but try & freehand a leaf & sometimes it just ends up looking like a green blob. If I’m feeling some greenery, this will definitely make me less frustrated, which I am so happy about.

What do you think of this Spring design? Are you as ready for Spring as I am? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 🌿🌱

Colour Block Half Moons

Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I’ve been having an exciting week here in Ottawa (although I miss being able to do my nails, I won’t lie.) I thought while I had a minute, I’d write up a quick post! Today’s nail design is one of my long time favourites & I love how versatile it is for all seasons. Half Moons! Seriously, you can never go wrong with a half moon design–they’re fairly quick & easy to do, & always look so put together. Today’s particular half moons were to curb my craving for something bright. I won Essie Flowerista last summer in their Summer Nailphie contest & I haven’t worn it nearly enough! So with Spring coming, I knew I needed to pull it out.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Cocktail Bling
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essence French Manicure Tip Guides

How pretty is this combo? Usually I would use paper hole reinforcements for my design, but because I wanted the half moon to be the darker colour, I used my french manicure tip guides from Essence & filled them in (similar to what I would do with a chevron half moon). Still super easy & gives you even more colour combination options! Does anyone else remember when almost every single half moon I did was pink & purple? I’m really glad I’ve expanded my colour options! Although, I’ll be honest… I really like that colour combination!

So what do you think of these half moons? Do you have a favourite colour combination? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Easy Nude & Gold Ruffian

Good morning lovelies! It’s currently 6:33am as I write this & I’m sitting here waiting for my bright & early flight to Ottawa–my first time on an airplane in 9 years & my first time being away from the little guy. I figured I would distract myself from reality by posting! I have quite a few manis saved up that I haven’t posted yet, so even though I won’t be doing my nails this week I’ll still have lots of content to share.

Today’s design is a design that I’ll be thinking about in my head for a while. I did them when I started out my job search & was trying to come up with interview/office appropriate designs. Sometimes you just want a little more than plain nude nails, but don’t want to push it too far.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Topless & Barefoot
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo By ORLY Fallen Star
  • Paper Hole reinforcements

Oh man, I love ruffian designs but sometimes they can be tricky to get right. Using the paper hole reinforcements means you can create the look with barely any trouble. This was the first time I’ve tried it this way, & I’ll definitely be “cheating” & using them from now on. Just like my favourite half moons, it’s just so much easier. & I like easy.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried this technique for creating ruffian designs? Do you find freehand or nail vinyls/guides easier? share your thoughts in the comments below!

Now I’m off to Ottawa, so I will see you later! Have a great Monday!

SWATCH SUNDAY — New Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Shades

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone has been having a great weekend. I’ve spent all weekend running around trying to get ready for my work trip to Ottawa tomorrow! I’m very excited but I’m not sure how posting will go. I’m going to try & post after I get off work, so mostly things will go up at night. I have a few manicures saved up for this week though, so I’ll still have things to share! Today though, I have part two of my Quo by ORLY swatches, this time featuring the regular formula shades new for 2018.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — New Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Shades”

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!