Candy Cane Accent Nails

Hello Internet! After two weeks of packing & moving & unpacking & lacking the internet I am finally back! & oh boy am I happy to be back! Its officially December now, & that means it’s time for some serious Christmas-y nail spam. First up? These candy cane accent nails that have been sitting on my phone for the last week.

The polishes used for the design were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Quo by ORLY The Antidote
  • Essence Dream On
  • Essence Perfect Match
  • Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy
  • Layla Cosmteics Soft Touch Golden Touch
  • UR SUGAR Nail Stencils item #AUB39877 — click to buy

Who doesn’t love candy canes at Christmas — whether it’s an actual candy cane (my favourite are those sour patch kids ones that used to sell years ago… not sure if you can still buy them) or in the form a candy cane hot chocolate or mocha. There is something about those extra sweet & sugary sticks that bring out your inner elf… even if you don’t really like Christmas all that much.

What do you think  of these candy cane accent nails? Is this something you would wear for any of your holiday occasions. These would be super cute to wear to a Christmas party or Christmas concert! Let me know what you think of this design in the comments below, & let me know any Christmas designs you’d like to see this month!

Saran Wrap Smoosh Nails

I don’t do a lot of Saran Wrap smoosh nails, mostly because I find them fairly messy (& I ran out of liquid latex & I’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! I’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 you’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. 

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

SWATCH SUNDAY — Featuring New Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Breathable Shades for Fall 2017. 

Who doesn’t love new nail polish? Who doesn’t love new nail polish that is actually good for your nails! Today I’m sharing three brand new for the Fall Limited Edition Quo by ORLY Breathable shades that I recently received.

It’s always a super exciting day when nail mail shows up at the store, & when I saw these beauties in the box I was extra excited. You can check out my previous post on these Breathable shades from last year here to understand why I was so excited. Not only are these polishes beautiful, with great formulas that require no base or top coat, but they are designed to make your nails stronger & healthier! 
Quo by ORLY Down to Earth



Who doesn’t love a good nude shade? Especially a nude you can get away with one coat of! This grey leaning neutral is the perfect throw & go shade to me, especially since it is only one coat. Also no top coat required! That also means the dry time isn’t instantaneous, but that’s okay with me. 


Quo by ORLY De-Stressed Denim

Let’s talk about the formula of all these polishes—they’re perfect. Like beyond perfect. This is two coats of De-Stressed Denim, & they went on so smoothly. This blue is also just so perfectly named, because it really just the spot on colour of jeans. I actually saw these three shades at my local Shoppers & this was the one I was drawn to first. So pretty! 


Quo by ORLY Fairy Godmother

A shimmery rose gold shade… that’s good for my nails? Yes please! Fairy Godmother took two coats for that shimmery goodness you see above. It dries down easily, with few noticeable streaks. The colour is one I love, especially for this time of year (& holidays) & I love that I wear a pretty sparkly shade while making my nails stronger & healthier. 

So what do you think of these shades? 

Quo by ORLY Breathable shades can be found exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart locations across Canada for $10.99. As I mentioned, these shades are limited edition so you’ll definitely want to pick them up before they’re gone! 

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

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! 

Born Pretty Store Review — UR Sugar Adhesive Nail Vinyls Heart Pattern Nail Art item # 39723 


Good morning & happy Friday! Today I’m sharing another review of a fun item from Born Pretty Store. This time I’m reviewing some sugar adhesive heart pattern nail vinyls (item #39723). These vinyls comes with two different styles — the swirly hearts & the multiple hearts. Let’s consider this part one as I’m just reviewing the swirly hearts. 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Paparazzi 
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight
  • UR Sugar Adhesive Nail Vinyls Heart Pattern item # 39723 

I’ve used a lot of nail vinyls over the last little while & I have to say these are definitely high up on the list. They are easy to peel off their backing & stick to the nail–easily adjustable but not so flimsy that they just stick together & crumple. Also they stick really, really well. I had zero issues with colour bleeding underneath. Also, you get two stencils in one with the heart swirls, which means you can do 20 nails total! I also really like that they have the useful little tab for pulling up your vinyl. 

All in all, I really like these vinyls. They’re easy to peel off & apply, they don’t bleed & they just work really well. Using nail vinyls can be difficult sometimes, but these make it easy! I also like the fact you get 2 different designs per sheet which can be used separately or combined together. I can definitely see myself using these again & would say anyone who is curious about trying out nail vinyls should give them a shot! 

& for fun—a shot of this holo manicure in action. 


If you’re interested in ordering these nail vinyls (or something else) from Born Pretty Store feel free to use my discount code COFFK31 to save 10% off any regular price items! I’ve been ordering from them for years, & I love the wide variety of products you can find for all your nail polish addict needs!