Category: Recreation

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Itty Bitty Gradient Dotticure

Hello lovelies! Yes it’s me — only we’re rocking some shorties again. (Okay, & I’m drinking a matcha lemonade — my other drink aside from coffee!) I mentioned I had a patch on my middle finger nail of a bad crack. I finally decided I was over trying to keep it from cracking worse, & decided to chop my my nails down.

Today I went with a simple but fun look to wear. I love a good gradient dotticure, but I realized it’s been a long time since I actually did one. This design was actually inspired by this look from 2016. I thought since we were back down to shorties, why not find some fun nail art to do on short nails!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Londontown KUR Mint No Chip
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in purple
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in turquoise
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in pink
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Itty Bitty Dotting Tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

How absolutely adorable as these itty bitty polka dots? You could definitely do this with a tiny dotting tool & an assortment of polishes, but I love those Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pens because it makes it so easy! I really wish Sally Hansen would bring them back, because they’re amazing for nail art — & mine are starting to empty out after all these years.

What do you think about this Gradient dotticure? Do you think you’d wear this fun (& easy!) look? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

& feel free to share any nail art you’d love to see me do on my new short nails!

Happy Friday! 🖤

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Autumnal Knit Sweater Nails 🍂🌻

Happy Tuesday Lovelies!

I’m very happy to be writing from the world of power, which is a very lovely place to be. We survived our off grid experience, & I feel very lucky to have power, & warm food, because a lot of my fellow Atlantic Canadians are still going without.

Today I’m showing off some fun Autumnal nails I did pre-Hurricane. This look was actually inspired by a nail art look I did last year, & the year before — which was originally inspired by one of my favourite nail bloggers on Instagram: @xglitzandpolishx.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Giorgio Armani #214 Woodstone
  • Essie Mosiac On Down
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

This is such an easy, fun look to wear. I decided that the gold with the shimmery bronze-y brown would be the perfect Fall combination, & I was right! It just screams AUTUMN VIBES to me, & that makes me so happy. I mean, this is my favourite time of year, & I’m feeling inspired to paint my nails, which is always a good thing. Sure, it means there are probably a whole lot of herringbone & sweater nail art looks headed your way, but that’s not a bad thing! Plus we’re days away from October, & I’ll be participating in Glam Nails Challenge October since it’s a Halloween theme.

So more fun nail art is coming!

What do you think about this version of the knit sweater nails? Would you wear this nail art look? What nail art/colour are you rocking this week? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below — including what colour combination I should try next!

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Purple Floral for @brydiedoesnails Birthday Collab!

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday. A very Monday-esque Tuesday, but I feel like that’s always the way after a holiday.

It’s feeling very Spring-like today, even though we have a big rainstorm heading our way. But while the sun is out, I thought I would share you a lovely design I did as part of a birthday collab for @brydiedoesnails birthday today!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI After Alter
  • Essie PlayDate
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • OPI Good Grief
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I decided I wanted to recreate this beautiful floral by Brydie, & it was not an easy decision to make! She has so, so many beautiful designs–especially floral!–that I must have saved quite a few trying to decide. Bit this soft purple just worked so well with the semi-sheer base. The over all look turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, & I’m very, very happy with them.

Here is a look at all the beautiful designs done in honour of @brydiedoesnails! You can check out all the looks by clicking on the hashtag #brydiesbirthdaycollab on Instagram.

These are the girls that all participated in the collab!

@pbnjnails
@phoebesummernails
@emilygilmour.nails
@polished_yogi
@naomisnailart
@polishedbypeyt
@lecame.shesaw.shepainted
@matteabout nails
@_jazzy_nails.
@ghthenailartist
@neeles_nails

Have a lovely day darlings!

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Festive Glitter Gradient ✨🎄

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday! & happy Christmas Eve Eve. I hope everyone is ready for their holidays, & for those still working long hours & not sure how they’re going to be ready — I feel you! Hopefully everyone is also staying safe with everything quickly changing in the world.

I said I was dedicated to 5 nail art looks this week in preparation for Christmas, & I wasn’t lying! Today is day four, & I went with a classic look that I do some incarceration of every year: a Christmas glitter gradient. Last year’s was very similar to this years, but that’s okay! When you find a classic that works for you, you go with it! (Plus my nails are so much longer this year!)

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Icing Emerald City
  • Icing Tis The Season

Hello Christmas sparkle! I was actually going to use my other Christmas-y glitter from Icing, Santa Baby, but unfortunately it’s on the goopier side, so I decided to go with my other very Christmas-y glitter for this look. I’ve mentioned before how I love the speed & ease of a glitter gradient, plus the versatility, so I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them.

What do you think about my glitter gradient? Do you like this years version, or last year’s shorty version? Let me know what nail art design/style you repeat year after year & never get tired of!

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Glam Nails Challenge August — Coconut 🥥

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s week is off to a lovely start, & not nearly as ungodly humid as it’s been in Halifax lately. Today we’re sharing another fruit inspired design for GlamNailsChallangeAugust.

Today’s prompt is coconut, which I’m going to be honest was a prompt I was super nervous about. Even browsing Pinterest was not super useful, as mostly what popped up with some kind of nail art stickers. But I did find this pretty coconut look originally done by @Nailstorming, & I thought it would be a fantastic look to give my own attempt to.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Almond Tan
  • Kosmic Colours Brown (no name)
  • OPI A Great Opera-tunity
  • OPI Just Can’t Cope-acabana
  • Cosmetics Arts Lime Green (no name)
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I’m not going to lie, a lot of polishes went into trying to create this coconut. & I thought I used a lot of nail polishes when creating floral!

But, you know — it was to totally worth it because my coconut drink turned out awesome! It totally looks like something you can sit back & relax, drinking on some tropical beach. Or, what I picture someone would sit back & drink on a tropical beach, as the closest I’ve come to a tropical vacation is lounging in an inflatable kiddie pool in my backyard.

But you know what I mean.

What do you think about this coconut nail art look? It was fun going from a more abstract interpretation to a more literal one, even if I didn’t think I was going to be successful haha. Are you following along with #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram? I hope you’re enjoying seeing all these looks as much as I’m enjoying doing them!