Fall Houndstooth Accent Nails

Happy October 2nd! Can you believe we’re already a day into Halloween month?! Are you as excited as I am? I’m definitely going to need to start planning my Halloween designs soon.

But in the mean time, maybe some Fall themed nails? With the weather shifting quickly, I’m already digging out some of my favourite scarves, so I figured why not some nails inspired by the coziness of Fall.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lets Snow!
  • Essence Black is Back!
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (item #17924)
  • Born Pretty Store Color Flame Rhinestones colour #2 (item #41753)

First off, can we talk about this Essie shade from the Fall 2018 collection? It’s absolutely amazing. The second I saw the swatches, I knew it was so different from all the other polishes I own & that meant I had to have it! & since it feels so Fall to me, I knew I had to pair it with this stamping plate from Born Pretty Store (which I haven’t had the chance to use yet!)

Also check out these crystals also from Born Pretty Store (item # 41753). I needed something to jazz up my plain nails, & I love the iridescent shift they have. You can kind of see how the shift of your hand shows different colours, which means these crystals will match with so many different polishes & manicures!

what do you think of this Fall inspired manicure? What Fall shades are you wearing on your nails right now? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)

{PR SAMPLE}

Good morning! Today I’m super excited because I have the most amazing nail polish collection from Sally Hansen to share with you! Sally Hansen Canada recently released an all red collection as part of their Complete Salon Manicure collection — including FIVE new shades. The collection is designed so that everyone can pick their perfectly complimentary red, including one shade that is the “universal” red, so it’s design to compliment every skin tone.

I am a HUGE red nail polish lover. It’s literally all I wore on my nails from 2004-2006. So a whole collection dedicated to red nails… I’m definitely here for that!

Today I have the first 5 lighter polishes from the collection, & I’ll share the other four darker shades in tomorrow’s post!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen REDesign Collection (part one)”

Recreating my Wedding Nails (Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!)

Happy Wednesday lovelies! Not only is today the middle of the week & halfway to the weekend, but today marks 3 years since I married my best friend. If you’ve been around originally, you may remember my original post featuring the nails on our special day.

Naturally, I wore a floral design–which is a surprise to no one. & in honour of this day, I decided I really wanted to recreate my original design. & spoiler: I love it just as much today as I did on this date 3 years ago.

For my recreation of this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Suite Retreat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel After Altar
  • L’Oréal Getting Kilty
  • Julep Vivien
  • Sally Hansen CSM Killer Heels
  • Sally Hansen CSM Red It Online
  • Sally Hansen CSM Rose To the Occasion
  • Sally Hansen CSM Blush Against The World
  • Quo by ORLY the Antidote
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Quo by ORLY Diva
  • Essie Sew Psyched
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Art Brush
  • Dotting Tools

I’ve written before how much I love going back to recreating my manicures, & I’m so glad I got to do the same for this one. I know some people go for more classic wedding & bridal manicures, but it just felt more “me” to do a full floral look (with something blue & a gold accent nail.) & no matter how much time passes, I don’t see myself ever getting “over” floral nail art. It’s just too perfect.

How did you wear your nails for your wedding day? Did you go more classic or a little more fun? (& for those planning to get married soon, do you know how you’re wearing your nail yet?)

& for fun, a few pictures from our wedding day ♥️

Fall Colour Blocking 🍁

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday. The weather here in Halifax has definitely made the shift from Summer to Fall, especially in the mornings! You definitely need a sweater (or two!) to keep from freezing. Which means that I’ve been breaking out all my favourite Fall colours. When it comes to Autumn, I’m all about the purples, navys, maroons, greys & bronze-y shades.

Today’s manicure makes up 3/5 of those, so not bad!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Cocktail Bling
  • Essie Leggy Legend
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Trouble Maker
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Small dotting tool

This totally wasn’t the manicure I had originally planned on doing, but then I saw this bronze shade & thought how well it would go with this purple. & I haven’t done a colour blocking look in a while, so I though this would be perfect!

This was definitely one of those manicures that came together each stroke at a time, which is kind of my favourite kind. Sometimes I have a solid plan in mind when doing my nails, & sometimes I have no plan at all.

Oooooh this is my favourite time of year for pretty much everything — fashion, food, & especially nail art. Not that I don’t like Summer, it’s just I really come alive in the Autumn months. I love being able to layer, I love plaid, I love wearing tights, & I love these dark jewel toned polishes (especially purples!) Everything about Fall just feeds my soul.

What do you think about this colour block look? What are you favourite Fall shades? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Freehand Tribal Print Accent Nails

Hello lovelies! & happy Saturday!

Today I’m sharing the most amazing design with you. It feels like absolute ages since I created any kind of tribal design. (I went back & checked–it was December!) So it felt like the perfect time for a new tribal design.

I’ve done tribal a lot in the past, but sometimes I struggle creating the line work. I love my prepolished stripers, but they end up junky & chunky so quickly. Thankfully I received some new nail art brushes from NailStuff.ca & couldn’t wait to see how they would work for freehanding!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence Let’s Get Lost
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow!
  • Sally Hansen CSM Ruby Do
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essence Black is Back
  • Nailart.ca Mermaid Tail nail art brush trio
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape in purple (item #40423)

I cheated a little bit & used striping tape to create my thicker lines of colour & then use my smallest detail brush from Nailstuff.ca to go in & create my print details with black polish. & I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly proud of myself for how this design turned out! Especially the chevron/zigzag line work on my ring finger. This design just ended up looking exactly how I hoped & I feel so accomplished. My new nail art brushes were definitely the main reason this look turned out so well–not only were they so easy to use, but how find the brush was meant my line work didn’t end up looking like a blobby mess!

This look turned out so lovely, & I like the hint of Fall it’s giving off. These colours are such good jewel tones & just what I need in the inbetween time before Fall really hits!

So what do you think of this design? Shade your thoughts down in the comments below. ♥️