Category: Second Cup

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Polka dots and studs. 

What’s your favourite go-to mani?! Mine is polka dots. Not only are they always stylish but I super quick and easy too! 

    

For this mani I started with a base colour of China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le. All it took was an itty bitty dotting tool and OPI Angel With A Lead Foot to create my polka dot pattern. After I had dotted the whole pattern in white, I went back using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy and my Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art pen in Black to colour in some of the white dots in random places. Then I sealed the whole look in with quick dry top coat (I’ve been on a Seche Vite kick lately because it dries SO quick!) 

After I finished, I kind of felt like the mani was lacking a little, so I grabbed some of my gold studs purchased from Born Pretty Store (item number #8644). I applied them by dabbing dots of Seche Vite onto the base of my nail then used a damp nail art brush to pick up the studs and apply. Finished off everything with another coat of Seche Vite and done! I really feel like the studs gave my mani a little extra something so it wasn’t just another polka dot manicure. 

 

So tell me–what’s your favourite go to mani for when you need something quick and easy? 

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My first ever Jelly sandwich manicure 

Good morning and happy Spring. I don’t know where you are but here in Halifax we’ve got mounds of snow to deal with. That means I must invoke Spring via my nails! 

Recently I picked up a few awesome neon glitters from Ardene. I’m kind of in love with them.  I initially only picked up the pink glitter (called Pop to it) but after playing around with it I realized I needed all three! 

  

  

I’ve never done a jelly sandwich manicure before, but I’ve always loved the look. I decided my ACO by Ardene polishes would be perfect! I started with two coats of  Wet n Wild Megalast in 2% Milk and applied top coat to set it. Then I took my ACO by Ardene glitters Pop to it (pink), Lighten Up (yellow), and What Dafaq (blue) and applied them over my base. Next I took 2% Milk and applied a coat over the glitters. Then more top coat to seal everything in! And bam! Glitter goodness 😍

On my thumb you’ll notice I’m not wearing the glitter–I broke my thumb nail bad last week (like in half) so I’m wearing a press on to protect the nubbin while it grows out. The pink colour is ACO by Ardene Mermaid with polka dots to match the colours of the glitter. 

  

What do you think of my Jelly sandwich manicure? Have you ever done one before? Let me know in the comments below! 💗💗💗 

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Spring floral.

First, I have to apologize for my lack of posts recently. After getting promoted at work, my ability to sit down and write a blog post took a bit of a hit. But I’m back, and I plan on finding the right rhythm so I can start posting a couple times a week again.

Is anyone else seriously craving Spring?

I don’t know where you live, but we’ve had a seriously messy and frigid Winter. Too much snow! Too much ice! So I’m all about Spring right now. Even if it seems a million miles away, I can still embrace Spring on my fingertips!

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The polishes used for this pretty floral are:

  • Essie Strut Your Stuff (Bright Blue)
  • OPI Angel With A lead foot (White)
  • Icing Cupcakes and Caviar (Darker Pink)
  • OPI Suzy shops and Island Hops (Light Pink)
  • Essie Parka Perfect (Light Blue)
  • Sally Hansen Golden-I (Gold)
  • Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art pen in green
  • Sally Hansen Nail Art pen in navy
  • Seche Vite top coat.
  • L’Oreal The Matte Velvet top coat.

I’m so seriously in love with this mani. My only complaint is that I only did my floral as accent nails instead of a whole mani. Also I’ve found the best matte top coat in the whole wide world! Look at this beautiful matte goodness. If you are looking for an amazing Matte top coat, you simply must search it out!

I have ideas about doing a whole blog post dedicated to the perfect colours for Spring so I must ask–what is your go-to Spring polish? I’m still on the look out to add to my collection so let me know in the comments below!

 

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Fall floral.

First off, I apologize for being MIA the last week. Not only have I had an extremely hectic week at work, but I got struck down with the cold from hell. So while I’ve still been trying to paint my nails, I haven’t had the energy for blogging at all! I’m going to try and make up for that this week though!

 

I did this manicure I couple weeks ago, before fall officially hit but the weather was definitely Fall-like. I had pulled out my beloved Cashmere Bathrobe by Essie, and decided I wanted to do a pretty design with it. But what? I hadn’t done a floral in a while so I thought why not! Floral doesn’t just have to be for Spring/Summer 😉

floral

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie Cashmere Bathrobe.
  • OPI I Snow You Love Me.
  • Bourjois Paris 1965 Le Rouge fidele
  • Bourjois Paris 1938 Mais Oui!
  • Bourjois Paris 1913 Cendres de Roses
  • ACO by Ardene Green Peace
  • Sinful Colors Strapped.
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

These turned out so well, and I had so much fun wearing these that I kept them on for almost 3 days. Who says that floral can’t be worn for fall as well. 😉

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 19: Galaxy Nails.

 

I love the look of galaxy nails. Plus they’re fun to do. It’s been a while since I’ve done one, so I was excited to give it another try.

galaxy galaxy2

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Mary Kay Nail Lacquer in Blue Knight — dark background.
  • Color Institute in gold (no official name on it.)
  • Color Institute sparkles (no official name on it.)
  • Revlon in I’m Electro.
  • Revlon in Spidey Sense.
  • Revlon in Orchid.
  • Pure Ice in Get in Line.
  • Pure Ice in Over You.
  • Salley Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat

These didn’t turn out exactly like I imagined in my head, but I think it’s because the polishes I used were very pigmented, and I was a little too heavy-handed. I wanted to use metallic polishes, because I’ve never tried using them for galaxy nail art before. Never the less, I loved the sparkle that it give my galaxies! And even though I wasn’t sure if they looked a lot like the galaxies I wanted them to, but I did get lots of compliments which always makes me feel proud of the manicures I’ve done.

What do you think of galaxy nail art?

And what to you think of my attempt at metallic galaxies?