Category: Spring

Posted on

Freehand Ikat Chevrons (Happy Birthday Coffee & Nail Polish! 🎈🎉)

Happy Thursday! & happy 4th birthday to this little nail blog of mine! It’s so crazy to me that I’ve been posting here for 4 years already. From the early days when I hadn’t yet discovered cuticle oil (& majority of my nail polish came from the clearance bins) to now it’s been quite an exciting journey. I thought I’d mark the special occasion with one of my favourite styles & some beautiful nail polishes I was recently gifted from Sally Hansen Canada!

Music Festival season is just beginning (Coachella starts next weekend) & this nail design would fit right in… you know, if I wasn’t in chilly Nova Scotia currently dreaming of sunny days & summer dresses!

For the design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Little Peony
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Lilac Insomniac
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Orchid-ing Around
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sweet Tea
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sugar Fix
  • Bundle Monster detail brush.

I just love how these turned out. I also love that even though I freehanded my chevrons, they actually look fairly even! I guess practice really does make perfect. 💗 also I’m completely in love with these new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel shades from the Travel in Colour collection. I’ve been playing around with them since I received them late last week & they are just so perfect for Spring. Makes me wish I had somewhere fancy to wear them rather than just while I’m putting out stock at work. Definitely one of my favourite Spring 2018 collections I’ve seen this season so far. & don’t worry I’ll have swatches of the whole collection up on the blog soon!

I just want to take a minute to stop & just say THANK YOU to everyone who reads this blog, who leaves comments & likes my posts. When I started this blog years ago, I did it because I loved nail polish & I just wanted a place to be able to share my silly designs with other people. 4 years later, things have certainly changed & grown & improved, but when it comes down to it this blog is still here for the same reason: I love nail polish & I love connecting with others who love nail polish. & those people are the reasons why this place just feels like home for me.

So thanks for joining in on the fun & here’s to years & years more of this blog sharing the nail polish love.

💗💗💗

Posted on

Vintage Florals & Stripes

Happy Tuesday lovelies! I hope everyone had an amazing Easter holiday/long weekend full of chocolate eggs & family fun. We had a huge Egg hunt for our little guy & all his cousins & it reminded me of the excitement of being a kid & finding those chocolate eggs on Easter morning. Plus, who doesn’t love chocolate!

Today I’m sharing more florals with you–because I just can’t stop! This design is a recreation from a few years ago. This time, though, I decided to go with blue as my base colour.

The polishes I used for this design were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Boho Blues
  • Art Club Nail Art Striper in Blue Paisley
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in White
  • 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
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in green
  • Quo by ORLY Second Hand Jade
  • Bundle Monster detail brush

Ugh these roses make me so happy. In real life, I’m not really a red rose kind of girl… but when it comes to nail art I can’t get enough! I just love the love of red roses against a contrasting background colour. & it’s been forever since I pulled out my bottle of China Glaze Boho Blues, & I forgot just how pretty of a colour it was. I love it.

It also is a beautiful base colour for Florals.

Is it starting to feel like Spring where you are? We just had a few days of Spring-like weather (which meant I got to wear my new Spring jacket!) so I’m very, very excited.

what do you think of this design? Are you sick of the floral designs yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 💙

Posted on

Springy Fern Nails!

Good morning & happy Monday! I hope everyone is having a good start to their week. I’m barely awake because I had to be at work bright & early for a conference call, but that’s why they invented quad shot lattes! Today I’m showing off another Spring-y design to, maybe, remind Spring it’s supposed to be here. I’ve been completely obsessed with greenery lately, & I’ve been doing a lot plant inspired designs on my days as a result.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose to the Occasion
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in green
  • Yves Saint Laurent Beauty in Vert D’Orient
  • Quo by ORLY Second Hand Jade
  • Bundle Monster small detail brush

Oh how I wish Spring was truly here. Although it’s supposed to be above freezing all week so maybe we’re on the other end of winter. I certainly hope so! There are too many cute Spring & summer dresses sitting in my closet, just asking to be worn again.

what do you think of this fern design? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — Perfect Shades for Spring!

Happy Sunday lovelies! Today I’ve taken another trip through my stash & picked out 5 polishes that I’m loving for Spring! I did a similar post last year, so I thought I would do another round of my favourite picks for Spring. & yes, I did put Essie Bikini So Teeny on the list again, but this is a brand new bottle so it counts!

Zoya — Daisy

There is something about yellow polish that is so perfect for Spring & Zoya Daisy is a perfect yellow. This shimmery yellow is bright & reminds me of sunshine & I love wearing it as a base for roses because they pop so well. Also yellow always makes you look so tanned!

BUY HERE

Quo by ORLY — Platina

I love white nail polish, this is no secret. & my love for this limited edition Quo by ORLY shade from Spring 2018 is HUGE! The off white with subtle shimmer means you get the look of wearing white nail polish without having to worry about looking like you’re wearing white out on your nails. & the perfect base shade for floral accent nails!

Quo by ORLY polishes can be found at your local Shoppers Drug Mart.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure — Rose to the Occasion

So, yeah… sorry about my bottle shots. This was one of the polishes from Sally Hansen’s Beautifier Collection I won from Lauren’s List & we lost one of the others in transit so my bottle is a mess. But the polish itself–a beautiful blush pink–is one of my favourite colours for Spring! I’ve been buying everything in it–shirts, shoes, nail polish! I just can’t get enough.

You can find this Sally Hansen shade wherever Sally Hansen polish is sold.

Essie — Bikini So Teeny

I literally cannot include a favourite polishes for Spring without including one of my all time favourite shades–Essie Bikini So Teeny! This vibrant corn flower blue also has that subtle shimmer that I love so much. One of my favourite bases for vintage roses or just on it’s own for days when I need something quick & easy.

BUY HERE

Wrenn Polish — I Know Guac is Extra!

I have never been a green person, but wearing this green from Wrenn Polish has converted me! Sometimes you need a little greenery on your nails & this is the perfect shade for that. The creamy green is just. so. good. Seriously, if you’re looking for one green to add to your collection, this is the one you need. (Seriously, I’m obsessed!)

BUY HERE

& just for fun, I had to create some nail art using my Spring Polish picks! How pretty do all the shades look paired in a stripe design. My nails are so short & breaky lately, they need some added length…. even if it’s all an illusion. Haha. I just my Bundle Monster striping Brush for my freehand stripes.

so what do you think of my favourite picks for Spring? Do you have a particular shade you’re loving for the season? Share all your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

Matte Floral for the First Day of Spring!

The day has finally come… it’s the first day of Spring! Well as of 1:05pm or something. It’s definitely been a long Winter, even if we didn’t have a super snowy Winter this year. I am so absolutely excited for Spring days & floral dresses & warmer days. So in honour of Spring finally arriving, & to encourage Mother Nature 🌸 a little, I figured some more floral was in order.

I’m not going to lie, these nails took me a while. A whole episode of Vanderpump Rules & then some. What’s the saying? You can’t rush perfection? Well these are definitely perfection to me.

For this manicure, the many, many polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Matte Top Coat
  • Wrenn Polish Passionfruit Pink
  • China Glaze I Got A Blue Attitude
  • Wet N Wild Haze of Love
  • China Glaze Life is Rosy
  • L’Oréal Jardin des Roses
  • Essie Flowerista
  • YSL Beauty Vert D’Orient
  • Quo by ORLY Second Hand Jade
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Green
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Turquoise
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pen in Purple
  • Nail Art brush from Bundle Monster

It’s definitely the matte top coat that makes these nails so perfect. They were pretty shiny too, but they were just another floral. Adding the matte just brought this mani to a whole other level that I’m quite honestly obsessed with. Also this is my first time matte-ifying Wrenn Polish Passionfruit Pink & oh my god! It completely transforms it to a whole other level. I’m kind of obsessed.

So who else is so excited about the first day of Spring? I’m choosing to ignore the fact we have a snowstorm apparently coming tomorrow/Thursday & chiding to concentrate on the fact it’s going to be sunny today & I’m going on a thrift store adventure today to expand my Spring wardrobe.

What do you think of these florals? What are you doing to celebrate the beginning of Spring today? Share you thoughts in the comments below!

💗