Category: Summer

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Quick & Easy Summer Nails

Happy Summer lovelies! & Happy Friday! I hope everyone is as excited for sunny days as I am! ☀️ seriously, the last few months has felt like a never ending Winter with a little fall thrown in for good measure. I’m very excited for sunshine & beach days… even if I spend most of my time hiding out within the walls of the Mall.

I just got over a very busy couple of weeks, which meant my nail designs needed to be fairly simplistic (since I had no time to do my nails!) That means I’ve been wearing either solid colour nails or going with simple accent nails. I’ve had these nail stickers from Icing in my nail art collection for a few years now, but I felt like I haven’t worn them in a while. I really wanted to have a contrasting colour to my base shade, so I decided to pick one of these turquoise starfish stickers as my accent.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Strength
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Sunday Funday
  • Deborah Lippmann Make Someone Happy
  • Icing Stores Nail Art Stickers (beach themed circa 2015/2016)

Originally I was planning on just wearing Essie Sunday Funday on its own with the starfish sticker, but it really felt like it needed something extra which I why I added the glitter gradient on my other nails…. & I LOVE how it turned out. Like, seriously love. It gives the design that Beachy feel I was hoping for without too much work. Like I said, it’s been a CRAZY few weeks with a lot of late nights at work, so nail art has taken a bit of a back seat. Thank goodness I have a huge back stock of nail art stickers & decals & other goodies to make doing my nails so much easier!

I think coral & turquoise is going to be one of my favourite colour combinations for Summer. After seeing them together here, I’m definitely going to need to do a half moon design featuring them… like now! (Or whenever I recover enough to actually function for nail art haha.)

what do you think of this simple design? Do you use nail art stickers to fancy up your nails? Share your thoughts down below!

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Neon Saran Wrap Splatter

Happy Tuesday lovely… a very rainy, gross Tuesday (again).

I thought it would be a good day for some more bright & colourful nails, featuring one of my favourite easy to do designs–Saran Wrap Splatter! This is a design I do a surprisingly amount–which you may have noticed–because it’s easy to do, doesn’t require any specific nail art tools & truthfully is not too messy to clean up. & the colour combinations are endless.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Strength
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Find Me An Oasis
  • Essie Strut Your Stuff
  • China Glaze Purple Panic
  • Plastic Bag (I used a plastic grocery bag that I cup up into smaller pieces.)

Please ignore the chip on my middle finger above–I keep forgetting to take pictures of my nails until after work, which leads to the above situation. Thankfully the design is so busy you barely notice the little chip at the tip. Also I’m loving the combination of this fuchsia & blues–the colours go really well together over the pale blue.

What do you think of this nail art design? What colour combination would you like me to try in a Saran Wrap splatter next? Share your ideas down below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster

Happy Sunday my loves. & it really is a Sun-day today! We’ve had a run of beautiful Summer like weather so naturally that means I needed to pull out a Summer colour for today’s Swatch Sunday post. Today’s pick is OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster which is a vibrant pinky coral with just a hint of shimmer. This shade was originally released as part of the OPI Touring America collection circa 2011 but I scored my bottle on clearance at my locals Lawton’s.

For my swatches, I did two coats + top coat (Essie Gel Setter). I probably could have done 3 coats for more coverage, but I feel like it’s not terribly noticeable unless you’re a nail polish addict. The colour itself is just perfection & even though it was originally a Fall collection release, to me it just screams Summer! I mean, who doesn’t like a stunning coral polish?

Seriously, how gorgeous is this polish? I had been coveting it for a long time & finding it for only $4.99 at Lawton’s was the best scored ever! I don’t know about you–but when I want to but polish, I want a deal. I don’t like to pay full price for nail polish (& to be honest, I rarely do). So a much desired OPI for less than $5? Yes please! The best kind of nail polish find.

Look how closely it matches my moon cactus? Oh man, if this shade doesn’t scream Summer, I don’t know what does. I’m just obsessed with it! & as you can see from below, it’s the perfect compliment to my newest Summer dress find. It’s a gorgeous pop of colour.

What do you think of this week’s Swatch Sunday pick? Do you have a favourite coral polish? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Beachy Chevron Nails featuring New Summery Studs from NailStuff.ca

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope the weather where you are is nicer than here in Halifax. After a few days of sunshine, we’re back to cloudy grey overcast skies. But today’s nail design is all about bright colours, so hopefully that will cheer me up!

Today I’m sharing these drag marble chevron nails that for some reason remind me of the beach! I was recently gifted some amazing new goodies from NailStuff.ca & I knew immediately that I had to use some of the beautiful summery studs Victoria had sent! I love how flat & easy to work with these studs are. They sit easily on the nail & because I sealed them in with extra top coat there were no edges you don’t have to worry about catching them on anything & pulling them off prematurely.

For this manicure, the products I used were:

I’m really living the pastel shades form this 6 pack set from Claire’s. I picked it up on payday & used every shade with the exception of coral. Also I love how these studs from NailStuff just brings the whole look together & completes the Summery vibe. For my chevrons, I used the drag brush effect to blend the colours together. I used to do this technique a lot with nail vinyls, but it had been a while.

What do you think of this design? How adorable are these studs from NailStuff.ca? What kind of designs would you do with these Beachy studs? Let me know in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY: ORLY Bailamos

Do you remember you very first polish of certain brands? I posted my very first Essie a while back, so I thought it would be fun to swatch another first polish… my very first ORLY! I picked up this shade (ORLY Bailamos) back in 2010ish at Winners. According to my internet googling abilities, it was originally released as part of the Summer 2010 collection. 

Bailamos is a stunning turquoise shimmer that screams Summer. Most importantly, it’s opaque in two easy coats. & considering this polish is 7 years old, the formula is still as flawless as when I first bought it. Obviously my weakness for a good blue/teal/turquoise polish has lasted a long, long time. 

Do you have this gorgeous ORLY shade in your collection? After searching this shade, I’m bummed I haven’t pulled it out of my stash to wear my often. Truthfully it did spend a good 2 years sitting in my parents addict (more props to that awesome formula for lasting!) but even still I can’t believe I haven’t reached for it more often. It’s just so pretty. Also I can only imagine how gorgeous this shade would look matte! Must try that next! 

What was your very first ORLY shade? Let me know in the comments below!