Category: Tribal/Aztec

Posted on

Recreating Tribal Roses (from 5 years ago)

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! The weekend is almost upon us — & so is August! How crazy is that? We’re almost in the last month of Summer. I swear this year is rushing by way faster than 2020 did. I feel like Summer just started, & now Fall collections are already popping up in the stores. & I’ve already started thinking about what Fall fashion items I want to add to my closet…

But in the mean time, let’s concentrate on nails. More importantly, this tribal & roses design which is actually a recreation of a design I did 5 years ago. This time, though, I decided to go with a reverse colour scheme with the darker shade as my base, & the white for my line work.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • Essie Stop Drop Shop
  • Essie Gel Couture Princess Charming
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure So Much Fawn
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art pen in green
  • Cosmetics Arts Lime Green (name has long since worn off)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How lovely is this combination? The beautiful blue, the line work — that I’m very, very proud of! — & the cute, cute roses. I feel like I did a very good job of recreating my original design, but making it even better! These turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Also the white pops so we’ll over Sally Hansen Beatnik, as does the floral. Just everything about this look makes me so happy.

It just feels so good to be getting back to my roots, & doing my favourite kinds of nail art again. Feels like I’m me again! Also, while having short nails is always a nice change, I’m very happy to have returned to my rounded my nails again. They’re so much more me.

What do you think about this look? Did a do a good job recreating my original? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & let me know if you’d like to see me do more of these posts recreating old manicures!

Posted on

Dainty Matte Freehand Tribal Print

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Hope everyone is having a lovely start to their week. We’re almost mid-way through November, which is crazy, & I’m going through a bit of a nail art lull.

The other night I decided to play around with some freehanding, & came up with this fun, dainty tribal print look! I also pulled out my matte top coat, because it’s been so long since I used it! I feel like it really finished this look off perfectly!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Orly Decades of Dysfunction
  • Quo by Orly Breatheable Aloe, Goodbye!
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ruby Do
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

Honestly, this was just one of those kind of designs where I sit down unsure of what I’m going to do, & just stay playing with lines. Originally I had wanted to do a sweater kind of pattern, but it took on a life of its own, & I love love love how they came together. Plus it gave me a chance to practice my line work, which I haven’t done in a while. The end result was something dainty & beautiful, that I’m kind of in love with. & super proud that I managed to make both hands match!

Also check it out — all the snow is gone. In fact, the weather has been downright balmy the last few days. From snow to almost 20 degree days! It’s so crazy. Guess putting my coconut nog in my coffee was a little premature!

What do you think about this design? What are you wearing on your nails for November? Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

Tribal/Aztec Print for #GlamNailsChallengeAug

10DBDD7E-38F9-47DB-B8A1-9E0C01153FDD

F2A4F8ED-D017-4F35-BFC9-AD04BE94DBCF

Hello loves & happy Wednesday! Today marks the last prompt for #GlamNailsChallengeAug, can you believe it? We made it! & I am so excited to have completed this challenge, because it really did inspired me to try out more nail art designs than my usual go to designs. That being said, I’m also itching for some Fall inspired floral & half moons, so stay tuned for some of those coming up next month!

The last prompt for this month is Tribal/Aztec, which is one after my own heart, so I couldn’t wait to draw some new tribal inspired nail art. & obviously I had to use some of the next China Glaze Gone West polishes for a Fall colour scheme.

BDD44E49-D2C3-40E1-BF69-6A166F53A177

AD77871F-A08E-4A38-8FD3-D3592F7BFEA1

For this manicure, the polishes I used are:

  • Base Coat: Fraken Base Coat combination
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Settter
  • China Glaze Cowboy Bye
  • China Glaze Prairie Tale Ending
  • China Glaze Take The High Rodeo
  • China Glaze Gold Mine Your Business
  • China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
  • Essence Black is Back
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm Nail Art Brush
  • Small dotting tool

CE5526F3-1511-4CB7-A42A-037DD9CAE371

70E1AFEF-D5BC-42C5-A48E-A122FA0013B0

So I know I’m totally biased, but how cute did this look turn out? The colour pallet is just so perfect for Fall weather & I think goes really well with the tribal prompt. I mean, I can’t stop obsessing about these colours anyways, but combined with one of my favourite kinds of designs, it’s hard not to just keep staring at my nails. & it satisfies my craving for Fall just enough.

39FC2577-493D-47C7-9F61-BAB889EB3DC7

3E9B8A80-003A-4EAF-AABA-F5911D1BA0FD

I’ve really had so much fun doing this challenge this month, & I’m super excited that I completed all 8 prompts! Still deciding if I’ll be joining in again next month, as the prompts look quite fun, but if I don’t do all of them, I will definitely take inspiration from some. & I definitely plan on getting more creative this month in my nail art! So who knows what designs you will see coming up! I definitely feel like pumpkins are going to need to happen!

97F6DCDF-7166-48AB-95E7-B89662530FE6

Don’t forget to check out the other manicures for #glamnailschallengeaug & let me know down in the comments below if you’d like to see me do more challenges like this in the future!

Posted on

(More) Freehand Tribal Print Accent Nails

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far. I’m super excited today because not only did I get the chance to do some nail art, but I managed some freehand nail art!

It feels like absolute ages since I had any time for anything more complicated than polka dots on my nails, but I had a quick minute the other night to do my nails & you better believe I took it! I had been scrolling through my Instagram feed after my Swatch Sunday post, & obsessing over some tribal/Aztec inspired designs from the past & decided I wanted no, needed to do some accent nails! So I grabbed one of my custom engraved detail brushes from nailstuff.ca, & went to work.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat
  • OPI Gelato on My Mind
  • Essence You & Me?
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • Essence Black is Back
  • China Glaze Friends Forever Right?
  • Nailstuff.ca 7mm detail brush {PR SAMPLE}
  • Nailstuff.ca dotting tool {PR SAMPLE}
  • Straight nail vinyls

So my line work is definitely sloppier than previous designs, but I feel like I’m just out of practice. Plus I didn’t grab my thinnest detail brush, which definitely made a difference in my freehand work. Also I totally cut a few corners & used vinyls for my blocks of colours, just to save me a bit of time. But over all, I really like how this turned out. Obviously I wish I could have done this look on all my fingers, sometimes all you have time for is an accent nail (or two.)

Also trying out this Essie Gel Couture Top Coat again to see if the lasting power is good. I’m really on the hunt for something that will help my manicures last longer, as I’m just not able to do my nails every night like I used to. Maybe someday when my nights are more free, but right now I need something that will keep my nails from chipping after a day.

Also plan on picking up a bottle of Orly Bonder Base as I’ve heard that it can really improve Manicure lasting time as well! & that is what I need in my life!

so what do you think of these accent nails? Do you think tribal/Aztec nails look better as accent nails or a full hand design? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

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. ♥️