Throwback Blue Dotticure

Good morning lovelies & happy Wednesday. I feel like it’s been a while since I did a Wednesday post. The last couple months have thrown my usual posting schedule all out of whack, but I’m really trying to get back to regular programming. (That includes regularly painting nail art on my nails instead of just wearing a single colour.)

Today’s look is another throw back to the early days of my blog, when I didn’t know much about nail art (or how to do it) but I did love polka dots. You can never go wrong with a polka dot design, so that’s what we’re rocking today!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Black *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen White *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Silver *pr

Look how cute these perfect little polka dots turned out! It’s been a few months since Madam Glam so graciously sent me their nail art pens, & I just adore how easy they make polka dots nails. I’m still trying to perfect other nail art with them, but I can’t recommend them enough for creating perfect little polka dots like for this gradient dotticure. Plus — you don’t have to worry about cleaning off your dotting tool between colours.

What do you think of my gradient dotticure look? Do you love the throwback as much as I do? Do you remember when polka dot designs were the most popular look I would show off on my blog? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

♥︎

Pastel Geometric Lines

Contains PR

Hello loves & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone’s week has been going well. It’s be hot hot hot here on the East Coast, which I will never complain about! I love me a hot Summer day. Today it’s definitely cooler & just kind of muggy.

But you’re here for nails, not weather reports — & I have been busy trying to come up with fun nails to share! I’ll admit, after 11 years it can be hard to come up with brand new nail art designs for you. So, instead, I guess I’ll keep reinventing my old favourites.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Madam Glam Mimi Pink *
  • Madam Glam Minty Greek *
  • Madam Glam Birds Fairy *
  • Madam Glam Warm Up *
  • Quo by Orly Black Nail Art Striper

**pr/gifted

You can never go wrong with a dry brush geometric design!

These were so easy to do. Started off with the dry brush as my base using my 4 Madam Glam pastels–which blended together so well–& then used my striper to create the geometric design. The hardest part is probably drawing the black lines & making sure they don’t end up too thick (always my struggle, at least), but no matter what I think this is a striking design to do & wear!

What do you think about these pastel geometric design? She’s an oldie but a goodie!

I’m still on the hunt for new nail art designs to try, so feel free to share any designs you’d love to see me attempt! I’m trying not to go straight into craving Autumn designs (my favourite season for nail art) so help a girl out! I would be eternally grateful.

Happy Thursday!

Purple Broken Glass Glitter Placement

Good morning lovelies — happy Friday & Happy July! Can you believe June is already over? How crazy is that. Of course, we’re starting off July foggy & lame. So much for Summer days. So I feel like this manicure is definitely matching the vibe.

June saw a lot of things, including quite the break on my ring finger, which is why I didn’t do a lot of nail art. But I did return to an old favourite design during that growing out period, & it made me realize I (still) need to get more shattered glitters for nail art, to add to my stash.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • OPI In The Moon For Love
  • OPI Infrared-y to Glow
  • Small dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

This design has been a go to favourite over here for a long, long time. & I’m always happy to return to them, even if I’m not finding nail polish brands making the kind of shattered glitter toppers like they used to. I mean, I could use loose glitters, but have you met me? I’m a clumsy person, & it usually results in a mess. Haha.

What do you think about this design? Are you a fan of glitter placement designs? Which glitter shade is your favourite for a design like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& happy Friday.

🖤

Pink Gel & Floral Nail Art 💖🌸

Hey lovelies! I totally meant to post this manicure last week, but I got knocked out by the cold from hell which left me ravaged & not in the mood to do any posting! But my sinuses are finally recovering, & now I can finally show this fun look I did last week!

I was super curious about doing nail art over my gel manicure base, so I wanted to give it a try. I plan on also doing some nail art using all gel, but I was curious what would happen if you painted some nail art over just gel. (Including topping it with a regular top coat.)

Products used for this manicure: 

  • Olive & June Peel Off Base Coat *
  • Olive & June Gel Polish Base Coat *
  • 2 coats Olive & June Gel Polish XOXO *
  • 1 coat Olive & June Gel Polish Pink Goldfish *
  • Olive & June Gel Polish Top Coat *
  • Sinful Colors Bold Color
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple *
  • Essie Satin Sister
  • Butter London Coming Up Roses *
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool 
  • China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

**gifted/PR

I think these are so just so pretty! I will say, the quick dry top coat I used (China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat) did dry down in a way that made the nail art flowers almost look like 3D stickers — which I thought I was very cool. I’m curious what would have happened if I had used the Olive & June Gel Top Coat — & I might have to experiment to see what happens!

As I mentioned, I’m still so new to the world of gel, so I’m enjoying playing around with it.

What do you think of this little bit of nail art? Would you like to see me do a series or feature on nail art using only gel nail polishes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Wednesday

💖

Instagram Nail Art Collab — French Tips

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. It’s been such a busy week this week, I’ve been kind of quiet on the blog front. A lot has been going on, which makes it hard to post sometimes. But I’m excited because I was able to join in for a fun Instagram nail art collab, organized by the ever amazing @essieyall & @petitenaillover on Instagram.

The theme this month? French Tips. So I decided to go with a pastel colour block French tip, featuring my *gifted* Madam Glam shades.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Madam Glam Birds Fairy *
  • Madam Glam Purple Rain *
  • Madam Glam Sweet Sunshine *
  • Madam Glam Minty Green *
  • Madam Glam Warm Up *
  • Madam Glam Mimi Pink *
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

*pr/gifted

These were super easy to do, but I think the colours turned out so pretty & Spring-y. Such a fun & unique French manicure look!

If you want to check out all the fun French manicures involved in this collab, be sure to check out the hashtag #frenchtipsnailartmanicollab2025 on Instagram to see all the amazing designs by some talented nail artists!

Enjoy your weekend loves!

🖤