Tag: Essie

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Purple Dry Brush Quatrefoil Nails

Happy Friday & almost Easter lovelies! I’m off today with Good Friday & ooooooh do I have so many blog things to do! This has been a crazy week & I’m still trying balance working Full Time & keeping to my blog posting schedule. Thank goodness I’m going at multitasking! Today I’m showing off some pretty purple nails I did forever ago but didn’t have a chance to post yet. 💜 These nails were inspired by a make up bag I saw at Marshall’s.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Go Ginza
  • Essie Play Date
  • Essie The Girls Are Out
  • China Glaze Grape Juice
  • Sally Hansen Hard To Get
  • Random clear nail polish
  • Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper
  • Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-L003 (item #17921) — quatrafoil image

I’m digging all these purples together. I thought about creating a sponge mani, but didn’t have any sponges so a dry brush was my next option! I really wanted the colours to blend together, kind of like a gradient. So I used a random bottle of clear polish (literally it has no label & I no idea where it came from) and smeared the brush strokes together by brushing the clear polish over it over & over again. The cheaper & random the clear polish, the better things will blend. You don’t want to use a quick dry top coat because it dries to quickly. The whole point is to smear all the shades together.

It feels like ages since I played with my stamping stuff. This is definitely one of my favourite images from this particular plate. It just makes doing Moroccan/quatrefoil designs just so, so easy (& definitely quicker than nail vinyls!

what do you think of this purple design? What design are you rocking for the weekend? Comment down below! 💅🏻

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Spring-y Saran Wrap Nails

Happy Saturday! I know I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but since this week has been a bit weird, I thought I would throw an extra post in! Today is a recreation of a design I did originally 4 years ago. I’m still trying to summon Spring through my nail polish choices (although it doesn’t seem to be working very well) so I though these Saran wrap nails were a perfect choice! Now if only they’d encourage some warmer, sunnier days. Just give me a little bit of sunshine!☀️

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie Peach Side Babe
  • NailStuff.ca Mixed Decoration Nail Wheel in Gold
  • Plastic wrap (Saran Wrap) crinkled up
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier

How long has it been since I did any Saran Wrap Nails? A while for sure! I definitely love how bright & colourful these are! So Spring-y for sure. 🌸 Of course it looks nothing like Spring outside but at least my nails are ready for nicer days. Even if I’m still stuck wearing my Uggs outside because it snowed… again.

I also love how easy these were to do. I did used my Edge Perfection to protect my cuticles because I was in no mood for cuticle clean up! All I did was paint my base colour (Essie Mint Candy Apple) & then once it was dry-ish painted over top with my second colour (Essie Peach Side Babe) & dabbed my crinkled Saran Wrap into the wet polish to create the textured effect. So easy!

What do you think of these Spring-y Saran Wrap Nails? Do you love this colour combination. Working on doing a Spring polish pick post for this week’s Swatch Sunday post, so if you have any polish suggestions for your favourite Spring polish picks, let me know!

Happy Saturday lovelies! 💜

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Negative Space Stripes (Again!)

Hello Lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fantastic week. I’m getting prepped for a busy week ahead–it’s March Break week which means that it’s going to be busy busy busy for me at work! I’m still getting used to being back to work but that’s why they invented espresso, am I right? I’m also getting used to fitting in doing my nails to my daily routine on top of working & being a Mom–it definitely takes practice! So I’ve been leaning more towards easy nail art looks.

Today’s nails were done using some striping tape from Born Pretty Store (Item #40423) that I recently bought. I picked up a three pack of different sizes that I thought would be perfect for achieving different sized stripes. Plus it’s pretty & purple… & I love purple!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Cashmere Bathrobe
  • Essie Where’s My Chauffeur?
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape (item #40423)
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster

These were so simple to do & I love the pop of colour against the dark grey polish. All I did was apply my different sizes of striping tape over my completely dry base coat, & then painted over top with Cashmere Bathrobe. Then I took my small detail brush & added stripes of Where’s My Chauffeur? freehand. Definitely one of my favourite Spring polishes & it works so well with Cashmere Bathrobe because it stands out so much! You can never go wrong with a good turquoise nail polish.

Also negative space makes me so happy. Like–it’s such an easy way to make your nails look fancy without a lot of work. & I’m all about quick & easy while still looking fancy.

What nails are you rocking to start off your week? What do you think of this negative space look? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Spring Splotches & Geometric Lines

Happy Monday Lovelies! Today is a super exciting day for me because I’m officially starting at my new job after my week away training, which is both nerve wracking & a brand new adventure for me. Also exciting is today’s manicure which was inspired by a few make up cases I stumbled across at Superstore while grocery shopping.

I love when I find inspiration when I’m not looking for it. This pattern just screams nail art, so obviously I had to snap a picture for future nail designs. I loved the imperfect splotches of colour against the white background & loved how well it paired with the other make up back.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLYBreathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Essie Flowerista
  • Essie Too Too Hot
  • Essie Garden Party
  • Essie All the Waves
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Medium size nail art brush

I just love love love how these turned out! The pretty spring colours, the splotches of colour with the geometric lines. It just turned out as perfect on the nail as I pictured in my head. I feel like I don’t do my freehand lines as often as I used to, so I’ve been trying to practice more!

What do you think of this design… do you think I stuck close enough to my inspiration? Where do you get your nail art inspiration from? Let me know your favourite place to find inspiration (or who inspires you) down in the comments below!

Happy Monday everyone 🌸

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Easy Nude & Gold Ruffian

Good morning lovelies! It’s currently 6:33am as I write this & I’m sitting here waiting for my bright & early flight to Ottawa–my first time on an airplane in 9 years & my first time being away from the little guy. I figured I would distract myself from reality by posting! I have quite a few manis saved up that I haven’t posted yet, so even though I won’t be doing my nails this week I’ll still have lots of content to share.

Today’s design is a design that I’ll be thinking about in my head for a while. I did them when I started out my job search & was trying to come up with interview/office appropriate designs. Sometimes you just want a little more than plain nude nails, but don’t want to push it too far.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Topless & Barefoot
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Quo By ORLY Fallen Star
  • Paper Hole reinforcements

Oh man, I love ruffian designs but sometimes they can be tricky to get right. Using the paper hole reinforcements means you can create the look with barely any trouble. This was the first time I’ve tried it this way, & I’ll definitely be “cheating” & using them from now on. Just like my favourite half moons, it’s just so much easier. & I like easy.

What do you think of this design? Have you tried this technique for creating ruffian designs? Do you find freehand or nail vinyls/guides easier? share your thoughts in the comments below!

Now I’m off to Ottawa, so I will see you later! Have a great Monday!