Dark & Gloomy Hand Painted Floral

Hello loves & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. After some gross winter weather on Saturday evening, we actually had a beautiful (almost Spring-like) Sunday.

Today I’m sharing some dark & gloomy floral which I feel like are perfect for the darkest & gloomiest month. It’s been so long, too long, since I hand painted any roses on my nails & these turned out better than I could have hoped. With the dark base, I feel like they have a bit of a gothic feel to them as well.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Snake It Up + Starrily Magnet
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Can’t Beet Royalty
  • Sally Hansen MG Good Cheer-y
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Society Ruler
  • Sally Hansen CSM Berry Fancy
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure. Eco-Rose
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

I used a lot of red polishes to achieve these roses, but I think they turned out so beautiful. These are probably my favourites florals to paint; I love how beautiful they look on the nail.

Also I’ve never actually used this Essie magnetic shade before, but I tried it with my Starrily magnet & it worked really well. My bottle was purchased at Dollarama & did not have the snake skin magnet with it—probably the reason I’ve never used it— so I was happy to have something to use with it! & I love it, even if it didn’t show up well in these photos.

What do you think about these fun floral nails? Are you getting dark & gloomy from them? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

Instagram Nail Art Collab — Evergreen 🌲

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! & happy Hanukkah to all that celebrate! Today I’m excited to share the manicure I did for the Evergreen Nail Art Collab on Instagram, hosted by the ever so lovely @essieyall & @petitenaillover.

This month’s theme is Evergreen, & so I decided to go simple with some hand painted bare evergreen branches.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Color Club Label-less grey
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Me, My Elf & I
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wet My Thistle
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Jazzy Jade
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Oh My Coffee
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm liner brush

I’ve done some version of this manicure every Winter/Christmas for the last couple years, but it never gets dull or old to me. This version is a bit more subdued than previous versions, but I love how it turned out. I’m always so excited to participate in this monthly challenge, & create something fun with the prompt given.

If you want to check out the other gorgeous manicures & nail artist participating, check out #evergreennailartmanicollab2023 on Instagram!

What do you think of my evergreen nails? Do they feel festive to you? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Friday! 🖤

Autumn Floral 🌼

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to their week. I’m feeling all the Autumn vibes. I had my first pumpkin spice latte, I found my favourite Halloween candy in store; I am ready for Fall to begin. So naturally, that means I’m ready for Fall manicures & nail art to begin.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • J Cats Beauty PNP105
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Essie Chocolate Cakes
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Up to Snuff
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Thyme is Money
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (11mm liner brush)

It’s been way too long since I last wore some floral on my nails, & this colour combination feels perfectly Fall inspired. It even compliments my coffee cup. The base shade has been sitting in my stash for a while — I think I scored it for like 99 cents at a random pharmacy — but I’m glad I decided to randomly pull it out to wear. The colour is very, very pretty.

What do you think about this Fall floral design? Do you like this colour combination, & does it scream Autumn to you? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Summer Dress Inspired Floral 🌸

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far. What is the weather doing where you are? We’ve been hot & balmy on the East Coast, a big difference from the torrential rainstorm we had on the weekend. I’m definitely happy for brighter weather.

I’m also super excited to show off today’s nail art look. You know the saying “nail art inspiration can come from anywhere”? Well I definitely took that to heart with this nail art look. Recently, I took my daughter thrifting & found the sweetest Summer dress for her, & the second I saw it, I knew I was going to need to do some nail art inspired by it. I’m a sucker for anything floral, & the simple sweet pattern was too cute not to do on my nails!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Glossy Top Coat
  • Essie White Page
  • Sally Hansen Instadri Ghouls Night Out
  • Essie Frilly Lillies
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Peony Origins
  • Sally Hansen GKP Love You Lotus
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (11mm liner brush)
  • Dotting Tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

How cute is this look! I’ll be honest, this wasn’t a super complicated design to paint, but it was a little time consuming… especially trying to make sure my horizontal stripes were straight. &, as you can see from my pointer, I wasn’t completely successful in that regard. But I think this design turned out just like my inspiration, so that’s a win in my books! Such a sweet, pretty design to match my sweet little girl.

What do you think about this floral design? Do you like this line & floral design? Where do you find inspiration for your own nail art looks? Let me know down in the comments, & enjoy your Wednesday!

Floral Shorties

Hello loves & happy Wednesday!

& Happy last day of May!

I swear, you’re in the right place. I just decided to switch things up a bit. I’ve been humming & hawing on Instagram for a while about going to square nails, & I finally decided to take the plunge–just in time for a new month! I know, crazy. But it’s been about 2 years since the last time I rocked some squares, so I thought why not try them out again for a while.

They’re pretty short right now, but that’s okay. I’m excited to grow them out to a nice square shape. & in the meantime, we’ll rock some fun shortie nail art. Naturally, the first manicure I did on my new short squares is floral! I mean, were you expecting anything else.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Londontown KUR Nail Hardener & Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Fast Dry Top
  • Franken white shade (I mixed a few whites I own with a little black to grey it)
  • OPI Is That A Spear in Your Pocket
  • OPI Living On The Bula-vard 
  • OPI Two Timing The Zones 
  • OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? 
  • OPI Getting Nadi on My Honeymoon 
  • OPI Koala Berry
  • OPI Who You CallinBossy?
  • OPI Gelato On My Mind
  • OPI Check Out The Old Geysirs
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

Obviously, I had to use my garden for a backdrop as it’s been thriving with these Summer-y temperatures. This floral is pretty simple — although it used a ton of different polishes — but I think it turned out beautiful & I’m really in love with the final look. I went with a white base, even though I’ve been iffy on wearing white lately thanks to the VPR drama & Scandoval, but I think this white base looks so pretty with the floral over top.

What do you think about this floral look & my return to square nails? This was the nail shape I had when I first started my blog, so I always return to it, even though I do love round nails as well. Sometimes, you just need a change, you know?

Let me know what you think & what nail art you’d like to see next! I have one manicure coming on Friday that I did earlier in the month for a nail art collab, but I’m excited to start Summer off with these new square shorties.


Happy Wednesday ♥︎