Tag: Freehand

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Fall Themed Colour Block

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Good morning lovelies! As much as I’m loving doing the Glam Nails Challenge for August, I thought it would be nice to break it up a bit with some other nail art! So today I have a fun colour block design to share with you, using a couple amazing polishes from past Essie Fall collections.

I swear, I’ll try to wear some neon soon… but in the meantime, how about some fun rich Autumn nails?

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture
  • Essie Stop, Drop & Shop
  • Essie Leggy Legend
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer

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This design was surprisingly quick, all things considered. I like freehanded my colour blocking, so there no need to wait for my base to try before painting on my blocks of other shades. & the result looks awesome!

I also really like how well these colours went with each other. Some of my absolute favourite polishes have come from past Essie Fall collections, including these 3 polishes. Essie After School Boy Blazer is definitely my #1 favourite Navy blue of all time. It’s just perfection.

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Are you already thinking about Fall nails? Do you have a favourite Fall collection from years past?

Mine is probably the Essie “For the Twill of It” collection from Fall 2013, which After School Boy Blazer is a part of, as well as my all time favourite grey Cashmere Bathrobe.

🍁

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Paisley Nails for #glamnailschallengeaug

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Good morning lovelies! Today I have another fun manicure I created for the Glam Nails Challenge for August! Today’s nail art prompt was one I was a little bit scared about: Paisley.

I’ve never actually attempted a paisley pattern before, mostly because it’s always looked really intimidating, & not in my nail art wheel house. But because this challenge is all about inspiring me to try new looks, I decided to make an attempt at free handing it.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essence Plump Power
  • Quo by ORLY Wrong So Right
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio

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So I’ll be honest, the first attempt at starting this pattern was with a different colour & I didn’t even get one nail done before I was removing it. I’m a perfectionist, so trying something I’ve never done before (& not doing it well) can be overwhelming for me. My second attempt with this darker bronze colour was a much better attempt!

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Is this a perfect paisley recreation? No. Is this paisley-esque enough for me? Absolutely! I tried really hard to get that whirly look of Paisley & I’m incredibly impressed with the design, & especially with the fact I repeated it on my Cinderella hand so I could wear these nails for a few days. & yeah, I know these aren’t perfect. But they’re beautiful enough for me, & that’s all that matters.

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What do you think of this paisley design? Would you wear this manicure? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

& don’t forget to check out the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug on Instagram to see the other pretty nails posted for the challenge! I’m definitely excited to check out what everyone has done!

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Deep Purple Leopard Print

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Hello lovelies! Today I have some more nail art to share with you, this time outside the Glam Nails nail art challenge I’ve been participating in this month! It’s been absolute ages (a year!) since I last created a leopard print design, so it felt really, really overdue. & since I’ve been seriously drawn to Fall colours lately, I decided that colour scheme was what I needed right now.

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Staycation
  • Essence Plump Power
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art Pen in Black
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool

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So painting my nails right now is still a bit of a struggle right now. Mostly, I’ve been trying to paint my nails when both the babes sleep, either during nap time during the day, or at night after bedtime. Sometimes it works out for me, & sometimes it takes me two days to create a design. For this particular design, I wanted to do something less complicated but still fancy. My secret weapon for a quick leopard print nail art is always my Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art Pen in Black as it seriously cuts down on time when drawing the outline of my leopard.

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Someday I’ll attempt a classic leopard print colour scheme, but today is not that day. It’s just way more fun playing around with unusual colour schemes. Plus I really love the dark purple on the grey-ish base. I feel like this colour combination is going to be used a lot as Autumn creeps closer–it would look so good together in a dotticure or as a chevron moon design!

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What do you think about this leopard print design? Would you rock this design? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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(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!

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Gradient Desert Scene

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

Today I’m doing sort of a throwback Thursday post as today’s manicure is one I did a while back but never shared. I was scrolling through my phone last night, & stumbled across this design & knew I had to post it! Especially because I have no idea what I wouldn’t have shared them in the first place. Thankfully I kept a list of the polishes I used, so even though these were done a while ago, I could still share exactly what I used to create this look!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Parka Perfect
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose to the Occasion
  • Essence Black is Back
  • Sally Hansen CSM Let’s Snow!
  • Nailstuff.ca mermaid tail detail brushes
  • Edge Perfection cuticle barrier
  • Latex free make up sponge (I buy mine at Dollarama)

I love love love doing these landscape gradient nails. It’s kind of like a galaxy nail, but less work. & of course I added cacti in the distance, because they’re my favourite.

Seriously, I cannot understand why I never shared this design when I originally did them. The gradient looks nice, my freehand work isn’t awful. Maybe I was just saving it for right now (without realizing it?) Either way I’m happy to share this look with you now!

What do you think of this gradient landscape look?

Would you like to see more of these designs on the blog?

Hit like if you’re into this kind of nail art & share down below what else you’d like to see me do!