Tag: Holiday

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Get Canada Day 🇨🇦 Ready with Nail Polish Canada

Hello lovelies & Happy Thursday. This week is certainly speeding by… & so is this month!

Can you believe that it’s only 17 days until Canada Day? Which means that it’s time to start thinking about what I’m going to do on my nails for the occasion! Thankfully Nail Polish Canada has once again teamed up with some bloggers to share the Canadian love & help make it easier for you to create some Canada Day nails.

When trying to come up with some Canada Day nails, I had this idea of doing negative space nails with a red maple leaf outline. Instead of using the stencil, I decided to apply the maple leaf vinyl to my nail & paint over top to create the maple leaf outline & then go back over top with red. What it created was this cool negative space maple leaf design.

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Strength
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Killer Heels
  • Nail Polish Canada What’s Up Nails Canada Flag Nail Stencils
  • Bundle Monster Small Detail Brush

These stencils are so easy to use! I was nervous about using them this way, just because I didn’t want my polish bleeding underneath & making me have to start all over again. The end result was almost exactly what I had pictured in my head–a little bit different Canada Day design besides your typical flag design! This would definitely be a fun look to wear for whatever plans you had for your Canada Day celebrations… hopefully for me it will involve Barbecue & fireworks!

So for all my Canadian friends who want to come up with some cute Canada Day designs, you’re in luck! You can get your very own Canada Fay Maple Leaf stencils for free! I have a code from Nail Polish Canada which will score 10 of my readers free vinyls!

My coupon code: Q72RLBNQQM

If you go to Nail Polish Canada (click here) you can add that special code & get your Canada Day Vinyls for free!

& if you give this negative space look a try with your vinyls, tag me so I can see!

Have a happy Thursday lovelies! ♥️

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St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Nails ☘️

Happy Saturday Lovelies… & happy St Patrick’s Day! It’s been quiet on the blog this week, & if you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I had a bit of an accident involving my son where he scratched my cornea with his nail leaving me temporarily blind Wednesday. It was a little difficult to try & do my nails & write a post so I took a bit of a hiatus but I still wanted to try & do something fun in honour of St. Patrick’s Day, so I can up with a fun shamrock design.

Green is not a usual colour choice for me. I own quite a few greens, but I usually save them for either Christmas or St. Patrick’s Day so I was excited to pull a few out to play with.

The polishes I used for this design were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by Orly Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Wrenn Polish I Know Quac is Extra
  • OPI That’s Hula-rious
  • China Glaze Be More Pacific
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • YSL Beauty Vert D’Orient
  • URSugar Nail Vinyls — shamrocks (item #AUB39877)

I started off with a dry brush base using all my greens but YSL Beauty Vert D’Orient & let it dry completely. Then I added the shamrock vinyls over top my design & painted over the whole nail with Vert D’Orient & immediately removed the vinyls revealing my dry brush shamrocks. I think it was a cute way to use a whole bunch of greens & a great design for St Patrick’s Day!

What do you have planned for your St Patrick’s Day? Mine will be spent working & the only green things I’ll be drinking with be green kombucha & matcha lattes… but that’s okay with me! Hope you have a fun (& safe!) St. Patrick’s Day whatever you get up to. 💚 Also head over to my Instagram later on for a bonus nail art look featuring these Shamrock vinyls from URSugar! 🍀☘️🍀

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Valentine’s Day Chevron Accent Nails

Another day, another fun Valentine’s Day appropriate design to share with you! The day is quickly approaching, so I’ve been trying to get creative while I have time. Last year with having a newborn (& spending extra days in the hospital) I wasn’t able to do anything Valentine’s Day related on my nails, so I’m definitely making up for it this year!

For this design, I decided to grab a few of the colours I picked from my “6 Polishes I’m Loving for Valentine’s Day” post on Sunday. To pair all these shades together, I decided on son stacked chevrons to show off all these pretty shades! This is definitely a design that is all about Valentine’s Day–it might be too flashy of a design to wear, for example, to the office (depending on where you work) but would be awesome for date night, or a Valentine’s Day themed party!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Kiss Me, I’m Kind
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Christian Louboutin Beauty Rouge Louboutin
  • China Glaze Seduce Me
  • L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses
  • ACO by Ardene Ice Mist
  • Quo by ORLY Nail Art Striper in Gold
  • NailStuff.ca Heart Stud — Gold Mixed Decoration Nail wheel
  • UR SUGAR Stacked Chevron Nail Stencils item #AUB39877 — click to buy
  • Dotting Tool

I think these turned out so cute with the mix of colours together!  Next time I might use the stacked chevron vinyls upside down so it matches the V-shade of the heart. But I’m really happy with how these turned out, & the addition of the little heart stud just makes it even more perfect! ♥

Do you like these Valentine’s Day themed nails? Have you figured out what you’re doing on the day yet? My hubby & I usually stay in–because trying to make reservations is hell on Earth–& make heart shaped gluten free pizza or something else delicious. & of course, cupcakes! It’s become holiday tradition for me to make him cupcakes for special occasions.

 

Let me know your thoughts on this design in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — 6 Nail Polishes I’m Loving for Valentine’s Day!

Happy Sunday lovelies.

Since we’re into the first week of the month of love, I thought it would be fun to dedicate Swatch Sunday to some perfect polishes for Valentine’s Day. I own a lot of pink & red shades so I had fun going through my stash to find 6 polishes that I will definitely be loving this month in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day (okay & pretty much always because pink & red nail polish always have my heart). I actually did a post like this a few years ago, so I thought it would be fun to do another one!

So here are my 6 polish picks for Valentine’s Day 2018.

 

CHINA GLAZE — SEDUCE ME

Firtst up is China Glaze Seduce Me, a deep berry red that applies in 2 coats, although if you’re careful you might be able to get away with one careful coat. My bottle is pretty old, so I went with two. I chose this colour for Valentine’s Day because I feel like it’s a really grown up colour: it has pinkish undertones but it’s not bubblegum pink & it’s also not that classic candy apple red shade either. It’s a little bit different, & I honestly feel like this shade is one that will look great on everyone! It also pairs really well with other pink & reds for nail art (like some zig zag chevrons perhaps?)

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L’OREAL VERNIS A L’HUILE — JARDIN DES ROSES

L’Oreal Jardin Des Roses is my first pink choice & it’s a pink I’ve really been loving lately. This is two coats for full coverage of this soft romantic pink & it applies really well. This pink is great because of how soft the colour is–you won’t look like you’re Barbie when you wear it.

 

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN BEAUTY — ROUGE LOUBOUTIN

If you’re looking for a classic red to wear on Valentine’s Day, I feel like you don’t need to look any further than Christian Louboutin Beauty Rouge Louboutin! I received this beautiful red nail polish from a family friend the night before my wedding, & because it is so special to me I tend to save it for special occasions. I used two coats for coverage — it’s pretty good after one, but I wanted to make sure there was no hint of visible nail line. This is definitely the perfect classic red for a Valentine’s Day date, & if your significant other forgets about Valentine’s Day, you can always stab them with the bottle!

 

ACO BY ARDENE — BOUDOIR

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion, & sometimes I want a little glitter & Ardene Boudoir is a fun glitter choice. It a clear base stuffed full of berry glitters. I used 3 coats for my swatches (thank god for peel off base coat) but normally I would either apply it over top a complimentary shade or sponge the glitter onto my nail. You can build close to opacity though, although I couldn’t imagine the dry time. I just love the colour of the glitter in this polish–sometimes you just need to sparkle a little (or a lot)!

 

OPI — FIRE ESCAPE RENDEZVOUS

Next up we have OPI Fire Escape Rendezvous. This is 2 coats of this metallic ruby red polish with glitters–both shard glitter & hex glitter. The glitters are interesting, but I really dig them.  They give this polish an interesting texture which makes it unique, although I definitely prefer it top coated (Seche Vive). If you’re looking for something a little more than just red, this would be a great choice.

SINFUL COLORS — BLOOM BLAST FLOWER POWER

Last, but definitely not least, is Sinful Colors Bloom Blast in Flower Power. This milky pink shade is stuffed full of large & tiny matte pink metallic & white glitters. I belive it’s supposed to be worn on it’s own but I think it looks best over top other pink polishes. This is one coat over OPI Two Timing the Zones. How cute does this look? I know not everyone is a nail art person, so a topper like this is a great way of zazzing up your nails without having to worry about freehanding anything! It’s almost a dotticure without any of the work!

 

So those are the six polishes I’m loving for Valentine’s Day this year? What shades/polishes are your Valentine’s Day favourites? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

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Holo Gradient & Hearts

Happy Thursday lovelies! & happy first day of February. Seriously, how is the first month of 2018 already over?! That’s kind of amazing in a way. It also means we’re 2 weeks away from Valentine’s Day, so it’s time to start getting my love-themed manicures started.

When it comes  to Valentine’s Day, I feel like hearts are kind of a necessity. For this design, I decided to skip the pink (there will be lots of pink to come, don’t worry) & used silver, purple & blue holo shades instead. You still get that Valentine’s Day feeling without going too overboard.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Ultra Violet
  • Layla Cosmetics Hologram Effect Ocean Rush
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • KaylaRayLoves Nail Vinyls Tumbling Hearts Vinyls
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

I really, really love how these turned out. The gradient + the hearts just looks so good together! You could definitely go with more pink shades if you wanted these nails to be extra girlie (which I could see myself doing for actual Valentine’s Day). Also I was really impressed with how well these holo polishes blended together to create a gradient! I feel like I haven’t been doing enough gradients lately, & that seriously needs to change. Yeah, they can be kind of messy, but that’s why they invented liquid latex.

Below, I have a couple of shots of the gradient before I added the hearts. I really need to do more holo gradients because the end result is just so pretty!

what do you think of this manicure? Would you wear it for Valentine’s Day? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!