Tag: Nail Art

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SWATCH SUNDAY — L.A. Colors Color Craze Crackle Top Coat 🖤⚡️

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! How is everyone enjoying these last few days of June? We’re currently gearing up for the last day of school (tomorrow) in our house, & the beginning of Summer vacation. It has come so quickly!

Today I’m sharing a throwback vibe — but a currently available polish. Any of my fellow millennials will probably remember the chokehold crackle nail polish had in the early 2010s — I had every colour. So I was super excited to see it is making a resurgence. I never stopped (unironically) loving it, so whenever I see it pop up again, I can’t help but buying a bottle.

& lucky for us, L.A. Colors is bringing back crackle for us to love & enjoy!

1 thick coat

So for those who don’t remember the crackle faze of nail polish, it is a specially design nail polish that when applied over a base shade, dries down & creates a crack effect, showing the shade underneath. Lots of different brands have come out with their versions, from OPI (the first I remember) to Zoya, to Sally Hansen & Claire’s.

L.A. Colors is bring back the fun with their two Crackle Top Coats — available in black & white. I purchased mine at my local Walmart for $3.99 CAD.

As you can see, the crack effect on this pretty thick & dramatic. Depending on how much polish you have on your brush, you can have bigger thick cracks (like this) or smaller thinner cracks like this. The black polish itself is opaque, which I like. It makes the effect even more dramatic. I haven’t picked up the bottle of white yet, but I’ve heard it also is pretty opaque— so I’m curious. I used the Sally Hansen which crackle years ago, but I found it very thin so it was kind of a disappointment.

Personally, I would love to see L.A. Colors release even more shades (& finishes — like shimmers) with this crackle line. For a very affordable mainstream brand, they have some out with some beautiful finishes & styles of nail polishes, & I hope they keep them coming!

What do you think of crackle nail polish returning as a trend in 2025? Are you a fan of this style?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you would rock crackle again!

Happy Sunday

🖤

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Lover Inspired Nails (in honour of my little birthday Swiftie)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today is a very special Wednesday because it is my baby girls 6th birthday. 🎉 🎂

So crazy to believe that she’s 6 already!

I wanted to create some special nails in her honour, & since her favourite thing right now is Taylor Swift — well obviously taut is where my inspiration came from. She also told me I should do nails that were pink, blue & yellow with hearts — & as soon as she told me that, Taylor’s Lover era popped into my head. & since Cruel Summer has been playing on repeat at our house, it fit perfectly.

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
  • Butter London Coming Up Roses *pr
  • Claire’s Scented Nail Polish Orange
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Violet Voltage
  • Essie Gel Couture Gossamer Garments *pr
  • Nails INC Heartfelt Holidays
  • Claire’s Mini Glitter Shade (no name)
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

How pretty does this manicure look? I love the Lover vibes it’s giving. If this isn’t the perfect manicure to wear while belting out Cruel Summer, I don’t know what is.

& my little girl was so excited to see these nails! She’s having a Taylor Swift inspired birthday party with her friends next month, & she is already planning her nails for the occasion.

What do you think about these Taylor Swift inspired birthday nails? Do you love them as much as I do? Would you wear them? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Wednesday lovelies — enjoy some cake today in honour of my little girl.

🖤

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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

💖

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Outlined Glitter Jelly Nails

Hey lovelies, happy Wednesday!

Long time, no post. I’ll be honest — blogging has been really hard this month. Even wanting to do my nails has hit a road block. I’m still painting them, but I don’t necessarily have the energy to do nail art. Hoping once this month is over, I’ll feel super inspired again.

But I did manage to do a simple nail art look recently, so I’m excited to share it!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Couture Top Coat 
  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
  • Essie Love Sheen (Silk Watercolours collection)
  • Ardene Secret Diary
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper in Black

I started off by creating a jelly sandwich using Essie Love Sheen & Ardene Secret Diary. Originally that had been my only plan for these nails. But the next day, I couldn’t help but thing that some black outlining would really up the dramatic factor of this manicure — & I was right!

I don’t do outlining often, mostly because it takes a very steady hand I don’t always posses. But I’m so super proud of how these turned out & how neatly I managed to outline them! & nothing makes me happier than a cleanly drawn manicure!

What do you think about my outline glitter sandwich nails? Are they dramatic & fun? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& if you have some nail art inspiration you want to shoot my way, I’m always looking for new inspiration for my nails! & with this nail art block I’m going through, I’d love some help to break out of it!

Happy Wednesday loves

🖤

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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!

🖤