If you’re a nail polish addict, then you probably know in order to keep your nails looking good (& picture ready!) you need to make sure you take extra care. Moisturizer & cuticle oil are a regular part of my daily routine, but when the months get colder I need to take extra extra extra care of my nails. So I thought it would be fun to show you an updated version of my winter nail care routine that I feel is really keeping my nails healthier & my cuticles looking great. I would definitely credit these items for the reason why this has been the best winter yet for me in terms of my nail & cuticle shape.
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!
Negative Space Floral
We’re currently being bombarded with 25+ cm of snow here in Halifax, which is not so much fun. I’m really not a Winter person (well, once Christmas is over anyways.) So how about some floral nails to cheer us up? I wore this design this weekend, but with a raging Winter storm outside as we speak I kind of need something pretty & Spring-y to cheer me up. Did I mention I’m really, really over Winter?
Did you know it’s 49 days until Spring? Just a fun fact to get you through those long, chilly days ahead. Unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case do you have a spare room because I’m coming to visit!
I took so many pictures of this design. I know every floral manicure is my new favourite, but this one just turned out so well I couldn’t help but take a million pictures of it.
For this manicure, the polishes I used were:
- Base Coat: Nailtek 2
- Top Coat: Seche Vive
- Matte Top Coat: L’Oréal the Matte Velvet
- Essie The Girls Are Out
- OPI My Pointe Exactly
- China Glaze Ever Glaze Don’t Grape About It
- Sally Hansen Instadri Petal Pusher
- Essie Bachelorette Bash
- Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Green
- Essence The Green & the Grunge
- Essie Play Date
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow
- Small detail brush (Born Pretty Store)
- Small & large dotting tools (Bundle Monster)
So many polishes were used for this design, but it was so worth it. & I think the matte top coat just makes the end result that much more beautiful. This is definitely not a quick to do design, but floral just makes me so happy I don’t even care! 💗 I hope you love floral, because I have a feeling there will be a lot of floral leading up to Spring. Also even though it’s snowing today, I’m totally pulling out my favourite floral romper, since I have no plans on leaving the house today… except to maybe go to Starbucks & get coffee but even then I won’t be leaving the car.
What are your thoughts on today’s floral design? Are you a fan of floral nails? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
SWATCH SUNDAY — Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail
Happy Sunday lovelies! Even though it’s still January, I’ve been craving Spring like crazy & I feel like it’s been reflected in my nail polish choices a lot lately. Plus, I’ve been binge watching “Vanderpump Rules” so now I just really want to be able to wear cute flirty outfits instead of winter boots & my extra large puffy jacket. Since mother nature doesn’t want to grant my wishes, I guess I’ll just have to dig into my polish collection & find Spring in whatever way I can.
So today’s Swatch Sunday choice is all about Spring. Today I’m showing off Beyond the Nail Shimmering Mermaid Tail. This shade is from Beyond the Nail’s their Spring 2017 Spring Mystical Dreams collection that I was beyond lucky enough to win last year. Shimmering Mermaid Tail is a pastel blue creme with scattering holographic glitters.
This shade is such an old school Shannon shade, circa the early 2000s. I mean, I didn’t know what holo was back then, but a beautiful blue like this is what I was I am all about! This was 2 coats, plus top coat, & it self levels really well even before you add top coat which can sometimes be a problem when it comes to pastels like this. The holographic glitter is slightly hidden on the nail under this lighting, but it is there & in the sunshine you can really see it.
You can see those glitters in the bottle up above, so obviously I figured the best way to show it off was with some macro shots. Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with my macro lens? Also just staring at these pictures is making me just want it to be Spring already–I’m so ready for cute dresses, & my flats & to not be wearing 19 layers just to leave the house. I guess in the mean time, I’ll just have to wear all my favourite Spring colours which means Shimmering Mermaid Tail (& the rest of the gorgeous shades from the Mystical Dreams collection) in going to be in my regular rotation.
If you’re staring at this shade telling yourself you need to own this in time for Spring–or just to get you through until Spring–you’re in luck! Beyond the Nail still has this collection on sale on their website!
What do you think of this shade? Are you craving Spring as much as I am? Let me know your favourite colour for Spring down below!
Matte Neon Moon Manicure 🌙
Happy Friday lovelies! Today I’m blasting you with a little neon to cheer up the Winter blues. It’s currently -11 degrees here in Halifax, so I need anything I can get that feels even a little Spring-like. Also this colour combination might actually be perfect. 💜
For this manicure, the polishes I used were:
- Base Coat: Nailtek 2
- Top Coat: Seche Vive
- Matte Top Coat: Butter London
- Quo by ORLY Culture Classic
- Color Club Pucci-licious
- White Paper White Reinforcement stickers.
I’m so one of those people who can only stand Winter until Christmas is over, & then I want Spring already. If I didn’t love Halifax so much, I would move somewhere where it was warm all year & I could drive to the snow. Instead, I guess neon nails to cheer myself is in order! (& all the hot drinks I can handle to keep myself from freezing)
I guess I should probably start planning my Valentine’s Day designs soon! I missed out on a lot of Valentine’s designs last year, you know with having a baby haha, so I want to make up with it this year!
What do you think of this design? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Coffee & Nail Polish 