SWATCH SUNDAY — Julep Madelynn & Pahlish Seto Taisho (Teacup Soldier) {gifts from @manigeek!}

Happy Sunday lovelies! 💕 I know I skipped out on my Swatch Sunday post last weekend, but I’m back with TWO new-to-me shades, courtesy of the oh-so-amazing @manigeek!

Karen recently posted a swatch of the purple Julep polish Madelynn & when I commented how beautiful it was, she offered to send it to me! Seriously, how sweet is she! The polish was originally gifted to her by @dyslizakitty. I was super excited when the saw the polish arrive, & even more excited when I saw she included a surprise extra polish as well.

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Julep Madelynn & Pahlish Seto Taisho (Teacup Soldier) {gifts from @manigeek!}”

Cactus Accent Nails 🌵💅🏻

Happy Thursday! It’s been a while since I rocked any cactus nails, & I was craving some vibrancy. I don’t often reach for green polish when painting my nails, but I’ve been trying to get out of my comfort zone. Keeping with that, I decided to pull a green (textured) polish from deep in my stash that I haven’t worn in too many years to count, & paired it with some cute cacti on my accent nails!

Polishes I used for this design were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • LA Girl Sand Blast Nail Polish in Green Island
  • China Glaze What’s She Dune?
  • Essie First Timer
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy
  • Essie A-List
  • OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster
  • Small detail brush (from Bundle Monster)
  • Small dotting tool (from Bundle Monster)

Sadly I kind of hid the texture of LA Girl Green Island with my top coat, but it came through a bit. This was my very first textured polish, back in the very early days of my nail art. It was also the beginning of my obsession with finding nail polish deals at Lawton’s—I remember scoring it & a blue Sand Blast Polish for only a dollar. & so began my obsession with finding old polishes at awesome deals. & I still hate spending full price for polish to this day!

Also I love creating these little freehand cactus. Still on the search for some cactus nail vinyls, because I’m a little cactus obsessed, but in the meantime I don’t mind freehanding my cacti. I also just picked up a new stamping plate from Essence with a cactus on it, so stay tuned as I plan on trying it out soon (hopefully this weekend!)

What do we think of this design? Do you still have any textured polishes in your stash? Let me know down in the comment below!

Pink & Grey Leopard Print

Good morning lovelies & happy Tuesday. Starting off my Tuesday morning with a little 90210 & cold brew & a brand new mani to share with you guys! It had occurred to me that I hadn’t done a leopard print design in a really long time, so I was itching to do one!

Originally I had been planning on doing a more neutral themed colour scheme, but I’ve been obsessed with all things pink lately (planning on even adding pink to my hair soon!) so a pink base shade seemed like perfection.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose to the Occasion
  • Essence Rock My World!
  • Essence Back in Black
  • Small dotting tool
  • Small detail brush — currently obsessed with this brush set from Nailstuff.ca

How cute is this look? I forgot how much fun it is to wear leopard print. One of my all time favourite dresses (& the birthday dress from my 23rd birthday) was leopard print! & although my crazy leopard print dress days are (probably) behind me, it makes me excited to be able to still rock it on my nails! Plus I absolutely love the colour combination of grey & pink—I can definitely see myself rocking this combo a lot with Fall on its way.

What do you think of this pink leopard print? Do you have a favourite leopard print colour combo? Share down below! 🐆💗

Freehand Herringbone Pattern Nails

Happy Friday lovelies, & happy almost weekend! Today I’m sharing a fun design I freehanded recently. As I’ve mentioned, oh, about a thousand times already, I bought a new striper a few weeks back, & I’ve been obsessed with them. These are the kind of designs I’ve been doing forever, & they never get old. This look was actually inspired by a mani swap I did with @armstrongnails back in 2015.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Claire’s Mood Nail Polish Pastel Blue Mood
  • Essence We Will Spock You
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black

You can always tell how in love with a manicure I am based on how many photos I take of each design. I was a little obsessed with this look. I only wish the holo had showed up a bit better in pictures, but I took these early in the morning before the sun really came out.

This herringbone pattern is making me think of Fall & making me so excited for Fall. 🍁 I already have so many polishes picked out for the season, & I can wait to start digging into my darker shades. You can never go wrong with khaki, plum or navy nails, am I right?

what do you think of this look? What colour are you most excited for this Fall? Share all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Petite Dotticure

Good Morning Lovelies & happy Tuesday. I hope everyone had a good weekend & those who had yesterday off had a good extra long weekend! Today I’m starting off with a dotticure. It feels like absolute ages since I wore polka dots of my nails, so this manicure was long overdue. Plus I was in need of a quick look that I could do, looked snazzy & still meant I could get to bed at a reasonable time. Polka dots are always the right answer!

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • ORLY Decades is Dysfunction
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Navy
  • Essie Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low
  • Small dotting tool

Don’t get me wrong, I love big bold dotticure designs (& I’ve been dreaming of a few as we get closer to Fall & Fall Polish season) but there is something about a teeny tiny dotticure that is just so satisfying. It’s such a fresh clean look, & so much more forgiving if your polka dots aren’t completely perfect. Also I still love using my Sally Hansen nail art pens for this purpose! So much easier to control when creating dots. & let’s be honest—when it’s 11pm & I have to be up at 5:45am to get ready for work, I don’t need to be re-dotting my nails for hours trying to get them right!

What do you think of this dotticure look? Do you prefer petite or regular sized polka dot designs? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! & if there is any looks you’d love to see me do, share them too!

♥️