Tag: NOTD

Posted on

Cosy Legging Inspired Nail Art

Good morning! Don’t know where you are this morning, but here in Halifax it’s grey & rainy. Yep–still no snow in sight. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to dress my nails all cosy in hopes that maybe we will finally get some snowy weather in time for Christmas. (If not though, we’ll be driving to snow so I’ll have a white Christmas regardless haha.)

These nails are actually inspired by a pair of my favourite pair of winter leggings. I’ve been trying to come up with “short nail” designs & feeling frustrated, but I realized pretty much anything I can do when my nails are long I can create on short nails too! & this design is perfect for that. Also because I used nail vinyls & minimal freehanding, I would say this design is a good option for beginners. It looks much more complicated than it actually is.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek Foundations 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Rock My World
  • Essence Dream On
  • ACO by Ardene Daydreamer
  • Quo by ORLY The Antidote
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard to Get
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Straight Vinyls
  • Bundle Monster tiny detail brush

I love how these turned out. They remind me a lot of cosy sweater leggings, which is perfect for this time of year. Also like I said, these are so easy to do thanks to the use of nail Vinyls & only a bit of freehanding details. They look way more complicated to do than they actually are, I swear. For beginners, trying maybe one accent nail might be a little less overwhelming.

Oooooh these nails make me want snowy days to wear comfy leggings so bad. Is it snowing where you are yet? Do you typically get White or Green Christmas’ where you are? It’s usually hit or miss Snow wise in Halifax for Christmas–& it’s usually Christmas Eve before we see anything. January on, though, is a whole other story.

What do you think of this design? What designs remind you of Christmas? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

Christmas Tree Branch Nails 🎄

December is speeding by & I’m seriously attempting to fully embrace everything about the Christmas season.Have you put up your tree yet? We’ve been meaning to the last couple days, but still haven’t managed to… sadly I’m allergic to pretty much all trees so we have to stick to an artificial tree. But I did go out & buy a Christmas tree scented candle so the house would smell somewhat seasonal. 🎄 I also decided to create some Christmas tree inspired nails & oh my I’m so in love with how they turned out!

<<<<<<<<<<<>
For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Nailtek Foundation 2
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Give Me Nude, Baby!
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Essie Stylenomics
  • Essie Butler Please
  • L’Oréal Carmin Parisien
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Bundle Monster Detail Nail Art Brush

Sometimes I get really excited about how a manicure turns out & this is one of those times. This isn’t the first Christmas Tree/Tree Branch manicure I’ve attempted, but it’s definitely the best I’ve ever done. I’m just so beyond in love with how it turned out.

I love that you can see the individual needles on my “branches”. It reminds me of our own sparse little artificial Christmas tree. True story: it’s the same tree my parents used when I was a kid, & the box still has the K-mart sticker on it from when it was purchased. & K-mart left Canada in 1998 I believe, so this tree is at least 20 years old. Haha. But it’s okay because it’s well loved, full of memories & is still going strong all these years later.

What do you think of this Christmas tree design? Do you have your tree up yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on

More Sweater Nails

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have watched my Instagram story & saw I broke my middle nail super short earlier this week. Like–beyond baby nails. But I do have some unposted manicures I was saving up for after we moved & I’m unpacking, so I’ll have a few long nails designs to share in the meantime.

Like these sweater nails! Who doesn’t love rocking sweater nails? With the dropping temperatures outside, I know I’ve been wearing nothing but my thickest sweaters (I don’t do well with the cold). So why not paint my nails to match?

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Pat On The Black
  • Essie Topless & Barefoot
  • China Glaze Life is Rosy
  • URSugar Nail Stencil item AUB39877 — click to buy
  • MyNailsDid Nail Vinyl sweater pattern vinyl (they’re back up on her site!) & straight nail vinyls
  • NailStuff.ca small circle studs–Gold Mixed Decoration Nail wheel 
  • Small dotting tool

I just love how these turned out. I feel like the differing colours & patterns just bring the whole look together. I could honestly probably do this manicure in every colour combination possible, & never get tired of it! A little green & red & bam! You have perfect ugly Christmas sweater nails for your holiday party. (& now I must remember that because that is so happening now!)

Just looking at this design is making me really miss my long nails already. 😢 But rocking baby nubs just gives me the opportunity to come up with awesome & Pretty nail art for short nails. I’ve already got a few manicures I’m working on, so you’ll have to stay tuned! & if you have any requests, let me know.

<<<<<
o you think of these sweater nails? Would you match your nails to your favourite sweater? Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

Movember Moustache Nails

It’s Movember & I’ve had these Born Pretty water decals sitting in my nail art supplies for absolute ages. Like… 3 years. So after my successful first time experience with the water decals from NailStuff.ca, I decided it was finally time to give these babies a try, just in time to celebrate Movember! 

Sadly I searched Born Pretty to see if they still had these in stock & couldn’t find them or anything similar. But if you wanted to recreate this design, you could use this stamping plate as it has the same design on it. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Beatnik
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • Edge Perfection 
  • Born Pretty Store water decals
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

Thankfully I did these nails last week because while packing this weekend I accidentally packed up all my make up sponges, so I guess no gradients until we’re all moved into our new house!

I’m loving this design because it was surprisingly easy (thank you Edge Perfection! 🙏🏻 ) These water decals (as old as they are) were super easy to apply to finish off the look, & I had no issues with them. I always love when I discover all these new nail art items I’ve never tried before—I mean, usually I’m like 10 years behind everyone else, but they always rock my world & give me something new & fun to do on my nails! 

What do you think of my Movember nails? Comment your thoughts below! 💙

Posted on

Silver Snowflakes ❄️

Is it too early for snowflakes? Probably (& I’m definitely not trying to encourage Mother Nature in any way) but my few Christmas/Winter plates were sitting on my desk the other night looking so lonely so I decided maybe some snowflakes would be pretty. 

I do a variation of this design pretty much every year, with varying levels of success haha. I love how it looks a bit like wrapping to me. Honestly, the only time I like snow is between December 20th & January 2nd, or when it’s painted on my nails. 

For my manicure, the polishes I used were: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Zoya Yves
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Buffalo Nickel 
  • Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper
  • Born Pretty Store Snowflake Stamping plate (no longer available) — this one (also Born Pretty) could be a good alternative. 
  • Edge Perfective Cuticle Barrier 

I was really impressed with how well Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Buffalo Nickel stamped. I find metallic shades can be so hit or miss when it comes to how well they stamp, but it turned out awesome! I thought about adding a bit of glitter in the middle of my snowflakes, but decided against it just in case I hated how it looked. 

We’re slowly creeping into the holiday season. We were at the grocery store yesterday & you could already hear Christmas carols being played! Trying my best to like Christmas this year, especially because it’s baby’s first Christmas (& my husband’s absolute favourite holiday!) so wish me luck. Maybe if I do enough Christmas manicures, it will subconsciously make me love it? 

What do you think of these snowflakes? Do you think it’s too early for Snowflake/Christmas/Winter designs? Let me know what you think in the comments below!