Tag: OPI

Posted on

Half Moons & Gold StudsĀ 

Happy Monday! How was everyone elseā€™s weekend? Weā€™ve been starting to pack for moving which is about as much fun as it sounds… I hate packing & I hate moving. (& I havenā€™t even starting thinking about moving my 1000+ nail polishes yet.) 

So what am I sharing to cheer myself up after a packing haze? One of my favourite go-to designsā€”the half moon. & thought Iā€™d share a quick pictorial on how easy these actually are to create! & no special vinyls are needed!

The products used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Fancy Pants
  • China Glaze Glamcore
  • NailStuff.ca gold Mixed Decoration Nail Wheel

Paint your base colour & apply quick dry top coat. Let dry completely, roughly about 20 minutes depending on the top coat you use. 

Once your nails are completely dry, pull out your pack of paper hole reinforcements & apply at the base of your nail. Make sure to press down at each end. 

Repeat on all 5 nails. I always do one hand at a time. 

Press down each side of hole reinforcement (to make sure polish wonā€™t bleed under) & then quickly paint second colour over top. A one coat polish works best, but she make sure base colour is covered. 

Immediately remove your reinforcement. 

Repeat steps on all fingers & then seal in design with top coat. Bam! Almost instant half moons (with a few steps in between). I loved the blue with purple but I wanted to add a little more of a snazzy finish to my nails. Iā€™ve been obsessing about this wheel of nail studs lately adding it to a lot of my manicures lately so I figured it would be the perfect addition to this design. 

For my accent nail, I applied some blobs of coat, then picked up my studs with a wet nail art brush & arranged them. I always make sure to pull my studs out of the wheel ahead of applying them, as it takes less time trying to find them. Also, sometimes you will have to dab on more clear polish/top coat to make sure the studs stick. Also I always seal my studs in with top coat so no edges catch & get pulled off. 

What do you think of this half moon? How do you create your half moon designs? Let me know in the comments below! šŸŒ™

Posted on

Happy Halloween with Wonder Woman Nails! šŸ’«

Happy Halloween everyone! I canā€™t believe itā€™s already Halloween šŸŽƒ ā€” how crazy is that? This year I was dedicated to doing a family Justice League costume with the hubs & our little Bubs so I could wear my Wonder Woman costume again! & obviously that means I needed to have nails that matched. 

Originally I was going to try for full on Justice League Nails with all the hero symbols but… my freehand skills are just not that good. I started & realized it would probably take me 14 hours & multiple attempts so I decided to go the easier route & just go Wonder Woman. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Boho Green Make Up Pacific Ocean
  • Lā€™OrĆ©al Color Riche Carmin Parisien 
  • Color Club Almost Famous
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • UR Sugar Star Nail Stencil item #AUB39877 ā€” Click to buy
  • NailStuff.ca gold triangle studs ā€” Gold Mixed Decoration Nail wheel 
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster 

I love, love, love how these turned out. I had a bit different idea going into this mani but even though these are different than who I originally planned, I think they turned out WAY better than what I was thinking I was going to do… & say Wonder Woman much more! I was super scared to attempt that W symbol, but I think it turned out great. & these are going to compliment my costume perfectly. 


 šŸŽƒ whether you plans involve trick or treating, handing out candy or just hiding inside with a box of mini candies (or anything else!) I hope you have the best Halloween ever. For those who follow me on Instagram Iā€™ll make sure to post a picture of my nails & my costume together later on! 

šŸ–¤

Posted on

Throwback Thursday Halloween Nails

October is quickly speeding by, so I need to amp up my Halloween designs! šŸŽƒ

 This time I decided to recreate a design I did all the way back in 2014 (originally done with @mynailpolish_addiction as part of a bestie twin nail collab.) Even though I had spiders, I always thought this design was adorable so I wanted to recreate it. 

For this manicure, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Lā€™OrĆ©al Orange You Jealous?
  • Color Club Wham! Pow!
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI 
  • Sally Hansen Hard To Get Black Heart
  • Essie No Place like Chrome
  • Revlon Holographic Pearls
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue
  • The Base Coat Spiderweb nail stencil 
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge 

I thought these nails were super cute when I did them originally, & I still think theyā€™re super cute. & I definitely feel like they turned out a little less wonky this time around. Sometimes when I feel like my nails suck & I have no talent & Iā€™m feeling especially hard on myself itā€™s nice to do these recreations to see how far Iā€™ve come. I may not be the most insanely talented nail artist, but Iā€™m hugely proud of how far Iā€™ve come. 

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

Posted on

Happy Birthday Nails! šŸŽ‰šŸŽˆšŸŽ‚Ā 

I know, itā€™s Sunday which means normally I would be sharing a swatch with you. But today is not just any Sunday… itā€™s my birthday! So obviously I had to do something fun on my nails in honour of the occasion & I couldnā€™t think of anything more fun to put on my nails than a glittery purple cupcake nail (which are a few of my favourite things.) After perusing Pinterest searching ā€œcupcake nailsā€ I had an idea of how I wanted my design to look, & Iā€™m so happy that they turned out exactly how I imagined! 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • ORLY Plum Sugar
  • Nails INC Cherry Road
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • Color Club Evolution
  • Cosmetic Arts Unnamed Baby Pink
  • Color Club A Warm Place
  • URSugar Zig Zag Nail Vinyls item #AUB39877 
  • Dotting Tool
  • Small Detail Brush


I really really love my birthday cupcake nails. I feel like itā€™s been ages since I freehanded anything & I was a little nervous about my cupcake but it turned out so cute! These are going to be fun to wear for my birthday celebrations with my family later this afternoon. Last year I spent my birthday in a dark room with an eye infection, so Iā€™m determined to make up for that this year! 

Have a great Sunday everyone! šŸ’œ

Posted on

Saran Wrap Smoosh Nails

I donā€™t do a lot of Saran Wrap smoosh nails, mostly because I find them fairly messy (& I ran out of liquid latex & Iā€™m being lazy in replacing it). But every time I see one pop up on my Instagram feed I tell myself I need this technique in my life again. They just always look so cool! Iā€™ve been struggling with inspiration lately, so I decided to risk the messy clean up & do a smoosh. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat 
  • Essie Cocktails & Coconuts
  • China Glaze VII
  • Quo by ORLY Fairy Godmother
  • Saran Wrap, or plastic bag of some sort. 

If youā€™ve never done a Saran Wrap smoosh, there are lots of tutorials on the internet (this one from @snowglobenails is great). From my expirence, I find sometimes they can take a few tries before you figure out what works for you, but for me less is more.  I prefer to use maximum 3 shades together, otherwise I find my nails can end up looking kind of swampy. & I also try not to push blend colours too much when pressing down on my plastic. 

Whatā€™s your thoughts on smooshy nails? Do you have a favourite colour combination? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!