Messy Skittle Stripe Accent Nail

Hey beauties & happy Friday! It’s crazy, & rainy, & a lot right now. But Autumn is in the air, the kids are back to school, all the coffee shops are releasing their Autumn menu — we’re featuring a spicy iced chai latte right now with pumpkin cold foam at my cafe — & I’m about ready to break out my faux Doc Martens & over the knee socks.

I’m also just loving Autumn shades on my nails. I decided I really wanted to do a skittle design, but with a little twist. & I love this combination of colours! I feel like it turned out really, really fun… even with some seriously rustic stripes.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Strengthner
  • Top Coat: Sinful Colors Power Paint Top Coat + Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Expressie Feel The Hype
  • Essie Cacti On The Prize
  • Morgan Taylor Looking For A Wing Man
  • ORLY Buried Alive
  • Color Club Grey (No Name)
  • NailStuff 7mm Mermaid Tail Liner Brush

So when I did these nails at first, I was a bit uncertain about how they looked. But that happens sometimes, & I’m definitely in love with how they look now. & I think all the different colours look beautiful & complimentary.

What do you think about this messy strip look? It’s definitely a little rustic, but like I said… I ended up really liking the whole look.

I’d love to know what you think about this design. Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Friday ♥︎

August Plaid Nails

Hello lovelies & happy August!

This Summer has been speeding by at record speed, & it’s been a busy one at that. I’ve still been painting my nails, but mostly solid colours. & I really miss nail art. So I’m going to make a conscious effort to create some fun nail art looks, even if it’s not at the same frequency I used to do.

& I absolutely love this nail art look. Obviously, being August I can hear the faint call of Autumn — but I’m trying to stay in the Summer moment. Hence a fun plaid look, but with a bit of Summer feel.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Strengthner
  • Top Coat: Sinful Colors Power Paint Top Coat + Essie Speed Setter
  • Color Club Totally Inno-cent
  • Color Club Pucci-licious
  • Color Club Twice Bitten
  • Londontown Opal
  • Orly Breathable Barely There
  • Wet n Wild 2% Milk
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

To stay I’m obsessed with this look would be an understatement. The shimmery flakie base is really pretty, & I tried to choose lighter shades for my plaid stripes. I feel like this is the perfect melding of Summer vibes, with just a hint of Autumn on the breeze.

Are my lines perfect? No. But I’m trying to be okay with not being perfect with my nail art. It’s more fun when I’m not constantly stressing over how things look.

What do you think of these Summer-y plaid nails? Is this a nail art look that you could see yourself wearing? Let me know all your thoughts on this nail art look, & what you think of how they turned out!

Happy Thursday.

SWATCH SUNDAY — Orly Naughty

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I feel like it’s been ages since my last Swatch Sunday post (because I took last Sunday off) but we’re back, & back to business!

As is tradition, I was gifted some Winners/Marshalls gift cards for Christmas, so naturally I always have to peruse the nail section to see what they have going on. I’m always looking for shades that are different from ones I already own, but within my wheelhouse, & when I saw this shade on the shelf I knew I needed to add it to my stash.

This is Orly Naughty.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful reddish brown shade is deep, & dark with a creamy formula. I did find this formula patchy, so I had to be careful with my application — especially around the cuticle line. I did find on a few nails I had to go back & carefully fill in where it was looking thin. But once I applied my top coat, it did smooth everything down nicely.

I love this colour so much! It’s deep, dark, & vampy. It fits the January vibe that this year has started with. I do love a dark nail. I did end up adding some glitter on top of this guy — Essie Nail Art Studio Lustrous Luxury which gave it more of a purple look. I’ve actually been wearing that for the last 3 days because I couldn’t figure out any nail art to wear over it, & can’t bare to take it off!

What do you think about this Orly shade? Are you a fan of this deep, dark shade? I don’t often see Orly popping up at Winners, hence why I was exciting to pick it up when I saw it. Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday

♥︎

Red & Gold Shattered Glitter Placement ✨❤️

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! It’s another chilly wet Winter day, & the January vibes are just not it. Have I mentioned I’m not a fan of Winter?

But I have just the thing to cheer myself up… new (sparkly) nails! There is nothing that I love more than some sparkle when I’m feeling down, & I recently pulled out a glitter topper I had almost forgotten I owed. The end result was another perfect glitter placement design.

I’m never going to get tired of these!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive Gel Like Top Coat
  • Orly Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer
  • Sinful Colors Twilight Twinkles
  • Small dotting tool

I know this isn’t a super complicated look — still trying to ease myself back into nail art inspiration — but I love how these look. They’re just fun, & pretty, & I never get tired of red nail polish. I also feel like these would be so pretty for February & Valentine’s Day nails!

What do you think about these red shattered glitter nails? Do you love? Also — as always, if you can think of any glitters similar to these in different colours, let me know. I used to have a holographic silver one by Color Club that dried up that I’m desperate to replace!

Happy Wednesday

🖤

Christmas-y Abstract Stripes 🎄

Hello lovelies & happy December! We’re already three days into December, & that’s kind of crazy. & it’s feeling festive with our first bit of winter-y now (although it’s a snow/rain mix) so I guess Christmas is really coming. So naturally it felt like time to create some kind of Christmas nail art look to share with you — & what’s more Christmasy than red & green.

I wanted to create a look that was festive but I wasn’t sure what to do. These started out as some simple red & green nails, & kind of transformed from there. I ended up adding in some hints of pink as well, & I just love the whole look! Definite Christmas vibes.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Butter London Pure Colour 21X Nail Lacquer Branwen’s Pearls *PR
  • Orly Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer
  • China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wrapped in Love
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Living In The Presents
  • NailStuff 11mm Mermaid Tail brush

How fun are these? Kind of gives a little bit of candy vibes — like ribbon candy, or a really fancy candy cane, or maybe just ribbon. The thought of adding like bows, to give the impression of ribbon, crossed my mind but I was scared I would ruin the whole look so maybe I can try again another time with added bows!

What do you think of these Christmas-y abstract stripes? Are you feeling the holiday vibes now & ready to rock some festive designs? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & if you’re currently wearing something festive on your nails I want to know! I need all the holiday nail art inspiration I can get!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

♥︎