Watercolour Freehand Floral 🌸

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. The weather here has been pretty amazing & Spring like. You can’t help but love it! Our flowers are even starting to bloom in our front garden, so naturally I was inspired to create some pretty floral on my nails! This design was also inspired by a nail art look that popped up in my Facebook memories from 6 years ago (this one, in case you want to see the original.)

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Where’s My Chauffeur
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • OPI Be Magentale With Me (Sheer Tints)
  • OPI Don’t Violet Me Down (Sheer Tints)
  • Essie No Shrinking Violets (Silk Watercolours)
  • Essie Love Sheen (Silk Watercolours)
  • Essie Flowerista
  • OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini
  • OPI My Dog Sled Is A Hybrid
  • Essie Poolside Service
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

Okay, so I know every time I do a floral, I say that it’s my new favourite — so I won’t even say it, but seriously this might be the most favourite floral I’ve ever done! I feel like the sheer polish plus darker outlining just gives this manicure such a beautiful feel. & I love the floral combined with the brightness of Essie Where’s My Chauffeur which is hands down one of my favourite polishes for Spring. I’m really really in love with this whole combination.

& obviously, a close up because I am so freaking proud of how these turned out! I know roses are my floral safe zone, but I think I would to branch out a little bit more, maybe try & perfect other styles. I definitely still have plans to try out a tulip design very very soon as well!

What do you think about this floral look? Has your garden started to come to life yet? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & what kind of floral you’d like to see me attempt next!

SWATCH SUNDAY — W7 Nail Polish Speckled Mint

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. Easter Sunday in fact! This Easter definitely looks different compared to years past, but none the less if you celebrate, I hope you’re having a lovely day. The Easter bunny certainly found us, which means with a 3 year old & a 9 month old, the sugar high is real.

I thought in honour of Easter, it would be fitting to share another speckled nail polish very fitting for the holiday (& Spring in general). This is W7 Nail Polish Speckled Mint which was gifted to me courtesy of my Mum, & originally found as part of a set at Winners/Marshall’s.

Speckled Mint is a milky mint green polish, packed full of super tiny black micro glitters. You’re looking at 2 coats of polish, but I think 3 would have had better coverage. The formula itself was easy to work with & the removal was actually surprisingly easy considering how much glitter there was!

I’ve really been liking these pale nail polishes lately, & I forgot how much I love these speckled nail polishes too. I kind of wish I had paired all my polishes together in a manicure (I have another from W7 which is coral) as a skittle speckle egg look, but I suppose there is always next year!

Close up of my thumb (you can see here the glitters are square which I think is really neat!)

& just for fun, I added a little chocolate bunny nail decal to my ring finger. I’m very, very lactose intolerant, so this will be the only chocolate bunny I’ll enjoying this year, but thankfully I stocked up on some sour patch kid bunnies, so I’ll have some treats to enjoy too!

Happy Easter lovelies! What are you wearing on your nails for Easter? Did the Easter bunny bring you any polish goodies? Let me know down in the comments below!

Rainbow Easter Egg Inspired Accent Nail

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week, however you’re spending it. I did a fun yoga class last night (via zoom) so I’m feeling refreshed this morning. If there is one thing this home isolation has been doing for me, it’s been inspiring me to work out almost daily, which is awesome!

Today I gave an Easter inspired design to share with you. I wanted a look that would be perfect for Easter celebrations, but could also be worn just to celebrate Spring!

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Blue
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Mint
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Purple
  • Claire’s matte Sorbet Pink
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • TheBaseCoat Chevron/ZigZag (regular) Stencils

I really, really wanted to do something Easter-y on my nails, without going your typical bunny ears/Easter egg design. I started off on my ring finger by applying 2 coats of Ballet Slippers & my Essie Gel Setter to dry. Then I took my nail vinyls, & applied them to my ringer finger. Using a dotting tool, I started from the bottom of my nail, I worked quickly applied the alternating colours. All my shades were matte, which dry quickly, so I actually pulled off the vinyl one I had filled a section. Next up, I decided outlining would bring the look together, so I went through with my tiniest brush, & outlined all my chevrons with my white polish, as well as the outside of my nail.

& I feel like the end result looks so cool, & dainty, & just Easter-y enough. Like a “grown up” Easter egg design.

Seriously, I’m obsessed. It’s been a while since I pulled out the zig zag chevron nail vinyls, & oh man have I missed them! I guess one thing I can thank this whole situation for, is that I’m really putting more effort into my nail art, & love rediscovering all these old tools of mine. It’s a fun way to distract myself from all the craziness happening outside of the house — or from the fact that I really miss my extended family. Hopefully the world returns to some form of normalcy again, so we can all get together & celebrate all the events we’re missing out on.

Do you have a special manicure planned for your Easter? What is your favourite Easter candy? Let me know down in the comments below! (Mine are Peeps by the way, I know… I’m strange but I LOVE them!)

 

Another Spring-y Floral Accent Nail

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday!

This past weekend we had some beautiful weather, & looking in our gardens you can see greenery beginning to pop through the soil, so if there is any benefit to this current situation, it is the fact that there will be lots of time to enjoy our yard very soon! It also inspired me to do MORE floral nails!

For this look, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: UNT Ready For Take Off (I got mine from NailStuff.ca — remember to use my code for 10% off: COFFEE10)
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Pure Ice Boysenberry
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Essie Set in Sandstone
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Birthday Suit
  • Sally Hansen MG Blacky-O
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essie First Timer
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (I used my favourite brush: the 7mm liner brush) 

After my Swatch Sunday post featuring untrieds on Sunday (including Deborah Lippmann Polka Dots & Moonbeams) I’ve been really trying to wear shades either I haven’t worn in a very long time, or maybe I’ve never worn. Boysenberry was a shade I bought when all the speckled egg polishes were coming out, but I think I’ve only worn a handful of times. It’s very springy, & the pale purple base is perfect for Spring!

Can I just say how much I adore how these little yellow flowers turned out. 🌼 Makes me hopeful for brighter days ahead, even if our reality right now is… very stressful & very scary. Right now I’m just going to stay home & concentrate on the things that make me happy, & that includes my vast collection of nail polish & painting my nails.

What do you guys think about this floral accent nail? What other flowers would you like to see me attempt? I think I’ve perfected my roses, so I am going to try & branch out into other floral varieties! Next up — going to attempt some tulips! But let me know down in the comments below what floral I should try next, or even what flower is your favourite!

🌸

Spring-y Pastel Floral

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday. Today I’m showing off a pretty springy pastel floral, which is perfect because it’s currently 0 degrees & snowing. Ah, Spring in Canada. 🌸

Usually went I do floral I try to do a more realistic looking design, but I decided to go more simple this time & I’m really happy with how these turned out.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Lounge Lover
  • Essie Play Date
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple
  • Essie The A-Bliss
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (I used the 7mm liner brush) — use COFFEE10 to save 10% off your order

These feel very Easter-y to me, even though I hadn’t really started thinking about Easter manicures quite yet. I thought the pretty pastel shades worked really well for this look though — & I’m really how with how these flowers turned out. It took my patience, but I think they look beautiful!

Is anyone else’s hands struggling with extra dryness right now? Between extra extra hand washing & hand sanitizer when we have to venture out for groceries (or handmade Lysol wipes) I feel like I can’t keep on top of my cuticle oil or hand cream. Thank goodness I have an abundance of hand cream at home, because I’m going through it like crazy!

What do you think about this floral? Are you feeling pretty pastels? Let me know what design you would do with pastels for Spring!