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!

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday. I hope everyone is keeping sane & healthy. 🌸 I feel like the best we can do under these extraordinary circumstances is try & keep things are calm & normal as possible… all while practicing social distancing. I for me, that’s keeping on painting & sharing my nails. I hope they make you as happy as they make me!

It’s Swatch Sunday & today I’m showing off a beautiful bright coral polish from my stash: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster. This shade was originally released circa Fall 2011, but then was added to the core collection I do believe. I picked up my bottle c/o: Lawton’s when they were clearing out a bunch of OPI shades!

How Spring-y & cheery is this polish?

This shade is a beautiful pinky coral that has a lovely subtle shimmer. This shade was originally released as part of the Touring American collection in 2011 (thank you Google!)

For my swatches, I did base coat (Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Hardener is what I’ve been using lately!), 2 coats of polish & then I sealed everything in with top coat (Essie Gel Setter) which gave it that glossy plumped finish.

Like I mentioned, I found this shade at my local Lawton’s on clearance, but I did still find it available at a few places including NailPolishCanada.com & Target so I don’t think it a discontinued shade (yey!) So if you’re looking for a beautiful shade to adorn your fingers & toes for Spring, I definitely recommend this shade. It really is just so lovely.

What do you think of this coral polish? Is I Wear Mainely Lobster a part of your nail polish collection? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

FASHION FRIDAY — My 5 Favourite Dresses for Spring (from my own closet)

Hello lovelies & happy Friday. & happy first FULL day of Spring!

It feels like I’ve been waiting for this day too long. & even though it doesn’t quite feel like Spring yet, that doesn’t mean I haven’t already started dreaming about wearing all my favourite Spring-y dresses — literally, as soon as it’s warm enough I don’t think about wearing pants. I’m all about the dress. So just for fun I thought I’d share my 5 favourite dresses to wear when it comes to warmer months, all from deep in my own closet!

Continue reading “FASHION FRIDAY — My 5 Favourite Dresses for Spring (from my own closet)”