Blue & Pink Abstract Stripes

Good morning lovelies & happy Saturday! It’s been a while since I posted, but I have a new manicure to share with you!

This design was actually originally done earlier in the spring, but I never got a chance to share! Since I haven’t really had a chance to do any nail art since our baby girl arrived, I thought I would share this look with you now!

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rose to the Occasion
  • Sally Hansen Sugar Fix
  • Art Club Nail Art Striper in Paisley Blue
  • Kiss Nail Art Striper in white
  • Kiss Nail Art Striper in Black

I can’t remember the last time I did an abstract stripe design, but it most definitely has been a while. (I went back through my Instagram feed, & this post from May 2018 seems to be my last time doing this technique, with a similar colour scheme. I guess I really love creating this style using shades of blue.

& honestly looking at these nails, it really makes me want to buy nail art stripers in every shade so I can do these kind of looks more often–I have a Sally Beauty gift card from Christmas waiting to be used that I feel like using on a few new stripers from some more line love!

what do you think of this design? What are your favourite colour combinations when it comes to stripes? Share down below!

Purple & Silver Racing Stripes

Happy August lovelies. Its that time of year… stores are beginning to set up for back to school & my cravings for all things Fall themed hit hard. Thankfully the 30+ degree weather has been keeping me in a Summer state of mind & keeping neon shades on my nails!

Today’s nails is a simple look that’s easy to do, but makes your nails look way longer than they actually are thanks to the vertical stripes. It’s also a great way to practice your freehand line work! I feel like mine has gotten a little rusty, so I’ve been taking every excuse to practice.

For this design, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essence We Will Spock You
  • YSL Beauty Violine Surrealiste
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • Born Pretty Store Aurora Rainbow Nail Striping Tape in purple (item #40423) — I used the thickest tape of the 3

Using striping tape for your initial line in the middle makes creating your smaller black lines much easier. & then end result looks so cool! & gives your nails the appearance of extra length. Plus, like I said, for those of us still working on freehanding straight lines, this really helps with practicing.

I just love how these kind of look like racing stripes. Sadly the holo of Essence We Will Spock You didn’t want to show thanks to a hazy morning, but the little hint of holo with the purple looked awesome!

Do you have a trick for making your nails look longer? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Pink Plaid featuring OPI Aurora Berry-alis 

Hello lovelies, & happy Wednesday. Are you already for some more Fall designs? I know, I’m obsessed. But I’ve already had my pumpkin spice latte & school is officially back in so that is enough of an excuse for me for full force Fall (plus I’m heading out today to buy a bunch of Fall themed decorations for the house.) 🍁🍂

 I know I already shared some plaid nails last week, but plaid is just so engrained with Fall to me I wanted to share another (& slightly different) plaid design with you. This time we’re going pink! These were inspired right out of my closet & my favourite pink plaid shirt. 

For this design, the polishes used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • OPI Aurora Berry-alis 
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White
  • Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
  • OPI  Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots
  • Striping Brush from Bundle Monster

Let’s just gawk over how beautiful Aurora Berry-alis is for a moment. Everyone needs a dusty berry pink shade in their life like this. I definitely find myself pulled towards more pinks & red this Fall so far, so this shade is absolutely perfect! & I will never not love plaid nails for Fall. Even though they look so complicated, they’re really not as hard to do as they look. Even if your lines aren’t perfect, they way they blend together hides any imperfections! 

What do you think of these Fall plaid nails? What pattern do you immediately think of when you think of Fall nails? Let me know in the comments below! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

Fall Argyle Sweater Nails 🍁🍂

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but here in Halifax Fall weather has been slowly creeping into the air. & when I think of Fall, I think of over the knee Argyle socks. They’re pretty much my fashion staple when the days get cooler, so I thought I would translate one of my favourite thing about Fall fashion to my nails using a few the OPI Iceland shades.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Quick Dry Top Coat
  • OPI Krona-logical Order
  • OPI Icelanded a Bottle of OPI
  • OPI Less Is Norse 
  • OPI Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Diamond Stencils (turned horizontal)
  • Striping Brush (from Bundle Monster)
  • Small Dotting Tool (also Bundle Monster)

These nails make me so beyond ready for Fall & all the things that come along with the Fall season. Colourful leaves, plaid, & pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. In fact, they’re giving me the serious urge to pull out my favourite pair of over the knee argyle socks just for the occasion! 

What is your favourite Fall fashion accessory? Would you ever recreate it on your nails? Let me know (& what you think of this design!) in the comments! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 7: Black and White.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the black and white day of this challenge.

I started trying to figure out what I was going to do a couple days in advance. I wanted to try something different. Tuxedo nails? Nail stamping? What the heck was I going to do! Thank god for pinterest, huh? I could get lost on there for hours looking at nail art ideas (and quite frequently do). Once again, my inspiration came from a  pin on there: these geometric square nails.

blackandwhite

The polishes I used were:

  • OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls — White Base.
  • ACO by Ardene’s Tuxedo — Black base.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Brush in black.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Brush in White.
  • Sally Hansen diamond Flash top coat.

Obviously you can see, mine turned out a little different from my inspiration. I didn’t really figure out I shouldn’t cram as many squares until I got to my black nails (I did the white base first). Even though they’re not perfect, they look different and made me not dread the black and white prompt quite so much. Even though I used to wear black nail polish frequently, I don’t as much any more. With the exception of Halloween, I can’t actually remember the last time I wore it as a full mani.

What do you think about these geometric nails? Which look do you prefer–lots of squares, or only a few?