Tiffany's

In love with all things Tiffany, I was instantly inspired by these bows to create a Tiffany manicure. I have seen many like this one online and have always wanted to try it! What I love about this manicure is it would be perfect for a Christmas party with a red colour instead. You can find these bows online from the Born Pretty Store.

China Glaze For Audrey.

Swatchin' Away

Another CandyNail swatch for you guys! This colour is Wedding Cake. As you should be able to tell, I am a huge pastel fan so I love this colour! The sparkles in this polish are smaller so it almost looks speckled on your nails. Super cute!

This is 3 coats - although it would have been fine with 2. I just did another for good measure. The great thing about this polish is the sparkles are dispensed throughout the bottle perfectly. No need to shake for hours on end like some of my polishes.

Be sure to swing by CandyNail when you get the chance:)

Indie Polish

I'm noticing few people really know what an 'indie polish' is when I mention the cool new polish I just got! So allow me to open your eyes to a world of beautifully imagined and creative polishes out there.

So, what are these indie polishes I keep speaking of? Well, simply put, indie polishes are independently owned and operated brands. They generally have a smaller distribution and are hand made with lots of care.

What I love most about these brands is the passion behind them. The people who mix up these polishes love what they do and put great care into their product. All the polishes are made by hand to make sure every batch is exactly how they want it.

And if that's not enough of a reason to like them, the creativity must be. The polishes are more creative and not like anything you would normally find in a drugstore. They usually focus on colours and special effects (sparkles, anyone?) that you can't just run to the local store and pick up. Although this doesn't stop the big brands from trying to copy what indie polishes already do so well.

Que brands like Revlon, Hard Candy and Maybelline. They have all recently come out with polishes that look like copies of what one might find on an indie polish website. Does that mean we should rush out and buy the drugstore copy? Not necessarily. Revlon's polish 'Girly' has a pink base with blue and pink sparkles that reflects many indie polishes. The difference? Quality. I bought it while it was on sale out of curiosity. What I found was a thin base that requires a base polish no matter how many coats you put on. Of course you can make it look nice. But it will never be as nice as an indie polish. That's the point.

I have also recently come across Hard Candy and their similar polishes. My cousin has experience with some of their colours and said she had problems with it pealing off right away. So of course I have headed over to Walmart to test out their polishes and see how they compare.

I've been wearing my new indie polish pictured below for a few days now and I have zero chips. That's right, zero. If you know me at all you know my nails seem to protest any polish after one or two days.

And lets also not forget how important it is to support small businesses like indie polish makers, especially when they put so much work into what they do! I love searching around and finding new indie polishes that pop up. Especially when they are from Canada, like me!

So when CandyNail asked if I wanted to sample their new polishes there was no way I could pass it up. And, no surprise, I ended up loving them! When I first saw the site I instantly fell in love with many of the polishes and was excited she ended up sending me on of my instant favs -Mulberry. I love it because it is the perfect fall colour, and has beautiful subtle blue, purple and pink sparkles.

So, if you're thinking about trying a new indie polish, check out her website! Personally, I'm really excited about Grey Gumballs and Jawbreaker for this season as well. It's great to see more Canadian indie polishes popping up when we have so few good ones. Oh, did I mention it's all 3-free? And 15% off for this week? The bonuses just keep coming..

Let me know if you guys want to hear about some more great indie brands out there! Stay tuned for some comparisons of indie polishes versus drug store and more swatches from CandyNail!

Anchor's Away!

These were supposed to be nails for a pirate Halloween costume, but we think they turned out more like 4th of July nails. We like them either way though! Adrienne came in to get these ones done for a party tomorrow. I layered three types of sparkles on for the middle finger. Striping tape was used for the one nail and the rest were done by hand!

China Glaze Calypso Blue, Orly Haute Red, Essie Set In Stones, Sally Hansen Ice Queen. 

Tinkerbell

I got really inspired after I found my Mom's old stash of pompoms. When I saw the white ones I instantly thought of Tinkerbell and her slippers. My cousin is obsessed with all things Tink so I thought it was a good opportunity to see the vision into a reality. I also got some new glitters from Michaels (50% off!!! Everyone run and get some) and was happy to try those out. 

Carissa is incredibly happy with these nails and won't stop staring at them. I actually dared her to not look for 5 minutes. I'm not sure how that worked out. Probably not well. 

These were all hand painted and some of the colours I mixed myself to get the way I wanted, like the yellow in her hair and the green 'Tink'. 

Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Plum Burst and Lacey Lilac. 

Halloween Manicures

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to Halloween. Confession: I actually hate picking out a costume. That is why I went as something so simple this year - Barbie. All I did was wear my Barbie shirt I have in the closet and attach a price tag on my waist. Other than that everything was pink and girly. Passes as a costume yet requires no real work. 

I got these studs online and I have been waiting for them to arrive for a very long time! I was going to go with something super girly, but the temptation of using these circle studs was too great. This manicure is very simple, mostly because I took too long deciding what I wanted to do and had no time to do anything by the time I figured it out! Oh well. Sometimes simple is just what you need. 

NYC Preppy Pink.

My friend Adrienne came over to get her nails done for Halloween. The candy corn design stuck out to her and she found this quite twist on the classic online. It was a simple design to do and looks super cute when done. 

O.P.I. Need Sunglasses and NYC Times Square.

For my own set of Halloween themed nails I wanted something with fall colours. I have been seeing designs similar to this one all other the internet and I love the colour combination. They completely freaked me out as soon as I did them. I kept thinking my nails were bleeding!

O.P.I Don't Pretzel My Buttons and Sally Hansen Ton of Bricks.

With Halloween only a few days away, I decided to go full out with the theme! On my nails I painted a green Frankenstein with a matching french tip, and on my moms an orange jack-o-lantern with matching tips. My mom is upset I got the Frankenstein. He's her favourite - and mine too.

NYC Times Square and Sally Hansen Lickety Lime Split.

Pastel Ombre

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my nails last week so I went to one of my easy go-tos: ombre. I love the combination of nude and pastels. In a pinch this manicure is super easy and looks great. In case anyone is curious.. I painted my nails white first and then sponged on the two colours.

OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons and Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Mint Sorbet.

Bow

I have been waiting for these bows to arrive for a very long time! It's kinda hard not to stare at this manicure. I got these bows off eBay with a quick "nail bow" search but you can also get these same ones off www.bornprettystore.com.

I have seen a lot of people do designs similar to these one but my inspiration came from an Instagramer by the name of @Thewhittum. I loved how she went with yellow instead of the usual blue and pink pastels.

To create perfect stripes I used striping tape over a yellow base. The rhinestones I used came from Michaels but they are pretty easy to find anywhere. The Born Pretty Store has them as well!

China Glaze Lemon Fizz.

Halloween Nails

I seriously spent an entire day doing this. It got a little time consuming. These designs are all ones that I have seen online over the years and stood out to me or ones that I kinda just thought up. I hand painted every one and didn't use any tools other than dotters and nail brushes. Easy! Feel free to click that appointment button to get your nails done:) For further instructions and colours look below!

Spider web (top centre): Paint nail solid white first. I used an old bottle I had to try and use it up, but any white works. Or purple or orange or green for that matter! Any colour works. Once your base coat has dried use a nail brush to paint out straight lines from one place on your nail and then connect them with curved smaller lines in between. For drawing long straight lines your long and skinny nail brush works best. I'd get creative with that design. Maybe a gold web on red nail? Endless possibilities ;)

Slime (next to the right): Paint the nail a medium to dark purple and let dry. Next use a shorter nail brush to paint on the green slime! Simple and one of my favourites on the wheel.

Ghost: Paint your nail solid white and let it dry. Next use a shorter nail brush to paint on eyes and a mouth in the shape you want.

Black cat: Paint the nail any base colour you want. I chose yellow because that's how I saw it done and loved it. Use a fine nail brush to start painting the neck of the cat and then the head. Once you have the basic shape drawn in add whiskers and ears and finally white dots for the eyes. Once the eyes have dried add a little line in them to make those cat eyes.

Bloody french manicure: Paint a curved french manicure on your nails. Using the finest nail brush you have use a darker red colour to paint blood drops on in the way you want.

Jack-O-Lantern: Paint your nails a solid orange colour and let dry. Next use a basic nail brush to paint on the jack-o-lantern face you want. Endless design options! I went with a basic on for the nail wheel. You could also do different designs on all your nails.

Spider: Paint your nails any base colour you want. I went with white. Once it dries start by drawing  a line down your nail. Next draw the oval body of the spider. Once that is done you can add the legs and last the eyes with a dotting tool.

Glowing ghosts: Paint your nail any colour you want that the white ghosts will stand out on. I went with one of my new sparkle polishes because that's how I saw it done and I like the added glamour. Next paint on little white ghosts in whatever pattern you want. After I painted them on white I also went over them in glow-in-the-dark polish so they are fun in the dark too. Last paint on their faces however you want.

Pumpkin: For this one you can paint your nail with a base colour or leave it bare for a french manicure effect. Once your base has dried paint orange in a pumpkin shape at the tip of your nail. Let that dry and then draw black lines in the shape of the pumpkin. I also used a darker orange for shading.

Mummy: This could look good in any light brown or white colour. Paint your nails the colour you want and then let it dry. Next paint black stripes on your nails leaving one space large enough for the eyes. Last use your dotting tool to create the eyes.

Blood splatter: Paint your nails a white base colour and let dry. Get a straw and suck up a little amount of red paint (I recommend testing this out first on paper). Blow out the paint onto your nail and you should get a blood splatter effect!

Jack (next two nails): Paint your nails white and let dry. Use nail brushes to paint all the details on. Just takes a steady hand! These nails are very popular this year.

Graveyard: For this one paint on a dark blue colour as your base and sky. Once it dries you can paint on little stars or leave the sky dark. Paint on a moon either in a yellow colour or beige. I put glow-in-the-dark paint over my moon as well. At the bottom paint a tombstone in grey and carefully put the letters "RIP" over it. Use a fine brush to paint birds or bats over the moon.

Eyes: This has to be one of the easiest and cutest ones here. Paint your nails completely black. Once it dries use a dotter tool to paint white circles anywhere on the nail. Once that dries you can go over it with a glow-in-the-dark polish if you want. Last put black dots in the centre of the white ones to complete the eyes.

Candy corn: There are many ways you can do this and I would stick to whatever works best for you. There are no cuticles around these nails to get in the way so I simply painted on each colour separate. If you want you could also use tape. Another option is to sponge on the colour like a gradient.

Frankenstein: Paint your nails a green base colour. Once it dries paint on the eyes white and then second all the black parts. I added grey streaks into his hair.

Frankenstein french manicure: Paint a green tip on your nails however you want. Once it dries add a black line and then little stitches.


Whew! That was a lot of typing. Hope that helped. If you want to see tutorials for any of these let me know. Drop a comment for what theme of design wheel you want to see next.

Freaky Like Freud

I was super excited to try out this new polish I got for my birthday! If you are looking for the perfect sparkle polish this could be it! You really need to see it in person to get the whole effect. It is from the new disco glitters in the Formula X for Sephora line. They are new in stores now and go for $15 a bottle.

The base colour I used is also new and is a nice pastel purple with a bit of grey in it. I'm loving sparkle gradients right now and these two were a perfect pair. Because the glitter is fine I first did a thin layer 3/4 up the nail and then sponged it on thicker at the tips to get the gradient effect.

Essie Lilacism and Formula X for Sephora Freaky Like Freud.

Flower Power

I have been dying to try out my new Essie Van D'Go polish! I love it with these simple cute flowers I did on my Mom's nails. The colour is a beautiful pastel peach colour. These nails might be breaking all the fall "rules" but I don't care. I still love them! I vote for pastels all year long. The flowers are all hand painted on with nail  brushes.

Essie Van D'Go, Orly White Tips, and American Apparel Butter.

Happy Birthday!

Can anyone take a wild guess as to what day it is? Of course I wasn't passing up the opportunity for some birthday nails! I had fun with these ones and trying to decide what I was going to do. I wanted something fun with bright girly colours. I even added a little glow-in-the-dark sparkle polish for an added pop when I go out - which doesn't seem to be working. Possibly I need new glow-in-the-dark polish? Any excuse for a trip to the nail store...

These are all painted by hand. No decals here. Writing "22" was a bit of a challenge on my own nails. But I managed!  

Orly Charged Up, White Tips and Lollipop, O.P.I Need Sunglasses, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear In the Spotlight and Fuchsia Power, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away, Rubie's Glow in the Dark nail polish and Sally Hansen Salon Black To You.