Punny Aloe Nails

Hello friends! I am back again with another punny nail design. This week's design features one of my favourite plants; the aloe vera. I love aloe so much,  they make my skin feel amazing. I actually had 3 aloe plants at home until recently, but unfortunately, we had to move them outside due to some bugs hatching in the pot and they died from the cold.  I've already been on the look-out for some replacements, but none of the places I've been to recently seem to have them in stock. I definitely want to get one before summer starts (for my sunburn prone skin)!

Recently, I've been trying to use more of my more neglected polishes. I bought this gorgeous green colour almost a year ago and I've yet to use it. It felt quite strange to be wearing this design because I rarely ever have green coloured nails. This shade of green is a happy green and looks adorable when worn. I'll probably wear this colour a lot more in the future.

Anyway, without here are my tips and tricks on how to create your own aloe vera design....

Blue and White Pottery Inspired Nails

Hello friends, how are you all this week?  It feels almost like spring where I am right now, and not at all like a typical February here in the GTA. My boyfriend visited me last week and the weather was just gorgeous, it was so warm and sunny! I really hope that this weather lasts until summer, though that'll be unlikely. This week, I actually really wanted to do a spring inspired design because of how spring-like it feels outside. However, not wanting to jinx this beautiful weather, I decided against it. 

The idea for the design came to me because my mother showed me a post from her chinese website about dresses inspired by traditional blue and white pottery designs. I've always found traditional chinese pottery to be extremely beautiful. I've spent many hours as a child staring and admiring the the beautifully glazed ceramics.

With this design, I decided to that it would look best if done purely with nail polish. Normally, I would prefer using acrylic paints for such intricate designs, but I did not have any paints in this colour (I definitely need to add some more colors to my collection). Plus, acrylic designs tend to look a bit more flat compared to polish based designs and  I wanted to achieve that glazed ceramic feel without having to add thick layers of topcoat. That being said, I had not worked with nail polish as a medium in a while and I was definitely not used to how fast the polish dried up! It was certainly quite a fun process, and I think that I'd enjoy trying this with some acrylic paint in the future.

Anyway, without further ado, here are my tips and tricks on how to create these nails (and some more pictures)!

Quick NOTW: Cute Squirrel Pun

Hello friends! I'm back with another cute (and slightly lame) pun design. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I wanted to be as cheesy as possible. It was quite difficult to choose from the huge selection of cute animal puns; I wanted to do them all! I may try more of these puns in the next few weeks, just to keep the pun streak going.

As a child, Valentine's Day was always one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in school. I remember making  a ton of different crafts in class and getting to deliver hand made cards to all of my classmate. One year, My parents helped me make really adorable cards, with Hershey's Kisses attched to them. If only I knew what puns were back then; I would've definitely wanted to make a bunch of cute squirrel themed cards.

Quick NOTW: Punny Avocado Nails

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've last updated my blog, but I've settled back into a routine and I am ready for another year of posts. With Valentine's day drawing near, I wanted to do a cute and punny design (because I live for cute puns). For some reason, when I sat down at my desk today, the only thing that came to my mind was avocados. I absolutely love avocados, they make me so happy. I could probably eat avocado toast every day for the rest of my life! I somehow managed to fit two puns onto my hand this time, and let me tell you, the lettering was quite a challenge for me. I have no idea of what came over me when I decided to put the phrase with more letters on to my smallest nail, but it turned out alright... I think.

I'm very excited to share these pictures with the world! For Christmas, my boyfriend and I decided to make gifts for one another this year. I wrote him a box of "open when..." letters and he built me a lightbox (& his gift totally trumps mine)! It's so lovely and my pictures are turning out beautifully, but I'm still getting the hang of using it. My pictures are so much more clear. I guess I also have to start paying more attention to details now too, oh boy.

Keep reading for some tips and tricks on how to create these nails....

Winter Birch Forest (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! Winter is here once more! Last week, we were suddenly hit with a couple of inches of snow here in Ottawa. The first snowfall is always so exciting. I love the feeling of waking up, looking out the window and finding everything under a blanket of fresh snow. The here ground is covered with a layer of fluffy white snow, and the sidewalks are icy again. I will definitely have to get used to the cold and walking very carefully so that I won't slip on the ice. 

This week, my nails are inspired by winter. I remember going camping during my days as a girl scout years ago, and hiking through some beautiful winter trails. We also learned to make bird feeders (the ones made from acorns) and got to watch cute birds from our cabin. One of the birds that caught my eye was a brilliant red color that contrasted beautifully against the white snow. I've loved cardinals ever since, they're just such wonderfully majestic looking birds. I now consider it good luck when I see one (or a pair) when I go out. Sadly, cardinals are not that common in the city, all I see are pigeons nowadays.

Continue reading for some tips and a pictorial on how to create this look....

Red Poppies (With Pictorial)

Hello friends! I'm back with another pictorial! It's been so long since I've posted a more detailed blog post. Though I've been meaning to post a pictorial for quite some time, I get so excited and into the process that I forget to take any pictures in between. Now, with most of my midterm and assignments done, I finally had a chance to sit down and just take things slooooooowly. Since it is the beginning of the month, I scoured instagram to search for a nail challenge to participate in. However, I finally settled on a poppy design since remembrance day is next week. 

I just love poppie, they're one of my favourite flowers; they're just so wonderfully delicate and dainty. In fact, I have a pink poppy growing out in my garden at home, I look forward to it blooming every year. Sadly, my poppies only stay in bloom for a week or so before the flowers wilt off. Thus, with remembrance day around the corner, and my love for the flowers, I thought that poppies would be a suitable design to wear. These days, I feel like I see less and less people wearing poppies, which is quite saddening. I guess it's because most of us living today, do not appreciate the significance of remembrance day.  Those who sacrificed and continue to do so deserve to be recognized for what they've done, and wearing a poppy is just a very simple way to show our appreciation.

Read on to see a pictorial on how these nails were created...

Quick NOTW Update (Two Designs): Cute Candy Corn Nails!

Hello friends! It's October, which means it's time to get into the Halloween spirit already! To get myself into the Halloween spirit, I wanted to do some nails inspired by the holiday. Since it isn't too close to Halloween yet, I didn't want anything too spooky. Anyway, when I was coming up with the design, I thought of one of my favorite Halloween treats! It's weird, I know that a lot of people hate candy corn but I just love them! If I had an actual cob-sized amount of the stuff I could eat it all up in a second. Plus, the little kernels of candy are super adorable. 

This week I decided to something new and post two different designs in one blogpost. On my left hand, I have the cute and punny candy corn design, but n my right hand, I wanted to keep it simple so I did a glitterly ombre design. Glitter and ombres go so well together! I don't know why, but the glitter somehow pulls the ombre together. 

Quick NOTW: Fox Nails

Hello friends! I'm so excited to share these cute fox nails with you! Since the official transition from summer to autumn a couple of days ago, I decided to welcome it with adorable little foxes. To be quite honest though, I have no idea why foxes are associated with the fall season. Perhaps it's due to how their beautiful orange coloring blends in with the fall colors themselves. I think foxes are such lovely animals, plus, their cobs are simple adorable!

Anyways, due to the level of detail in this design, I asked my boyfriend to take pictures of my nails using his DSLR camera. We (mostly he) fumbled and adjusted a bunch of settings but we had very little success with taking usable pictures. I guess I still have to figure out proper lighting and the right settings for future pictures. I do love how some of the pictures turned out though (see first picture in this post), the pictures taken with the actual camera give my nails sort of a glazed porcelain look that makes the design look even more delicate.

Bayleef Nails Inspired by Ane Li (with Pictorial)

Hello friends! As many of you know, a young and inspirational nail artist recently passed away. Ane Li sadly passed away as a result of suffering from depression. Although I did not know her personally, I was a huge fan of her cute designs; and it is with a heavy heart that I write this blog post. Ane had such a creative mind, and that's what stood out to me about her.

Upon, people of the nail art community have decided to pay tribute to Ane Li, and this Bayleef design is the one I chose to recreate. For those of you interested in seeing other tribute recreations to Ane go check out the #sharingtheloveforaneli tag on instagram.

Continue reading to see how I (re)created these nails...

Quick NOTW: Sunglass Nails on my Cinderella Hand

Hello friends! This is just a quick NOTW update as I will be uploading another one very shortly. I actually did two different designs this week, and I am wearing very different designs on my two hands. The contrast in the designs and the quality of the art on my hands makes me feel very strange since I've always had very similar art on both hands.

I can't say I feel great about the finished product on my cinderella hand today, but after a shift at work and completing a more detailed design on my left hand, I got lazy and sort of just winged it. I do still really like this design, but the way and the techniques that were used to execute it could've probably been done a lot better. This makes for a very cute summer nail design and I'll definitely be looking forward to doing this design again!

Tutti Frutti Nails + BornPrettyStore Item Review!

Hello friends, and Happy July! The year's half over already, can you believe that?! This month, I was asked by _nailaddiction on Instagram to join in her summer weekly challenge; the prompts looked so fun that I had participate! The first prompt of this month is "fruity" nails, so I did some mix & match of different kinds of fruits. Last year, at around this time, I did a bunch of fruit inspired nails nails as well; if you wish to see those, click here.

A couple of months ago, I received a mini palette ring from bornprettystore. I've use it quite a few times to create various looks, but I finally got around to actually taking some pictures of the process! The ring is one of the cutest nail art tools I have ever seen! They're super easy to use and makes clean-up so much faster. Prior to getting this palette, I would regularly use yellow sticky notes, tiny pieces of wax paper or tin foil to mix my paints/polishes. Though such materials were easy to find, they were messy as I would always mistakenly place my brushes on them by accident and make a mess of my tools. With this ring on my hands at all times, there is little to no chance of me leaving my nail tools around and having them roll into the palette. This palette is also reusable and reduces the amount of paper and foil waste I produce each time I do my nails.

To use this cute nail palette, simply dab a small amount of polish or paint in one of the tiny wells and use as you would any other palette. The medium used may dry up a quickly due to the shallowness of the well, but water, nail polish thinner or acetone may be mixed in to get it to return to a workable consistency. The palette ring does come with a tiny cup that you can use to hold the thinning liquids but I did not find it very helpful since tilting my fingers around to draw the designs would prompt it to spill out. However, you can choose to use the cup to hold a larger amount of acrylic paint, such as black paint when outlining. Once done with the palette, simple wipe off the polish with some nail polish remover or the acrylic paint with water. It's as easy as that! I'd honestly give this cute ring a 5/5 because it makes my life so much easier and is way more environmentally friendly than using tin foil or paper! Not only is this ring super cute, but it is also practical.

Now, without further ado, here are my tips and tricks and a pictorial on how to create these super fun nails...

Quick NOTW update: Simple Magenta Florals

Bonjour mes amis! This is just quick update on my nails of the week, I have not been able to find much time to do my nails recently due to an abundance of school work and because I've not been feeling very well (it could be due to the stress from school...sigh). I did this quick floral design a week ago and it's stayed on my nails quite well; it has chipped a little and the edges have been worn down but they'll last me until I do my nails later this week. I actually have a great idea for my next nail design, so stay tuned!

Snowflake Nails

Hello and welcome to December! I simply cannot believe that almost another year has already passed! Time just goes by so fast nowadays. When I was younger the an entire day seemed to last forever, but now, a day goes by in the blink of an eye. I guess it's also really tough to believe that it's already December seeing as that there is absolutely no snow on the ground! It's been so warm recently, I brought out my winter jacket to wear last week but I'm regretting that decision because it is way too warm to wear it. With the temperature remaining above zero, it feels all too much like spring and all the holiday decor looks out of place.

I think it's been a couple of years since my last attempt at snowflake nails, which, by the way was a horrifying sight to behold. I'm glad that this time I managed to get the the radial symmetry of the snowflakes correct, especially since my last attempt resulted in some very irregularly long and wonky flakes. Yesterday was a proud day for me, not only did I correctly draw some snowflakes, I managed to fix my broken nail! Whilst I was chopping up some potatoes yesterday I almost chopped the entire tip of my index finger off! I tried the tea-bag fixing magic and it worked! It is amazing how my nail looks as good as new, you can't even tell which nail it is ! (Hint: it's the index finger)

Here are my tips and tricks on creating your own snowflake nails and more close-up pictures:

Lines and Dots Half-moon Design (with Pictorial)

Hello to all, and I hope that you've all had a productive and exciting week! I've just begun to settle down into my school routine, and so far, it's been going pretty well; though I am a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of work that I have to do already. The weather has also been a bit challenging to adjust to. Here it's super windy and chilly in the mornings but by the afternoon, it's burning hot, making it quite difficult to dress appropriately for the day without feeling too hot or too cold at some point during the day. I'm really longing for that autumn feel though, those days where you go out for a pumpkin spice latte with the crisp wind blowing gently and creating swirls of colourful leaves around you.

This nail was one of those 'spur of the moment' designs for me. I sat down with all my nail polish in front of me, put on a movie, and just let my hands do as they wished; and I just loved how it turned out! I love half-moon manicures, they're always gorgeous, but the accent nail adds so much extra rhythm and pizzazz to the finished product. This is definitely one of those spunky and fun designs that is extremely eye-catching and bold.

Keep reading to find a pictorial and a how-to on the creation of this manicure:

Lilac Nails (with Pictorial)

Hello world! This is the design I've chosen to do with the weekly nail polish challenge (#WNAC2015) for the week of August 21st. This week's colour theme is mint and lilac, so I chose to do lilac floral nails, with little mint-green coloured leaves. I love lilac flowers, they always smell so amazing! They're actually one of the things I look forward to the most during spring time. It's really too bad that these nails don't smell as great as the real thing.

The picture just doesn't do these nails and justice! The colours are just so much more dull in the pictures

For the past few weeks I've been working exclusively with nail polish instead of my usual acrylic paints, and I don't think I've adjusted to it quite yet. I find that acrylic paints are just so much more versatile because the globs of nail polish just dry out way too fast for my liking. On the other hand though, using nail polish gives you nicer colours because using acrylic pain tends to give a very dull finish (even with a shiny top coat). Maybe I'll write a blog post comparing acrylic paint to nail polish after I give nail polish some more tries.

Here are my tips and tricks on how to create your very own lilac nails:

Navy and Magenta Floral Nails (with Pictorial)

Hello to you all! Here is official debut for my new nail shape! I have not have almond shaped nails in a really long time; mostly due to the fact that I have injured myself several times while my nails were sharp. I once jabbed myself near the nostril whilst washing my face once and it would not stop bleeding. But I've had these nails for a couple of days and nothing bad has happened thus far, so I've got my fingers crossed (carefully of course). 

I actually had a whole load of other nail art prepped and ready to share, but I wanted to get in on the Weekly Nail Art Challenge 2015 hosted under the hashtag #WNAC2015 on instagram. The theme for this week was magenta and purple so here is my entry. These florals were actually inspired by a print pattern I saw on the internet, but unfortunately I didn't save the picture. It was actually a lot of fun to stray away from my usual rose-floral nails (not that I have any ideas of what flowers these are). This is a relatively easy design to create, but the finished product looks way more intricate than it is.

Keep reading to find some tips and tricks on how to create you very own version of this nail design:

Blueberry Print Nails (With Pictorial)

Bonjour mes amis! Can you believe that it's already August?! Where does the time go? School will be starting in a month and I am just not ready for another sleep deprived year. I just want more time to do my nails!

The one good thing about the month of august is that it's blueberry picking season. I just love blueberries, I am obsessed with them, they're my favourite fruit. Hopefully I'll pick enough to bring to school with me... I just have to stop myself from eating everything. I'm so excited to go berry picking!

Anyway, Like I mentioned in my previous post, this will be my last fruit inspired manicure (for a while at least) and I will be moving on to other designs. Doing a collection of fruity nails has been so much fun and I got to try out and master so many different techniques. It was quite a worth while experience. I also have a lot of other nail-art stored up and ready to post; I've actually done quite a few different non-fruit related manicures during the past two months, so I'll be sure to post those soon too.

With this last design, I took on more of a challenge. I wanted to make it seem as real as possible so there is definitely a lot more shading and a wider range of colours. One thing that makes this manicure much different than the others I've done thus far is that it's done entirely in nail polish! Quite honestly, I'm not very accustomed to painting in nail polish, but I definitely want to do it more as it gives the nail art such a nice finished look. This is something I definitely want to do experiment with more in the future.

I've rambled on enough today, so here are some of my tips and tricks on how to create your very own blueberry print nails:

Prom Nails: Diagonal French Design

Hello all! My eventful week whizzed by like a breeze! I did these simple yet very elegant nails for prom, and I am absolutely in love with them! I've always been a fan of diagonal designs, but this was my first time doing a french inspired diagonal  manicure; plus, I think that the rhinestones really pull it together and they add extra dazzle!

(I haven't a clue of what I'll do for my next set of prom nails yet...)

Here are some tips on creating your very own diagonal french nails for prom (or any occasion):

French Foliage

I've really been hoping for spring to finally come to Canada, but the ground here is still covered with thick layers of snow- and it does look like it's going to melt away any time soon (we just had a mini blizzard a few days ago too)! So I took the best of both worlds and I combined white colours of the snow, turned it into the buds, vines and flowers I want to see and I created this really dainty and delicate looking manicure.

Here are some tips and tricks on how to create your very own French Foliage Manicure:

My Christmas Nails!

Although Christmas is over already, I thought that it'd be nice to share with you my Christmas mani. Well, I actually still have these on at this very moment, but will be changing them soon to something else for new years. These nails are super fun, and super festive and pretty easy to complete.
Here are my tips for your own candy cane nails: