Mermaid Scale Mani

I created a few new designs last week and needed to do some testing! Today I tried out the mermaid scale stencils, which resulted in some tweaking and here is the final product. I have a long weekend flash sale on currently, you can save 24% (for May 2-4!) until Monday the 18th at 10pm EST. I got my very canuck swap package yesterday and was absolutely spoiled. I got my very first picture polish shade, Cyan, and it's a stunner! I just had to use it ASAP. 

Products Used

Picture Polish Cyan

Echoes Polish Exterminate

My Nails Did Vinyls Mermaid Scale Stencils 

(use code FLASHMAY for 24% off!)

I love this sparkly, simple look! I'm always amazed at how easy vinyl manicures are, they're super quick and yield great results. You should check out the instagram contest on my account, @mynailsdid, to win a bunch of vinyls for yourself! 

Happy Victoria Day!

xo Shawna

Mirrorball Quatrefoil for TGIF

So, here I am two days late to my own weekly nail art challenge! But that just means don't feel bad playing along if you're not punctual (like me!). This week's prompt is quatrefoil, which I've done once before and loved the look, and wanted to get around to doing it again.

Products Used

Echoes Polish Fliptastic

Orly Mirrorball

INM Out the Door Topcoat

Dotting Tools Amazon

I don't think I've talked before about my (previous) bad luck with thermals. I had two thermals from different indies and they were both so subtle they were practically invisible or really tough to shift. I snagged this from Sammy (Cuter Cuticles) at the meet up and was excited to give thermals one last shot... luckily I was not let down this time! 

Are you a thermal polish fan?

xo Shawna

Valentine's Pond Mani

I don't get enough use of the gorgeous pink jelly I got from Echoes polish months ago. (I guess that's the sad reality of a polish stash of 100+!). So when I saw a gorgeous pond mani with hearts on IG the other day, I just had to recreate it. Props to @nails_by_noemmyy for the idea!. 

Products Used

Echoes Polish Pink Freud

China Glaze Snow

China Glaze Fast Forward

Dotting Tools from Amazon

I never understood what people meant when they said the jelly sammiches/ pond manis were "squishy". Now I totally get it, this has about 9 layers of polish and top coat! It's so thick! 

On another note- thank goodness for photoshop. My cuticles are so horrendous right now. Thanks winter!

xo Shawna

P.S. - a pond mani is the nail art version (vs. glitter) of a jelly sandwich- layering nail art between layers of sheer polish!

Striped Mani for Nail Art November

Theme for day 10 of #nailartnov is "Tape Mani". This could be interpreted a few ways (I've used scotch tape before!) but today it was the perfect reason to use my striping tape I received a few weeks ago. The design isn't groundbreaking, I've seen it various times on Instagram, but it seemed like a good basic design for my first time!

Colours used:

Deborah Lippmann Marnie

OPI Wocka Wocka (I think... it's an unlabelled mini)

Echoes Polish Holo Cow

HK Girl Top Coat

I added a holo top coat, although I instantly regretted it. I should have just added a few gems instead but live and learn! It's not the most unique manicure ever, but for my first time I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. 

Have you worked with striping tape before?

xo Shawna

Jelly Sammich Mani - Twinkie Nail Art Challenge

Good afternoon! I'm excited to be back in the swing of the weekly Twinkie Nail art challenge :) This week is "Jelly Sammich"! And in other big nail news... I have a new nail shape, almond shorties! They feel really strange, especially as I type. I had my plain old oval nails for quite a while - I'm guessing more than a year! They're growing on me though.

I had just the polish in mind, which I specifically bought for this kind of mani - Pink Freud from Echoes Polish. This is a new-to-me technique and while I don't totally love how the stamping images I chose end up looking combined, I can see myself playing with the technique in the future with different designs. And maybe more chunky glitter!

Polishes used:

Echoes Polish Pink Freud

BK Matt White (use code SDPX31 for 10% off!)

MTL Creations Tara

Sally Girl Silver Glitter

Ciate Speed Pro Top Coat

HK Girl Top Coat

I used a few plates, MoYou London Pro Plate 04, and m66 and QA91 from born pretty store. (SDPX31 for 10% off!) I think next time I'll just layer floral prints instead of different images. They kind of got lost!

Have you tried a jelly sammich mani yet?

xo Shawna

Twinkie challenge: stalker twin mani

The theme for last week's twinkie nail art challenge was "stalker twin mani" - aka copying a mani design you loved by someone else! No staged lightbox photos for this post- this manicure was done while I was on vacation in Cuba :)

The design was inspired by a tutorial I found on instagram, by @nailsbylsm. I changed the colour theme but followed the general design. It was a lot more work than I thought! Don't look too closely and you won't see the sloppy striping work :) 

Colours used:

Color Club neon pink mini

Echoes Polish Life is a Caberet

Finger Paints Hip-Hip-Hue-Ray!

Seche Vite Top Coat

The nice thing about being on a beach holiday was that my nails didn't chip and I got a solid few days of wear after all the effort free handing this design! I've copied the tutorial for you below if you want to give it a shot! 

Would you try this intricate design?

xo Shawna

(p.s. - pardon the poor quality of the cell phone pics!)

Simple X's Mani

Happy Hockey Wednesday, readers! The big news in Canada today is definitely the official start of the NHL season. That has nothing to do with my manicure, but I am Canadian after all, and I'm typing this post as we watch the game! 

I've got a pretty simple freehand mani today, but I'm still quite pleased with it! I know this pattern can be achieved much more precisely with striping tape, but I am still waiting for my nail mail for that so I decided to give it a shot. Not too bad!

Polishes used:

Polish My Life Storm Clouds

Finger Paints Ch-Art-Coal Black

Echoes Polish Holo Cow (on index)

HK Girl Top Coat

If you've got a striping brush or polish, this design is super simple to create. You just draw a big "X" in the centre of your nail, and then outline using two stripes on both sides, the top and bottom. I added a coat of holo to my index finger for a bit of sparkle!

Would you try this design?

xo Shawna

Echoes Polish Swatches... Round 2!

Today, I have the final three swatches from my Echoes Polish haul! I ordered a mystery bag as well, which is an awesome bargain. You even get to select your colour preferences when you purchase, and I left a note that I don't really like dark colours. They hit the nail right on the head and picked out 3 awesome shades for me!

This is Life is a Caberet holo polish. Even with my fancy new lightbox, indoor lighting wasn't doing this beauty any justice... so I took it outside!

The holographic shimmer just blew me away. Gorgeous! I didn't have any holos in my collection so I was super excited to see this pinky-red polish in the bag. I think this is two coats... possibly three! (I recommend clicking the pic to enlarge and check it out in all it's sparkly glory!)

I also received a thermal, Fracken, with the mystery bag. It has light pink base tone in heat and room temp, and it darkened a few subtle shades in cold water. I had a hard time capturing the thermal effect, it was pretty subtle. But the shade is gorgeous, soft and shimmery regardless!

This is after dipping my nails in cold water... you can see a hint of the colour change at the tips.

And finally (best for last!) Holo Cow- Look at That Topcoat. This is pure holographic amazingness. I showed it over Spearmint Away, and on it's own on the accent nail. This is two coats. It creates a great linear holo effect and I can't wait to use this to make my favourite shades into holos! It's a beaut and I definitely recommend this one.

Would you ever buy a mystery bag or are you picky about your polishes?

xo Shawna

Echoes Polish Indie Swatches

Today, I have my first swatch post for you! I've been wanting to purchase some indie polishes since I got into this whole nail art thing more seriously, but found the shipping costs a little bit prohibitive. So, I decided the more I bought, the better the value ;) I wanted my first few indie purchases to support Canadian, so I placed orders with Echoes Polish and My True Love Creations! Both orders came super quickly, and I received them in less than a week. Today, I'm swatching some of my new polishes from Echoes Polish!

Pink Freud, Barely There, Spearmint-Away, Life is a Caberet, and Fracken.

I'll get right to the swatches. I chose two shades from the "I'm Pretty Neutral" Collection, Barely There and Spearmint-Away, and a jelly shade, Pink Freud. 

Barely there is the perfect name for this gorgeous, light sheer nude shimmer. I had seen this collection swatched over a white base, so I showed that on the accent nail. As a stand alone, this would be a perfect French mani topper or for something really simple and classy. For a bit of pop I love it over the white base! This is two coats. 

Spearmint-Away is a lovely sheer green shimmer. This is 3 coats, which gave it a more opaque look. I really love this colour and think it's perfect for fall. It will also really pop over a white base!

This is Pink Frued, a lovely raspberry hued jelly. This is shown with 3 coats, and would become even more opaque with one more. This is going to be a great shade to create "jelly sandwich" manis with glitter or stamping! I can't wait to get creative with this one. 

I will save my final three swatches for another post... the Echoes Polish Mystery Bag! You can see some of the choices in the first pic... full sized swatch pics coming tomorrow :) 

Are you on the indie polish bandwagon? Who are your faves?

xo Shawna