Negative Space Chevrons

I feel like life has just been insane after getting back home from vacation last week. Hence the blog radio silence and some slacking on IG as well! To top it off, I got a new cell phone yesterday and I jumped ship from iPhone to get a Samsung galaxy s6.... so I'm learning a completely new device and feel like an idiot. More time playing with the features than instagramming sadly! I needed something simple and quick, but still interesting. So I finally did my own negative space chevron mani! 

Products Used

Color Club Angel Kiss

Sally Hansen Coral Reef

Chevron Vinyls (get some in my shop!) 

essie Good to Go

I'm not 100% I love the colour combo I chose, but it's growing on me. What do you think?

Are you an iPhone, android or neither?

xo Shawna

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

Holo Zebra

I've been so busy preparing my shop for opening I have barely been getting my nails polished! I was testing out my new zebra vinyls yesterday and I loved the look, so I decided to get my butt in gear and do a proper mani with them. In holo of course! Channeling Lisa Frank, I used a bright neon base and some black holo for the stripes.

Products Used

China Glaze Pool Party

Mad Scientist Lacquer Unicorn Blood

Color Club Beyond

INM Out The Door Top Coat

My Nails Did Zebra Stripe Stencils

Here's a pic with direct light to better show the holo gorgeousness!

This is so fun, a little crazy for my usual tastes but I'm totally digging it. AND, my shop will be officially launching this weekend so keep your eyes open for a special discount!

Hope you enjoy!

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

Unicorn Blood Swatch

Super simple post today, gorgeous pics of Mad Scientist Lacquer in Unicorn Blood! (And yes, I confirmed its totally a Harry Potter reference). It's currently sold out, but being restocked soon- I scored this at our meet up! Enjoy the holo porn. 

I always forget that "holo" is not a well-known term for those who aren't in the insta nail community. It means holographic glitter! 

QOTD - are you a Harry Potter fan? ;)

xo Shawna

Sheer Holo Gradient Floral Mani

Is my post title long enough? I could have added a few more words to it but had to draw the line! Tonight a bunch of nail gals from the GTA (greater Toronto area, for you non-Ontarians!) met up for dinner and lots of nail chat and swapping! I knew my nails needed to be on point so I eventually settled on a holo faux-gradient with a splash floral design inspired by The Lacquerologist! 

Products Used

Color Club Kismet

Wet n Wild Black Creme

OPI Sheer Tints I'm Never Amberassed

OPI Sheer Tints Be Magentale With Me

OPI Sheer Tints Don't Violet Me Down

OPI Sheer Tints I Can Teal You Like Me

INM Out the Door Topcoat

What's a faux gradient you ask? After I laid down my holo base, I vertically overlapped two sheer tints on each nail- the overlap created a new in-between colour. Sponge-free and easy-peasy! I needed two coats of sheer tints to help the colours pop. 

Here's all the gals! Don't mind my giant face, we needed a selfie stick!

The waiter thought we were a little nuts. No room for food with all the polish up for grabs! A few of us brought our destashes to swap. 

Nails on fleek!

Um, yum. Totally not paleo. Every bite was delish! 

And lastly, me and my girl Sammy! I've raved over the product line, Cuter Cuticles. Check her out if you haven't already! I didn't even need to photoshop my pics today because her oils are so amazing! (I also purchased Unicorn Blood from Bree, and can't wait to rock it!)

What else do you do with your sheer polishes?

xo Shawna

Gold & Blue Creative Stamper Mani

I received my Creative Stamper yesterday after trying to track one down for a reasonable cost to Canada. Finally, my investigating led me to Eat Sleep Polish, the newest stockist and Canadian to boot! Caterina is also a doll. So, I got to work tonight and had fun with this super squishy stamper! 

I wanted to start making a dent in my "untrieds" which I've sorted into a box. I'm hoping to work them all into manis over the next month or so, in some way or another!

Products Used

China Glaze Intelligence Integrity Courage

Steel City Reflections The Mountain

OPI Golden Waves

China Glaze Fast Forward

MoYou London Bridal 06

Creative Stamper

Here's a macro of the goodness :) The gold is definitely soft and delicate as the stamping polish but the stamper picked it up no problem! 

I love the stamper. It is so soft, I had no issues using it as I read some comments on IG to roll instead of press, and to prime by washing with soap and water (or magic eraser). Worked like a charm! The polish I used is a little thin but I can't wait to try it out with something a little bit more bold. 

Do you have a big untried stash?

xo Shawna

Chevrons & A Review

Press samples

 Good evening! (I feel like a newscaster. Except I do have good news). I did some fresh, simple nail art tonight and finally got around to testing and reviewing my final item sent to me courtesy of born pretty store! This was the item I was most excited to receive, the floral handled liner brushes. 

Products Used

OPI French Quartier For Your Thoughts 

Zoya Yuna

Color Club Kismet

China Glaze Fast Forward

Born Pretty Floral Liner Brushes

This mani was great because 3 of the 4 products were untrieds, and my goal is to work through all of my untrieds by the end of March!

I started with a layer of French Quartier which is a pale grey. I was glad it didn't seem to wash me out as some greys can. Then I painted on a chevron half-moon using Yuna, and the brush right from the bottle. 

Lastly I painted on the holo stripe with the short thin brush. The brushes are stiff when you remove them from the package, but rubbing the bristles between your fingers soften them right up. I was really impressed how soft the bristles are! Once I'm done using them, I clean off the polish with some acetone and then wash with soap and water. I find this keeps the bristles from hardening. I've also heard some girls using a bit of mineral oil when the bristles start to splay after a couple of uses- I have yet to try this myself! 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these brushes. Don't forget you can save 10% off regular priced items with my code SDPX31 and shipping is free!

xo Shawna

*post contains affiliate link

Holographic Watermarble

ALL THE HOLOS!! I received my halo hues collection nearly a month ago now, but just hadn't had much opportunity with all the Christmas manicures to use them. So, I figured- why not use them all at once?! 

Products Used

Color Club Halo Hues 2013:

Beyond

Cosmic Fate

Miss Bliss

Over the Moon

Eternal Beauty

Kismet

China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

Cuter Cuticles Cutie Guard

Hopefully photoshop fixed most of the issue, but I ate a snack after doing my nails and proceeded to wreck the tips of all 4 fingers on my swatching hand. I touched it up but it's still visibly messed up- thank goodness for the "healing brush"! I clearly still need practice swirling the marble but it's still a fun effect. 

xo Shawna

holo christmas sweater

I've been wanting a solid collection of holographic colours for a while, and while I have one gorgeous shade and a topper from echoes polish, I wanted more. As much as I would love to support more indies, currently my budget is should be on lockdown to save for our wedding. So, I decided to order a color club halo hues (2013) collection from amazon (free shipping!) and get a jump start. 

I finally went to pick up the order yesterday and I'm thrilled with the gorgeous holos. The black one, Beyond, was my most coveted and I had to get it on immediately! The photos (and indoor lighting) don't do it justice, this one was hard to appreciate in the dreariness of mid December weather.

I wanted to use my new zodiac plate from MoYou (woot Sagittarius!) but seeing as I was going to our annual family Christmas reunion the next day, I opted for sweater stamping instead. 

Products used

Color Club Beyond

Ciate Speed Pro Top Coat

Mundo de Unas Forest

HK Girl Top Coat

MoYou London Zodiac 11

The line on my ring finger went a bit wonky as I tried rolling the image instead of pressing straight into the squishy pad. Results from stamping: roll when doing someone else's, press in when doing your own. I actually loved my cindy hand as well, which had completely different designs. I didn't do a great cleanup but I included a pic as well! 

Do you love holo or are you over it?

xo Shawna

snowstorm nails for #nailartnov

After seeing how good the snowflakes from my new MoYou plate looked on my mani the other day, I instantly envisioned using the pattern over a pale blue (ok, this is actually a periwinkle toned purple) glittery base. How perfect that the day 24 prompt for #nailartnov was Nature - nature has definitely been giving us some snow lately! 

Products used

Essie Lilacism

China Glaze Fairy Dust

BK Matt White

HK Girl Top Coat

This turned out just like I imagine. I only wish I hadn't done the accent nails with the different snowflake, I could have achieved enough variety in the one pattern by just positioning it differently. I'll probably repeat some sort of version of this throughout the winter season! 

Do you like to match your manis to the season?

xo Shawna

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

Snapshot: Holo Skulls Mani

Just a quick post today for you lovelies! I was loving the glittered digits of yesterday's Jelly Sandwich mani, but the stamped "sandwiches" weren't doing anything for me. So, I decided to go seasonal again and use a few of the indie items I've received! 

Accent nails:

MTL Creations Jason

Up Your Nails Holo Skull Nail Stickers

Hope you like :)

xo Shawna