The Modern French Tip Manicure

This is one of favourite looks for summer (we talked about it on CTV). It's a twist on a classic manicure - the French manicure. Usually, a French manicure has a sheer pink base with white tips. We have amped up this traditional (and safe) manicure by using a neutral base but, instead of white on the tips, we use a neon. This manicure is universally flattering and embraces the neon trend that is so happening right now. You could also switch up the neon for any bright colour or even a pastel for a softer (but still trendy) look.

Here, we used Deborah Lippmann's Naked (my favourite nude) as the base, but you could use any beige-y colour. You could even opt for a clear polish or leave your nails bare. Don't be afraid to be adventurous...try a taupe or a grey!

This step may seem daunting, but it's not! It might take a little practice, but you will figure it out! In my experience, you gotta believe me when I say practice makes perfect (especially in nail art). You will notice yourself getting better the more you use your non-dominant hand, too. Try it!

The tiny paintbrushes we use are not made for nail art specifically. We get them at a craft store in the painting section (Michael's) but you can get them at any store that sells painting supplies. Just beeline for the tiniest brush! They usually cost between 4 and 9$. Look for something like this:

Always remember to gently clean the brushes with nail polish remover. As you know, nail polish remover and nail polish are pretty harsh on delicate materials and these brushes won't last very long or keep their pointed shape if you are rough with them or let the nail polish dry and cake up on them.

For the manicure, just dab a little bit of bright/neon nail polish onto a palette (we use biodegradable paper plates) and use the paintbrush to carefully line the tips. You can adjust the thickness of the tip to your liking...the photo below shows a relatively thin line but you can go thicker or thinner depending on what you like!

Love it! I can't wait to try it out with neon yellow (it also looks pretty neat with black). Pin It

CTV Clip

Hi everyone! Here is the clip from our appearance on CTV Ottawa Morning Live this morning - check out Kurt Stoodley getting in on the nail painting action! We had a great time and can't wait to do it again. Stay tuned for detailed how-to posts on the nail-art manicures we showcased in the segment.

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Back on CTV!

Hi everyone! Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be stopping by CTV Ottawa Morning Live again! Tune in at 9:15am Wednesday, May 30th to see some great & easy summer manicure how-to's. We will be showcasing 3 great manicure ideas....here's a little hint:

See you then :)

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Nail Party!

On Thursday, we had the pleasure to join an amazing group of ladies for a belated-birthday-nail-party. It was great! Everyone was so generous - we got offered delicious drinks and snacks all night until we could no longer resist and finally tasted the delicious peanut butter and chocolate squares (SO good). Plus, everyone had such creative ideas for their nails...we were so impressed! And take a gander at the cake they had:

How awesome is that?! Really awesome. Now, check out some of the awesome manicures we did. We had a blast and we can't wait to have more nail parties this summer!

 A great grey base, black French tips, and glitter!

Really great black and gold chevrons (aka "The Lana del Rey) on a peachy base

Adorable white daisies on a lavender base

 A neat turquoise marble effect on a nude base

Great coral-y nails with a punch of a neon stripe...

...and they match her wallet! (unintentional, we promise)

 Juicy watermelon nails perfect for summer!

Thin grey French tip on a peachy base with a lone red accent heart

...and, last but not least, a minty French tip on a peach base with a cute little blue bird...

...so she can literally flip the bird. Ha!

What a great night - we truly cannot wait until our next nail party! Here is the whole group! Hope you had a great time ladies :)

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Milkface Mother's Day Manicures!

As part of Mother's day celebrations, we set up in Milkface's Ottawa South location to give away free manicures (for Mothers especially, but anyone could have stopped by!). It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and we loved to give some Mum's a nice little gift and be surrounded by adorable babies at the same time!

Check out some of the fun manicures we came up with:

A bright Lisa Frank-inspired tiger print nail:

The awesome Nina rawwring for the camera!

A beautiful deep dark eggplant version of our fairy nails

Super fun and bright yellow and pink modern French tip manicure

The always classic and beautiful nude Fairy Nails

A great colour combo - turquoise and neon green leopard print! Love it.

Here is Kristina hard at work on a set of Fairy nails!

We had a great time working with Milkface...it's a beautiful shop and the lovely ladies who work there are so awesome to hang out with. It was great to see all the Moms getting the help they need picking out mom-and-baby supplies. We would love to manicures there again! We hope all you Mommies had a great weekend!

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Laura's Bachelorette Party

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of joining in on a fun evening planned for Laura's bachelorette party. We met them at the hotel where they were getting ready and having snacks and drinks, set up all of our gear and got painting! Her evening was filled with surprises and the manicures kicked it off! We had so much fun hearing the ladies' ideas for their manicures and making them a reality. Check out what we came up with together!

Starburst nails to match her awesome dress!

Sweet little bluebirds for the bride-to-be!

Awesome zebra stripes with purple accent hearts

Another shot of the zebra...love it!

Love this pink fluoro modern French tip mani.

And the classic pretty pink fairy nails with iridescent tips!

 Fuchsia leopard print!

And, last but not least, adorable bunny nails.

What a great selection of manicures - we hope the rest of their night was wild and fun!

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Mother's Day Weekend at Holt Renfrew

What a beautiful weekend! We were very busy out and about doing manicures all weekend (more posts to come) and, as always, I thoroughly enjoyed my day spent at Holt Renfrew with all the lovely ladies who work there and who popped in.

The always awesome Deborah Lippmann product spread

Our inspiration board of nail-art ideas 

Check out some of the manicures we did that day below. We love using Lippmann products!

We used On the Beach here...such a great colour for summer!

This silver version of fairy nails was done using Stardust and Today was a Fairy Tale...such a pretty ombre.

Love this modern French manicure - we used Naked and Lady is a Tramp.

This is one of my favourites...I always gravitate toward orangey-corals. It's called Girls Just Want to Have Fun.. adorable!

This modern French tip was done using Fashion and Girls Just Want to Have Fun on the tips...mixing neutrals with brights is so fun...not too "out-there" with just a tiny pop of colour.

What a beautiful weekend...the weather was perfect so we hope you got to spend some time outside! See you soon and stay tuned for more manicures from this weekend :) Pin It

Mother's Day Manicures at Milkface

Great news! This upcoming Sunday (Mother's Day) we will set up shop in Milkface nursingwear's shop for manicures. If you are a Mom, you should definitely come treat yourself to a simple or nail-art manicure this Sunday afternoon. If you have a Mom...you should bring her! It will be a lovely afternoon filled with Mom-love and manicures...hope to see you there!

Details:
We will be at Milkface's Ottawa South location (1167 Bank Street, south of Sunnyside) from 1:00pm-4:00pm doing manicures. It will be first-come, first-served so make sure to pop in and get a spot!

See you there :)

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