Check out this Earth Day Nail Art using Essie's Butler Please, RGB Toast, Sally Hansen White On, Sinful Colors Black on Black, Femme Fatale Star's Lament, Essie's Navigate Her, and OPI Don't Mess with OPI.

Today we picked up the only colour from the Nails. Inc. Feathers collection that we 'needed' from Sephora, and we really had to try it with our one true minty love, Essie Mint Candy Apple. We chose Brighton Feathers, which is a combo of yellow and blue rubber-y bar glitters (although they don't shimmer) in a clear base.

Overall, we love how this looks, although there were some micro bubbles in the Mint Candy Apple (viewable in the Macro shot…) which we feel may have been caused by the Feathers (though it can also be caused by dirt and moisture on the nail surface. 

This does give your nails an overall fuzzy look - but we think it would look great for a monster themed nail art! Our first thought when we look at these nails is Monster's Inc. 

What do you think of these nails, would you try them?

Everybody has had that moment where they look down at their hands, are loving their polish choice, and then realize that their cuticles need some serious attention - now. Cuticles provide a barrier between your nails roots and the outside world. Unkempt cuticles can cause infection, hangnails, and are just plain unsightly! These are our top three tips for keeping your cuticles cute (see what we did there?):

1. Moisturize!

This is the first step in any cuticle care routine. Having moist cuticles prevents cracking and splitting, and allows you to push back the cuticles without damaging your skin further. Like any part of your body, and especially when using nail polish removers, cuticles can get dry quickly and need a moisture boost to stay looking their best. Our favourites? Curel Hand and Cuticle Therapy ($4.71 at Drugstore.com) and LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter ($16.95 at ).

2. Push 'em Back

Pushing back your cuticles using a cuticle remover and a nail tool is essential to having beautiful looking and properly shaped nails. Every nail bed is naturally shaped a little differently, so remember to push back your cuticles and stop if you ever feel pain! First, you apply a cuticle remover (we use Essie's Disappearing Trick which is 7.75 at Walmart), and then using a cuticle tool, such as the Tweezerman Pushy and Nail Cleaner ($18.00 at Tweezerman.com) to gently push back the cuticles, following the natural shape. If there is dead skin left on the nail, you can use the nail tool to scrape it off so it doesn't cause unsightly bumps on your polished nails.

3. Trim

There is debate whether cutting your cuticles causes increased risk of exposure to bacteria, but as long as you only nip the dead skin away, you should be safe! Clean any tools you use with alcohol beforehand in order to avoid infection. We like to trim from the free edge of the nail from one side to the other, so there are no jagged edges. When the skin comes off in one long, thin piece - you're doing it right! We love the Tweezerman Cuticle Nipper (basically, extra sharp tweezers for your nails!) because it is so much easier to maneuver than a traditional cuticle cutter - it is available at Sephora in a mini set with a pushy tool here).

4. File…

Confused? Don't be! If your cuticles are super dry - it happens to the best of us - filing them can easily remove extra dead skin and exfoliate the new skin around your cuticles (making you more receptive to moisture!) We only file our cuticles when they get extra rough looking, but we swear it works! Any files will work, but we've been using the Zip File from Tweezerman ($9.00 at Tweezerman.ca) and bonus: it's cute!

Any serious cuticle problems should be dealt with by a medical professional, but for keeping your cuticles in tip top shape for your endless polish changes - this is our way!

Check out Tweezerman online or on their Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook!

What tips and tricks do you have for keeping your cuticles and hands in their best condition?

Disclaimer: Some of  these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

So, it's no secret that we have been the ultimate Essie fangirls recently. We follow everything Essie and that includes Canada's lead nail artist for essie, Rita Remark. When we saw Rita posted a sneak peek (see below) of some nails she created for a Roots Canada Lookbook, we had to try them out! We also have just received samples of the Essie Neon Collection, set for release May 1st, and couldn't wait to get them on our nails! We used Saturday Disco Fever (Vivid Coral) and Boom Boom Room (Bright Pink) to complete this mani. We also used Essie's Licorice (Black) and Blanc (White). For tools, all you need for this mani is the polishes and a slightly thinner nail art brush!

From Rita Remark's Instagram

Anyways, we created the below pictorial to reference if you wanted to recreate this mani! You can really use any colours, but we decided to go bright for Spring! 

We started with two coats of Essie's Blanc, which is an ultra creamy white polish. We then used a nail art brush to paint stripes starting from the top V to the bottom, trying to keep even space between each line. Since you will be covering the middle of the nail, you don't have to continue all the way to the centre! We then used Essie's Boom Boom Room (a super bright true pink) to create a stripe down the middle of the nail using the polish brush. To get the stripe to your desired thickness you may need to use more than one swipe! We also used about two coats here to attempt to fully cover the black and white. Then we used Essie's Saturday Disco Fever (the most neon-y coral we've ever seen…) to paint the stripe down the centre of the nail.

The beauty of these nails is in that if they're imperfect, nobody will know. The OCD in us loves it! Some of our lines aren't straight but there is so much going on that you just can't tell! Check out Rita Remark on Instagram and Twitter, and let us know what you think of these nails!

 Disclaimer: Some of these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

We were so excited to win a Facebook contest by Harlow and Co. of the whole KBShimmer Spring 2013 Collection. This post is long overdue, we've been playing with these shades for awhile (Get Clover It was the ultimate St. Paddy's Day shade!) and we have to say that the whole collection is a winner! So, lets get to it!

First up, is our St. Paddy's favourite, Get Clover It. This is a deep green jelly with micro green shimmer and green, gold, and blue-green circle glitter (we're obsessed with circle glitter right now!). This swatch is three thin coats with no topcoat. It is still slightly see through, but the coverage is definitely good and there is lots of glitter to go around.

Next is I Got A Crush on Blue. This is a mix of multi sized silver/holographic glitter in a blue jelly. We love how the glitter sparkles in this, although it was difficult to catch on camera. In the bottle you can see how this shines in real life! This swatch is also three thin coats with no topcoat. The larger glitter in this polish was less abundant but the holographic shimmer was even throughout.

This polish, A Dot Mess, is meant as a glitter topcoat - however, we like to aim for a full glitter nail to see how the polish truly performs! This is a mix of pink and black medium glitter and fine glitter in a clear base. This is three coats, and we are super impressed with how great the glitter coverage is in this polish! It can be inconsistent (see the difference between the second and third fingers) but it is gorgeous and the pink glitters are the ultimate shade of fuchsia.

This polish, Iris My Case, is a purple and blue small to fine glitter polish in a lavender creme base. This is three coats, and it definitely reached full coverage. We love how this looks and will definitely be matching this with a lavender jean come warmer weather. This polish could pull for our favourite of the collection.

This polish is called Lottie Dottie and is a mix of bright blue and fuchsia glitter in a soft white creme base. We aren't bothered by this polish, but wouldn't wear it on its own. It applies well and we are impressed at the coverage with three thin coats.

This polish is called Spring Training, and although the polish is supposed to have a soft green creme base, it really is closer to white on the nail. We love how the glitter comes through as more layers are applied, and actually we like the colour palette of this polish much more than Lottie Dottie. We were hoping this polish would be on the verge of mint (our obsession) but we actually like how pale it is. This swatch is three thin coats with no top coat.

This next polish is also marketed as a top coat, and is called Pastel Me More. It is a mix of many pastel glitters in many sizes. Basically its a pastel glitter bomb. While we wish there were more pinky/purple pastels in this, we love how great the coverage is with three thin coats and would definitely layer this over some other polishes for a great glitter accent nail!

This next polish is the final 'top coat' of the collection (and our favourite of the three!), called Squared Away. It contains multi-sized square glitters in a variety of colours. Most noticeably, pink blue and a silver holographic. There are also micro glitters which are pretty visible on the nail. The coverage on this can be spotty but we will definitely be rocking this over black! This swatch is three coats with no topcoat.

If you've never eaten a peep near Easter time, you are truly missing out. This is Where My Peeps At, a creme yellow base with multicoloured circle and hex glitter. This shade is super fun and we can totally see it transitioning in to summer (with a yellow polka dot bikini? match made in nail polish heaven)! This swatch is three thin coats with no topcoat. It may be beneficial to wear this shade with a yellow undie, as if you look closely you can slightly see the nail line on some nails.

Overall we love how this collection turned out (glitteraholics? yes.) and we're incorporating this shades into many a manicure as spring comes full on! If you had to pick one from the collection, we suggest Spring Training. And if you had to pick two (had to…) we would go for Squared Away. What do you think of this collection?

As Summer approaches (soon, please!) we thought it would be fun to get in the citrus-y spirit with some fruity tips on naked nails! We love how these turned out and the fruits we were aiming for were the classics: lemon, lime, and orange, and then blood orange and grapefruit. How did we do?

This nail art was super easy to do! We used the actual polish brushes to create the circular tip on the edge of the nail, then used a nail art brush to create the triangle wedges within each fruit, and a super thin striping brush to create the white 'sheen' on the fruits. We love how these turned out and are definitely going to re-wear these when summer rolls around!

Chalkboard Mani (and an awkward thumb)

We love this mani because its so simple! We only used two colours of polish, black and white, and some pastel sharpies to give our 'chalk' writings their colours. We started with two coats of black polish,  then used one coat of the OPI Matte Top Coat to make the 'chalkboard'. Then, using a nail art brush and some white polish we doodled on each nail and let the polish dry. Using some sharpies, we coloured in our doodles and then finished with a second coat of OPI Matte Top Coat.

The OPI Matte Top Coat really provided a smooth matte finish which we love! Simply, this has become our new favourite matte top coat because of how well it applies! Check out our instagram for a comparison to the Essie Matte About You Top Coat.

The full Chalkboard Mani with thumb art showing

What do you think of this mani? Would you rock chalkboard nails?

Check out OPI online, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Disclaimer: Some of these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.