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#GlamNailsChallengeFeb — Mandala

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s week is off to a good start. We had another stormy day here in Halifax yesterday—lots of freezing rain. Seriously ready for it to be Spring already!

Today I have another new design for #GlamNailsChallengeFeb! Today’s prompt is Mandala. & I’ll be honest—this was not an easy prompt for me. Originally I tried stamping because I have a plate that has a few mandala patterns, but that did not work out, so then I tried free handing a pattern, which was also a fail. But when I typed “mandala nails” into Pinterest, I saw a few beautiful looks using dots, so I decided that would probably be my easiest (& least frustrating) option!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Good to Go
  • L’Oréal Vintage Vinyl
  • Sally Hansen CSM So Much Fawn
  • Sally Hansen Good.Kind.Pure. Almond Tan
  • Essie Mosaic on Down
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

As you can see from my close up, this isn’t the most perfect mandala pattern, but I’m still happy with how it turned out. I was originally inspired by this Pinterest post, but obviously I need more practice (& maybe not to start at 11pm) to get mine to look as beautiful as that! But you know, doing this challenge is all about testing myself, & that means even those manicures I’m not 100% comfortable with!

What do you think about this “Mandala” look? Is this dotticure version something that you would try yourself? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Christmas Tree 🎄

Good morning & happy Christmas Eve Eve. 2 more days until Christmas—can you believe it? Are you ready? Our tree is decorated, our presents still need wrapping, & hopefully we have all the fixings for Christmas dinner haha. But my nails… my nails are definitely ready!

Today’s prompt for #GlamNailsChallengeDec is Christmas Tree, & I took some inspiration from a few designs I saw on Instagram for this dainty tree accent nail. This design has a little bit of everything — stamping, glitter, some teeny tiny freehanding. I’m super proud of how they turned out!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Shiny Top Coat
  • Rimmel London 60 Second Camouflage
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Essence Give It Nude, Baby!
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate (sadly no longer available)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper (COFFEE10 saves you 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Check out the close up of this accent nail!

I started off by stamping the Christmas tree pattern onto the nail with Essie Off Tropic, which isn’t perfect for stamping but worked. Then I went in with Camouflage & filled in some spots on the trees. Next I took my teeny micro detail brush from NailStuff.ca, & drew in the brand details over top. & finally, I used some glitters from my bottle of ORLY Glitterbomb to add a little bit of sparkle on top (which I think really completes the whole look!)

& of course, I needed a shot of my nails & my Christmas tree (& Batman ornament!)

What do you think of this Christmas tree look? Is this a cute Christmas Day look? Are you ready for Christmas? Let me know in the comments below!

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#GlamNailsChallengeOct — Sugar Skull 💀

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Hope everyone’s week is going okay so far. Here is Halifax the weather is very, very, VERY wet — it’s a very good day for a snuggly sweater & a lot of hot tea!

Today I’m sharing another look created for this month’s #GlamNailsChallenge. The next is prompt is Sugar Skull, which was one I was quite nervous about. I’ve seen lots of tutorials for how to create a sugar skull look, but they’re not as easy to do as they let on. Haha.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen CSM Belle Of The Ball
  • Essie White Page
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Color Club Nail Art Club Duo pens in assorted colours (green, pink, blue)
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art pens in fuchsia & purple.
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

This was my second attempt at a sugar skull design, since my first one was a little wonky. It’s not perfect, but I do like how it turned out. I decided to go a more Jack Skellington direction for my initial face, then added the colourful details. I feel like it gets the Sugar Skull theme across nicely!

What do you think about this sugar skull look? Do you like accent nail designs like this, or full nail designs? Let me know in the comments below!

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#GlamNailsChallengeOct — Black Cats

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today I’m sharing another design for the GlamNailsChallenge for October which is Black Cats 🖤

If you don’t know, I absolutely adore black cats, & I’m lucky enough to have a beautiful black furry baby. So I was very excited to create some black cat inspired nails. I thought about going full spooky Halloween with this look, but I decided to go a little understated & more glam (but still channeling Autumn.)

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • ORLY Brilliant Boysenberry (aka ORLY Space Cadet)
  • Essie Ballet Slippers
  • Starrily Nails Vantablack
  • the Base Coat cat vinyls
  • MyNailsDid Black Cat Decal
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

Again, I know I say this all the time, but I’m totally obsessed with how these nails turned out! My little accent kitties just make me so happy, & I like the minimalistic look of the cats against my base of Essie Ballet Slippers. I have to say, I think I’m going to need it pick up a big bottle of it because it’s becoming one of my favourite bases for nail art. The pale base just makes my little kitties jump out!

Also loving the black & white against the shiftiness of ORLY Brilliant Boysenberry. I honestly own a few bottles from different brands that are all dupes of this shade, but it’s such a good reddish/burgundy duochrome that I can’t help but buy more!

What do you think about my black cat design? Would you rock this design on your nails? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Autumn-esque Horizontal Accent Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! & Happy October 1st. It’s officially the first day of my birthday month & Halloween month! October is definitely my favourite month of the year & the BEST month for nail art!

Starting things off with some horizontal Autumn inspired accent nails. I’ve really been loving accent nail designs lately because sometimes you just don’t have time to do all of your nails. & lately, that has been my life. So accent designs are my lifeline!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Beet It
  • Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Pink Cardamom
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Thyme is Money
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • China Glaze First Mate
  • Straight Nail Vinyls
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

For this look, I used some straight nail vinyls to create my initial blocks of colour. Then I went in with my NailStuff striper brush to create more lines, kind of overlapping each other which gives the lines of a bit of a fuller look (& it’s way easier to create straight lines when you’re following already straight lines!).

This look & colour combination is giving me 90s retro vibes — it’s giving me some serious Willow from Buffy sweater vibes, & I’m loving everything about it. I’ve definitely been spending too much time stalking the BuffytheOutfitSlayer instagram! Haha. But I am not complaining, because this nail art design turned out too cute!

What do you think about these stripe-y accent nails? What colour combination would you chose for an accent nail look like this? Let me know what you think down in the comments below (& let me know what October activities you’re looking forward to!)