Aco by Ardene – Page 8 – Coffee & Nail Polish

December 11, 2019December 10, 2019

GlamnailschallengeDec— Snowflakes ❄️

Good morning lovelies & Happy Wednesday! We’re already halfway through our week, how crazy is that?! & even crazier we’re almost half way to Christmas! (I haven’t even begun to process the fact this year, no DECADE, is almost over…) Today I have another manicure to share with you as part of #glamnailschallengeDec — Snowflakes!

Snowflake designs are actually one of my favourite nail art looks for this time of year, because there are so many ways to create snowflakes: stamping, stickers, freehand, & even just glitter! For today’s look, I decided some more stamping was in order because I have about 5 different stamping plates with snowflakes on them. I really wanted to feature one snowflake per each nail & I love how these turned out because they remind me a lot of Frozen. ❄️

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me I’m Kind
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Ice Pop
ACO by Ardene Style Icon
Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade (c/o: NailStuff.ca — COFFEE10 to save 10%)
Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
Assortment of BornPretty stamping plates — this one has an assortment of similar snowflake images.

I started this look off by creating a glitter sandwich using Kiss Me I’m Kind, Ice Pop & Style Icon. I wanted a really soft, delicate base for my snowflakes. If you don’t know what a glitter sandwich is, basically you start off by applying a layer of jelly/sheer polish, a layer or two of glitter & then finishing it with another layer of your jelly/sheer polish over your glitter. It really gives the glitter a softer look, which I love. It looks really beautiful all on it’s own or as the base for nail art. I thought it would be perfect for this particular design because it gives the effect of snow in the background (or at least that’s what it reminds me of.)

Victoria (aka @nailstuffca) was the one who told me how amazing the Superchic polishes were for stamping, which is why I grabbed Throwing Shade for my snowflakes, & she was so right! I was very impressed with how well it showed up on my nail, especially because I had such a light base to start. I can’t wait to try again over a darker base colour (a navy blue such as Essie Bobbing for Baubles perhaps? Stay turned!)

Seriously though, can you go wrong with holo snowflakes? I really don’t think you can! Who doesn’t want to feel like an Ice Queen.

Who else loves a good snowflake design? I really really love wearing snowflakes on my nails, especially when the actual white stuff seems to be keeping its distance. It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me, until there is a little snow on the ground.

As always, don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeDec over on Instagram to see everyone’s fun snowflake looks. & stay tuned, because there are still a ton of fun designs to come!

September 4, 2019September 3, 2019

VACATION NAILS — ocean inspire Saran Wrap splatter.

Hello lovelies! Still on vacation, but even though I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean I’m not painting my nails! Like I wrote in my last Swatch Sunday post, visiting my parents means I get to take advantage of my Mom’s massive nail polish collection she uses for her jewelry. So I decided to take a few of her polishes to create an ocean inspired design perfect for an East Coast vacation!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Duri Rejuvacote
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Sally Hansen CSM A Bleu Attitude
Quo by ORLY April Showers
Santee ACO6433
China Glaze Cattle Drive Me Crazy
Crinkled up Plastic Wrap

Obviously, being away from my own nail polish stash & supply, I’m not going to attempt to crate one of my more complicated designs–like floral– which is why something like a Saran Wrap splatter is such a perfect design! Easy to do, minimal clean up, but still looks fancy & fun! & obviously because my nails were inspired by the ocean I had to take pictures of this look right on the beach! 🌊

Looking at these close up, I realized how much these look like the mussel shells we used to collect off the beach as kids! This colour combination is definitely one of the best versions of this design I’ve done, but I find that happens whenever I do anything in shades of blue! They always just turn out so beautiful!

What do you think of this look? What do you do about your nails when you’re on vacation–do you still paint them, or go with something like soak off gel that lasts 2+ weeks!

Let me know your vacation nail routine down in the comments below!

August 21, 2019August 14, 2019

Holo Geode Nails for #glamnailschallengeaug

Good morning lovelies! Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday. I can’t believe how quickly August is speeding by… Pumpkin Spice season isn’t so far off now. & we’re slowly creeping towards the end of the Glam Nails Challenge for August with only 3 prompts left!

Today’s prompt: Geode.

There are a ton of ways to do geode style nails, so I wanted to think about which one I wanted to use. I decided my abstract stripe design was my favourite way to create geode looking nails, & I decided that I wanted to use a fun holo powder that I bought from Born Pretty Store, & had totally lost in my nail polish room.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: OPI Gel Break
Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
Finger Paints Peel Off Base Coat
ACO by Ardene Nearly Nude
Born Pretty Store holo powder (no longer available)
Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in Black
Kiss Products Nail Art Striper in White

I had an idea in my head for how I wanted this design to look, with the pink holo popping against the black & white lines, with a nude-ish background, & I think it turned out pretty much like I imagined. I really, really like this holo powder too–sad that it’s no longer available on the Born Pretty Store site–although they do have a few similar ones like this & this.

I seriously always forget just how much I love nail art powders until I start playing with them again. Also this was my first excitement with applying the powder in just sections of the nails using my usual technique with using Finger Paints Peel Off Base Coat & it turned our perfectly!

Ooooh, I can’t stop starting at that holo. It’s especially impressive in motion with the holo flakies & pink sparkle. So much fun to wear! Also I feel like this pink is also still very Summery, which is a nice change from the darker Fall shades I’ve been craving lately.

& they’re even more beautiful in the sunshine!

What do you think of this design? Do these look like geode to you? Remember to check out #glamnailschallengeaug to see everyone’s amazing manicures!

July 23, 2019July 20, 2019

Rainbow Glitter Gradient (Party on my Nails!)

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far. I’m super excited today because I finally did something other than just a single colour on my nails! 🎉 I managed to add a fun glitter gradient to my Swatch Sunday shade for this week & I’m loving how much fun this simple nail art turned out!

Seeing as it is Pride Week here in Halifax, I thought a colourful rainbow glitter gradient would be perfect for the occasion.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
ORLY Fireball
China Glaze Point Me To The Party
ACO by Ardene DAFUQ

I know I’ve written before my love for glitter gradients–they’re just so easy to do! & for those of us who might not have a lot of time, they can give you fun & fancy nails with minimal effort.

For this look, I started with my base colour & then took my first glitter (China Glaze Point Me To The Party) & after brushing off some of the polish, started at my cuticle line & brushes the glitter upwards. I went over the same spot a few times to build up the glitter amount. Finally I decided that we needed some blue, so I grabbed a blue glitter topper (ACO by Ardene DAFUQ) & dabbed on some blue glitters as well. Lastly, I sealed everything in with a thick coat of Essie Gel Setter to give this look some lasting power.

& now my nails are ready to party! 💅🏻

I’m really digging the combination of Fireball with this glitter. Makes me think of a fiesta, & feels very Summer-y to me. & even though I won’t be able to partake in any of the amazing Pride events happening this week, my nails are totally ready (just in case).

What do you think of this design? Where would you wear this design? Let me know down in the comments below! & share any nail art you’d love to see me do now that I’m (slowly) getting back my posting mojo.

🌈

July 20, 2019July 19, 2019

Blast from the Past — Crackle Nail Polish

I’m sure if you’ve been a part of the nail polish community for any amount of time, you’ve seen quite a few nail polish trends come & go: feather nail polish, magnetic nail polish, textured nail polish & of course… crackle nail polish.

For those who don’t know what crackle nail polish is, it was a kind of topper you would apply over already painted nails, that would crack as it dried, revealing the base colour underneath. I was first introduced to crackle nail polish back with the Katy Perry Teenage Dream collection from OPI, & though it was the most genius idea, so naturally my obsessive brain had to own as many crackle polishes as possible! Thankfully, even nail polish company & their friend seem to come out with their own version of crackle so it was easy to get my hands on a whole slew of brands, colours & finishes!

Most of my shades have long since dried up & are pretty much impossible to use, but every so often I get the urge to pull out one of my bottles still holding on & play around with it. Thank you nostalgia.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Bamboo & Green Tea Strengthener
Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
My blues from my cobalt blue comparison post
Icing Shatter nail polish Electric Graffiti

As you can see, even though this polish is about 7 years old, it still works semi well in terms of the crackle effect (minus my pointer finger… I have no idea what happened there!) Like I said, I collected quite a few of these shades during the heigh of their popularity, but only a few of them still work to this degree. & now that my nail art techniques have improved over the years, I don’t really grab these shades like I once did.

& just for fun, I wanted to share the very first mani I ever did using this fun polish. Please excuse the awful quality in all regards (painting, photography, ect)

As you can see, the actual cracking abilities of Electric Graffiti has dwindled over the years, but for a polish way past prime, I’m impressed I can still get any crackle out of it. I feel like because the formula has thickened up a lot, that’s the reason the shatter is different. A thinner application would definitely give me a reaction much more like my throwback manicure… wondering if adding a bit of thinner to the bottle would revive it. I’m curious to find out.

what are your thoughts on the crackle/shatter nail polish trend from years past? I know some people have very strong feelings about these polishes (& how much they hate them). Let me know if you’re team crackle or hate it?

	Shannon Rae on Autumn Gloom Floral
	Christine - Dances W… on Autumn Gloom Floral
	Christine - Dances W… on SWATCH SUNDAY — BlackHeart Met…
	Christine - Dances W… on Magnetic Autumn Leaves 🍂
	Christine - Dances W… on Hand painted Autumn Floral…