Dark & Gloomy Hand Painted Floral

Hello loves & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. After some gross winter weather on Saturday evening, we actually had a beautiful (almost Spring-like) Sunday.

Today I’m sharing some dark & gloomy floral which I feel like are perfect for the darkest & gloomiest month. It’s been so long, too long, since I hand painted any roses on my nails & these turned out better than I could have hoped. With the dark base, I feel like they have a bit of a gothic feel to them as well.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Snake It Up + Starrily Magnet
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Can’t Beet Royalty
  • Sally Hansen MG Good Cheer-y
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Society Ruler
  • Sally Hansen CSM Berry Fancy
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure. Eco-Rose
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

I used a lot of red polishes to achieve these roses, but I think they turned out so beautiful. These are probably my favourites florals to paint; I love how beautiful they look on the nail.

Also I’ve never actually used this Essie magnetic shade before, but I tried it with my Starrily magnet & it worked really well. My bottle was purchased at Dollarama & did not have the snake skin magnet with it—probably the reason I’ve never used it— so I was happy to have something to use with it! & I love it, even if it didn’t show up well in these photos.

What do you think about these fun floral nails? Are you getting dark & gloomy from them? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

Purple Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! We’ve made it to the end of the week. Today I’m sharing a quick easy look I did the other day that I thought was a nice pop of colour. You know how much I love some abstract stripes, & purple, so I combined the two into a bright fun look!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI Sickeningly Sweet
  • OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI
  • OPI Turn Off The Northern Lights
  • OPI One Heckla of a Color
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPi
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm striper brush

Loving this combination of colours. I’ll admit, January is probably my most uninspired month after all the fun holiday manicures. But this one definitely makes me happy. I’m also planning on some floral soon, which always makes the day better too. I really want to do a black roses design soon!

What do you think about these purple abstract stripes? Do you like random designs like this? Share your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Infinite Shine Shaking My Sugarplums (2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection)

Good morning lovelies & Happy New Years Eve! Can you believe today is the last day of 2023?! This year has been a whirlwind for sure. So much has happened, but I’m excited for what 2024 will bring!

Today I’m excited to share a brand new polish which I received as part of my Christmas gift from my kids. All I asked for this beautiful OPI share, & I was excited to receive it — along with 3 other gorgeous shades I’ll be sharing soon!

This is OPI Shaking My Sugarplums from the 2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection.

3 coats + top coat

This beautiful metallic periwinkle shimmer has a beautiful flash of pinky purple. The second I saw swatches of this shade, I knew I needed to have it. & of course, the hilarious name really sold it!

The formula was a bit thin on this one — I could have gotten away with 2 coats, but opted for a 3 for really solid coverage. It dries quickly, so the extra coat wasn’t an inconvenience at all but really helped with that flash of shimmer.

Macro shot to show of the depth of this beautiful shade. I can’t get over how beautiful it is! I am so happy to be able to add this shade to my collection (as well as the 3 other shades I was gifted)

The OPI 2023 Terribly Nice Holiday Collection can be found anywhere OPI polishes are sold. For fellow Canadians, I know they are currently on sale at Chatters & Chatters.ca for 50% off!

What do you think of this beautiful OPI Holiday shade? Did you pick up any of the beautiful shades from this collection? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & I hope you have the most wonderful New Years Eve!

See you next year!

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER — Ugly Christmas Sweater

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! How is everyone doing so far this week? Today is my last day of Christmas break before returning to work, so I’m soaking up all I can. It’s definitely been a busy couple of days

Today I’m sharing the next prompt for Glam Nails Challenge December which is Ugly Christmas Sweater. I’m not sure if I quite captured the ugly or Christmas part of the prompt — but these are definitely sweater nails haha.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI Infinite Shine Shaking My Sugarplums
  • OPI Infinite Shine Put Something On Ice
  • Black Acrylic Paint
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm striper brush
  • Small dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

So while these aren’t quite your typical ugly Christmas sweater nails, I feel like if you translated this look into a literal sweater (sparkle & all) it definitely would work at that ugly sweater holiday party! So to me, it’s a win. Plus I love the combination of Put Something on Ice over Shaking My Sugarplums.

What do you think of these festive sweater nails? Do you think they fit the ugly Christmas sweater theme? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY— Starrily Cobalt (Co) {Noble Neons Collection}

Contains PR/gifted product from NailStuff.ca

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! & happy one week to Christmas Eve! Who else is feeling the last minute crunch of Christmas? Today though, I’m excited because I have a brand new (to me) polish to share with you that was recently gifted to me by my nail polish fairy godmother Victoria at NailStuff.ca.

This is Starrily Cobalt (Co) from the Noble Neons collection.

2 coats + top coat

This beautiful & vibrant neon blue has a jelly like base with a scattering of holographic flakes for a sparkling effect. You can build it to opacity, like I did, or wear it over a white base for more of a pop. It does dry to a semi matte finish, like a lot of neons tend to do, so it’s best to finish it off with a glossy top coat.

Formula was smooth, easy to work with, & not too thin so I managed to achieve a good opacity with 2 coats. There is still a touch of visible nail line, but I feel like with a polish like this that’s not a bad thing.

As you can see from the macro shot above, the polish has a good density of holographic glitter. It doesn’t overwhelm it, but you get a good sparkle on the nail.

For those looking to add this colour to their own collection, I know it can be purchased from NailStuff.ca or from Starrily directly.

What do you think of Starrily Cobalt (Co)? Would you wear this holographic neon blue? Does anyone else consider blue nail polish a Christmas colour? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy Sunday! 💙