Category: Christmas

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe this is the last Sunday before Christmas?

I can’t believe how quickly this holiday season has sped by. I haven’t even had a chance to do any Christmas baking yet! But I am excited, because it’s been a long time since I had a chance to get a new release OPI holiday shade, so when I saw a few of the new collection, I had to pick on. & as soon as I saw this beautiful & dark shimmer shade, I knew I needed it for my collection!

2 coats + OPI Infinite Shiner Top Coat

How freaking beautiful is this shade? It’s a deep reddish brown shade with this stunning bronze-y shimmer — which you can really see in the bottle. The formula was pretty dark perfect, smooth & easy to apply. Two coats gave perfect application, which left a smooth & perfectly applied manicure. Obviously, red is one of my favourite manicure colours so I will always be drawn to it, but I do feel like there is something a little extra special about this polish.

I picked up my bottle of OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems at my local Chatters Salon, but you can find this shade wherever OPI shades are sold. It is available in regular formula, the Infinite Shine formula, & in the Gel formula as well.

What do you think about OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems? Have you picked up any shades from the OPI 2022 Holiday collection? Which one was your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what colour you’re planning on wearing on your nails for Christmas Eve!

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Dainty Present Accent Nail Art 🎁

Hello beauties & happy Friday! Can you believe we’re just a little over a week before Christmas? Where has the time gone?! We have less than 0 snow which means it doesn’t really feel like Christmas or, even, December here. But I’m hoping for a Christmas miracle, & a little bit of snow for the holiday.

Today though I have a cute Christmas design to share with you that I’ve been wearing for the last few days. I recently took a trip to the Chatters by my new work, looking for nail polish. While they don’t quite have the stash they used to have, I did find a couple cute shades including a mini bottle of OPI Green on the Runway from the 2014 Coca-Cola collection. I thought it would be a fun non-traditional Christmas colour choice.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Starrily Vantablack (c/o: NailStuff.ca)
  • OPI Green on the Runway
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Make It N-Ice
  • China Glaze Sleigh Bells Ring
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

I really wanted to see how Green on the Runway would look layered over black, & I like it! Obviously, I had to had some sparkle, & Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Make It N-Ice is a great topper! It adds just the right amount of sparkle to this design. It’s Christmas, so sparkle is almost mandatory!

Also I love how my teeny little bow turned out. Sometimes all you need is just a little accent nail, & I feel like this was the perfect combination of colour, with a little bit extra holiday added. It makes me so happy! My slightly dry cuticles thanks to freezing temperatures? Not so happy. But hopefully Santa has a big tin of Burt’s Bees cuticle balm for my stocking this year.

What do you think of this dainty accent nail, & colour combination? Are you a fan of simple of fancy holiday designs? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! Just 8 more days until Christmas Eve, so now is the time to get the rest of my Christmas nails finalized.

Have a fantastic Friday!

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Glam Nails Challenge December — Gingebread

Hello loves & Happy Thursday!

Technically I meant to post this manicure yesterday, but between crazy busy Christmas rushes at work, & Bubba’s first Christmas concert, my mind got a little displaced. Whoops! I’m excited, though, to share this gingerbread look I did for the next prompt of Glam Nails Challenge December.

This is officially the half way point of the challenge, &… even crazier, we only have a week & a half left until Christmas. I’ve literally done no baking, our tree isn’t up… this year is definitely getting the best of me. But at least I’ve managed a few cute festive designs so far this month.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Sinful Colors Essenchills Coffee Drip
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ski Bunny
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

This look was inspired by this look that I found on Pinterest. I loved the idea of turning your nail into the gingerbread cookie itself. Mine came out a bit more… rustic than my inspiration. But I still think it was a cute idea, & I especially love my ring & pointer finger. I went into this design without a clear vision of what I wanted to do, & I think that’s where my nail art went a bit sideways. Either way, I love this overall look, & I think it’s a fun take on this prompt!

What do you think of this Gingerbread inspired design? Have you been busy with Christmas/Holiday planning? Have you gotten any baking done yet? Let me know down in the comments below. &, as always, I encourage you to check out all the beautiful designs for this month’s  Glam Nails Challenge December on Instagram!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party

Hello my loves & Happy Sunday! This is the second Sunday of December, so I’m keeping with the Christmas-ish polish tradition, & trying to share shades that are related in some way to the holiday!

This past week I did a poll on my Instagram asking if people would rather see China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party (Holiday 2015) or OPI Bring Out The Big Gems (Holiday 2022) this week, & with an overwhelming majority, Ugly Sweater Party was the winner!

2 coats, No Top Coat

China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party is a pink jelly formula, packed tightly with an assortment of glitters, including holographic. The formula is a tad on the thick side, but with a little bit of patience, I easily covered my whole nail in two coats. You could probably sponge on the glitter for a denser packed glitter effect, but I much prefer it applied this way as I like the overall finish.

Truthfully, I don’t know if I can remember ever wearing this shade as a full manicure like this before. I originally bought the polish because I loved the name, & glitter is my weakness, but I think I’ve truthfully only used it in glitter gradients, or maybe as a single accent nail, which makes me sad.

I was also surprised I had never swatched this shade previous Decembers, so I was happy. to do both for todays post! This is definitely a fun glitter shade, & just screams Christmas party to me! My Christmas party days are long behind me, but to be honest if I were every invited to one — & didn’t have time for a full nail art look — this would be my #1 polish pick for such an occasion.

Do you remember China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party from its original 2015 release? Did you have this sparkly shade in your stash, or do you still have this glitter on rotation? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Holo Stamped Snowflakes ❄️

Hey beauties & happy Friday!

I’m trying to share at least one non-Glam Nails Challenge design each week, so I thought I would go for some snowflake stamped nails. Our Halifax weather is nothing close to snow right now–it’s currently, as I write this post, warm-ish & raining–so I thought if I wanted snow, I would need to put it on my nails.

& you know what is more fun than just snowflakes on your nails… holographic snowflakes on your nails.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Dimension Nails Kronosaurus (c/o: NailStuff.ca)
  • SuperChic Lacquer Throwing Shade (c/o: Nailstuff.ca)
  • Discontinued Born Pretty Store Christmas pattern stamping plate
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set

Lots of holographic sparkle happening in the sunshine. This was not the easiest to photographic in the bright sun, I won’t lie, but I tried my best to capture the effect. The snowflakes really did show up well though, & I like the snowflake pattern. It’s really pretty.

There is just something about Christmas & snowflake nail art. It’s like Christmas, & watching The Muppets Christmas Carol: it just doesn’t feel like Christmas is coming without it. Also this again is not your traditional Christmas colour scheme, but I still like it. I love red nail polish, but I feel like I can overdo it a bit in December, so I’m trying to ration the red nail designs a bit.

What do you think about this holographic stamped snowflake look? Have you been enjoying all the nail art I’ve been posting so far this month? We’re 17 days away from Christmas, so I’m going to try & show off as many nail art looks as possible before the big day!

Enjoy your weekend loves! & stay safe if you have to go our shopping. Christmas shopping can be dangerous.