Category: Claire’s

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER (2024) — Pumpkin

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Can you believe we’re already mid-week for our first week of September. I promise, the allure of Autumn will not be all I focus on… although with these cute nail art prompts for this month, it might be hard! Today though, we have the second prompt of Glam Nails Challenge September & it is pumpkins! Now, with the exception of my beloved pumpkin spice, I tend to relate pumpkins more with October but I did a little Pinterest perusing, & came up with a cute pumpkin look that isn’t too Halloween-y.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze Instant Chemistry
  • Color Club Poppin’ Bottles
  • ‘Ard As Nails Not Your Mama’s Pumpkin Spice
  • Essie Souq Up the Sun
  • Essie Cliffhanger
  • Claire’s Matte Nail Polish 75192 (shimmery emerald green)
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

When I say I’m obsessed with these — I’m freaking obsessed with these! & I think the fact that my nails are a smidge shorter now actually makes this manicure look better! But these just turned out so cute, & I love the little pumpkins, & I love the shimmer & sparkle. I love everything! Considering I went into this manicure prompt not 100% sure what I was going to end up with, I’m so, so in love with the final result.

The cutest little pumpkins ever!

What do you think of my little glittery Autumn pumpkins? Do you like what I did with this prompt? Would you wear a design like this on your nails? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& I always love knowing what you’re wearing on your nails right now too!

Enjoy your Wednesday

♥︎

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) — Sun 🌞

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their day — can you believe this is the last Monday of August?! September is so close, it’s kind of crazy.

Today we have our second last prompt for Glam Nails Challenge August, which is sun 🌞. I decided once again to do my own interpretation, which I think turned out so beautifully!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Claire’s 72640 (dark burgundy)
  • Essie Mani Thanks!
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio

I went a little out of the box with these suns, but I think you can still get the idea of what they’re supposed to be! I think they’re really cool & interesting, & I really love how they turned out.

This has been such a fun challenge to do this month, & I’m really glad I got back into my nail art groove. I think I needed something like this to stretch my creative muscles, & I’m excited to finish it strong on Wednesday!

What do you think about this sun design? Do you see the vibe I was going for? Have you enjoyed these prompts this month as much as I have? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& hop on over to Instagram to see all the other beautiful designs using the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug24.

Have a happy Monday!

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Khaki Green

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! Another beautiful sunny Sunday. I know we still have a little under a month of Summer left (according to the calendar) but man oh man, do I feel the Autumn polish vibes calling. So I decided to pull out one of those more Fall-esque shades for today’s Swatch Sunday post. 🍂🍁

This is Claire’s Khaki Green.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve written before about my absolute love of Claire’s polishes, even after all these years. Working for the company really introduced my absolute nail polish obsession, especially they were always very good for duping current trends in their polish brand — like crackle, feather, etc.

Khaki Green is a beautiful olive geeen with a stunning shimmer of golden bronze that really pops on the nail, especially in the sunshine. It is definitely giving late Summer/early Autumn, & would be the perfect addition to any Fall nail polish collection. & I love how the shimmer actually shows up better on the nail than in the bottle, which I feel like is virtually unheard of (it’s usually the other way around.)

Seriously — look at that shimmer. It’s just so stunningly beautiful!

The formula on this guy was good & easy to apply. It actually had a good shiny finish, although I did add top coat to really gloss it up. Over all, a good shade from a mainstream brand that isn’t necessarily known for their nail polish. I always love when you kind find hidden gems where you wouldn’t normally think to look.

Sadly, this shade is a few years old now so (I’m guessing) no longer in rotation. But I definitely recommend checking out the shades they release, because there are always fun colours & finishes you wouldn’t expect.

What do you think of Claire’s Khaki Green? Do you like this shade of olive green with shimmer? Is this kind of colour one you would reach for come Autumn? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday 🖤

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) — Night Sky 🌌

Hello beauties & happy Monday. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

This month is speeding by quickly! We’re already on our third prompt of Glam Nails Challenge August, & the next prompt is Night Sky. For this look, I went with a dark base & some pretty stamped on holographic stars to complete it. & oh boy… am I in love!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie No More Film
  • Claire’s Holographic
  • Color Club Bewitched
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Jelly Stamper Set
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns Stamping Plate BP-L006 (discontinued)

Hello gorgeous!

While usually I would go with a classic galaxy design for a prompt like this, I’m glad I went with the stamped stars because I just think this look turned out perfect! I love the shifty base, I love my secretly holographic stars (those Color Club holos really do stamp so well!); I love everything! This is exactly the reason why I knew I wanted to jump back into the Glam Nails Challenge game this month — I needed to get my nail art mojo back after a rough beginning to the year, & it feels like I finally am!

Just in time for my favourite nail art months of the year.

What do you think of my night sky inspired nails? Are you a fan of this design? Would you wear this nail art look? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

& as always, you can follow along with the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram with the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug24 & see all the beautiful nails that have been created!

Happy Monday!

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Venomous

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s an especially beautiful Sunday because it’s my birthday! Okay, so I’ve never really been a birthday person — even before I hit my 30s — but I do love a free Starbucks drink so I’l celebrate it slightly.

Today though, we have another Swatch Sunday & I dug & dug through my nail polish stash to find an Halloween-esque nail polish shade, & I found this very special shade circa 2010/2011. This is Claire’s Venomous.

2 coats over OPI Black Cherry Chutney + top coat

So a little back story on this shade. I purchased this during the beginnings of my nail polish addict stages. I remembered reading this Claire’s (which I worked at during this time) had released some nail polishes that were dupes for the MAC Venomous Villian’s collection, so naturally I knew I needed them. I only have 2/3 shades (I believe) but they are prized treasures in my nail polish stash.

Now, for my swatches I did two coats over a one coat of Black Cherry Chutney. The formula is very, very thin — requiring 3-4 coats — so I always prefer to add some undies. (If you want to see swatches on this shade layered, check out Deez Nailz post. ) I love the foiled finish of this shade, & how the polish shifts depending on how you move your hand. Depending on the undies you choose, you can bring out more of the green shift you see in the bottle.

As above, you can see a good example of how the shade shifts on the nails. I wrote in a previous post about Quo by ORLY Wrong so Right that they were dupes, but looking at the close up above I feel like you get a lot more of the gold/green flash with this shade which I quite like. This was actually the colour I chose for my nails for a wedding I attended this weekend, & I thought it was the perfect colour for Autumn. & the nail is very Halloween-y, obviously.

What do you think about Claire’s Venomous? What is your oldest/most prized nail polish in your nail polish collection? Do you think this is a great Halloween-y polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday Everyone. ♥︎