January Monochrome Chevron Moons

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday. It’s a chilly, chilly here which is feeling very January. & January can be just so blah. So I thought I would make things more fun, with some monochromatic half moons with a little glittery twist.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Hue There? layered over CND Vinylux Dark Dahlia
  • Essie Expressie Feel The Hype*
  • Essie Play Date
  • Quo by Orly Black Striper
  • NailStuff 4mm Micro Detail Brush  
    **pr/gifted

I love a good half moon look, & I think this design turned out very cool. I went into it not sure what I was doing — just knowing what colours I wanted to paint over my base — but what I created is a great look. Also, freehand painting these lines of chevrons was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be which I’m happy about.

What do you think about these monochromatic half moons, with a little glittery twist. I feel like I’m not quite ready to let go of my glitter, but I definitely am feeling drawn to darker colours right now.

What do you think of this design? Are you loving dark shades right now? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

Have a lovely Tuesday.

🖤

Twinkling Snowflakes ❄️✨

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week, & only 4 days away from December 1st. Who else hasn’t started their Christmas shopping yet?

Today I’m showing off more glittery nails on my shorties. I was feeling some handprinted snowflakes, since they’ve been all over my Instagram feed, so I decided to give them a go. & obviously, I needed a good base for them to pop over, so I picked some more sparkles. After all, ’tis the season for sparkle!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • CND Vinylux Dark Dahlia
  • Sinful Colours I Miss You
  • Essie Blanc
  • Essie Separated Starlight
  • Nailstuff Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio 

How pretty did these little snowflakes turn out. I’ve never been the most comfortable free handing my snowflakes, but I was feeling pretty confident after watching way too many tutorial videos. & they turned out absolutely beautiful, & I’m very proud of that.

I’m trying not to get too Christmas-y on my nails yet, as Glam Nails Challenge December starts next Wednesday, & I’m going all in to end this year! There are so many great prompts, so I’m really excited for some fun designs to end this year strong.

What do you think of my twinkling snow flakes? Has it snowed where you are yet? We haven’t had anything more than a couple flurries, but they are calling for a potential snowstorm at the end of the week which is crazy!

Happy Wednesday

♥︎

Under the Sea Stamped Nail Art 🪸🌊

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. Sorry for a quiet week so far — with the kids being off school, sometimes it’s hard to get my posts done!

But I’m really excited to share my nails today, because I feel like these are really fun! I originally started out with just my gradient nails, but felt like something was missing so I added some fun stamping—that reminded me of sea weed—over top.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Here to Stay
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • CND Vinylux Lost Labyrinth
  • Icing Stores Starlight
  • Icing Stores Black
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP-L026
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set

Does that not look like seaweed, under the water? If only I had some cute fish nail art stickers strategically added, then I would really sell the ocean vibes! But I still think the stamping gave the look I was going for.

What do you think of these stamped nails? Did you guess ocean? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER — Ghosts 👻

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. I know I usually post my Glam Nails Challenge Sunday prompts on Monday, but we were on a long drive yesterday & I totally forgot to write down what shades I used for my nails before we went away haha. So I had to wait until I was back home before I could write up my post — silly, silly me.

The next prompt for Glam Nails Challenge is ghosts! & I was super pumped for this prompt. I always have fun coming up with ghosty looks, & this manicure was no different.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Chocolate
  • CND Crimson Sparkle
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod!
  • OPI After Alter
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

How cute did these little ghosties turn out? I’m absolutely obsessed with how they turned out. Ghosts are one of those nails are you can do in so many different styles, but I really like the contrast of the white over the burgundy base, with those sparkles & flakes — gives it a ghostly appearance. Plus the colour is just lovely — even if it’s not traditionally Halloween.

Oh man, I’m having so much fun with this prompt, even if this month is turning out to be a bit busier than I had originally intended. But that’s okay! This is definitely the nail art challenge I did to get my creative nail art juices flowing.

& don’t forget to keep following along with #glamnailschallengeoct to see all the other fun nail art looks that are being posted!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Joe Fresh Quartz

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope you’re all having a beautiful & fantastic weekend so far. The weather here has been beautiful so far, & I got to enjoy a lovely Saturday off work (that never happens) so I’m feeling refreshed for the week ahead.

So lately I’ve been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I’m on season 2. Which mean, obviously, I’ve been obsessing about her nail polish. In particular, I noticed this metallic grey shade she’s been wearing a lot this season. So I decided to take a look into my stash, & found this beautiful Joe Fresh shade I’ve owned since 2015-ish or so: Quartz.

3 coats + Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat

Yes, so this shade is pretty sheer upon first, & even second, application. I ended up with three thin coats for full opacity. However, they applied with minimal streaking & brushstrokes, so I was pretty happy with that. You can also apply this over a darker shade with lesser coats as well. I do believe that will bring out the duochrome effect a bit more dramatically as well.

A macro shot for good measure. The shift is very good on this shade, depending on which was you move your fingers. I love the purple to green shift on this — it’s beautiful.

But just for a fun, I thought I’d add a little sparkle to this beauty which has been in my stash just as long: CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance. This shade has a similar colouring, but with some added holo sparkle! & the results was perfect.

Adding Dazzling Dance definitely changed the switch from a greenish to a blue/silver, but I love the end result. That sparkle definitely makes up the duller duochrome shift. But I totally think this polish is giving me late 90s, early 2000s vibes & I’m totally here for it.

What do you think about this week’s Swatch Sunday pick: Joe Fresh Quartz. Do you prefer it on it’s own, or with the the added sparkle of CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!