Category: Fall

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Glam Nails Challenge September — Autumn Sunflowers 🌻

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! It’s officially the 2nd of September & my Fall vibes are in full force. I’ve got my pumpkin spice syrup, my plaid shirts & my favourite black tights just ready for cooler temperatures.

I’m also ready for all the Fall polish colours & designs.

After last month’s fun designs with last month’s GlamNailsChallenge, I’ve decided to keep things going with this month’s challenge! & the first challenge is right in my wheelhouse: sunflowers 🌻.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze The Snuggle is Real
  • China Glaze Autumn’s Up!
  • China Glaze Spice To Meet You
  • China Glaze Loves You A Latte
  • Essie Check Your Baggage
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

How cute did my sunflowers turn out?

I’ve actually never attempted sunflowers before, so I’m really excited with how these came together. Plus, I got to use a few of the new China Glaze Autumn Spice collection shades I just received the other day. & they were absolutely perfect for this design. I have full swatches coming Sunday, but spoiler alert: I’m absolutely obsessed with these shades so be prepared for a lot of designs using these polishes.

Are you excited for another month of Glam Nails Challenge? I feel like all the prompts for September is going to just get me even more ready for Autumn, so I’m very excited.

What are you favourite Fall designs? Let me know what Autumn vibes speak to you most?

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Glam Nails Challenge August — Pear 🍐

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

Can you believe it — the last prompt of GlamNailsChallenge August! A whole month of fruit themed prompts. I won’t lie — I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the end but we did it! & I’m feeling super proud of myself right now. & it was so much fun.

& now that we’re almost at the end of August, I’m really feeling those darker colours. Which, is perfect, because it’s the perfect base for our final prompt this month: Pear 🍐.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Essie Carry On
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Sinful Colors Chamomile Calm
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area
  • Essie Get Your Groove On
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Oh man, I searched & searched & searched for Pear nail art inspo on Pinterest, but there was not much to choose from haha. So I decided my best option was just to wing it — & it worked out in my favour! I really adore the yellow-toned pears over this super dark vampy base. I actually forgot about this polish, even though it’s one I love to wear this time of year, so I was very happy to find it! It was the perfect base for my Autumn-y pears.

& thats it for this month’s challenge! I’ve had a lot of fun with this quirky prompts, & I think I’m going to maybe tag along for next prompts challenge as well — it really helps me with ideas of how to paint my nails, which I need sometimes!

If you’re enjoying these monthly challenges, let me know! & don’t forget to check out all the amazing designs for #glamnailschallengeAug on Instagram to see all the fun designs my fellow nail artists have come up with!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cinna-Snap

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Today I’m excited because I’ve got some new polish to share. My Fall polish cravings have been out of control, & I recently went on a bit of a polish buying splurge. So I’ve got lots of Autumn shades coming up to share with you — which is perfect because yesterday was the first day that actually felt like Fall was on its way.

The first shade I’m sharing is an Insta-dri shade called Cinna–Snap — a beautiful red shade with orange-y brown undertones that invokes all the feelings of Autumn. I recently picked up this polish at my local Wal-mart, as part of the Sally Hansen Insta-dri core collection.

2 coats, no top coat

The formula on this shade is really, really nice. Sometimes reds can be tricky, for whatever reason, but this applied in two easy & smooth coats. The brush in the bottle is also really wide, which makes it easy to cover the whole nail in one swoop (depending on the size of your nail polish) . The polish had a nice opacity to it, so you get full coverage easily.

Gosh, I really love this red.

The colour kind of reminds me of bricks, but in a fashionable way. Like I’ve been saying, I’ve really been craving these Fall shades. I mean, I love red any time of the year, but I don’t (think) I have any super close to this shade in my stash currently.

What do you think about this shade? Who else is feeling the Autumn shades already?

Let me know which colours & collections you’re looking more forward to the next couple months! I have the China Glaze Autumn Spice collection on its way to me already from Beyond Polish Canada, plus some other shades I picked up from Nail Polish Canada so I think I’ll have to do a big nail polish haul post very very soon!

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Glam Nails Challenge August—Raspberry

Good Morning loves! & happy Wednesday!

Hope everyone’s week is off to a not too bad start — the weather here on the East Coast is sticky & hot, which doesn’t help my PSL-craving-Autumn-loving heart. But even if I can’t wear knee high socks & boots, & scarves yet… at least I can wear some Fall colours on my nails. Which pairs perfectly with today’s prompt for GlamNailsChallengeAugust: Raspberries!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Insta-dri Zip Wine
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear With The Beet
  • Sally Hansen Insta-dri Cinna-Snap
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Blush Around The World
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Daycream
  • YSL Beauty Vert D’Orient
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wet My Thistle
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Okay, so I’ll just address it: I know my raspberries look a bit more like grapes, than raspberries but I don’t care haha. The girls at work told me it was because I went with such a dark shade (Sally Hansen Zip Wine) but I just had to wear this shade because it’s so pretty! I’ve been on a bit of a Fall polish polish buying splurge lately.

Either way, I do think this look is cute! I went with accent nails because it kind of reminds me of floral from away. So it’s a win in my books — even if some people thought it was grapes haha.

What do you think about this raspberry design? Can you believe we only have one prompt left after this? August has just sped by so quickly. But I’m definitely looking forward to September, & all things Fall related.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sinful Colors Rebel Rose

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Another week is over, so let’s start a new week with a little more brightness. We’re almost to the end of August — if you can believe it — so I suppose I should keep the Summer vibes going a little bit longer.

Last week I was visiting my local Walmart, on the search for nail polish to cheer myself up, & decided to pick up a few—okay, six—Sinful Colors shades to cheer up my blahs. Walmart sells their Sinful polishes 3 for $6, which is a pretty awesome deal. Plus they have a bunch of new collection shades which always gets me excited. I picked up 4 of their scented shades, which I’m going to swatch & shade soon, but I thought for this week I would share this bright fuchsia shade: Rebel Rose.

2 coats + Essie Gel Setter Top Coat

I was initially draw to this polish because of the bright fuchsia shade, but what sold me on it was this beautiful underlying blue/purple shimmer. I also really like that this a great end of Summer/early days of Fall shade. It works with complimentary brighter shades, like a turquoise blue, or something a bit darker, like navy purple or deep purple, depending on what you’re trying to invoke.

The formula was really nice & easy to work with, & applied very smoothly. I did need two pretty evenly applied coats of polish to cover the nail — I noticed when I applied too thinly, it looked a little patchy. Over all, for a very affordable polish, it’s great! Easy to apply, dried pretty quickly (especially with quick dry top coat) & had a great opacity & finish. I’ve always been a fan of Sinful Colors, for these reasons, & I’m happy to add another pretty polish to my stash.

What do you think about Sinful Colors Rebel Rose? Are you loving this shimmery fuchsia as much as I am? What is your favourite affordable polish line? Let me know down in the comments below!