GlamnailschallengeOct—Skeletons 💀

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Hello lovelies & Happy Monday! The Halloween countdown is officially on, & I have another spooky design created for GlamnailschallengeOct! The next prompt on our list is skeletons, which is not an image I’ve ever attempted on my nails before, so I was really excited to give it a shot! & honestly, I think this is my favourite manicure of the challenge so far!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Duri Rejuvocate
  • Top Coat: YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Essie Leggy Legend
  • China Glaze Pathological Liar Liar
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Black Acrylic Paint
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm liner brush (from Mermaid Brush Trio)
  • Born Pretty Store Classic Patterns stamping plate BP-L006 (item #17924)

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This nail art look was built in layers. First I started off with my base, which is Pathological Liar Liar layered over Leggy Legend — I definitely need to do two coats of PLL next time, but I definitely love it a lot more when it has some undies.

Next I decided to use this skull & cross bones image from my classic patterns stamping plate from Born Pretty Store, mostly because I was unsure about free handing skeletons. On its own, the image was a little meh, so I took a risk & outlined the stamp with black acrylic paint & my mermaid tail brush from NailStuff. & that’s when this mani came to life! The outlining made the image pop on my nail & I am absolutely OBSESSED with it. I also did a few polka dots around it to fill in the space. It almost looks like nail art stickers, which is super cool. I literally didn’t even want to take these off after I put them on.

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I really like how the stamping & outlining almost looks slightly cartoon-y. Going with black & white over the coppery orange base was definitely the way to go.

I feel like if 17 year old me was into nail art like this back in the day, this is a design I would have rocked in a variety of background colours… while listening to the Ataris on repeat & writing angsty journal entries. Works for Halloween & non-Halloween alike.

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What do you think about my skeleton nails? Would you wear this design? What do you think about combining freehanding & stamping in the same manicure? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! & don’t forget to keep following along with  #glamnailschallengeOct on Instagram for all the nail art looks!

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI DS Extravagance

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. This is my first swatch post since my disastrous nail break last week, so obviously I need to pick something stunning to share. & Today I’ve got one of the most beautiful polishes I own, & one I always pull out this time of year–OPI Designer Series Extravagance. This polish was a birthday gift given to me 5 years ago, & I love to wear it in October on or around my birthday.

The OPI Designer Series was a collection of polishes (that are now discontinued I do believe) that were a step above OPI’s regular polish line. A lot of them had holo glitter & flakies to give them a special touch. Extravagance was my first polish from this line, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was also one of the first holos I ever owned, & helped me fall in love with holographic nail polish.

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For my swatches, I did base coat, 2 coats of polish & finished it off with YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat. I’m planning on doing a full post on this top coat, but oh boy am I loving it so far. It dries SO QUICK you guys, like I almost can’t believe it. It might actually be the quickest quick dry top coat I’ve ever used.

The formula on this polish is pretty damn awesome. First coat goes on not quite opaque, & the second coat gives your nail a beautiful sparkly finish. It’s slightly jelly like, but not quite as much as say China Glaze Private Side-Eye. The glitters are so dense though, which is what makes this shade just so beautiful. Literally, it turns your actual nails into gemstones & I love it.

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Even though I do believe this collection has been discontinued, you can see find the polishes available in some places like nailpolishcanada.com & amazon, as well as a few other places they sell OPI I’m sure.

I must say, I don’t officially have a list of all time favourite polishes but if I were actually to sit down & compile one (which I’ve been thinking about doing), this shade would definitely be on it! There are only a few polishes I’ll ever truly wear on their own without even thinking about nail art, but Extravagance is definitely one. It’s just too perfect. 💗

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What do you think about OPI DS Extravagance? Do you own any shades from the Designer Series collection & which is your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

GlamnailschallengeOct—Spiders 🕸

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We are almost halfway through the month, can you believe it? & Happy Thanksgiving to all my Fellow Canadians celebrating today with Turkey, Tofurky or whatever else you’re making for the occasion.

Today I have another look for GlamnailschallengeOct! Today’s prompt is Spiders, which is quite possibly my least favourite thing in the whole wide world, but a popular choice this time of year for nail art. & I do seem to do some kind of Spider web look each year, as it’s a time honoured Halloween classic.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Nicole by OPI Totally in the Dark
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

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Okay, so regardless of my phobia toward legit spiders (& their sticky webs), I am really loving how these turned out. These turned out much more delicate than some of my previous spider web attempts, which I’m very happy about. Turns out good nail art brushes really make a huge difference in how nail art turns out! My nail art brushes from NailStuff.ca has really improved how my nail art looks & has brought my freehanding to another level… even when I’m on a nap time time crunch. Also I fought it for a longtime, but using acrylic paint also really helps with upping the look, probably because it doesn’t dry as quickly as nail polish does.

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Halloween manicures make me so happy, even ones involving spiders (ick). This would definitely be a fun manicure to wear for a witchy Halloween costume, or something like Mortica. I have quite decided what I’m being for Halloween, although Kenneth tells me I’m being a princess, but if I go with a spooky look I may have to recreate this! I did end up wearing this manicure for a good 5 days.

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What do you think about this spider design? Are you already planning your spooky Halloween designs? Don’t forget to keep checking out #glamnailschallengeOct on Instagram for everyone else’s amazing designs this month!

China Glaze Halloween 2019 Swatches — To Catch A Colour Collection

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Hello lovelies & Happy Friday!

Today I’m switching things up a bit & sharing my swatches for China Glaze Halloween 2019. I know, usually I would wait & write up a Swatch Sunday post featuring these beauties, but I was too excited about this new collection to wait!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but China Glaze always makes my favourite Halloween nail polish collections, because they’re always super unique & fun for Halloween, but still work really well for other times of the year. This year, the collection consists of 6 brand new polishes: 1 textured shade, 3 regular metallic/scattered holo shade, & two fun glitter toppers.

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So without any further ado, let’s get to the swatches!

Continue reading “China Glaze Halloween 2019 Swatches — To Catch A Colour Collection”

GlamnailschallengeOct—Ghosts 👻

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Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! The week is certainly speeding by! Today I have another fun look designed for #glamnailschallengeOct–ghost inspired nails! & be still my Halloween loving heart, because these turned out so much fun. I decided to try out a look I’ve always wanted to try, using watered down acrylic paint.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Joe Fresh Gel Look Gothika Blue
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • White acrylic paint
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Thick nail art brush (I used an old one from Bundle Monster)
  • Small dotting tool (Mine are from NailStuff.ca)

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First off, loving this base of Fairy Dust over Gothika Blue because it really does look like the night sky. Also why do I always forget how amazing China Dust Fairy Dust is over pretty much everything, but especially over dark polishes. I don’t wear it nearly as much as I should. Could you imagine it over a dark red to black gradient?! Okay I’m getting some nail art ideas for more Halloween designs! Definitely going to need to try that out in the next couple weeks before Halloween. It would look so good!

Okay back to this design, haha.

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This design turned out pretty much how I imagined, although I kind of wish I had watered down my acrylic slightly more to give my ghosts a more ghostly appearance, but I think the trick is the try & only do one coat of white vs. a few coats. My thumb kind of turned out my favourite, because you can see the the base peeking through his ghostly body. & I love how it looks. Next time I try this technique, I’ll know what works a bit better & I’ll be able to get them all perfect.

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What do you think about today’s ghostly look? Have you started planning your Halloween looks yet? Let me know down in the comments below what you think about this design, & as always check out #glamnailschallengeOct on Instagram for everyone else’s amazing designs this month!

🎃