Category: Freehand

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Subtle Burgundy Dotticure

Good morning lovelies & happy Friday!

Who else is excited for the weekend. I can’t believe it’s the weekend already. & the first week of November is pretty much over. The shift in the weather is definitely evident. I can feel the Winter slowly approaching. Which means let’s get crazy for jewel tones. I’ve been going through all my old holiday polishes from years past, & getting excited for the season to come.

Does anyone else have these arbitrary rules when it comes to polish? My brain always seems more drawn to darker jewel tones as the weather gets cooler, which summer I’m more likely to reach for brighter, poppy shades.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Frosted Berries
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Garnish Attention
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I’ve literally been wearing this manicure since Tuesday, & I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. My nails are super short now, so I’m not sure inspired for nail art right now, but I do love a subtle dotticure. I had originally thought about doing some gold dots, but I felt like it might be a bit too Christmas-y, so I went with darker dots.

What nail art are you loving right now during this cooler November months? Which nail polishes would you like to see me feature leading up to the holiday season? Let me know down in the comments below!

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Matte Knit Sweater Nails

Hello lovelies & happy November… officially. We’re three days into the month, & I’m already feeling those post Halloween, pre-holiday vibes. Maybe it’s the fact every store has already decked their Halls fully, but you can definitely feel a shift in the air.

& you know what that means… sweater nails!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Matte Top Coat
  • China Glaze Intelligence, Integrity & Courage
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Zip Wine
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

This look was a design that was inspired originally by @xglitzandpolishx & I did a version of it last year. I loved that one so much, I really needed to recreate it again… this time with a difference colour scheme. November brings greyer skies, so I thought I would paint my nails to match… with just a smidge of colour. &, of course, I had to add some matte top coat. It’s my favourite top coat in the cooler months, not sure why.

Also, sad to say… this was my last design I did with my longer nails. The cooler weather brings on easier breaks, so I’m now rocking some shorties. But that’s okay! Bring on the fun Fall designs for short nails! I’m actually really excited for some pre-holiday designs, cosy knit nails, & lots of jewel tone nail polishes!

What do you think about this knit sweater look? What are your favourite nail art designs for November? Are you already jumping on the Christmas polishes/looks, or do you like to wait until December? Let me know what you’re looking forward to seeing down in the comments below!

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Glam Nails Challenge October— Zombies/Monsters

Hello Lovelies & Happy Monday! & happy day after Halloween. If you’re surviving the post Halloween sugar craze! I know technically it’s November 1st (how crazy is that) but I have one more prompt for Glam Nails Challenge October to share with you: Monster/Zombie. & I decided to go the Frankenstein’s monster route with some patch work monster nails.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence L.O.L
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Glow in the Dark Fab-BOO-lous (gifted)
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

How fun did this manicure turn out? This is another look that I’ve repeated over the years for Halloween, & I love how it looks. It’s also a relatively easy manicure to do, all things considered. I decided this time, though, to spruce things up with some glow in the dark action, & I’m very glad I did because you can see how cool it looks! I added it over my base colour of Essence L.o.L, then drew my black lines over top, so you could still see the monster pattern in the dark! & I think it turned out perfectly. My kids were actually obsessed with me turning off the lights, & showing them how they glowed.

The perfect Halloween look!

What do you think of this final GlamNailsChallengeOctober look? Are you as shocked as I am that October is already over? Where is the time going! & now… the countdown to Christmas officially begins!

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Glam Nails Challenge October— Mummy

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday! Yes… it’s Thursday already! & Halloween is only 3 days away.

Is everyone ready?

I don’t know about where you are, but stores around here are almost cleared out for Halloween & it’s like Christmas exploded in every store. But I’m still here for Halloween & have a few more Halloween looks to share! First up, the next prompt for GlamNailsChallenge October: Mummy.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen CSM Off The Shoulder
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essence Dare It Nude
  • China Glaze The Snuggle is Real
  • OPI Chiffon My Mind
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Please excuse the cruddy lighting — it was a rainy miserable day when I was attempting to take these pictures. The joys of late October in Nova Scotia, haha.

For my mummy look, I wanted to go with a more subtle mummy look — like if an Egyptian princess was being mummified & wanted her nails to be featured. Haha. My look definitely ended up a bit more subtle than I had originally wanted, but that was a lot to do with my base shade. I feel like I might have wanted a bit more of a contrasting colour. But I’m still really happy with how they turned out.

What do you think about this “mummy” look? Can you believe that Halloween is almost here (& over!) What is your favourite Halloween candy? L

et me know in the comments below!

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Glam Nails Challenge October— Spooky Sky

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

Can you believe it is the last week of October already? Halloween is 5 days away! That’s just…. crazy. But today I have another fun prompt for GlamNailsChallengeOct: spooky sky.

I’ll admit — initially stumped me a bit on what I should do. Spooky sky is a prompt that could encapsulate so many different ideas, but I finally I decided on a grey toned sky, with some creepy trees & graves.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essence Rock My World
  • China Glaze Intelligence, Integrity & Courage
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Fan Brush (I think mine is just a cheap one I bought from Icing years ago…)
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I really had this vision in my head of this decrepit tree against a spooky, grey toned sky — so that was the look I went for. I wanted something that you would see before the big killer was revealed in a horror film. & I think I managed to achieve what I was going for. I think my thumb turned out my favourite of all my nails too — between the layered polishes which really mimicked clouds, to the tree, it might be my favourite of all my nails.

& I got so many compliments on my nails at work, which always make me happy. Especially when people ask me where I got them done, or are shocked when I say I did them myself. That always makes me feel awesome!

What do you think about this look? Do these spooky sky nails gives you all the Halloween feels? Are you celebrating Halloween this year — a party, trick or treating, eating an entire box of Halloween bars to yourself? What are your Halloween plans… let me know down in the comments below!

& Stay tuned, because we have just two more prompts for GlamNailsChallengeOctober to come before this month is over!