SWATCH SUNDAY — Icing Stores Santa Baby

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! & happy December 1st as well! The countdown to Christmas is officially on, so naturally it’s time to get SERIOUS about all things holly & jolly. This month, I’m going to be dedicating all my Swatch Sunday posts to polishes of Christmas past, which are my favourite to pull out during the holidays.

First up, I chose a shade that’s a few years old but is probably one of the most Christmas-y shades I own: Icing Stores Santa Baby. For those who don’t know what Icing is, it’s a accessories store owned by Claire’s–basically Claire’s big sister store–& during holidays like Halloween, Christmas, or Easter, they always come out with themed collections. This bottle of polish was originally released as part of their 2015 Christmas collection, & I’ve been pulling it out ever since!

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Santa Baby is a glitter topper — the base is clear, & it is packed full of an assortment of glitters in red, green & white, all ranging from tiny micro glitters to medium sized bar glitters. But the coolest part about this polish is that it is scented like peppermint/candy canes once dried, & it comes through even with a nice coat of glossy top coat to seal it in. Seriously… the barista at my local coffee shop commented on how cool this polish looked on my nails, & I literally was like “you have to smell them! It smells like candy canes!” I’m a little weird sometimes.

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For my swatches, I applied one coat of Santa Baby over Essie Wrap It Up, & sealed everything in with Essie Gel Setter to level my nails out. This is one of my favourite ways to wear this polish & the best option for showing it off in all its glory. Second to that, this shade makes for the most perfect glitter gradient which I’ve shown off in years past. I’d love to try to sponge it on someday, & maybe I will as like an accent nail with some peel off base coat if I’m looking for a one night kind of manicure. I’d be really curious to see what it looks like all sponged on.

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As you can see, it’s like Christmas-y confetti on the nails. How amazing is that? I just adore the different range of glitter styles packed into one bottle. It always makes me feel festive whenever I put it on, even if I’m feeling more Grinch-y than Elf-y! Instantly it is like my holly & jolly levels will begin to rise, no rum spiked egg nog needed at all.

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Sadly this polish is 4+ years old, so it’s no longer in production. I even checked online to see if there was a similar product available, but there doesn’t seem to be any Christmas nail polishes at all this year by them. So this is definitely one of those lock it in the vault kind of shades if you happen to have it as part of your collection, because it really is special.

Do you have any special to your Christmas polishes you pull out every year? Let me know what yours are, & stay tuned because I have more Christmas themed nail polishes to share with you this month!

Crazy Colourful Plaid Nails

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Hello lovelies & happy Friday! It is Friday right? I feel like my days are blending into each other a bit. Winter maternity leave is like one never ending day haha. I miss the sunshine. BUT winter does mean one thing: Christmas is coming. & even better… it’s time for all my favourite Winter/Christmas/Holiday designs.

Today is a design I haven’t done for a long time–plaid. I used to do multiple plaid designs every year, but I kind of lost my momentum, so I feel like it’s about time to bring them back! However, I think I need some practice, or maybe a reference picture, because these turned out… interesting. However, I still loved them enough to post them!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea & Bamboo Strengthener
  • Top Coat: YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Stronger than Ever {PR sample}
  • Jordana Cosmetics Pop Art Nail Design in Blue Abstract
  • Rimmel London Camouflage
  • Yellow gold metallic (no name)
  • Black & White acrylic paint
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Liner Brush (use COFFEE10 to save 10%) {PR sample}

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For this look, I started off with a base of Quo by ORLY Breathable in Stronger than Ever which is a really nice shimmery red that is great for Christmas. Next, I took my NailStuff liner brush & made base lines using my black & white acrylic paint. This is where a reference picture would have been useful, because I was a bit haphazard in my line placement. But even still, it does have that plaid-esque feel to it.

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Even though I was a little disappointed with how these nails turned out at first, after applying top coat & staring at them, they really grew on me & I ended up loving how they turned out. They really make me excited to do some more plaid nails that are a little more Christmas-y — I have visions of an emerald green base with red & gold lines. Oooooh yes! Bring on all the plaid!

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What do you think about these plaid nails? Would you rock a look like this? Share your thoughts down in the comments below! ♥️

BODICO Stamping Plate & Stamper Review

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Hello lovelies! Today I have a fun spontaneous review for you guys! For my birthday last month, my Mom gave me a present that included a few stamping plates from a new to me brand (BODICO) & I decided that it would be fun to review these stamping plate for you guys! I also asked over on my Instagram if you would like to see a review & it was a resounding 100% YES!

I asked my Mum, & she said she bought these stamping plates at the Great Canadian Dollar Store in Bathurst New Brunswick. I looked this brand up online & couldn’t find any more plates to buy, but I did find the stamper/scraper set on some random website. The plates themselves are all single sheets of metal, with a selection of designs. & each plate is numbered–I have plates B-03, B-12, & B-17.

& before we get started, I just want to say I am not a professional stamper–at best I am a newb. But I do like stamping, & I feel like I’ve been getting better, so I feel like that makes me a good person to review these plates as they seem like the kind of item a beginner might pick up to try out nail stamping.

Continue reading “BODICO Stamping Plate & Stamper Review”

Stamped Sweater Nails

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Hello lovelies! & happy Tuesday! I’m super pumped to share this manicure with you, because we recently had a nice splattering of snow fall & winter-y sweater nails just seemed appropriate. I also really, really wanted to use a couple old stamping plates of mine that are Christmas/Winter themed that I always feel like I forget to use when the season comes around!

I don’t do a lot of stamping, but I have been doing it more often & I like how quick it can be. So you can probably expect to see more Christmas-y stamped looks coming up so that I can use a bunch of stamping patterns I never have before. & there definitely needs to be some ugly Christmas sweater nails happening.

But in the meantime, let’s take a look at today’s manicure!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea Bamboo Strengthener
  • Top Coat: YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Pat on the Black
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen MG Make It N-Ice
  • Revlon Iconic
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L018 (item #19373)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

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Oh man, I can’t believe how much I love love love this manicure. The colours work so well together, & this looks gives me all the cosy feelings. The weather has definitely taken that winter-y turn if always does in November & there is nothing I love more than wearing cosy sweaters & drinking copious amounts of warm drinks when that happens. &, okay, maybe all the holiday decorations that are increasingly popping up in stores may be giving me the Christmas feels. Last year I was too sick with never ending morning sickness to even think about Christmas nails, so I’m really excited to make up for it this year!

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What do you think about these winter-y sweater nails? What is your favourite kind of Christmas design to wear? Share all your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know what designs you’d like to see me do coming up!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Holiday 2019 {Oh My Gold}

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{PR sample}

Hello lovelies! Not only is it one of my favourite days of the week — Swatch Sunday — but even more exciting… the Holiday nail polish collections have started popping up! & Sally Hansen Canada, bring the sweethearts that they are, sent me their brand new Holiday 2019 Oh My Gold! Collection.

The Oh My Gold! Collection is a limited edition collection consisting of 3 gold polishes — one metallic gold with chunky Holo glitter (Goldie Rocks), one dense gold glitter (Good as Gold) in a clear base & finally a sheer gold base with a scattered holo glitter (Five Golden Blings).

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& now onto the swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Holiday 2019 {Oh My Gold}”