Purple & Gold Freehand Swirls

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

Hope everyone is having a very lovely week so far! We’ve actually been having a beautiful weather here in Halifax — very un-November like weather! It’s been absolutely beautiful… which has kind of made being inspired for nail art a little difficult. So I decided for my latest mani to go with a look I used to do all the time — this freehand dainty swirl look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • OPI Ink
  • Essie Getting Groovy
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Back in circa 2014-2015, I used to love freehanding these swirly looks, so I decided since I wasn’t feeling all that inspired, it was a great look to go with.

I really love the look of the gold over the shifty purple base of OPI Ink. I feel like this look is very regal — it also gives me slight wrapping paper vibes, but I’m not mad about it. I think it looks very beautiful. It was definitely a good nail art choice in this in between time when it doesn’t quite feel like Fall, but is too early (in my eyes, anyways) for Christmas.

What do you think about this nail art look? What designs are you wearing right now? Have you started thinking about Christmas nail art? Let me know in the comments below!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Bat My Eyes (Halloween 2013)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

This is my first Swatch Sunday in a while — this month has been a bit crazy, & I let my swatches get away from me in favour of other nails. But I’m back, & I’m ready to share a fun Halloween polish from a few years ago — China Glaze Bat My Eyes from the 2013 Monster’s Ball collection.

This shade has been in my stash a very, very long time (I do believe my Mum gifted me if for my birthday in 2013) & I don’t think I’ve actually wore this polish more than once. So I was happy to break it out for today’s post!

1 coat over China Glaze Glamcore + top coat

I made the decision to too Bat My Eyes over a dark base to avoid a lot of coats of polish. The base is darkened, but I feel like I remember needing a few coats of polish last time I wore it, & I wasn’t really feeling this.

For one coat, though, the glitter is very densely distributed. You have multi-sized bronze-y hex glitters, with the occasional bar glitter.

You can really, really see all the different sizes of glitters in my macro shot, including the bar glitters.

I also really love the combination of the gold with the dark — it is a very nice Halloween-y type shades. But China Glaze has always done amazing Halloween shades, & I love this one held up all these years (my bottle of Howl You Doing? from the same collection sadly did not fair as well.)

What do you think about this Halloween shade? Would you wear Bat My Eyes for your next October manicure? What is your favourite Halloween polish? Let me know in the comments below!

Golden Leaves

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! Switching things up with some Friday nails.

I was really feeling some leaf nails, especially as the Fall weather continues to be beautiful. This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, which is always feels fitting for some leaf pattern nails. I have a few of my leaf pattern nail stencils left from The Base Coat, so I thought they would be perfect to use over a base of China Glaze Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em
  • OPI Designer Series DS Classic
  • The Base Coat Fall Leaves Nail Vinyls (no longer available)

Check out that sparkle.

It’s been a while since I pulled out my bottle of OPI DS Classic from my stash — it’s such a beautiful gold & you get that bit of holo with it as well. It definitely pops against the darkened base of Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em. It just works so well in this very Autumnal design.

What do you think about this Fall leaves design? Is it perfect for some Thanksgiving celebrating? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

Brown & Gold Shattered Glass Glitter Placement

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

Can you believe we’re in the final days of September? It’s kind of crazy. Where has this month gone already? It’s certainly been a busy month at our house with school starting. I can’t believe that we’re already a month in… & Summer is already feeling like a distant memory. Although, I cannot lie — I’m super pumped for my favourite month: October!

Now that we’re officially deep into Autumn, & the late September weather is in full force, I’m really feeling the Fall nail art. I realized the other day I haven’t done a shattered glass nail art design in way, way too long. I was wearing this beautiful brown shade, & realized it would be the perfect base for some gold shatter glitters, so I decided that was just the nail art look I needed in my life.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sinful Colors Essen-chills Smoky Palo Santo
  • Sinful Colors Twilight Twinkles
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

First of all, how absolutely beautiful is this brown shade? This is another one of the Sinful Colors Essen-chills scented shades that I picked up at Walmart earlier in the month. I really love the dense silver shimmer with the dark, dark brown base. & I know I keep saying this, but I’m just absolutely obsessed with brown nail polish, which is such a weird thing for me because I was not expecting to be a brown nail polish girl. But I totally am!

Second, this gold shard glitter goes so well over top. I used to be absolutely obsessed with these style of manicures a few years ago, & I think I need to bring them back again. It’s such an easy look to achieve, because it requires minimal tools. Sure, it does take a bit of time to do… but not nearly as much as you would expect! I think I’ll have to keep my eyes out for more of these style of glitter polishes

What do you think about this nail art look? Are you feeling these shattered glass nails? Have you ever tried a glitter placement look like this? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below — & get excited because Halloween designs are coming very soon!

Glam Nails Challenge September — Scarecrow

Hello lovelies & Happy Tuesday!

Haha I’m totally thrown off because of the holiday yesterday, & prepping for my little guy’s first day of school today! That’s the reason why this design is a few days late. But I’m super excited for these scarecrow inspired nails for the next Glam Nails Challenge prompt — I’m so about Fall right now, & these nails scream Fall to me! I’ve been absolutely loving all the Autumn shades I’ve recently picked up, so I loved combining them all into one design.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sinful Colours Essenchills Chamomile Calm
  • China Glaze Spice To Meet You
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cinnasnap
  • Essie Get Your Groove On
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky-O
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

I’m so excited with how this look turned out! The colours go so well together, & I feel like they give off Scarecrow vibes from the combination. I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been up close & personal with a scarecrow, but I felt like these orange-y & yellow tones really worked for the look. Also, there was no way I was going to be able to successfully freehand a scarecrow. But over all I’m so beyond happy with the end result!

What do you think about these scarecrow inspired nails? Are you following along with Glam Nails Challenge September? Are you excited about all the designs this month?

I’m really, really pumped for all the designs, so you definitely need to tuned!