Category: Gold

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Winter Sweater Accent Nail

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! It’s a brand new week already, & December is looming. While I’m brainstorming all the nail art I’m planning for December, I thought I would throw things back with a simple accent nail that reminds me of my early nail blogging days (circa 2015).

I used to be obsessed with these freehand sweater/aztec inspired accent nails, so I thought it would be fun to do one — especially as I was struggling with nail art inspiration the other night.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie No More Film
  • Essie All The Wave
  • Essie Hors d’Oeuvres
  • Essie Blanc
  • Essie Bikini So Teeny
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm liner brush, 7mm liner brush)

I feel like these are giving off fun sweater vibes, & I like the combination of blues together. I was just going to do a simple skittle look with the different blues, but I decided I wanted it to be more exciting than that!

The end result turned out so fun! I haven’t had as much time for freehand nail art lately, so I really need to start playing around more often. I miss my freehand nails, so I’m definitely going to make more of an effort. Maybe I’ll redo this design in December with a Christmas-y colour scheme, & call them Ugly Christmas Sweater nails.

What do you think of today’s nail art look? Are you a fan of these simpler accent nail designs? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤 Happy Monday!

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Holiday Inspired Red & Gold Velvet Dotticure

Hello loves & happy Friday!

It’s officially (pretty much) the weekend which means I’m in full holiday haze. It also means, I have been thinking about holiday manicures a lot. Even though I no longer attend many holiday parties — I’m more of a homebody these days — that doesn’t mean I don’t mind if my nails have somewhere special to go.

Today’s look is totally something I would wear to a fun holiday party, paired with the perfect little black dress.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Santee Magnetic 04 Metallic Tropical Rose
  • Starrily Magnetic Wand
  • Santee Magnetic 21 Sand Burst
  • Smallest sized dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)

First off, I apologize for how difficult these were to photograph. Apparently using flash on these particular magnetic base gave it almost this blurry effect in some pictures.

I’ve had these magnetics in my stash for… a while haha. Apparently I picked them up for 99 cents at my local Lawton’s on clearance… & just never tried them out! I used my Starrily Magnetic Want, & it gave this red base the coolest crushed velvet effect. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had pulled them out sooner.

What do you think about these holiday nails — are they giving you Christmas vibes? We have our first Tax Free Event this weekend at work, & it’s going to be crazy, so I need all the festive spirit I can get! I would much rather be drinking egg nog & nibbling on Christmas cookies with my pretty nails.

Enjoy your weekend loves, however whatever you’ve got planned. 🖤

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Chic Red & Gold Plaid

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! It is a very, very chilly Wednesday at that. It is officially creeping into Winter, & not at all slowly. Guess I’ll need to do some snowflake nails soon!

Today though, I’m sharing a design I did last month, & it’s the last big of nail art I have featuring my longish nails. Time to jump into short nail nail art again! Today’s look, though, is perfect for these in between holidays days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat
  • OPI Just Be-Claus
  • OPI Rolling in Cashmere
  • Essie Lady Like
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm striper brush

I absolutely adorable all things plaid — in fact I’m wearing my favourite plaid leggings to work today. Plaid nails are no exception. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so easy, or if it’s because there is endless colour combinations, but they really are one of my favourites, especially this time of year.

& I’m sure this won’t be the last plaid nail art design I share this season. In fact, I can pretty much bet on it.

What do you think about this chic plaid design? Would you wear this on your nails? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & let me know what short nail designs you’d like me to create & share!

Enjoy your Wednesday! 🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Venomous

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s an especially beautiful Sunday because it’s my birthday! Okay, so I’ve never really been a birthday person — even before I hit my 30s — but I do love a free Starbucks drink so I’l celebrate it slightly.

Today though, we have another Swatch Sunday & I dug & dug through my nail polish stash to find an Halloween-esque nail polish shade, & I found this very special shade circa 2010/2011. This is Claire’s Venomous.

2 coats over OPI Black Cherry Chutney + top coat

So a little back story on this shade. I purchased this during the beginnings of my nail polish addict stages. I remembered reading this Claire’s (which I worked at during this time) had released some nail polishes that were dupes for the MAC Venomous Villian’s collection, so naturally I knew I needed them. I only have 2/3 shades (I believe) but they are prized treasures in my nail polish stash.

Now, for my swatches I did two coats over a one coat of Black Cherry Chutney. The formula is very, very thin — requiring 3-4 coats — so I always prefer to add some undies. (If you want to see swatches on this shade layered, check out Deez Nailz post. ) I love the foiled finish of this shade, & how the polish shifts depending on how you move your hand. Depending on the undies you choose, you can bring out more of the green shift you see in the bottle.

As above, you can see a good example of how the shade shifts on the nails. I wrote in a previous post about Quo by ORLY Wrong so Right that they were dupes, but looking at the close up above I feel like you get a lot more of the gold/green flash with this shade which I quite like. This was actually the colour I chose for my nails for a wedding I attended this weekend, & I thought it was the perfect colour for Autumn. & the nail is very Halloween-y, obviously.

What do you think about Claire’s Venomous? What is your oldest/most prized nail polish in your nail polish collection? Do you think this is a great Halloween-y polish? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday Everyone. ♥︎

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Instagram Leaves Nail Art Collab 🍁🍂

Hello loves & happy Friday! & Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! Today we’re taking the day off from Glam Nails Challenge for another fun Instagram nail art collab. I’ve enjoyed jumping into this collab a every month — hosted by @essieyall & @petitenailslover.

I’m very excited because this month’s prompt is leaves & I do love a good Fall leaves design.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat
  • Essie Lady Like
  • Revlon Spidey Sense
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri SCRAM!
  • Essie Mosaic On Down
  • Finger Paints Surreal Sunset
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP-L026

I really wanted to created a layered leaves look, to mimic like a pile of leaves on the ground. Think I went with too light of a base though — a darker one probably would have allowed for the stamped leaves to pop more! But I do still love how it looks, & I think it’s such a pretty look.

Down below, you can see all the beautiful designs collaged together. You can check out #leavesnailartmanicollab2023 on Instagram to see all the participants & they’re beautiful designs.

What do you think about my fun leaves design? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below. & if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, enjoy! 🍁🖤