SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Peppermint To Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up (Holiday 2015)

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Crazy to believe we’re already celebrating the second Sunday of December! I thought I would keep the holiday polish trend going by sharing two of my favourite holiday themed polishes from collections past: China Glaze Peppermint to Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up! from the 2015 Holiday Cheers collection. The original collection contained 12 beautiful metallic & glittery shades (plus one cream!) I bought 6 of the shades in a mini set from Marshall’s, & a big bottle of Ugly Christmas Sweater (which I feel like I need to share in a post all its own.)

For today’s post I decided to share the two polishes I seem to gravitate to most: Don’t Get Elfed Up which a is deep dark teal-y metallic shade with super intense turquoise shimmer & Peppermint To Be which is a vibrant pink toned red, again super shimmery.

So onto the swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Peppermint To Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up (Holiday 2015)”

#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Santa 🎅🏼

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Hello lovelies! We’ve got another prompt for #GlamNailsChallengeDec to share today! & yep… I’m aware that I’m a day behind, but that’s life sometime.

Our second prompt of the challenge is Santa! So in honour of that I decided to do Santa hats over my previous manicure of Icing Stores Santa Baby just to maximize the full Santa effect!

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea Bamboo Strengthener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Icing Stores Santa Baby
  • Quo by ORLY Stilettos on the Run
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Pat on the Black
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Nailstuff.ca 4mm micro detail brush (COFFEE10 saves 10% off your purchase!)
  • Nailstuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

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I remember the first time I ever attempted a Santa hat manicure… & I won’t lie, it wasn’t pretty. I’m pretty sure I used a dotting tool to try & draw my lines, which did not turn out very good at all. (Literally just went & found the picture on Facebook so if you’re curious, click here to see my masterpiece.)

I’ve come along way after a lot of practice, & these little hats turned out too cute. The jelly-like finish of Stilettos on the Run show off the glitters underneath, which is really quite cool. I’m digging it a lot.

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These feel very, very Christmas-y to me for sure. The colours, the design… there is no denying these are for Christmas! So much fun!

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What do you think about this Santa inspired design? Have you popped over to Instagram yet go check out the other looks for #glamnailschallengeDec yet? Stay tuned for more fun, hopefully on time, nail art looks to come!

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!

Silver Snowflake Pattern

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Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week! Did you do anything over the weekend? This past weekend, I went to a Christmas craft market with the family, & it’s crazy to think that Christmas is only a little over a month away! So obviously it was about time for some snowflake nails! ❄️

& is there anything better than blue & silver? Nope, I can’t think of a better combo! This design turned out looking like wrapping paper!

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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
  • Essence It’s Raining Men!
  • Essie No Place Like Chrome
  • NailStuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set (use COFFEE10 to save 10% off your purchase!)
  • BornPrettyStore BP-L018 (item# 19373)

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Yes yes yes. These looks like wrapping paper & I’m so into it! A little bow on one nail & you’ve got easy(ish) present nails. Also have I mentioned how much I adore my NailStuff clear stamper lately? I’ve been going a little crazy on stamping lately so I’ve been using it a lot. Do I miss freehanding? Absolutely, & I’m itching to do some Christmas floral soon, but sometimes I have like 20-25 minutes to do my nails so stamping is just easier. It really is the perfect nail art option for Moms with no time that want pretty nails.

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How cute would this look be for a Christmas/holiday party? I don’t have one of those to go to this year, but if I did I could so see myself wearing some this like this! I’ve been thinking about doing a “cute nail art designs for your holiday party” blog post, so if you want to see that let me know in the comments below! I’d include some easy & more difficult designs so there is something for everyone!

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What do you think about this stamped snowflake design? Have you started your holiday nail art yet? Let me know down in the comments below!

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}”