GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER (2024) — Party Ready ✨🥂

Hello lovelies & happy last Monday of 2024! How is everyone surviving this in-between week that exists between Christmas & New Years? I’ve been surviving on coffee, crackers & hope at this point. BUT! I did manage to get one more manicure done for the last prompt of Glam Nails Challenge December: Party Ready!

& if these nails don’t scream party ready, I’m not sure what else could.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • NailStuff Essentials Raven
  • Joe Fresh Gold Rush
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Feeling N-Ice
  • Essie Making Spirits Bright
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
  • Starrily Space Debris (c/o: NailStuff.ca)
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge

*PR/Gifted

Is it even a New Years Eve party if you don’t go all out on the glitter, silver & gold? My New Years Eve celebrations are much tamer nowadays than in my 20s, & usually at home, but I still always have to make such there is some sparkle on my nails. & this nail art look is absolutely perfect for ringing in 2025, no matter what you have planned.

& they were so easy to do! Started with my glitter gradient, then added some dots of more sparkly polish on top until it looks like glitter in exploding from your cuticles.

& that is a wrap on Glam Nails Challenge for another month… & another year! This has been an up & down year for nail polish for me, but I feel really good about what 2025 has to come!

I hope everyone has a lovely & safe New Years Eve… & I will see you next year!

♥︎

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER (2024) — Wrapping Paper 🎁

Hello lovelies & happy Friday in this crazy post-Christmas Day haze. Our days to the new year are very quickly counting down, & I’m just trying to survive these days on caffeine, Christmas goodies & (lactose free) cheese.

How is everyone else doing? The next prompt for Glam Nails Challenge December is wrapping paper, & I decided to create some icy abstract stripes that would have been the perfect Christmas wrapping paper! Seriously, I love all the Christmas themed papers you can find — we wrapped a lot of our kids gifts in Nightmare Before Christmas paper this year — but personally I would love to find a gift under my tree wrapped in this swirly designs.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • Ardene Bonne Nuit
  • Joe Fresh Gold Rush
  • China Glaze Up All Night
  • China Glaze December to Remember
  • Essie Making Spirits Bright
  • NailStuff Essentials White Dove *
  • NailStuff 4mm Micro Detail Brush 
    **pr/gifted

I absolutely adore these. I know they’re not your typical gift wrap nails, but they’re so pretty! & after a lot of green & red, I wanted a more icy wintery feel — & I feel like these captured that. Plus they’re just so pretty!

What do you think about these wrapping paper inspired nails? Would you want a gift wrapped in this icy, swirly paper?

Only a few more days of Glam Nails Challenge December to go! Don’t forget to go to Instagram & see all the amazing designs using #glamnailschallengedec24. Only one more prompt to go.

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) — Moroccan Tile

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! I hope you’re having a beautiful week. Today is the 2nd prompt of Glam Nails Challenge August & I’m very, very excited for this prompt & manicure! The next prompt is Moroccan Tile & I think this stamped design perfectly incapsulates that!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Joe Fresh Quartz
  • Essie No More Film
  • Starrily Space Debris
  • Born Pretty Store stamping plate B-12
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio

Oooooh I’m so so so in love with this manicure! It turned out so much better than I even imagined it could be. Sadly, the new base coat I used did not agree with my body chemistry so these started popping off (the full nail!) half way through work! To say I was devastated would be an understatement — I had fully intended to wear these for a few days.

Thankfully, I still got some great pictures of this design. 🖤

What do you think of this Moroccan Tile design? Do you love them as much as I do? I hope you’ll keep following along with the challenge this month & all the fun designs I’ll be sharing. You can also follow along with the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug24 on Instagram.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — Joe Fresh Quartz

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Hope you’re all having a beautiful & fantastic weekend so far. The weather here has been beautiful so far, & I got to enjoy a lovely Saturday off work (that never happens) so I’m feeling refreshed for the week ahead.

So lately I’ve been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I’m on season 2. Which mean, obviously, I’ve been obsessing about her nail polish. In particular, I noticed this metallic grey shade she’s been wearing a lot this season. So I decided to take a look into my stash, & found this beautiful Joe Fresh shade I’ve owned since 2015-ish or so: Quartz.

3 coats + Essence Extreme GEL Top Coat

Yes, so this shade is pretty sheer upon first, & even second, application. I ended up with three thin coats for full opacity. However, they applied with minimal streaking & brushstrokes, so I was pretty happy with that. You can also apply this over a darker shade with lesser coats as well. I do believe that will bring out the duochrome effect a bit more dramatically as well.

A macro shot for good measure. The shift is very good on this shade, depending on which was you move your fingers. I love the purple to green shift on this — it’s beautiful.

But just for a fun, I thought I’d add a little sparkle to this beauty which has been in my stash just as long: CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance. This shade has a similar colouring, but with some added holo sparkle! & the results was perfect.

Adding Dazzling Dance definitely changed the switch from a greenish to a blue/silver, but I love the end result. That sparkle definitely makes up the duller duochrome shift. But I totally think this polish is giving me late 90s, early 2000s vibes & I’m totally here for it.

What do you think about this week’s Swatch Sunday pick: Joe Fresh Quartz. Do you prefer it on it’s own, or with the the added sparkle of CND Vinylux Dazzling Dance?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

GlamnailschallengeOct—Ghosts 👻

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Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! The week is certainly speeding by! Today I have another fun look designed for #glamnailschallengeOct–ghost inspired nails! & be still my Halloween loving heart, because these turned out so much fun. I decided to try out a look I’ve always wanted to try, using watered down acrylic paint.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Quo by ORLY Bonder
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Joe Fresh Gel Look Gothika Blue
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • White acrylic paint
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Thick nail art brush (I used an old one from Bundle Monster)
  • Small dotting tool (Mine are from NailStuff.ca)

.

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First off, loving this base of Fairy Dust over Gothika Blue because it really does look like the night sky. Also why do I always forget how amazing China Dust Fairy Dust is over pretty much everything, but especially over dark polishes. I don’t wear it nearly as much as I should. Could you imagine it over a dark red to black gradient?! Okay I’m getting some nail art ideas for more Halloween designs! Definitely going to need to try that out in the next couple weeks before Halloween. It would look so good!

Okay back to this design, haha.

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This design turned out pretty much how I imagined, although I kind of wish I had watered down my acrylic slightly more to give my ghosts a more ghostly appearance, but I think the trick is the try & only do one coat of white vs. a few coats. My thumb kind of turned out my favourite, because you can see the the base peeking through his ghostly body. & I love how it looks. Next time I try this technique, I’ll know what works a bit better & I’ll be able to get them all perfect.

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What do you think about today’s ghostly look? Have you started planning your Halloween looks yet? Let me know down in the comments below what you think about this design, & as always check out #glamnailschallengeOct on Instagram for everyone else’s amazing designs this month!

🎃