Category: nail polish

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2025 — Sugar Skull 💀🌸

Hello lovelies — Happy Monday! Today is a beautiful start to the week, because it’s time for the second prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October! & the next prompt we have is Sugar Skull! I attempted Sugar Skull nails only once before, but wasn’t exactly super happy with how they turned out. So I had an idea to redeem myself, & I’m actually obsessed with the end result!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Base Coat: Essie Hard to Resist (purple)
  • Icing Store Black
  • Claires Cosmic Babe Nail polish Cosmic Blue
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Orange *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Yellow *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Blue *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen White *pr
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Polish pen in Purple
  • Dollarama Spooky Halloween Nail Stickers (skulls)

So my original plan was I was going to hand paint skulls on my nails, but that wasn’t really working — & then I was going to stamp on a skull, but I didn’t really like the images that I had. But I remembered I recently purchased some new nail art stickers at Dollarama so I decided to use those are my base for my sugar skull design!

After I applied my skull stickers to the fingers I wanted them on, I then went in with my nail art pens one colour by one colour, & created a fun pattern on each skull face. I tried to do something bright, & eye catching, plus some fun little flowers. Then, on the two fingers I didn’t do skulls, I just added a few colourful dots in a half moon to keep them all looking fluid & cohesive.

What do you think about my Sugar Skull nails? Do you think I did the prompt justice?

Don’t forget that you can follow along with all the designs this month by checking out #glamnailschallengeoct25 on Instagram. There are so many beautiful designs to see, I definitely recommend taking a peek!

Happy Monday

🖤

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Skyscraper (Fall 2011 Metro Collection)

Good morning lovelies & happy first Sunday of October. It’s a beautiful Autumn day, I’ve been jamming to Taylor Swift’s new album for the last two days, & I’m currently enjoying my maple brown sugar coffee. It’s a good day! I’m also excited for another Swatch Sunday.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been in the mood to buy new nail polish. Maybe I just need a trip to Sally Beauty, but my usual haunts are not really cutting it right now. However, the plus side of me not buying new polish, is I’ve been going through my current stash a lot more often & finding long forgotten about gems — like today’s polish pick. This is China Glaze Skyscraper from their Metro Collection from Fall 2011.

2 coats + top coat

Once upon a time, purple used to be my signature colour (after red, of course) & as a result I spent many years buying every purple, or purple leaning, polish I could get my hands on. Skyscraper is a gorgeous dark blue/indigo jelly base packed full of silver & blue micro glitters. Some of the pictures of swatches of this shade I’ve seen seem more blue than my bottle, but maybe that’s the result of it being 10+ years old (I can’t remember exactly when I bought it, but I did post about it here.)

Close up shot to see all those glitters. I only did 2 coats on my nails for swatches, but you could definitely do another coat for even thicker glitter — or sponge it on to make it really glittery! I was happy with the opacity I had after two coats though, & especially happy with how easy the formula was to apply The first coat goes on very thin, but that second one saves it & gives it a beautiful finish. Will I enjoy removing this glitter? Well we will have to see.

But I do love wearing it!

What do you think about China Glaze Skyscraper? Do you own this shade? What do you think about the colour?

China Glaze has long been one of my favourite go to brands (I own a drawer & a half of their polishes!) but I feel like I haven’t really checked out the new revamp they recently did. I’m definitely going to have to go to my local Sally’s & check out the new bottles & polishes they’ve released!

Happy Sunday!

♥︎

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Deep Wine Red with Sparkly Glitter Placement

Good morning lovelies & happy Friday! & happy The Life of a Showgirl release day to my fellow swifties! I’m going to one of the showings tonight with a friend for the album, after I get off work, & we decided to go in blind without pre-listening, so today is going to be a serious test of my willpower!

But in the meantime, how about a little sparkle. We are in full October vibes now, & while I am having so much fun doing Halloween designs for the Glam Nails Challenge, I thought I would switch it up a bit with just a little dark glitter placement.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle)
  • Base Coat: Essie Hard to Resist (purple)
  • Revlon Color Stay Gel Envy Heartbreaker
  • Essie Nail Art Studio Glitter Separated Starlight

Okay I don’t want to sound too conceited, but like how freaking glamorous do these nails look? I absolutely adore how they turned out. The sparkle is kind of subtle, but not subtle. It’s definitely an everyday kind of glamour, & perfect for these Autumn October days! Also, no tools required which I always love because sometimes I’m just too tired to spend an hour on something more complex (especially when I have to be up at 5:30am to get ready for work!)

So what do you think of this design? I know it’s not a groundbreaking nail art look, but I think it just looks so pretty. Definitely my go to when I want something chic, but not complex. & just a little bit subtle.

Happy Friday!

🖤

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2025 — Candy Corn

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! & Happy October 1st. It is officially my favourite season, & I can’t wait for all the spooky fun that this month will bring. Give me pumpkins, & ghosts & all the treats!

Today though, I’m excited because I’m officially committing to Glam Nails Challenge October for this month. It’s been… a while. It’s been a long while. But I think what I need to get out of my nail art slump, & create some beautiful designs, in honour of my absolute favourite month. & the first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October is candy corn! I, for one, am a huge fan of candy corn (when I can find it that is gluten free) so I was pumped to paint it on my nails. & I thought I’d do something similar to a design I did a few years ago, where I did a candy corn themed dotticure.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Essie Good To Go Top Coat
  • Base Coat: Essie Hard to Resist (purple)
  • Essie Nail Art Studio Jelly Gloss Blush Jelly *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen White *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Orange *pr
  • Madam Glam Nail Art Pen Yellow *pr

How cute are these itty bitty polka dots? I used some of my Madam Glam Nail Art pens, & they worked perfectly for the finest dots. I love them!

&, I also got a ton of compliments on this look over the weekend when I wore them to work, which always makes me so happy. Whenever I’m at work at someone notices my nails, it gives me such a sense of pride, & really does make my whole day! So I was very excited when I got multiple compliments on my nails.

What do you think about my candy corn inspired nails for the first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October? All the prompts for this month are so exciting & fun, & I can’t wait to really dive into the challenge & come up with fun & creative designs — & share some super cute new nail art stickers I bought just for this month!

Enjoy your first day of spooky season!

♥︎

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dark Hue-mor

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The last Sunday of September, which is kind of crazy. Spooky month is just a few days away, & I can’t wait to start all the spooky nail designs I can come up with!

Today tjough, I’m sharing another new shade I recently picked up. Shoppers Drug Mart had the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line on sale a few weeks back, so I decided to treat myself. I’ve been on the hunt for a deep dark navy blue, so when I saw this beauty I knew I needed it! This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dark Hue-mor.

2 coats + top coat

Formula on this beauty is smooth & easy to apply. To easy coats for full opacity. As you can see, I’m rocking very short nails right now due to a bad break while at work, so I feel like I need to cheer myself up with pretty nails.

& I love a dark navy blue so much. It makes a great base for nail art, or looks just stunning all on its own.

Look at that darkness. It’s so good! It reminds me of another favourite dark navy blue — Essie After School Boy Blazer.

I actually think Dark Hur-mor is actually darker on the nail than in the bottle, which I love! Usually I feel like it’s the other way around. Also — I had almost zero issues with removal. A lottle bit of blue in my cuticles after the first swipe, but that was it (& easy to rectify).

Sally Hansen Comple Salon Manicure Dark Hue-mor is part of the core collection, & available anywhere you purchase Sally Hansen nail polish. It generally ranges from $10-$16 CAD depending on where you buy it, & if it’s on sale.

What do you think about this navy blue shade? What are you wearing on your nails right now? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤