Glam Nails Challenge March — Dots

Hello lovlies & happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. It’s been hit or miss with the weather here, but I’m really hoping as we say goodbye to March, we’ll have a lovely April to look forward to! A girl can dream, right?

In the meantime, we have the last prompt for Glam Nails Challenge March today! This month has definitely sped by. I always love doing these challenges, not just to connect with the nail polish community & see everyone else’s interpretations of the same idea, but also because it challenges me when I might sometimes be struggling with ideas.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Londontown Lakur Briolette
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Londontown Lakur Mint No Chip
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How cute is this nail art look? Now that I’m rocking my serious shorties, I like dainty nail art looks like this — they used to be one of my favourite go to nail art looks. & they’re very very easy to do.

Can you believe Glam Nails Challenge March is already over, & April is almost here? Have you enjoyed all these manicures from this last month?

I haven’t quite decided whether or not I’ll be participating in next Month’s challenge, but stay tune to see what next month brings!

SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Infinite Shine The Sound of Vibrance (OPI Malibu Collection — Summer 2021)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Today I’m excited because I’m sharing a fun purple OPI that I recently found at my local Winners. I love how I’ve been finding displays with full previous season collections, which I may have missed on the first go around. This is OPI The Sound of Vibrance that was released as part of the 2021 Malibu collection released last Summer.

3 coats, no top coat

The Sound of Vibrance is a beautiful pink toned purple with shimmery blue glow & small glitters. Obviously, I’m drawn to purple easily (heck, even my hair is purple!) but this one really caught my eye because of that glow. It gives me so many nail art colour combination ideas, but also — it just looks really pretty on its own.

The formula was a wee bit on the thinner side. It wasn’t 3 coats on every nail, but I did need to do 3 coats on a few nails when I had some patchiness. However, the polish levels on its own very easily. & the beautiful colour is definitely worse a few extra swipes of polish.

You can definitely see why this was a part of a Summer collection, because it’s giving me all the Summer-y, beauty vibes.

Also, lately, I’ve been really finding myself drawn to a lot of red polishes, so it was nice to go back to an old favourite colour, & remind myself that Summer is coming, even if these chilly rainy days are making me feel otherwise.

What do you think of The Sound of Vibrance & it’s beautiful colour? Did you get any shades from this Malibu collection for Summer 2021?

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

Red Pink & Purple Sparkly Glitter Gradient ✨

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! It was feeling like Spring here this weekend, but now we’re officially back in Winter mode with about 30cm of snow that fell yesterday. I’m just so over Winter. It’s cold, & slushy, & I miss wearing cute dresses. I can’t wait for us to officially defrost.

But in the meantime, I guess I’ll distract myself with some pretty nails.

It’s been a long while since I did a gradient on my nails that wasn’t just some glitter. Honestly, I find the clean up–even with liquid latex!–a pain, & I don’t have time for it. But I was really, really feeling a sparkly gradient after putting on my Swatch Sunday pick Essence Me & My Lover, so I decided to give it a try.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Millionails
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Me & My Lover
  • Aco by Ardene Boudoir
  • Aco by Ardene Wish
  • Latex free make up sponge

Check out those layers of glitter! It’s been a long time since my last gradient like this with lots of glittery shades, but I’m obsessed with how it turned out.

Instead of doing the classic gradient sponging where you apply all three colours onto the sponge & then apply it to the nail, I sponged each layer of glitter on the nail instead… which still gave me the same effect without having to worry about the clean up! I find it’s easier to do that with glittery shades like these, because they blend into each other easier, & you don’t have those unblended lines you might get with a cream polish. & of course, sealing it all in with top coat also helps blend things.

What do you think of these glittery gradient nails? Would you wear a super glittery gradient like this on your nails? Let me know what you think down in the comments below, & what colour combination you would wear!

SWATCH SUNDAY — Color Club Bewitched

Hello lovelies, from the frozen North. Well, not quite, but after a big one Winter storm, it certainly feels like it.

Have I mentioned I am SO over Winter?

So obviously this means I need to obsessively apply holo nail polish to my nails every chance I get. My local Walmart has a few of their Color Club collections in for $5, including the range of holos. So I’ve been buying myself the occasional one when I need to cheer myself up. Today’s Swatch Sunday pick: Color Club Bewitched.

2 coats, no top coat

Color Club Bewitched is a beautiful lilac liner holo with a pretty shift of pink. On my first coat, I was a bit nervous this was going to take a lot of coats to build opacity, but the second coat covered any patchiness the first coat might have had.

The holo is very strong on this polish & really pops — especially in the sunshine. I really like that it has that little bit of shift as well because this definitely makes this shade different than other holographic polishes in my stash.

Also you can’t say no to $5. Especially when it’s after a particularly rough day, or another snowstorm. I think I’ve bought most of the liner holos they have in the collection, with the exception of a few… but we still have six more weeks of Winter (at least), so I’m sure I’ll have time to add more.

What do you think of Color Club Bewitched? Do you have this holo in your collection? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

Jewel Toned Drag Marble

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday. This week is almost over (& this month!) Of course, there is a crazy Winter storm headed our way this weekend, so we’re not as close to Spring like weather as one would like. & I am so over Winter! Case in point: the super short nails that I’m now rocking thanks to crazy temperature fluctuations.

I won’t like: I’ve been struggling with what to paint on my extra short nails — my inspiration is lacking. I used to be so good at this! I decided on some pretty jewel toned drag marble nails, which is something I haven’t done in a while. Plus I thought it would be a nice way to “pretty up” my super short little nubs.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Millionails
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Kimono Over
  • Essie Getting Groovy
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Late Night Lilac
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool TrioI used the smallest tip to get the cleanest drag.

It’s been a while since I attempted a drag marble, & my ring finger is a little rough thanks to bumping it before it had a change to dry enough. But I think all 9 other nails turned out really gorgeous. The trick I’ve learned to drag marble is less movements turn out better than a ton. You really want to keep them down to a minimum, otherwise you end up getting a swampy look.

I’ve actually been turning to drag marbles more than I’ve even been photographing — they look complicated, but with the exception of dry time, they don’t take that long. & I love love love how they look — plus I always get a ton of compliments!

What do you think about this drag marble look? Is this something that you would wear on your nails? Let me know what colour combinations you would love to see!