Messy Stripes

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Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday! Today I’m sharing my first official nail art of 2020! Crazy isn’t it? I’ve been slow to share nail art so far this year, not because I haven’t been doing any (I have), but because I’ve really been reflecting on where I want Coffee & Nail Polish to go this year.

Obviously nail polish is the first first love of this blog, but it’s not only where my heart lives. For a while, I’ve been thinking about expanding my content & sharing my other loves beside nail polish & my favourite caffeinated beverages — for example: fashion, other non polish beauty products, etc. & I’ve been kind of scared about expanding my content & my blog identity. But this year is all about taking chances so that is what I’m going to do! But don’t worry, if your here for nails I promise that majority of my posts are still going to be nails! Going to start off slow & see what you think!

& now to the nails!

Today’s post is all about stripes. I love a good stripe manicure. Today’s look went a little messy — I was feeling stripes but I’m out of my usual quick dry top coat so I decided to try & freehand them.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Treat Love & Color Gloss Fit (cleat)
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
  • ORLY Decades of Dysfunction
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable The Antidote
  • Revlon Iconic
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Sheer Luck
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)

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For my thicker stripes I used the polish bottle brushes & for the thinner stripes I used my detail brush from NailStuff. They’re definitely not perfect, but I feel like the imperfection of the stripes kind of makes the whole look come together. It’s the kind of stripes you would see on a cute boho pillow or something, which is a vibe j can definitely get behind & adore. Also the grey & pink & wine combo is one that just feels so perfect for January when life just feels so much more muted, you know?

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I also feel like these stripes would be the most perfect beginning to a tribal/Aztec look. Had I had more time, I probably would have tried it. But these nails were on a time crunch — which I feel like most of my manicures are lately — so I created my stripes, applied my top coat, & then hoped I didn’t ruin them as I went to sleep. I do love the lasting power of Sally Hansen MG top coat, but it really doesn’t have the super quick drying power of some of the other top coats I used. Definitely need to pick up my OG favourite, aka Essie Gel Setter, ASAP.

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I’m seriously digging this look. I’m not sure what direction I want to take my nail art this year — I definitely want to create more fun looks, if you know what I mean. & floral. There is nothing more I love in the dead of winter, than a good floral design!

Have a lovely Tuesday darlings! 💜

#GlamnailschallengeDec — Christmas Trees

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Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! & happy Christmas Eve Eve! We are quickly approaching Christmas & the end of GlamNailsChallengeDec! Today’s prompt for this challenge is Christmas trees! Naturally I went to Pinterest to find a look I liked, & found this tutorial originally posted on Instagram by @thebasecoat.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Icing Stores matte teal shimmer
  • Quo by ORLY Falling Star
  • China Glaze Ruby Pumps
  • Ardene Ice Mist
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10%)

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For this look I started off by applying the triangle nail stencil to my accent nail, then one at a time applied my colours to the empty spaces to create a triangle on the nail. I followed the Base Coat’s tutorial for colours. It was also way easier using a pre designed nail vinyl than attempting to position striping tape or straight nail vinyls into the same shape.

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Honestly this look was too simple to do, but turned out so cute! I think this is such a perfect Christmas Day look—who doesn’t love Christmas trees! & the mixing of colours is very Christmasy. I absolutely lovely it!

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What do you think about this design for Glamnailschallengedec? Have you figured out your Christmas design yet? Don’t forget to check out Instagram for all the other amazing look for #glamnailschallengeDec!

#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Christmas Decorations

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Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! We’re quickly speeding through December & speeding through the prompts for #GlamnailschallengeDec! Today’s prompt is Christmas decorations! I feel like this prompt is really up for interpretation & offers a wide variety of options, so I decided to recreate a look I love to do: Christmas branches with decorations, but with the addition of holo. Because, let’s be honest — everything is better with holo!

If you’re curious to see my previous look from two years ago, you can find them here.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Kiss Me I’m Kind
  • OPI Pirouette My Whistle
  • Acrylic paint
  • Wrenn Polish Enchanted
  • Wrenn Polish Summer Sands
  • Color Club Eternal Beauty
  • Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

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Who has decorated their Christmas tree? 🎄 We got ours done this week, which is about 2 weeks sooner than last year. Because of pregnancy & work last year, we managed to get our tree decorated by Christmas Eve, haha. But you know, if you haven’t gotten your tree decorated yet, you can always pretend with fully decorated Christmas trees on your nails!

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I really think the holo dots are what make this design because it reminds me of the baubles on my own tree when the light catches them. Just that lovely sparkle. ✨ You don’t even need to worry about any more details, because the shift of light does it all for you.

I also think these might be the best pine needle/Christmas tree branches I’ve ever painted. I’m insanely proud of how these ended up, which is probably why I wore this look for over a week. Sometimes a look just wins, & this is definitely one of these looks for me. ❤️

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What do you think about this Christmas decoration look? Don’t forget to hop on over to Instagram & check out the other  #glamnailschallengeDec Christmas Decoration looks. faux tree kind of person!

GlamnailschallengeDec— Snowflakes ❄️

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Good morning lovelies & Happy Wednesday! We’re already halfway through our week, how crazy is that?! & even crazier we’re almost half way to Christmas! (I haven’t even begun to process the fact this year, no DECADE, is almost over…) Today I have another manicure to share with you as part of #glamnailschallengeDec — Snowflakes!

Snowflake designs are actually one of my favourite nail art looks for this time of year, because there are so many ways to create snowflakes: stamping, stickers, freehand, & even just glitter! For today’s look, I decided some more stamping was in order because I have about 5 different stamping plates with snowflakes on them. I really wanted to feature one snowflake per each nail & I love how these turned out because they remind me a lot of Frozen. ❄️

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me I’m Kind
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Ice Pop
  • ACO by Ardene Style Icon
  • Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade (c/o: NailStuff.ca — COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set 
  • Assortment of BornPretty stamping plates — this one has an assortment of similar snowflake images.

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I started this look off by creating a glitter sandwich using Kiss Me I’m Kind, Ice Pop & Style Icon. I wanted a really soft, delicate base for my snowflakes. If you don’t know what a glitter sandwich is, basically you start off by applying a layer of jelly/sheer polish, a layer or two of glitter & then finishing it with another layer of your jelly/sheer polish over your glitter. It really gives the glitter a softer look, which I love. It looks really beautiful all on it’s own or as the base for nail art. I thought it would be perfect for this particular design because it gives the effect of snow in the background (or at least that’s what it reminds me of.)

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Victoria (aka @nailstuffca) was the one who told me how amazing the Superchic polishes were for stamping, which is why I grabbed Throwing Shade for my snowflakes, & she was so right! I was very impressed with how well it showed up on my nail, especially because I had such a light base to start. I can’t wait to try again over a darker base colour (a navy blue such as Essie Bobbing for Baubles perhaps? Stay turned!)

Seriously though, can you go wrong with holo snowflakes? I really don’t think you can! Who doesn’t want to feel like an Ice Queen.

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Who else loves a good snowflake design? I really really love wearing snowflakes on my nails, especially when the actual white stuff seems to be keeping its distance. It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me, until there is a little snow on the ground.

As always, don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeDec over on Instagram to see everyone’s fun snowflake looks. & stay tuned, because there are still a ton of fun designs to come!

#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!