Category: Winter

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER — Christmas Plaid

Good morning lovelies & happy Wednesday! & happy Day two of Glam Nails Challenge December. Also… can you believe it’s December 7th? I mean… it’s raining here on the East Coast & above freezing so it certainly doesn’t feel anything close to December. At least I have Christmas nails to keep me in a somewhat festive mood.

But onto the nails — prompt #2 is Christmas Plaid. I do love a good plaid manicure, & for today’s look I decided to go with a sparkly plaid design.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Quo Beauty Green With Envy
  • ACO by Ardene Crystal Fog
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Red It Twice
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • China Glaze New Year, New Boo
  • W7 Gold Dazzle
  • Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

Originally I thinking of a sparkly green plaid, but as soon as I put Crystal Fog over Green with Envy it gave it a teal/turquoise colour instead. But I decided to go with it, & I think all the sparkly lines still give it the Christmas Plaid look I was hoping for. & I do love all the sparkle & shimmer of the look. If there is any time to break out the glitter, it’s obviously Christmas.

What do you think about my Christmas plaid design? What colour combination would you wear for a Christmas plaid. I feel like usually I go for more a red look, but I’ve been wearing a lot of red nails lately (& I’m sure there will be more!) so it’s fun to change things up a bit.

Don’t forget to check out all the fun #glamnailschallengedec looks on Instagram, & stay tuned because we have a whole lot more Christmas-y looks coming in the next few weeks!

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE DECEMBER— Santa Claus 🎅

Hello lovelies! Did everyone survive the weekend & any holiday shopping they may have had to do? I certainly survived a crazy Tax Free Weekend. I forgot how crazy Christmas shopping can get, hah. I went to go get a coffee from Starbucks, & the line up was OUT THE DOOR. It was a very busy weekend.

But it’s the first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge December, & I am super excited for another fun festive month of designs. The first prompt of the month? Santa Claus.

I know I have been stamping a lot more lately, but as soon as I saw the prompt I knew just the stamping plate I wanted to use for this design featuring some super cute Santa designs.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Essie The A-List
  • Essie Sweet Souffle
  • Essie Glitter On Top
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Red It Twice
  • Sally Hansen MG Peach Please
  • Sally Hansen MG Ski Bunny
  • w7 Gold Dazzle
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
  • Discontinued Born Pretty Christmas plate
  • Small dotting tool (I always use mine from NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)

How cute is this little Santa face? I definitely could never be able to freehand a cute little face like that on my own! I’m always envious of people with superior free handing skills. However, thankfully I went on a stamping plate hoarding spree a few years ago, & do I have so many Christmas ones to chose from… which really helps with challenges during this month!

Are you excited for a month of Christmas themed designs? You can follow along with Glam Nails Challenge December on Instagram. There are already so many cool, & fun nail art looks that I know this month is going to be a very exciting month.

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SWATCH SUNDAY — Quo Beauty Green With Envy

Good morning lovelies, & happy first official Sunday of December! It’s time.

Every year, I try & find shades that are Christmas-y/seasonal to share during my December Swatch Sunday posts. I’m going to be honest — I don’t have as many Christmas collections as I thought I did, so I’ve started having to get creative with my picks. Also, I definitely plan on making my way to the Chatters by my work day to see if they have any new collections to check out.

This week’s pick is a relatively new shade from Quo Beauty: Green with Envy.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Quo Beauty brand, it’s the in-house brand for the Canadian Pharmacy Shoppers Drug Mart. The collections range in price between $12.49 CAD to $13.99 CAD depending on the finish, but they do semi-frequently go on sale which will usually save you a few dollars. I also love to wait for when the Quo Beauty nail polishes go on clearance, because I’ve scored shades for anywhere between $1-$3 before!

2 coats, no top coat.

First coat went on surprisingly thin, especially for a matte polish — I always find matte shades have relatively thicker formulas, but this one left a little to be desired on the first coat. Second coat, though, left me with perfect opacity, & full nail coverage.

Dry time, like most matte shades, was pretty quick, I like the soft finish with little bit of shimmer giving that velvet effect. The whole combination gives Green with Envy the effect of a beauty velvet Christmas dress, like the matching ones my Mom used to dress me & my sister in when we kids. Hence why I picked it for this week’s Swatch Sunday pick.

What do you think of Quo Beauty Green with Envy? Do you like these kind of velvet effect matte polishes for the holiday season? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you’ve tried any of the Quo Beauty nail polishes before. Also — if you can think of any 2022 holiday shades I must track down to swatch for this year, let me know! Still on the hunt for the Sally Hansen Merry & Bright shades I didn’t get to swatch yet, but they seem to be the most popular ones.

Happy Sunday loves!

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Silver Stamping & Wrapping Paper Inspired 🎁

Hello lovelies, & happy Thursday! & happy December 1st! It is officially Christmas season, & the countdown to Christmas is on. I should probably get my shopping done before it gets too crazy, haha.

But — in honour of this brand new festive month, I thought some Christmas wrapping paper inspired nails would be a fun start. I love my Christmas pattern stamping plates this time of year because they have some many fun patterns you can use, which always makes me think of wrapping paper. While I’m dedicated to doing Glam Nails Challenge December, I also want to do some fun other Christmas manicures on my off days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • OPI Just Be-Claus
  • ACO by Ardene Dancing Queen
  • Essie No Place Like Chrome
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper 
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate (no longer available)

Please excuse my ring finger which was a bit of a mess up, but that’s okay. I love the crisp silver over the sparkly base — OPI Just Be-Claus topped with ACO by Ardene Dancing Queen (which is a sparkly fuchsia pink). It definitely gives off the wrapping paper vibes I was hoping for.

& it also Christmas-y/Holiday vibes while not being out right blatant. & I like that as well.

What do you think about this stamped pattern nails? Do you enjoy the more subtle holiday designs like this, or do you like in your face Christmas vibes?

& let me know what other Holiday nail art looks you might want to see!

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Candy Cane Abstract Stripes (featuring W7 mini polishes)

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a lovely Black Friday weekend. Mine was busy–obviously… retail life–but surprisingly fun. & I’m finally starting to feel the holiday vibes. So I’m starting to dig into all my kind of Christmas-y polishes.

Recently I picked up a little polish mini set from Marshall’s by the brand w7. They had a whole selection of mini packs, so I decided to pick the one named “Centre Stage” which had 4 very Christmas-y colours, & a clear top coat. I’ve been staring at this little set for a few weeks now, sitting on my desk, so I decided to finally grab it & create a pretty, & festive, nail art look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • w7 White
  • w7 Red
  • w7 Green
  • w7 Gold Dazzle
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How freaking festive is this nail art look? I love it! These were the perfect nails to wear for Black Friday for sure. Unfortunately, they got a bit chipped up, but other than that I absolutely adore this look. I did a similar version last year, but when you find a nail art look you love, why not keep returning to it!

Plus abstract stripes are so easy to do. They’re very hard to mess up, & even if you kind of do, they’re easy to fix any messes.

What do you think about these abstract candy cane stripe nails? Are you getting excited for Christmas/holiday nail designs? Glam Nails Challenge December is coming, & I’ve already started planning my nail designs for it.