Category: Winter

Posted on

Festive Glitter Gradient ✨🎄

Good morning lovelies & happy Thursday! & happy Christmas Eve Eve. I hope everyone is ready for their holidays, & for those still working long hours & not sure how they’re going to be ready — I feel you! Hopefully everyone is also staying safe with everything quickly changing in the world.

I said I was dedicated to 5 nail art looks this week in preparation for Christmas, & I wasn’t lying! Today is day four, & I went with a classic look that I do some incarceration of every year: a Christmas glitter gradient. Last year’s was very similar to this years, but that’s okay! When you find a classic that works for you, you go with it! (Plus my nails are so much longer this year!)

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Icing Emerald City
  • Icing Tis The Season

Hello Christmas sparkle! I was actually going to use my other Christmas-y glitter from Icing, Santa Baby, but unfortunately it’s on the goopier side, so I decided to go with my other very Christmas-y glitter for this look. I’ve mentioned before how I love the speed & ease of a glitter gradient, plus the versatility, so I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them.

What do you think about my glitter gradient? Do you like this years version, or last year’s shorty version? Let me know what nail art design/style you repeat year after year & never get tired of!

Posted on

Glam Nails Challenge December— Poinsettia

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

Today’s pre-Christmas look is also todays prompt for Glam Nails Challenge December — poinsettia. So I created a cute floral poinsettia accent nail!

Also let me apologize for my pictures — I took them at work, after it was dark outside, so they’re a little rougher than I like to do. But it’s been a busy week! (also reason this manicure is looking a little rougher than usual…)

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Society Ruler
  • Sally Hansen CSM Blush Around the Clock
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Blacky-O
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • Icing Emerald City
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

The close up is my favourite (minus the blue hair dye peeking by my cuticle… ugh) I feel like these turned out so pretty, & they were surprisingly simple… after I finished my accent nails I kind of wished I had done a couple more fingers. But it is still a lovely accent nail look, & a lovely Christmas look!

What do you think about this nail art look? Do you like my lovely accent nail? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below & what nails you have planned for Christmas Eve.

Posted on

Glam Nails Challenge December— Ornaments

Contains PR sample/Gifted product

Hello lovelies & happy Friday!

I swear I’ve been meaning to post this design for 2 days, but with Christmas right around the corner (& 12 hour work days) I’ve been struggling to find a good nail blogger balance with real life.

But! Today I have my next prompt for GlamNailsChallengeDecember: ornaments. & I decided to go with a simply bauble look for this design — something festive, but not too over the top. & naturally I had to pose in front of my own Christmas tree for the photographs.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Tutu the Ballet
  • Sally Hansen MG Snow What You Want
  • Sally Hansen MG Under the Tree
  • Sally Hansen MG Wrapped in Love
  • Sally Hansen MG Five Golden Blings
  • Sally Hansen MG Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen MG Buffalo Nickel
  • Sally Hansen MG Blacky-O
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How cute did these turn out?! I tried to give these baubles a fun vintage look. Also it gave me a chance to use a few more of the beautiful shades of the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Joy of Colour collection for this holiday (plus a few older Sally Hansen shades). & I’m really really happy with how they look.

Plus I’m absolutely in love with this glitter sandwich I did using Snow What You What & Tutu the Ballet which I’ve been itching to do since I got it.

What do you think about this ornament look? Do they scream Christmas to you? Are you almost ready for the holidays?

Let me know in the comments below!

Posted on

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Frostbite ❄️

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a rainy one here in Halifax — we even had thunder & lightning last night. A really big Thunder & Lightning storm! Which is not something super usual for Nova Scotia in December haha.

But you know, even though the weather is very un-December like right now, I’m still showing off a very Winter-like polish for this week’s Swatch Sunday: China Glaze Frostbite.

2 coats + Seche Vive top coat

I’ve had this China Glaze shade in my stash for a long time–at least 6 years–but truthfully , it’s not really one I reach for that often. Which is crazy, because this shade is very, very beautiful! The formula applied very smoothly, reaching opacity by the second coat. I’m not going to lie, the first coat was bit thin, but the second coat gave me the beautiful application that you see below.

As for the colour, I really really adore this vibrant sapphire blue shade, with an underlying aqua blue shimmer that gives the polish a real glow. It definitely reminds me of something that an ice queen would wear — maybe with some holographic snowflakes, or something. How gorgeous would that be?

In my close up, you can really see that shimmer, which gives the polish the glow. It’s something else. Definitely one of those shades you can wear all on it’s own, without the need of anything added. But, as you would have seen in my last post, it also makes a beautiful base for nail art as well!

I did find a few listings online for Frostbite, & it would appear that it’s still part of the permanent collection, so it should be easy to find if you’re looking to add it to your collection. NailPolishCanada.com, Sally Beauty, & the China Glaze website are a few places I found that you can buy this beauty of a shade!

What do you think about China Glaze Frostbite? Do you have this icy blue shade in your stash? Would you wear this polish for the holidays? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below — or shade which Christmas/Holiday/Winter shade you’re absolutely obsessed with this time of year!

Posted on

Glam Nails Challenge December— Reindeer

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Hope everyone is having a lovely (& not too exhausting) week so far!

Today I’m showing off another manicure prompt for GlamNailsChallenge December: reindeer nails! & not unsurprisingly, I decided to go with some stamped reindeer inspired nails. I’ve been really loving the speed & ease of stamping lately — plus I have a whole bunch of Christmas-y stamping plates that I only get the chance to use this time of year.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze Frostbite
  • Essie No Place Like Chrome
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plates (both no longer available)

This is my first time using the ugly sweater reindeer print from this particular stamping plate, & I think it’s super cute. I had a bit of a struggle with picking up the image for some of the nails, but that could be a combination of rushing, the polish I used, & the tiny details of the stamping plate image.

Over all, though, I think this manicure turned out super cute & I got so many compliments on it over the 2 days I was wearing it!

What do you think about this reindeer design? Are you a fan of this stamping look? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!