Tag: ACO by Ardene

Posted on

L.O.V.E. nails (Happy Valentine’s Day!) 💗

Good morning loves & happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s a snowy Valentine’s Day here in Halifax, after a big dumping of snow. Not super impressed with the weather, but that won’t stop me from sharing my last Valentine’s Day look for this year! I really wanted to do more hearts — like accent hearts — but at the last second I decided to write L.O.V.E in the middle of them. & I’m obsessed.

They’re like heart shaped scrabble tiles! & I love it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • QUO Beauty Velveteen
  • ACO by Ardene Flawless
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Dotting tool (NailStuff.ca — Dotting Tool Trio)
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

I’m not sure why, but I really wants to do heart accent nails at the base of my nails. But when I finished my little pale pink hearts, they looked a little basic, so I decided to outline them in black — my go to for jazzing up a manicure. BUT THEN, I thought: what if I attempted to spell out Love in my hearts. It was a risk, but it turned out so awesome, so I couldn’t be happier!

What do you think about this love themed design? Do you like this simple nail art? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!

I hope everyone has a happy Valentine’s Day, & if it’s not your thing then I hope you enjoy tomorrow which is 50% of chocolate day!

♥︎

Posted on

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!

Posted on

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!

Posted on

Glam Nails Challenge December — Wreaths

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! It’s a beautiful—but chilly—day here. Almost all our snow melted away this weekend due to crazy rain, so it’s feeling very un-Christmas like outside. More like April than December.

But that’s okay because I have another cute Christmas look to share for Glam Nails Challenge December: wreath nails. & I think this is my most favourite Christmas look so far!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Wrenn Polish Happy Thoughts
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Ardene Jungle Green
  • Essence The Green & The Grunge
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Red It Twice
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush
  • Small dotting tool (NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio)
  • Paper Hole Reinforcements

I’m not going to lie—I’m absolutely obsessed with how pretty these turned out. I’ve done some wreath nails before, but I wanted to do something completely new & I think I succeeded! So much so, I’ve been wearing these nails for going on 3 days now, & they’re still more or less holding up (with a few chips at the tip that are easy to fix).

Also I forgot how absolutely stunning Happy Thoughts by Wrenn polish is. There is a reason why her holos are some of my favourites—they are absolutely eye catching! I’m going to be so, so sad when I finally take these off.

What do you think about these half moon wreath nails? Are you obsessed with them as much as I am? Would you wear this look on your nails?

Let me know all your thoughts down the comments below! & have a lovely Monday!

Posted on

Neon & Scattered Holo Abstract Stripes

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday.

I know I’ve been very quiet on the blog front this week as my Mum & Dad finally made it down to visit, after being away for the last 9 months. So between soaking in visiting time, & working a ton, posting has been slacking. I’ve got a few nail art looks to share, so I’m definitely going to sit down & concentrate on getting my posts written! First up, some fun neon & scattered holo abstract stripes.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Holographic Top Coat: Starrily Eclipse
  • Ardene Sour Apple
  • Essence Violet Vibes
  • Sally Hansen MG Fushcia Fever
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Cerulean
  • Sally Hansen MG Get Mod!
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Nail Art Striper Brush

I’m really loving how these turned out. I’ve been seeing so much neon, I needed to do another neon look (plus I just bought this “pastel neons” shade from Essence, so I needed to do a manicure with it!)

Originally I just had the abstract stripes, but it was such a sunny beautiful day, I needed to add some holo. I’ve been applying the Starrily holographic top coats I have (Space Debris & Eclipse) to basically every pedicure I’ve done in the last 3 weeks, so I figured I should try it over nail art.

What do you think about this neon & holo look? I feel like I often overthink applying holographic top coat over any neon shades, but I’m definitely going to make a more conscious effort to do it more often! Because I really, really love the end result.

Let me know what you think down in the comments below!