GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER (2024) — Autumn Nature

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! Also — happy last day of September! Crazy to think this month is over. & it seems fitting to be sharing my last design for Glam Nails Challenge September!

Today’s prompt is Autumn Nature which to me seems very abstract. So I decided to go with a beautiful Autumn toned floral for this last prompt.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Sally Hansen Color Therapy Slicks & Stones
  • Essie Fall for NYC
  • Essie Mrs Always Right
  • Essie Coconuts for You
  • Essie Willow in the Wind
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tools from Dotting Tool Trio

How pretty did these turn out? I love how applying the Essie shades in my floral design over the dark base kind of muted them, which gives even more of that Autumn nature feel.

I was inspired to do a floral after looking at our own flower garden which is still blooming madly in this Autumn weather. Who says Fall can’t call for flowers too? With the dark base shade, I thought this was the perfect representation of Autumn nature, & I just love them!

I wore this manicure for a full 3 days until it started to chip.

What do you think of this last design for Glam Nails Challenge September? Have you enjoyed all this prompts this month? I hope so!

Don’t forget, you can check out #glamnailschallengesept24 on Instagram, & see all the other beautiful designs being shared!

Happy Monday!

🖤

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER (2024) — Autumn Harvest

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! Today is a balmy not-so-Autumm day here on the East Coast, not Fall-like at all. But that’s okay because we’re continuing on with our Fall inspired manicures for Glam Nails Challenge September with the next prompt which is Autumn Harvest. & I won’t lie, this one had me a bit stumped at first! So I decided to pull out some acrylic paint & get creative.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Essie Expressie Cold Brew Crew
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Moonlight Top Coat
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm & 11mm liner brushes

So I don’t know if you can tell, but I handprinted some pumpkins & squash, & then filled into the space with some Fall foilage. I feel like maybe using such a dark base colour might have been a detriment to my design, but it looks very pretty up close. & the colours just scream Autumn, which I love!

& you can never go wrong with flakies.

What do you think about these Autumn Harvest nails? Are you getting the prompt from this design? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & how you think I did.

Are you following along with the other nail art designs for this month’s Glam Nails Challenge September? Don’t forget, you can check out #glamnailschallengesept24 on Instagram, & see all the other beautiful designs being shared!

Autumn Colour Blocking 🍁🍂

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! I hope everyone is having the loveliest of Fridays… the weekend is almost here! I thought I would break up the Glam Nails Challenge content with something different. I’m full into the Autumn vibes now, so a Fall inspired colour blocking was exactly what I was feeling!

As I mentioned in my Swatch Sunday post, I’ve really been digging into my China Glaze stash lately & really loving all the polishes from Autumn collections past. So I pulled out a few Autumn shades to enjoy.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze Mind The Gap
  • China Glaze a Whole Latte Fun
  • China Glaze Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em

Don’t mind those bit of wrinkles — I may have been rushing a smidge when I was doing this mani, so I did muck it up just a smidge. But it still turned out beautifully, & I think these colours just go together so beautifully. I’m definitely going to need to remember this colour combo so I can use it again, maybe in a stripe or chevron look!

What do you think about this Autumn colour block? Do you like this combination of colours? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

& happy Friday!

🖤

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER (2024) — Plaid

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & Happy Labour Day! We’re jumping right into the Autumn nail art designs with this month’s Glam Nails Challenge September.

I was debating whether or not I was going to do another month, but then my first design I did happened to be a plaid design — which is the first prompt of this month, so I was like… let’s just do this! I had so much fun last month while feeling challenged creatively, I think I want to give it another go. & this month definitely has some great prompts as well!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Just In Wine
  • Essie East Hamptons Cottage
  • Essie Mani Thanks!
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper Black
  • Quo by Orly Nail Art Striper Red
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

Does anyone else just immediately want to pull all the plaid out of their closet as soon as the mornings start feeling slightly cooler? I definitely do. I also want to paint plaid on my nails, because it just feels fitting. Pair these with a pair of over the knee socks, & the Autumn vibes are strong. I also feel like this is an easier, simpler design to do — albeit you do need a bit of a steadier hand for straight lines. But with a long striper brush, it does simplify the design a bit.

Definitely a design I recommend any beginner nail artist to try, & just trust the process. If you look at a plaid material, the pattern isn’t perfect so don’t worry about trying to make yours perfect. Sometimes the messier the better it turns out!

What do you think of this design? Are you excited for this month’s Glam Nails Challenge? Like I said, I was feeling inspired so I wanted to keep the good nail art going! & I feel like this is going to inspire some really beautiful nail art designs this month!

If you’re curious about the prompts to come, here is a little sneak peak of the prompts for this month.

& don’t forget to follow along with the above hashtag to see everyone’s gorgeous designs they post! Also, @glamnailschallenge reposts a lot of the beautiful designs on her page, so you can get a little snippet there as well!

Happy Monday!

♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — Claire’s Khaki Green

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! Another beautiful sunny Sunday. I know we still have a little under a month of Summer left (according to the calendar) but man oh man, do I feel the Autumn polish vibes calling. So I decided to pull out one of those more Fall-esque shades for today’s Swatch Sunday post. 🍂🍁

This is Claire’s Khaki Green.

2 coats + top coat

I’ve written before about my absolute love of Claire’s polishes, even after all these years. Working for the company really introduced my absolute nail polish obsession, especially they were always very good for duping current trends in their polish brand — like crackle, feather, etc.

Khaki Green is a beautiful olive geeen with a stunning shimmer of golden bronze that really pops on the nail, especially in the sunshine. It is definitely giving late Summer/early Autumn, & would be the perfect addition to any Fall nail polish collection. & I love how the shimmer actually shows up better on the nail than in the bottle, which I feel like is virtually unheard of (it’s usually the other way around.)

Seriously — look at that shimmer. It’s just so stunningly beautiful!

The formula on this guy was good & easy to apply. It actually had a good shiny finish, although I did add top coat to really gloss it up. Over all, a good shade from a mainstream brand that isn’t necessarily known for their nail polish. I always love when you kind find hidden gems where you wouldn’t normally think to look.

Sadly, this shade is a few years old now so (I’m guessing) no longer in rotation. But I definitely recommend checking out the shades they release, because there are always fun colours & finishes you wouldn’t expect.

What do you think of Claire’s Khaki Green? Do you like this shade of olive green with shimmer? Is this kind of colour one you would reach for come Autumn? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Happy Sunday 🖤