Glam Nails Challenge December—Fireworks 🎆

Good morning lovelies & happy Wednesday! I can barely believe it, but it is the last prompt of Glam Nails Challenge December! We’ve made it to the end. Which means.. it’s almost the end of December… & the end of 2022! So let’s celebrate with something fun.

Today’s prompt is Fireworks! I was inspired by a previous design I did with the same prompt, but decided to go with a blue/silvery colour theme. Giving me all the New Years Eve vibes.

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
  • China Glaze New Year, New Boo
  • China Glaze December to Remember
  • China Glaze Blue Iguana
  • China Glaze 2NITE
  • China Glaze Dancing & Prancing
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

Not going to lie, these nails are giving me some Snow Queen/Elsa vibes on top of fireworks. Definitely the blue on blue on blue. Could also be the fact my 3 year old spent most of Christmas running around the house scream singing “Let It Go” at the top of her lungs. Haha.

It definitely took some serious layering to get this design to look the way I imagined in my head, but with the combination of colours & glitter, it really gives you the effect of watching Fireworks explode in the sky. I love them.

What do you think about this Fireworks inspired design? Are you all ready for this year to be over? It’s definitely been an interesting year, full of a lot of change, so I’m interested (& hopeful) to see what 2023 will bring! Hopefully nothing but good things.

Thanks for following around with another month of Glam Nails Challenge! I had so much fun this month, & it was a great way to end the year. Don’t forget, all the designs for this month can be found on the Glam Nails Challenge December hashtag on Instagram.

Holo & Snowflakes (featuring some NailStuff.ca goodies)

Features Gifted Product

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday!

It’s officially a little over a month until Christmas, can you believe it? I feel like I should really start thinking about Christmas shopping soon, but things have been in this weird adjustment period, I really haven’t had a lot of time to think about anything holly or jolly.

I was feeling some nail art the other night, but I was also feeling super tired — I recently started a new job, so after a few weeks off, I’ve been adjusting back into work life. & I’m tired, haha. But I wanted some cute nails, so I decided to grab some of my nail goodies from Nailstuff.ca. I thought some snowflake nails might, just, inspire me to feeling festive.

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
  • Dimension Nails Great Blue Heron (c/o: NailStuff.ca)
  • Starrily Eclipse (c/o: NailStuff.ca) (Holographic Top Coat)
  • NailStuff.ca snowflake stickers (not currently available but she does have other cute Christmas stickers right now)

So I definitely applied these stickers when my base shade was still a bit too wet, hence a bit of a 3D effect on some of my nails. But I think these little snowflakes look so cute over the blue holographic base. I wanted something kind of dusty, but with a holo kick, & this combination was perfect! Also, somehow, I think this is the first time I’ve worn Dimension Nails Great Blue Heron as a full manicure, & that’s kind of crazy. It’s such a beautiful blue!

What do you think of my easy snowflake nails? Do you like seeing easy manicures like this, or do you prefer more complicated nail art? I have a few more “easy” looks to share, & then we’ll be jumping into Glam Nails Challenge December so stay tuned! I plan on having something for everyone.

SWATCH SUNDAY— Essie Bell-Bottom Blues

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far. Can you believe it’s the last weekend of August? That’s crazy! This Summer has definitely been a blip. But I had my first PSL yesterday from Second Cup, so I’m all in on Autumn.

Today though, I’m throwing it back to Fall 2015 with Essie Bell-Bottom Blues from the Essie Fall 2015 Leggy Legend collection. I remember when this collection was first released I was obsessed with all the colours in the collection, but especially Bell-Bottom Blues, & it was the one I almost immediately bought upon finding it in stores.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter Top Coat

For a polish that is 7 (!) years old, this shade is just as perfect as it was back when I first purchased it. The formula is still smooth & easy to apply. The formula is pigmented enough it could be a one coat wonder, but I did used two coats for full opacity. The polish itself is a beautiful dark blue, with vibrant blue shimmer, & this hint of purple which you can, sadly, see best in the bottle.

On its own, it dries to a soft satin finish. I much prefer it with top coat though as I feel like it shows off the shimmer much better.

It’s been a while since I pulled this shimmery blue from my stash, & I’m super glad that I did. I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been paying that much attention to the upcoming Fall collections, aside from swatches posted on Instagram. But I’ve been spending a lot of time shopping my own collection for fun Autumn shades to wear, including some oldies but goodies.

What do you think about Essie Bell-Bottom Blues? Do you have any of the shades from the collection in your stash? Let me know down in the comments, & let me know when of the 2022 Autumn nail polish collections you’re most excited about!

Vibrant Blue Geometric Pattern Nails (featuring the new formula Sally Hansen Pacific Blue)

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! Can you believe how quickly this week is going by? It’s been kind of rainy & gross here the last few days, which kind of had me craving some brighter colours in my life! So hence today’s nail art look.

I won’t lie — I’m still craving a lot of Fall & Autumn things right now. But every so often I like to mix things up with some not-Fall colours. & I thought this polish combo was really a lot of fun ( & the right amount of sparkle!)

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue (the new formula)
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rock Star Pink
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Buffalo Nickel
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How gorgeous is the combination of Sally Hansen’s new formula Pacific Blue & Rock Star Pink? I’ve owned this bottle of the new Pacific Blue for a few years, but I’m fairly certain this time is the first time I’ve actually worn it. We all know much I adore the original Pacific Blue, so I think I was just being a snob about it haha. Of course, this new version is not as perfect as the original, but it’s still a pretty polish — especially with a cost of Rock Star Pink layered overtop.

Originally I had planned on just wearing my nails plain, but I got this idea about doing some geographic lines over top, & I feel like it completed the look. Something about the contrast of the silver over the blue is just perfect. It’s a very vibrant look, & I love that.

What do you think of this nail art look? Do you love the combo of the pink glitter over the blue as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! & have a lovely Thursday!

SWATCH SUNDAY—Essie Dive Bar

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I’ve been enjoying a lovely, although a tad rainy, weekend off from work. Today, though, I’m all about Swatch Sunday, & this classic Essie shade from my stash: Dive Bar.

This shade has been in my stash a long time — I’m pretty sure I found it on a good deal at Winners, as I do a lot of my shades. Dive Bar was originally released as part of the 2012 Spring collection, also named Dive Bar.

2 coats + Essie Speed Setter

This colour is so gorgeous! It’s a deep navy blue base, with a striking teal shimmer. It just screams Fall to me — so I was surprised when I learned it was released as part of a Spring collection. It also reminds me of Space, so I feel like it would be an incredible base for galaxy nails because it has a great depth to it!

The formula is also still really awesome, which is good after all these years. I’ve own this bottle since at least 2015, so it’s going on 7 years old. It does have the original skinny Essie brush, which means you do have to be careful with application. I managed to get opacity in 2 thicker coats, but you could definitely do one coat over a black as well — it probably wouldn’t be as shimmery, but it would save on coats.

What do you think about this Essie oldie? Do you have Dive Bar in your stash? Do you love these deep shimmery blues as much as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.