SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party

Hello my loves & Happy Sunday! This is the second Sunday of December, so I’m keeping with the Christmas-ish polish tradition, & trying to share shades that are related in some way to the holiday!

This past week I did a poll on my Instagram asking if people would rather see China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party (Holiday 2015) or OPI Bring Out The Big Gems (Holiday 2022) this week, & with an overwhelming majority, Ugly Sweater Party was the winner!

2 coats, No Top Coat

China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party is a pink jelly formula, packed tightly with an assortment of glitters, including holographic. The formula is a tad on the thick side, but with a little bit of patience, I easily covered my whole nail in two coats. You could probably sponge on the glitter for a denser packed glitter effect, but I much prefer it applied this way as I like the overall finish.

Truthfully, I don’t know if I can remember ever wearing this shade as a full manicure like this before. I originally bought the polish because I loved the name, & glitter is my weakness, but I think I’ve truthfully only used it in glitter gradients, or maybe as a single accent nail, which makes me sad.

I was also surprised I had never swatched this shade previous Decembers, so I was happy. to do both for todays post! This is definitely a fun glitter shade, & just screams Christmas party to me! My Christmas party days are long behind me, but to be honest if I were every invited to one — & didn’t have time for a full nail art look — this would be my #1 polish pick for such an occasion.

Do you remember China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party from its original 2015 release? Did you have this sparkly shade in your stash, or do you still have this glitter on rotation? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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!

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER — Graveyard 🪦

Hello lovelies & Happy Halloween! I hope everyone is all ready for the ghosts & ghouls to run loose this evening. I got prepped by watching my favourite Halloween episode of Buffy, & eating my weight in sour patch kids. It’s also the last prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October, which means October is officially over. & that is crazy! We’re just weeks away from candy canes & decking the halls.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — I have one more Halloween nail art look to share. The last prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October is Graveyard, & I decided to go with a classic graveyard scene… with a little holo sparkle added.

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 Intelligence, Integrity and Courage
  • Color Club Take Me To VIP
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush

This look is 100% freehanded, which I’m super proud of. Although, I do some version of this nail art look every year, so I feel like I’m really perfecting it. I also really like the addition of the holographic sparkle of Color Club Take Me to VIP because it almost looks like stars in the sky. Just lovely.

Can you believe this is the last prompt for Glam Nails Challenge October? Crazy! As always, I had so much fun doing these nail art looks. Halloween is one of my favourite months for nail art, because I feel like the nail art looks are endless. & you can check out all the nail art looks from this month on Instagram under  #glamnailschallengeOct.

I’m not 100% sure if I’ll be doing Glam Nails Challenge November yet, or if I’ll save all my energy for December, so stay tuned to see what nail art looks I have coming next month! Enjoy your Halloween, & whichever Halloween candy of choice is your favourite!

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER — Bats 🦇

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! We’re officially half way through October, & that much closer to Halloween. We’re also half way through Glam Nails Challenge October, which is crazy — this month is seriously speeding by.

The next prompt for Glam Nails Challenge October is Bats! & while I’d like to believe that I could freehand bats onto my nails, I know better than that, so I decided to dig into my vast collection of nail art stickers for some of my Halloween goodies, & found some bat stickers for a fun, simple, stylish nail art look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fast Dry Top Coat
  • China Glaze Screen Vixen
  • Assorted Halloween nail art stickers

How cute are these. The Bat sticker on my ringer finger is from a set from Dollarama, & the other little bat stickers were in a Halloween nail polish set I got for my daughter last year. They paired so well together, & this was exactly the look I wanted to achieve. Sometimes I like to test my nail art free handing skills, & sometimes — like with this manicure — I just want something quick, simple, & gets to the point quickly.

& I feel like this is a nail art look anyone could wear!

What do you think of these easy bat themed nails? Are you still following around with #glamnailschallengeOct on instagram? Only a few more prompts to go for this month! How crazy is that.

GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER— Scary Pumpkins

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! & happy prompt #2 of Glam Nails Challenge October! I’m loving this challenge so much already — it really plays into my spooky heart.

Today’s prompt is Scary Pumpkins. 🎃 Although, my pumpkins definitely turned out a little less scary, & a little more cute. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts haha.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fast Dry Top Coat
  • China Glaze Spice to Meet You
  • Starrily Eclipse
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I had this idea about holo pumpkins, & I really like Starrily Eclipse over China Glaze Spice to Meet You from last years China Glaze Fall collection. It gave me the perfect holographic base for my “scary” pumpkin faces. I also love the sparkle. I’m definitely going through a holo & sparkle faze right now.

& my thumb, because I really like how his face turned out.

Are you following along with Glam Nails Challenge October, & the prompts so far. You can follow #glamnailschallengeoct on Instagram for all the fun prompts to come. I’m really looking forward to creating some new nail art looks for this year, so stay tuned! There is a reason October is my favourite month!

Have an awesome day lovelies!