Jewel Toned Stained Glass Nails 💎

Hello my loves! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far. It has been absolutely freezing here on the East Coast of Canada. I’ve been wearing legging under my jeans & over the knee socks just to keep warm — crazy! Winter is definitely just around the corner, & I’m never ready for it when it comes.

Today though, I have a beautiful jewel toned design to share with you. I used to do stained glass nails a lot when this blog first started, but it’s been a while since the last time. After finding a few beautiful China Glaze polishes I haven’t worn in a while, I knew I wanted to pair them together in a stained glass look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • China Glaze OMG
  • China Glaze Fairy Dust
  • China Glaze First Class Ticket
  • China Glaze Don’t Get Elf’d Up
  • China Glaze Pull Me Close
  • Sally Hansen Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 9mm Mermaid Tail Liner Brush

How freaking pretty is this! These shades juts compliment each other so well… it makes me so happy! Originally I had just started with a simple colour block, but it really felt like I was lacking in something, so I decided to add on another colour (Pull Me Close) & the black outlining, & it just brought everything together perfectly.

Even though I’ve been wearing a lot of red nails just on their own, I’m trying really hard to not go too hard on the Christmas nail art\ quite yet. A little sprinkling here & there, but I know that December will be Christmas nail art heavy (I’m doing Glam Nails Challenge December again!), so I’m trying my best to get in everything else in the meantime.

What do you think of this beautiful jewel toned stained glass design? Do you think this is a fun look or do you prefer more simple nail art? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

&, to all my American followers, Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your Wednesday lovelies ♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Blue Iguana (& some bonus sparkle ✨)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The first Sunday of November, if you can believe it! Sadly, I’m starting off November with some extra short nails thanks to a bad, bad break at work on Friday.

So I wanted to make my nails feel extra pretty, so I dug through my stash & landed on this sparkly old school China Glaze shade. This is China Glaze Blue Iguana.

2 coats + top coat

Blue Iguana was originally released as part of the 2011 Summer Island Escape collection. It has an electric blue foil finish with a great micro shimmer. The formula was fairly thin, but I had adequate coverage in 2 coats. It also appears lighter on the nail than in the bottle, which was kind of a bummer — but maybe an extra coat or two would have fixed that. I also wish you could see more of the purple duochrome flash on the nail, as much as you can see it in the bottle. But it’s still beautiful regardless.

I was feeling like my short, stubby nails needed a bit more sparkle, so I pulled another oldie (released around the same time) from Icing to add a little pizazz: Icing Radio Super Star.

1 coat over Blue Iguana + top coat

I was actually really impressed with how closely the blue glitters in Radio Super Star matched Blue Iguana. It has a clear base with blue micro glitter, fuschia hex glitters & these fun silver star glitter. What you see above is just one coat over my base — & I had great luck with getting the star glitters onto the nail with minimal fishing.

It gave me exactly the sparkle I was craving to cheer myself up!

How are you feeling up these two fun polishes both together & apart? I feel like it’s just a smidge too early for holiday polishes (although I’m keeping my eyes open!) but I may see what glitter shades I can pull out for this month.

Have a happy Sunday!

Autumn Abstract Stripes🍂🍁

Hello lovelies & happy Monday. & happy Labour Day! I hope everyone is enjoying this last long weekend of Summer. I’m getting excited because back-to-school is just a few days away, & I’m pumped that my days off during the week will actually feel like days off!

Today I’m showing off all the Fall vibes, with some abstract stripes featuring some China Glaze autumn shades from collections past.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Top Coat
  • China Glaze Prairie Tale Ending
  • China Glaze Spice To Meet You
  • China Glaze Modern Auburn
  • China Glaze Loves ‘Em & Leaves ‘Em
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Brush Trio (11mm liner brush)

Look at these colours together — if this doesn’t scream Autumn vibes, I don’t know what does! The colours blend beautifully together. & this is what I always mean when I say this abstract stripe design is my favourite because of the endless colour possibilities; there are infinite combinations. & it’s so easy. This design probably took me maybe 30 minutes from start to finish, not including dry time.

What do you think of these Autumn Abstract stripes? Do you have big Labour Day plans? Drop a comment below, & let me know how you celebrate the end of Summer. My big plans for today? Laundry… lots of laundry.

Have a beautiful day!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Glamcore

Hello my lovelies, & happy Sunday. The first Swatch Sunday of September. The mornings are cooler, the humidity is non-existent, & I’m really for some darker nail polish.

I dug through my nail polish stash, trying to decide on what shade of should start off the Autumn vibes with, & found this beauty from China Glaze. Glamcore is a beautiful deep dark purple shimmer, originally released as part of the Fall 2017 Street Regal collection.

1 coat, no top coat

If you’re looking for a beautiful Autumn shade, this is definitely the vibe. In the bottle, it’s a bit of a different shade with this kind of dusty blue that doesn’t really translate onto the nail. But the colour you do get, this dark & vampy purple, is spectacular.

The formula on this shade is also great — it’s thick in the coverage department, but easy to apply, so I only needed one coat. The brush on this baby is the only downside — it’s very skinny, which can make application, especially around the cuticle line, more difficult. You get kind of see where I struggled a bit for clean cuticle application (although I think I did a not too bad job!)

Is this not a stunning polish? We all know next to a good red, I love a good purple. & this is prime purple season, so expect that you’re probably going to see a few over the next couple months. Also, China Glaze Fall collections have always been my favourite collections, & I have quite a few on here from over the years that I don’t think I’ve shared on here.

Sadly this shade is 6 years old, so it’s no longer in rotation. I score this shade a few years later at my local Winners (hence the label) so the possibility exists that it could pop up again at one of those stores in limited released.

What do you think of China Glaze Glamcore? Do you remember the 2017 Street Regal collection, or own any of the shades from it? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what current Fall/Autumn 2023 Nail Polish collection you’re obsessed with!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze High Hopes

Good morning lovelies & happy Sunday! I feel like it’s been a while since I did a Swatch Sunday post, even though it’s only been 2 weeks. Today I dug deep deep into the stash for a bit of an oldie shade: China Glaze High Hopes.

2 coats + top coat

According to Google, this shade was originally released as part of the Spring 2010 Up & Away Collection. I believe I purchased this bottle myself circa 2013/2014, although I’m not 100% sure. It’s been in my stash a while though.

Formula on this beauty is smooth & easy to apply. The colour is a beautiful vibrant coral that was a smidge hard to photograph accurately. But I feel like these photos capture it most accurately.

The bright colour feels perfect for Summer, but would be easy to transition into Fall by pairing it with a deep burgundy. Yes, my mind is going there. I’m trying my best not to start thinking about Autumn, but our local Dollarama has Halloween already popping up, & Halloween is my favourite season!

But back to High Hopes! This shade is lovely & the colour is a great alternative to my usual go-to red manicure that I love so much.

I did find a few listings online for this shade — Sparkle Canada has it listed for sale, as well you can find the Gelaze version on the China Glaze website. I also found an Amazon listing, but I’m not sure if it’s a secondhand seller or not. However, there are definitely a few listings floating around for this fun vibrant shade!

What do you think about this beautiful vibrant coral shade? Do you have China Glaze High Hopes in your nail polish stash?

Let me know all your thoughts, & what shade you’re currently loving this week!

🖤