#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Christmas Decorations

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Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! We’re quickly speeding through December & speeding through the prompts for #GlamnailschallengeDec! Today’s prompt is Christmas decorations! I feel like this prompt is really up for interpretation & offers a wide variety of options, so I decided to recreate a look I love to do: Christmas branches with decorations, but with the addition of holo. Because, let’s be honest — everything is better with holo!

If you’re curious to see my previous look from two years ago, you can find them here.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Kiss Me I’m Kind
  • OPI Pirouette My Whistle
  • Acrylic paint
  • Wrenn Polish Enchanted
  • Wrenn Polish Summer Sands
  • Color Club Eternal Beauty
  • Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

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Who has decorated their Christmas tree? 🎄 We got ours done this week, which is about 2 weeks sooner than last year. Because of pregnancy & work last year, we managed to get our tree decorated by Christmas Eve, haha. But you know, if you haven’t gotten your tree decorated yet, you can always pretend with fully decorated Christmas trees on your nails!

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I really think the holo dots are what make this design because it reminds me of the baubles on my own tree when the light catches them. Just that lovely sparkle. ✨ You don’t even need to worry about any more details, because the shift of light does it all for you.

I also think these might be the best pine needle/Christmas tree branches I’ve ever painted. I’m insanely proud of how these ended up, which is probably why I wore this look for over a week. Sometimes a look just wins, & this is definitely one of these looks for me. ❤️

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What do you think about this Christmas decoration look? Don’t forget to hop on over to Instagram & check out the other  #glamnailschallengeDec Christmas Decoration looks. faux tree kind of person!

GlamnailschallengeDec— Snowflakes ❄️

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Good morning lovelies & Happy Wednesday! We’re already halfway through our week, how crazy is that?! & even crazier we’re almost half way to Christmas! (I haven’t even begun to process the fact this year, no DECADE, is almost over…) Today I have another manicure to share with you as part of #glamnailschallengeDec — Snowflakes!

Snowflake designs are actually one of my favourite nail art looks for this time of year, because there are so many ways to create snowflakes: stamping, stickers, freehand, & even just glitter! For today’s look, I decided some more stamping was in order because I have about 5 different stamping plates with snowflakes on them. I really wanted to feature one snowflake per each nail & I love how these turned out because they remind me a lot of Frozen. ❄️

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Quo by ORLY Breathable Kiss Me I’m Kind
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Ice Pop
  • ACO by Ardene Style Icon
  • Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade (c/o: NailStuff.ca — COFFEE10 to save 10%)
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set 
  • Assortment of BornPretty stamping platesthis one has an assortment of similar snowflake images.

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I started this look off by creating a glitter sandwich using Kiss Me I’m Kind, Ice Pop & Style Icon. I wanted a really soft, delicate base for my snowflakes. If you don’t know what a glitter sandwich is, basically you start off by applying a layer of jelly/sheer polish, a layer or two of glitter & then finishing it with another layer of your jelly/sheer polish over your glitter. It really gives the glitter a softer look, which I love. It looks really beautiful all on it’s own or as the base for nail art. I thought it would be perfect for this particular design because it gives the effect of snow in the background (or at least that’s what it reminds me of.)

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Victoria (aka @nailstuffca) was the one who told me how amazing the Superchic polishes were for stamping, which is why I grabbed Throwing Shade for my snowflakes, & she was so right! I was very impressed with how well it showed up on my nail, especially because I had such a light base to start. I can’t wait to try again over a darker base colour (a navy blue such as Essie Bobbing for Baubles perhaps? Stay turned!)

Seriously though, can you go wrong with holo snowflakes? I really don’t think you can! Who doesn’t want to feel like an Ice Queen.

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Who else loves a good snowflake design? I really really love wearing snowflakes on my nails, especially when the actual white stuff seems to be keeping its distance. It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me, until there is a little snow on the ground.

As always, don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeDec over on Instagram to see everyone’s fun snowflake looks. & stay tuned, because there are still a ton of fun designs to come!

GlamNailsChallengeDec — Reindeer Nails

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Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! We’re officially moving onto our next prompt of GlamNailsChallengeDec which is reindeer! How Christmas-y, am I right? & who is the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolf of course! 🦌🔴 so naturally I wanted to create a manicure with a little nod to him.

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For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • China Glaze Don’t Get Elfed Up
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • China Glaze Ruby Slippers
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set (COFFEE10 to save 10% off your purchase!)
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • An old Born Pretty Store plate that’s no longer available. Similar patterns here: BP-L018 (item #19373)
  • Small dotting tool

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How absolutely adorable did this Rudolf turn out? I liked pairing it with the sweater pattern on my nails too, because it reminded me of a pair of leggings that are my favourite to wear for Christmas, but more grown up. Not that I have any issue with wearing silly or crazy nail art–because I don’t–but I like to share a little bit of everything. A simple reindeer accent nail would definitely work for someone who just wanted a little bit of Christmas nail art on their nails. & if you didn’t want the sweater nails, you could do something like a glitter gradient or gradient dotticure on your other fingers. That what’s I love about nail art: you can adjust it to suit whatever style you have, whether it’s crazy over the top or more muted & subdued. There is something for everyone & every mood.

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Seriously, how cute is this rudolf? I’m obsessed. Also I think I use this particular image so much between November & March. It’s one of my absolute favourites. So many manicure options! Also I think the red nose would be even cuter with an itty bitty red rhinestone (which was my original plan) but I couldn’t find my rhinestones so I had to settle with red glittery polish.

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What do you think about this Reindeer look? Who is your favourite reindeer?

Don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeDec over on Instagram to stay up to date with all the manicures & prompts to come! & if there is any Christmas nail art ideas you’d like to see, let me know & I’ll try to get them done before Christmas!

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Peppermint To Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up (Holiday 2015)

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Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Crazy to believe we’re already celebrating the second Sunday of December! I thought I would keep the holiday polish trend going by sharing two of my favourite holiday themed polishes from collections past: China Glaze Peppermint to Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up! from the 2015 Holiday Cheers collection. The original collection contained 12 beautiful metallic & glittery shades (plus one cream!) I bought 6 of the shades in a mini set from Marshall’s, & a big bottle of Ugly Christmas Sweater (which I feel like I need to share in a post all its own.)

For today’s post I decided to share the two polishes I seem to gravitate to most: Don’t Get Elfed Up which a is deep dark teal-y metallic shade with super intense turquoise shimmer & Peppermint To Be which is a vibrant pink toned red, again super shimmery.

So onto the swatches!

Continue reading “SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Peppermint To Be & Don’t Get Elfed Up (Holiday 2015)”

GlamnailschallengeDec — Candles

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Good morning lovelies & Happy December 2nd! I thought since December is one of my favourite times of year for nail art, it would be fun to join in another round of GlamnailschallengeDec. I’ve had a ton of fun joining in on these challenges, & I thought this would be a fun way to come up with some new & creative holiday looks!

The first prompt for this month is Candles! At first I was a little stuck on what I wanted to do for this prompt, but after some Pinterest stalking I saw this manicure & decided to use it as my inspiration!

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  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Green Tea & Bamboo Strengthener
  • Top Coat: YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat
  • Maybelline Color Show Auburn Ablaze
  • Acrylic paint
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush (use COFFEE10 to save 10%) {PR sample}

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This was my first time attempting a design like this–maybe aside from a birthday candle look forever ago–so I was a little nervous about how they would turn out. But you know what… I absolutely am obsessed with how they turned out. The dark base colour reminds me of the early darkness that comes as we approach Christmas, & the glow of the candles in the window. It really gives me all the fuzzy feelings just staring at my nails.

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What do you think about this look? Are you excited for another month of prompts for GlamnailschallengeDec?! Don’t forget following along with all the designs by checking out #glamnailschallengeDec on Instagram to see all the fun & festive designs to come!