GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE AUGUST (2024) — Stained Glass

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. The weather here has been weird — cold then hot & muggy, with sporadic rain. Makes it very hard for a girl to know what to wear!

But today marks another prompt for Glam Nails Challenge August, & today’s prompt is stained glass. & obviously, I had to pull out an old favourite for this prompt — the stained/shattered glass look I love so much. This time, I used a flakie topper which gave it more of that stained glass effect I think.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI Turn On The Northern Lights
  • ‘Ard As Nails Fairy Flakes

  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio

How pretty is this look! I’ll admit, fishing out the flakies vs the usual hard glitters I usually do this kind of look with was a bit more time consuming than I was expecting, but then end result is so worth it! I’m kind of obsessed with these flakies over this dark base & it’s giving straight up Autumn—& I’m okay with that. Time to pull out my over the knee socks & sip on some pumpkin spice.

I’ve been wearing this look for a few days, & I got curious how it would look matte-ified & oh man… I think I love it even more! What do you think — shiny or matte?

I love a good stained glass look, so this was a fun prompt. Plus it let me tap into those Autumn vibes I’ve been seriously craving, & I’m not mad about it at all. Over all, this might be one of my favourite designs of the challenge thus far. It’ll be interesting to see what the rest of the month holds!

& as always, you can follow along with the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram with the hashtag #glamnailschallengeaug24 & see all the beautiful nails that have been created!

Happy Wednesday

🖤

Navy & Purple Half Moons

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! A cloudy, humid Thursday at that. Today though, I have another manicure to share that I recently wore & in a big fan of this one!

Half moons are always a favourite of mine, & lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to some darker shades. Yes, I know that it’s still mid-Summer, but I would be lying if I didn’t hear the distance call of Autumn. I feel like this look is a good balance between Summer with the perfect hint of Autumn vibes.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Here to Stay
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Pizzaz
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Midnight Drive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Fuchsia Fever
  • Circle paper hole reinforcements
  • NailStuff.ca dotting tool from Dotting Tool Trio

This is definitely easy in terms of technique, which I always appreciate, but it looks really fancy (in my opinion.) I definitely have been feeling the call of my darker polishes, but I’m trying my best to hold off — at least until pumpkin spice gets launched. But this look definitely scratched my Autumn polish itch.

What do you think about this half moon look? Do you like this design? Are already feeling the call of Autumn vibes? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

🖤

Chic Red & Gold Plaid

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! It is a very, very chilly Wednesday at that. It is officially creeping into Winter, & not at all slowly. Guess I’ll need to do some snowflake nails soon!

Today though, I’m sharing a design I did last month, & it’s the last big of nail art I have featuring my longish nails. Time to jump into short nail nail art again! Today’s look, though, is perfect for these in between holidays days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat
  • OPI Just Be-Claus
  • OPI Rolling in Cashmere
  • Essie Lady Like
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm striper brush

I absolutely adorable all things plaid — in fact I’m wearing my favourite plaid leggings to work today. Plaid nails are no exception. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so easy, or if it’s because there is endless colour combinations, but they really are one of my favourites, especially this time of year.

& I’m sure this won’t be the last plaid nail art design I share this season. In fact, I can pretty much bet on it.

What do you think about this chic plaid design? Would you wear this on your nails? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & let me know what short nail designs you’d like me to create & share!

Enjoy your Wednesday! 🖤

Halloween Ooze Nails 🧪

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! Only a couple more days until Halloween is here — can you believe it? & only a few more days to squeeze in some Halloween nail art!

I’m calling today’s look Halloween ooze nails because it’s the best description for them! I didn’t want to do your classic blood dripping design — these look much more spooky!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • OPI Green On The Runway
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Belle of the Ball
  • URSugar dripping nail vinyls

I like these because I feel like the drips work both ways — the dark blurple dripping down, or the green dripping. The perfect Halloween design that’s not too over the top! I’ve literally been wearing these for 3 days now, & I don’t want to take them off. But I do have a few more Halloween designs to squeeze in, so I guess I’ll have to say goodbye to them tonight.

What do you think of these Halloween ooze nails? You could definitely get away with doing these without nail vinyls if you didn’t have any — I was just feeling lazy. Haha.

Happy Friday 🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY — ORLY Fowl Play

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. It’s a rainy & dreary Sunday here, but that’s late Autumn for you. We have only 9 days until Halloween, can you believe it? I’m so excited, even if I haven’t figured out my costume for Trick or Treating yet.

For today’s Swatch Sunday, I broke out a very old shade from my stash which I think is still (sort of) keeping with my Halloween trend. I had planned on going out & finding an actual Halloween shade to share — but I’m having the hardest time finding Halloween collections this year, locally, which is disappointing.

This is ORLY Fowl Play from the Fall 2011 Birds of a Feather collection.

3 coats + top coat

This shade is an oldie, but it’s beautiful. Everything I’ve seen online about it, people talk about how unique this shade is & I have to agree. It’s a purple base packed full of a multitude of flakies & glitters. It was hard to accurately photograph it in my light box, because I feel like it was hard to accurately capture how beautiful it looks (& how many colours it really has packed into it).

Formula for this guy was a bit thin, which meant multiple coats were a necessity (especially to show off all the flakies). I did three coats, because of how thin the formula was, & looking at these swatches I feel like I could have used a forth. Definitely a shade you want to apply a quick dry top coat over so you don’t have to wait forever for it dry.

The colour is perfect for late Autumn/Halloween. Dark & mysterious, & perfect for spooky season, or as the base for Halloween nail art.

What do you think of ORLY Fowl Play? Do you remember when this shade was released? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & share any Halloween shades I should be on the look out for!

Enjoy your Sunday. 🖤