GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER— Black Cats 🐈‍⬛

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! & happy first prompt of Glam Nails Challenge October! It’s been a while since I participated in one of these challenges, so naturally I had to jump back in for my absolute favourite month because it’s all about my favourite holiday: Halloween!

First prompt this month: Black Cats.

This one has a special place in my heart because not only do I adore black cats in general, but we recently lost our own black cat. So I was very excited to do a special black cat manicure.

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
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Craze
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Knighttime
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Stargazer Lily
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • OPI DS Extravagance
  • Bodico Stamping Plate B-20
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper & Scraper 
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

How cute is this stamping plate? These aren’t very spooky black cats, haha, but that’s okay I like my cute little kitties with sparkly collars. I thought about trying to paint some tiny little witch hats on my kitties, but I was so scared of messing them up, I decided to go for a pretty kitty look instead of a spooky one. Plus there is still lots of time left for spooky nail art looks — & there are lots of spooky nail art looks to come!

What do you think about this nail art look? Have you started planning your Halloween nail art looks? Are you as pumped as I am for another round of Glam Nails Challenge October? Let me know down in the comments below!

& don’t forget to follow along with #glamnailschallengeOctober on Instagram to see all the fun (& spooky) nail art looks.

Bronze-y Abstract Stripes (Featuring OPI)

Hello lovelies & happy Tuesday. It’s a rainy Tuesday here — in fact it’s supposed to be rainy all week, capping off with a potential Hurricane on Saturday. So that’s… fun. We’ve had such beautiful weather the last few weeks, I think I got spoiled, because I am not here for rainy days.

But! I have a fun nail art look to share that I wore last week during sunnier times. I was feeling some Autumnal colours, & decided to pull a few beauties from my OPI display to create this fun abstract stripe look. It’s giving me 70s vibes.

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
  • OPI I’ll Have A Gin & Tectonic
  • OPI Bronzed to Perfection
  • OPI Icelanded A Bottle of OPI
  • OPI I Sing In Color
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How fun are these!? Obviously, with my super short nails, I’ve been struggling a bit on inspiration, but abstract stripes always make me happy to paint my nails. Plus these colours look awesome together. Thankfully, my middle finger nail is finally growing out enough I can shape it to match the others.

What do you think about this abstract stripe look? Do you think this colour combination is as fun as I do? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & share what you’re wearing on your nails right now!

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!

Purple & Gold Freehand Swirls

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday!

Hope everyone is having a very lovely week so far! We’ve actually been having a beautiful weather here in Halifax — very un-November like weather! It’s been absolutely beautiful… which has kind of made being inspired for nail art a little difficult. So I decided for my latest mani to go with a look I used to do all the time — this freehand dainty swirl look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • OPI Ink
  • Essie Getting Groovy
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Back in circa 2014-2015, I used to love freehanding these swirly looks, so I decided since I wasn’t feeling all that inspired, it was a great look to go with.

I really love the look of the gold over the shifty purple base of OPI Ink. I feel like this look is very regal — it also gives me slight wrapping paper vibes, but I’m not mad about it. I think it looks very beautiful. It was definitely a good nail art choice in this in between time when it doesn’t quite feel like Fall, but is too early (in my eyes, anyways) for Christmas.

What do you think about this nail art look? What designs are you wearing right now? Have you started thinking about Christmas nail art? Let me know in the comments below!

Matte Knit Sweater Nails

Hello lovelies & happy November… officially. We’re three days into the month, & I’m already feeling those post Halloween, pre-holiday vibes. Maybe it’s the fact every store has already decked their Halls fully, but you can definitely feel a shift in the air.

& you know what that means… sweater nails!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Matte Top Coat
  • China Glaze Intelligence, Integrity & Courage
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Zip Wine
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

This look was a design that was inspired originally by @xglitzandpolishx & I did a version of it last year. I loved that one so much, I really needed to recreate it again… this time with a difference colour scheme. November brings greyer skies, so I thought I would paint my nails to match… with just a smidge of colour. &, of course, I had to add some matte top coat. It’s my favourite top coat in the cooler months, not sure why.

Also, sad to say… this was my last design I did with my longer nails. The cooler weather brings on easier breaks, so I’m now rocking some shorties. But that’s okay! Bring on the fun Fall designs for short nails! I’m actually really excited for some pre-holiday designs, cosy knit nails, & lots of jewel tone nail polishes!

What do you think about this knit sweater look? What are your favourite nail art designs for November? Are you already jumping on the Christmas polishes/looks, or do you like to wait until December? Let me know what you’re looking forward to seeing down in the comments below!