Tag: Freehand

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Holly

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! This week is certainly speeding by. The whole month is speeding by! It’s kind of crazy.

Today I have prompt #3 for #GlamNailsChallengeDec — Holly! Holly is definitely a classic Christmas nail art design, but instead of going with the classic depiction of holly we see this time of year, I wanted to go with a more rustic interpretation.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • OPI This Isn’t Greenland
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Red My Lips
  • OPI Suzy & The Arctic Fox
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Originally I though I might go with the traditional holly look, but after browsing Pinterest, I decided I wanted to go a different direction. Maybe it’s because I haven’t done any floral designs in longer than I can remember—what is that about—that I needed to go with the next best thing. & the end result just looks so pretty to me.

I wanted to get a picture with the holly bush in our front yard, but sadly the birds are all the holly berries off our holly bush, so it’s looking pretty naked.

What do you think about this design? Do you like my take on the holly prompt? Have you been keeping track of all the other beautiful designs for this challenge? Let me know in the comments below.

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec— Santa’s Sleigh

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! Hopefully you’re week is off to a lovely start. After a busy weekend—that’s Christmas in retail for you—I’m excited for a day off filled with peppermint mocha cold brew, cleaning & hopefully some nail polish fun.

But first I have another prompt for #GlamNailsChallengeDec to share with you! Prompt #2 is Santa’s Sleigh, which I’ll admit I was super nervous about because I wasn’t 100% sure if my freehand skills were up to par.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Essie Under The Twilight
  • Essie Starry Starry Night
  • Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Azure
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • Latex free make up sponge

For this look, I decided that I wanted to create the silhouette of Santa’s sleigh against the moon, with a pretty night sky base. I sponged on a few beautiful blues as my base, & then painted a big moon on my nail. Once that was dry, I used my black acrylic paint to attempt to draw Santa’s sleigh with a few (barely visible) reindeer pulling it.

These definitely aren’t perfect, but you know what, I’m super proud of how they turned out. It’s not your traditional Santa design, but that is what makes it kind of fun.

What do you think about this design?

I’m super pumped for this month’s challenge, & can’t wait for all the prompts to come! You should definitely check out all the other beautiful designs for this month’s challenge!

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#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Candy Canes

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! & happy December!

We’re officially in the end zone of 2020 now, & the count down to Christmas is officially on. I thought it would be fun to finish off this year with another round of #GlamNailsChallenge! Christmas manicures are one of my favourites to do, so I thought this would be a really fun month to participate.

Our first prompt of the month? Candy Canes!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Starrily Diamond Rain
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Warm Regards
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

I thought about going the traditional candy candy stripe route, but I was really feeling some mini candy canes! These were actually super easy to do, just takes a little patience (& a teeny nail art brush certainly helps!) I actually painted these while drinking my morning coffee, in about 20 minutes, so that’s always a plus. &

they’re just oh so festive to boot!

I wore this look to work, & I got so many compliments on my nails. I mean, who doesn’t love Christmas nail art? Especially something cute & dainty.

What do you think about this nail art look? Would you wear these candy cane nails? Have you started your Christmas nail art looks?

Let me know what nail art you can’t wait to wear this holiday season!

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Matte Knit Pattern (inspired by xglitzandpolishx)

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! We are quickly approaching the end of November, if you can believe it — Christmas is officially one month away!

Today I’m sharing another nail art look inspired by one of my favourites on Instagram — @xglitzandpolishx! I was inspired by one of her old designs, & decided it was perfect for this time of year. & it would look amazing over my base of Zoya Ray from Sunday’s Swatch Sunday post.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Zoya Ray
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio — I used the 9mm size. (COFFEE10 saves 10%)

This design took a bit of patience, but was actually super easy to paint! It kind of reminded me of a doing a dotticure, but instead of polka dots, you’re doing dashes instead. The end result just looks like knit, & I’m totally obsessed with it. I’ve actually been meaning to recreate this look for a long time, so I’m glad that I finally did! & I’m totally going to do it again with some more colour combinations.

What do you think about this look? Would you wear this knit pattern on your nails? Was nail art look have you been meaning to recreate lately? Let me know in the comments below!

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Criss Cross Freehand Pattern

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday. It’s definitely a very, very chilly Wednesday here on the East Coast, & I don’t think I’m quite ready for it! I’m naturally a person who is always cold, so when the weather shifts, there is not enough layers or tea in the world to keep me warm!

But even if I’m cold, I still have cute nails to show off! I picked up a couple nail art stripers on clearance at Lawton’s a while ago, but hadn’t really played with them, so I decided to play around with some line work. I originally intended to do a kind of x-pattern look, which so of shifted as I was doing it. I’m not sure what to call this kind of pattern, but I absolutely love it. & it’s a look that even looks good on nubby nails like mine!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Clean Slate
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel

Oh man, I think this pattern turned out so neat! It actually wasn’t super difficult to do either; I started with painting an X on my nails, then when it each triangle section to repeat the same pattern over & over so you would get this interlocking/woven effect. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn’t. Just required a bit of a steady hand, & a little concentration, but the end result is totally worth it!

Also yes I’m totally obsessed with using my matte top coat again. I saw that Sally Hansen has a new Miracle Gel matte top coat, so I’m going to see if I can pick some up the next time I’m out. I also think I’m due for another “battle of the matte top coats”, so maybe I’ll have to add it to the mix!

What do you think about this look? Is this something you could see yourself rocking?

Also now that we’re hitting mid-November I was thinking of starting to post the occasional Winter/maybe Christmas look? Do you want to see that, or do you think it’s too soon?

Let me know down in the comments below!