Christmas-y Abstract Stripes 🎄

Hello lovelies & happy December! We’re already three days into December, & that’s kind of crazy. & it’s feeling festive with our first bit of winter-y now (although it’s a snow/rain mix) so I guess Christmas is really coming. So naturally it felt like time to create some kind of Christmas nail art look to share with you — & what’s more Christmasy than red & green.

I wanted to create a look that was festive but I wasn’t sure what to do. These started out as some simple red & green nails, & kind of transformed from there. I ended up adding in some hints of pink as well, & I just love the whole look! Definite Christmas vibes.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Butter London Pure Colour 21X Nail Lacquer Branwen’s Pearls *PR
  • Orly Color Blast Garnet Luxe Shimmer
  • China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Wrapped in Love
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Living In The Presents
  • NailStuff 11mm Mermaid Tail brush

How fun are these? Kind of gives a little bit of candy vibes — like ribbon candy, or a really fancy candy cane, or maybe just ribbon. The thought of adding like bows, to give the impression of ribbon, crossed my mind but I was scared I would ruin the whole look so maybe I can try again another time with added bows!

What do you think of these Christmas-y abstract stripes? Are you feeling the holiday vibes now & ready to rock some festive designs? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & if you’re currently wearing something festive on your nails I want to know! I need all the holiday nail art inspiration I can get!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

♥︎

Jewel Toned Autumn Abstract Stripes 💎💙

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! It’s a chilly morning here on the East Coast — I actually broke out my winter jacket. Brrrrrrr.

With Halloween now over, we’re in that inbetween nail art stage where I’m never quite sure what to paint on my nails. But I was inspired by yesterday’s Swatch Sunday post to create a beautiful jewel toned design & I’m absolutely infatuated with how they turned out.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
  • China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald
  • China Glaze December to Remember
  • China Glaze Up All Night
  • China Glaze Glamcore
  • China Glaze Cast A Spell
  • NailStuff 11mm Mermaid Tail brush

I won’t lie — this design was kind of time consuming. But when you look at the end result, it was totally worth it! From far away, the whole design is kind of dark, but when you look at them up close you see the details of the abstract stripes & it’s such a beautiful combination.

The colours all compliment each other really nicely, & the whole design—to me—just screams November vibes.

What do you think about this jewel toned abstract stripe design? Do you love the complexity of it, & the beautiful colours? What designs call to you during the month of November?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

🖤

SWATCH SUNDAY—China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald (Fall 2010 Vintage Vixen Collection)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. The first Sunday of November! I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween. I definitely ate my weight in mini bags of Sour Patch Kids & Starbursts.

But now we’re moving on from Halloween, at least for another 363 days, & it’s time to focus on the latter part of this year! I thought for today’s Swatch Sunday post I would pull a favourite from my stash to share, that is the perfect colour story for a November day. This is Emerald Fitzgerald from the 2010 vintage vixen collection.

2 coats + top coat

The formula on this beautiful dark green was a bit on the thin side, but easy to apply. It needed two coats for full cover, but as you can see from my swatches, it covered beautifully. For a nail polish that is potentially 15 years ago — I purchased mine on clearance circa 2013 or so — she doesn’t seem affected by age at all. The dark green colour has a beautiful shimmer that’s very easy to see both in the bottle & on the nail.

Close up shot really shows of that shimmer that’s so prevalent in the formula & it’s truly stunning. It gives this colour a little bit more depth which is just stunning. & I’m not usually a green kind of girl, but I think because this one has kind of a blue-ish undertone to it, it has always drawn my eyes more than your typical green.

It really is the perfect green for this inbetween time after Halloween, but before Christmas/Holiday designs start. It’s just such. stunning jewel tone.

What do you think about this old school China Glaze shade? Like I mentioned, I purchased this guy going on 13 years ago — & it was released 15 years ago — so she’s not easily found in circulation nowadays, but I did find a few listings for it online when I was trying to find out information about it’s original released.

Happy Sunday!

♥︎

Frankenstein’s Monster French Manicure 🧟‍♀️

*contains PR

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday! I hope everyone’s week is going well so far. Today I’m sharing another perfect Halloween manicure to get us ready! This look was partially inspired by @polished_yogi & a recent post featuring Halloween designs — but I decided to take my own spin on it.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: NailStuff Essentials Base Coat *
  • Top Coat: Nail Stuff Essentials Quick Dry Top Coat *
  • Matte Top Coat: NailStuff Essentials Matte Top Coat *
  • Essie Expressie Main Character Moment *
  • Quo By Orly Black Striper

*gifted

I love the look of French manicures on other people, but I’ve never been able to make them look good on me. If someone knows the trick to making them look so good, I would love to know. However, I do think these are probably the best looking French nails I’ve ever attempted, & they’re fun too!

I do a version of Frankenstein’s monster nails every year, so it’s fun to try & keep it fresh. I only wish I had thought to add some glow in the dark nail polish over my tips because I did the black stitching because it would have looked really cool. Oh well, always next time!

What do you think of these Halloween-y nails? Do you like this stitched up French manicure look? Let me know what you think down in the comments below!

Happy Thursday!

🖤

Essie Fall Skittle 🌈🍁🍂

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

I’m feeling rested from having the whole weekend off work, & ready to take on another week. Now it’s time to ready for (Canadian) Thanksgiving next weekend! Maybe I’ll sneak in some kind of Thanksgiving themed nail design sometime this week.

Today, though I’m sharing a super easy Fall design with you all. It’s been a while since I rocked a skittle look, so I thought I would pull out a few Autumn-esque Essie polishes for a quick skittle look!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base 
  • Base Coat: LA Colors Mega Grow Treatment 
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Essie Frock n Roll (thumb)
  • Essie For The Twill of It (pointer)
  • Essie Cross Body Heat (middle)
  • Essie Back in the Saddle (ring finger)
  • Essie Vested Interest (pinky finger)

How well do these shades pair together? I always find that’s my struggle when I’m trying to create a skittle look, is finding the shades that look best together. I think this collection of shades really flatter, & I love it. The colours are slightly muted, with a few bits of shimmer thrown in. I’m actually obsessed with how well they go together!

What do you think of this Essie Fall Skittle look? It’s like an Autumn rainbow!

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & I hope everyone had a lovely start to their week.

♥︎