Tag: Holiday Nails

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Speckled Easter Eggs

Hello loves & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far. It’s almost Easter, so I thought it was about time to share a somewhat Easter-y design. & what is more fun than a speckled Easter egg design!

I literally do a version of this look every year, & if never gets old to me. It’s such an easy & festive look to do. Plus I always joke since I can’t actually eat mini eggs, wearing them on my nails is the next best thing!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure Hardener
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Julep Alyssa (thumb)
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Sugar Fix (pointer)
  • Essie Play Date (Middle)
  • Essie Gel Couture On The List (ring)
  • Sinful Colors Yolo Yellow (pinky)
  • Wet N Wild 2% Milk
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • Fan Brush

I’ve tried a few different versions of this look over the years, like I said, but (I think) this was my first time attempting using a fan brush for the speckled look. Usually I used the saran wrap splatter look, but I think I like using a fan brush even more! It gives a much daintier speckled effect. I think this look is much more true to actual speckled eggs, & I’m obsessed.

What do you think about this speckled nail look? Would you wear these for your own Easter festivities? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Glam Nails Challenge December— Cookies

Hello lovelies & happy Monday!

I’ve got 3 more (long) days of work & then I’m excited for 4 whole days of Christmas vacation. & my plan for this week is to (hopefully) post a Christmas design every single day leading up to Christmas Day! 🎄

& today we’re starting off with the next prompt for GlamNailsChallengeDecember: Cookies! & I decided to go with some Gingerbread inspired nail art.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essence Intergalactic Adventure
  • Starrily Eclipse
  • OPI How Great Is Your Dane?
  • Quo by Orly Breathable Bare Necessities
  • NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

I’m super impressed with how these turned out –they came together exactly like how I pictured in my head. Right down to my lack of decorating skills on my cookies (you should see my real life cookies! Haha)

Originally I had thought about doing everything over a holographic pink base, but when I saw this shifty base sitting in my stash. I just had such an urge to use it! I added some holo over top to give off a little extra sparkle. The cookies were completely freehanded using my NailStuff 7mm brush, which made things easy & I’m really happy with how they turned out. I even managed to freehand not one, but two stars on my nails–for the first time ever–so even though my “decorating” looks as bad as my real life decorating, my actual cookies made me feel pretty proud.

What do you think about this design for GlamNailsChallenge? Would you ever attempt a design like this? How are your cookie decorating skills?

Let me know down in the comments below.

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SWATCH SUNDAY— OPI Infinite Shine Heart & Coal

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday. The last Sunday before Christmas! Can you believe that Christmas is only 6 days away? That means its time to kick the Christmas designs into high gear!

But, in the meantime, I have a fun Christmas related polish to shade for Swatch Sunday: OPI Infinite Shine Heart & Coal from the 2020 Shine Bright Holiday Collection. I found this beauty at Winners, during my Christmas shopping adventures this past week, & kind of couldn’t leave without it! They had a few a the shades from the collection left, but I decided to be good & just buy this one.

This is also, somehow, my first full sized Infinite Shine shade which is also really exciting!

2 coats + 2 coats OPI Infinite Shine Gloss Top Coat

Heart & Coal is a beauty black with an abundance of tiny holo scattered glitters. A lot of holo glitter. The first coat of this shade was a bit thin, but the second I applied the second coat, it was perfect opacity. The formula can be a bit grainy–thanks to those thickly packed holographic glitters–but applying two coats of top coat definitely smoothed things out a lot. A part of me would be curious to see how it would look without top coat, & if it would dry similarly to those sand effect shades of a few years ago.

Look at that macro shot! You can see those beautiful shimmers, plus you can really see that the black base has a bit of a shimmery finish to itself as well. A lovely holiday polish to wear! Especially if you’re not in the mood for a traditional red or green polish to wear to celebrate.

I also like the lasting power of the Infinite Shine line. According to the OPI site, it’ll give you up to a 11 day lasting manicure. I’m not sure about that, but I did get a good shift out of these where I was unpacking boxes & being all around rough on my nails, & my nails looked as good as the beginning as at the end.

What do you think about this polish? Do you have OPI Heart & Coal, either regular or Infinite Shine, in your stash? What is your holiday manicure you’re wearing right now? Let me know down in the comments below!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Frostbite ❄️

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! It’s a rainy one here in Halifax — we even had thunder & lightning last night. A really big Thunder & Lightning storm! Which is not something super usual for Nova Scotia in December haha.

But you know, even though the weather is very un-December like right now, I’m still showing off a very Winter-like polish for this week’s Swatch Sunday: China Glaze Frostbite.

2 coats + Seche Vive top coat

I’ve had this China Glaze shade in my stash for a long time–at least 6 years–but truthfully , it’s not really one I reach for that often. Which is crazy, because this shade is very, very beautiful! The formula applied very smoothly, reaching opacity by the second coat. I’m not going to lie, the first coat was bit thin, but the second coat gave me the beautiful application that you see below.

As for the colour, I really really adore this vibrant sapphire blue shade, with an underlying aqua blue shimmer that gives the polish a real glow. It definitely reminds me of something that an ice queen would wear — maybe with some holographic snowflakes, or something. How gorgeous would that be?

In my close up, you can really see that shimmer, which gives the polish the glow. It’s something else. Definitely one of those shades you can wear all on it’s own, without the need of anything added. But, as you would have seen in my last post, it also makes a beautiful base for nail art as well!

I did find a few listings online for Frostbite, & it would appear that it’s still part of the permanent collection, so it should be easy to find if you’re looking to add it to your collection. NailPolishCanada.com, Sally Beauty, & the China Glaze website are a few places I found that you can buy this beauty of a shade!

What do you think about China Glaze Frostbite? Do you have this icy blue shade in your stash? Would you wear this polish for the holidays? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below — or shade which Christmas/Holiday/Winter shade you’re absolutely obsessed with this time of year!

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Glam Nails Challenge December — Jingle Bells

contains PR/gifted items

Hello lovelies & happy December! Yep… that’s right. It’s December! Which means the countdown to Christmas is officially on! & the abundance of Christmas designs can begin! As promised, I’m participating in GlamNailsChallenge for December, as I love a holiday themed nail art Challenge.

& the first prompt for the month: Jingle Bells.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie First Base
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Red It Twice (2021 Joy of Colour collection)
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Gift For Blue (2021 Joy of Colour collection)
  • Starrily Vantablack
  • Essie Muse Myself
  • China Glaze Ever Glaze Cashin’ Out
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper 
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate (no longer available)
  • Small detail brush

How cute did these turn out?

I started over with a base of my two colours which are both shades from the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Joy of Colour collection for Holidays 2021, that were so kindly gifted to me from Sally Hansen. I really like the soft grey with sparkle of Gift for Blue against the more poppy brightness of Red It Twice. Next I stamped the bell image onto my nail using my Nailstuff stamper & Starrily Vantablack. I knew that it needed some kind of colour, so with a very tiny detail brush, I went in with my Essie Water-colours shade Muse Myself… which, over the sparkle, totally comes across as gold! I finished with some red & green accents, just to tie everything together, & topped everything with topcoat to seal the look in.

What do you think about this design? Would you wear these Jingle Bell nails? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below! & don’t forget to follow along below with the prompts on Instagram with GlamNailsChallengeDec.

Have a lovely Wednesday!