Tag: Holiday

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SWATCH SUNDAY — OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! Can you believe this is the last Sunday before Christmas?

I can’t believe how quickly this holiday season has sped by. I haven’t even had a chance to do any Christmas baking yet! But I am excited, because it’s been a long time since I had a chance to get a new release OPI holiday shade, so when I saw a few of the new collection, I had to pick on. & as soon as I saw this beautiful & dark shimmer shade, I knew I needed it for my collection!

2 coats + OPI Infinite Shiner Top Coat

How freaking beautiful is this shade? It’s a deep reddish brown shade with this stunning bronze-y shimmer — which you can really see in the bottle. The formula was pretty dark perfect, smooth & easy to apply. Two coats gave perfect application, which left a smooth & perfectly applied manicure. Obviously, red is one of my favourite manicure colours so I will always be drawn to it, but I do feel like there is something a little extra special about this polish.

I picked up my bottle of OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems at my local Chatters Salon, but you can find this shade wherever OPI shades are sold. It is available in regular formula, the Infinite Shine formula, & in the Gel formula as well.

What do you think about OPI Infinite Shine Bring Out The Big Gems? Have you picked up any shades from the OPI 2022 Holiday collection? Which one was your favourite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & what colour you’re planning on wearing on your nails for Christmas Eve!

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Glam Nails Challenge December — Gingebread

Hello loves & Happy Thursday!

Technically I meant to post this manicure yesterday, but between crazy busy Christmas rushes at work, & Bubba’s first Christmas concert, my mind got a little displaced. Whoops! I’m excited, though, to share this gingerbread look I did for the next prompt of Glam Nails Challenge December.

This is officially the half way point of the challenge, &… even crazier, we only have a week & a half left until Christmas. I’ve literally done no baking, our tree isn’t up… this year is definitely getting the best of me. But at least I’ve managed a few cute festive designs so far this month.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • Sinful Colors Essenchills Coffee Drip
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ski Bunny
  • NailStuff.ca Mermaid Tail Nail Brush Trio (11mm Liner Brush)

This look was inspired by this look that I found on Pinterest. I loved the idea of turning your nail into the gingerbread cookie itself. Mine came out a bit more… rustic than my inspiration. But I still think it was a cute idea, & I especially love my ring & pointer finger. I went into this design without a clear vision of what I wanted to do, & I think that’s where my nail art went a bit sideways. Either way, I love this overall look, & I think it’s a fun take on this prompt!

What do you think of this Gingerbread inspired design? Have you been busy with Christmas/Holiday planning? Have you gotten any baking done yet? Let me know down in the comments below. &, as always, I encourage you to check out all the beautiful designs for this month’s  Glam Nails Challenge December on Instagram!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party

Hello my loves & Happy Sunday! This is the second Sunday of December, so I’m keeping with the Christmas-ish polish tradition, & trying to share shades that are related in some way to the holiday!

This past week I did a poll on my Instagram asking if people would rather see China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party (Holiday 2015) or OPI Bring Out The Big Gems (Holiday 2022) this week, & with an overwhelming majority, Ugly Sweater Party was the winner!

2 coats, No Top Coat

China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party is a pink jelly formula, packed tightly with an assortment of glitters, including holographic. The formula is a tad on the thick side, but with a little bit of patience, I easily covered my whole nail in two coats. You could probably sponge on the glitter for a denser packed glitter effect, but I much prefer it applied this way as I like the overall finish.

Truthfully, I don’t know if I can remember ever wearing this shade as a full manicure like this before. I originally bought the polish because I loved the name, & glitter is my weakness, but I think I’ve truthfully only used it in glitter gradients, or maybe as a single accent nail, which makes me sad.

I was also surprised I had never swatched this shade previous Decembers, so I was happy. to do both for todays post! This is definitely a fun glitter shade, & just screams Christmas party to me! My Christmas party days are long behind me, but to be honest if I were every invited to one — & didn’t have time for a full nail art look — this would be my #1 polish pick for such an occasion.

Do you remember China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party from its original 2015 release? Did you have this sparkly shade in your stash, or do you still have this glitter on rotation? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

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Silver Stamping & Wrapping Paper Inspired 🎁

Hello lovelies, & happy Thursday! & happy December 1st! It is officially Christmas season, & the countdown to Christmas is on. I should probably get my shopping done before it gets too crazy, haha.

But — in honour of this brand new festive month, I thought some Christmas wrapping paper inspired nails would be a fun start. I love my Christmas pattern stamping plates this time of year because they have some many fun patterns you can use, which always makes me think of wrapping paper. While I’m dedicated to doing Glam Nails Challenge December, I also want to do some fun other Christmas manicures on my off days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • OPI Just Be-Claus
  • ACO by Ardene Dancing Queen
  • Essie No Place Like Chrome
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper 
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate (no longer available)

Please excuse my ring finger which was a bit of a mess up, but that’s okay. I love the crisp silver over the sparkly base — OPI Just Be-Claus topped with ACO by Ardene Dancing Queen (which is a sparkly fuchsia pink). It definitely gives off the wrapping paper vibes I was hoping for.

& it also Christmas-y/Holiday vibes while not being out right blatant. & I like that as well.

What do you think about this stamped pattern nails? Do you enjoy the more subtle holiday designs like this, or do you like in your face Christmas vibes?

& let me know what other Holiday nail art looks you might want to see!

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Candy Cane Abstract Stripes (featuring W7 mini polishes)

Hello beauties & happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a lovely Black Friday weekend. Mine was busy–obviously… retail life–but surprisingly fun. & I’m finally starting to feel the holiday vibes. So I’m starting to dig into all my kind of Christmas-y polishes.

Recently I picked up a little polish mini set from Marshall’s by the brand w7. They had a whole selection of mini packs, so I decided to pick the one named “Centre Stage” which had 4 very Christmas-y colours, & a clear top coat. I’ve been staring at this little set for a few weeks now, sitting on my desk, so I decided to finally grab it & create a pretty, & festive, nail art look.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-chip Top Coat
  • w7 White
  • w7 Red
  • w7 Green
  • w7 Gold Dazzle
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush

How freaking festive is this nail art look? I love it! These were the perfect nails to wear for Black Friday for sure. Unfortunately, they got a bit chipped up, but other than that I absolutely adore this look. I did a similar version last year, but when you find a nail art look you love, why not keep returning to it!

Plus abstract stripes are so easy to do. They’re very hard to mess up, & even if you kind of do, they’re easy to fix any messes.

What do you think about these abstract candy cane stripe nails? Are you getting excited for Christmas/holiday nail designs? Glam Nails Challenge December is coming, & I’ve already started planning my nail designs for it.