Holiday – Page 22 – Coffee & Nail Polish

November 22, 2020November 22, 2020

SWATCH SUNDAY — Zoya Ray

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday!

Hope the world isn’t too crazy where you are — here on the East Coast, things are starting to get a tad crazy, so I need a good non-real world distraction. & what is better than nail polish? Lately, I’ve been really feel dark green shimmery nail polishes. They’re definitely out of my comfort zone, but they give me holiday vibes, & I think that is exactly what I need in my life right now.

So I decided to pull a fun Zoya shade from deep in my stash. Today’s pick: Zoya Ray.

2 coats + Top Coat (Essie Gel Setter)

Zoya Ray was originally released in 2012 as part of the Diva Collection. This shade came to be part of my stash in 2015 thanks to Winners, as it was tucked into their polish selection. I remember the colour catching my eye & the name is actually my middle name, so I knew I needed to have it. It’s a great Fall shade, but an even better pick for the holidays. & considering how quickly it’s looking like a lockdown for Christmas, I need all the beautiful polishes I can find to cheer myself up!

The formula on this shade is easy. I took 2 coats for application, although the first coat had almost complete opacity.

The shimmer is what really makes me love this polish — like I said, I’ve been really drawn towards green shades lately, & this one is just such a beauty. It’s also such a perfect Christmas tree green. I definitely will be pulling this beauty out again for some beautiful Christmas-y tree designs in the next couple weeks!

I did some internet snooping, but sadly it looks like this shade has been long discontinued. You might get lucky, & find it in a clearance bin, & if you do I definitely recommend picking it up!

What do you think about this Zoya shade? Do you own it? What is your favourite holiday Green? Let me know in the comments below!

November 15, 2020November 15, 2020

SWATCH SUNDAY — Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Hue There?

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! I hope you’re excited for some fun & festive nail polish!

I don’t know about you, but once the middle of November hits, I tend to start thinking holiday nail polish — & holiday nail polish for me usually means glitter! Earlier in the week, I was out at Shoppers with the hubby, & happened across a display for new Sally Hansen shades. One side had Complete Salon Manicure shades, & the other had some fun new Miracle Gel shades, including some glitter toppers & new shades (plus new matte & glossy top coats!)

While I definitely would have loved one of everything, I decided to stick to one shade & couldn’t pass up this beautiful holographic glitterbomb called Hue There?

December 31, 2019

NEW YEARS EVE Art Deco Negative Space Colour Block

{PR SAMPLE}

Happy New Years Eve lovelies! I couldn’t end this year without one more blog post, & I had created this Art Deco inspired look a few weeks back so I wanted to make sure to share it with you! My sister, like many I’m sure, is throwing a roaring 20s themed New Years Eve party, so I wanted to come up with a gorgeous Art Deco-esque look that would be perfect for the occasion. For this design, I used all three new shades from the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Oh My Gold collection, which were so kindly gifted to me.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Goldie Rocks
Sally Hansen MG Good As Gold
Sally Hansen MG Five Golden Blings
Sally Hansen MG Blacky-O
NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush(COFFEE10 to save 10%)
Wide straight nail tape or wide striping tape — What’s Up Nails makes a great one.

I started off by applying my base coat, then some quick dry top coat & let it dry. Then I applied my nail tape, & created my blocks of gold polish. I wanted each one to be fairly opaque, so I was pretty generous in my application. After all polish was applied, I removed my nail tape. Then I carefully went in with my black & my detail brush to create my lines. I used my 7mm detail brush, but for lines like this a bigger brush (like the 11mm or 16mm) would probably be easier.

I really wanted to come up with a design that was roaring 20s appropriate & I think I succeeded! It’s also a fairly quick & moderately easy design to f, so if you’re looking for a last minute nail art design to do, give it a try & ring in New Years Eve with some fabulously sparkly nails!

I just want to say a huge thank you for everyone who checks out this blog or my Instagram & leaves likes or love. This was my 5th year blogging here in this little space, & even though my life is a heck of a lot different than when I started, & it’s not always easy to make the time for my nails & for writing,I couldn’t imagine stopping now. I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings!

See you next year!

December 22, 2019December 22, 2019

SWATCH SUNDAY — Deborah Lippmann Stronger

Hello lovelies & Happy Sunday! I’m currently on a very, very long drive to Northern New Brunswick to start our Christmas celebrations, but I wanted to make sure I got a Swatch Sunday post done for today! & I thought since we are only 3 days away from Christmas, we needed to get glittery! & boy, are we going all out!

Today’s Swatch Sunday pick is Deborah Lippmann Stronger. This shade was originally released in 2013 & created in part with Kelly Clarkson. I picked up my particular bottle at Winners/Marshall’s a few years back, probably on sale because that’s usually the way.

The polish itself is a smoky purple jelly base which is packed full, & I mean full, of multi coloured & holo glitters. There are varying sizes as well, which you can really see in my macro shots. Absolutely stunning. This is definitely what I like to call a party glitter — the kind of polish designed for a special occasion, like Christmas or New Years Eve, when you just want everything about you to sparkle. Or maybe if you’re having a down day, & you want eye catching movie star worthy nails for buying bananas.

Normally a shade like this, I would wear layered over a corresponding shade like dark purple or navy blue. This cuts down on the coats you need, which helps make removal easier & saves on polish. For my swatches though, I pulled out my UNT peel off base coat & applied the polish all on it’s own to see it in it’s true glory.

For my swatches I did 2 coats of polish which for me was enough, but wasn’t completely 100% opacity. I feel with the holo though, it fills in the gaps & you don’t even notice you can kind of see my naked nail. If I really wanted full coverage, sponging would be the way to go, especially when you have a bit of a trickier formula due to the dense glitter.

I applied two coats of top coat to my nails to seal & smooth my glitter. One layer of super quick dry top coat (YSL Beauty Quick Dry Top Coat) & then a thicker glossy top coat (Essie Gel Setter) just to smooth everything out.

I definitely recommend wearing a peel off base coat with glitters like this, just because it makes removal so much easier than trying to soak off a thick layer of glitter. I’ve done it–it takes way too long, uses way too much nail polish remover, & is no fun at all. Peel off base coats, like UNT Ready for Take Off, make life so much easier because you can just pop it off & move into the next manicure. & that makes me happy!

So what do you think about Deborah Lippmann Stronger? Do you have a favourite glitter like this? Any secrets to removal you can share? Hop on over to my Instagram, & let me know what you think!

December 16, 2019December 15, 2019

#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Christmas Decorations

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! We’re quickly speeding through December & speeding through the prompts for #GlamnailschallengeDec! Today’s prompt is Christmas decorations! I feel like this prompt is really up for interpretation & offers a wide variety of options, so I decided to recreate a look I love to do: Christmas branches with decorations, but with the addition of holo. Because, let’s be honest — everything is better with holo!

If you’re curious to see my previous look from two years ago, you can find them here.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Strengthening Base Coat
Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
Quo by ORLY Kiss Me I’m Kind
OPI Pirouette My Whistle
Acrylic paint
Wrenn Polish Enchanted
Wrenn Polish Summer Sands
Color Club Eternal Beauty
Superchic Lacquer Throwing Shade
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio (COFFEE10 to save 10%)
NailStuff.ca 7mm detail brush

Who has decorated their Christmas tree? 🎄 We got ours done this week, which is about 2 weeks sooner than last year. Because of pregnancy & work last year, we managed to get our tree decorated by Christmas Eve, haha. But you know, if you haven’t gotten your tree decorated yet, you can always pretend with fully decorated Christmas trees on your nails!

I really think the holo dots are what make this design because it reminds me of the baubles on my own tree when the light catches them. Just that lovely sparkle. ✨ You don’t even need to worry about any more details, because the shift of light does it all for you.

I also think these might be the best pine needle/Christmas tree branches I’ve ever painted. I’m insanely proud of how these ended up, which is probably why I wore this look for over a week. Sometimes a look just wins, & this is definitely one of these looks for me. ❤️

What do you think about this Christmas decoration look? Don’t forget to hop on over to Instagram & check out the other #glamnailschallengeDec Christmas Decoration looks. faux tree kind of person!

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