Chic Red & Gold Plaid

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! It is a very, very chilly Wednesday at that. It is officially creeping into Winter, & not at all slowly. Guess I’ll need to do some snowflake nails soon!

Today though, I’m sharing a design I did last month, & it’s the last big of nail art I have featuring my longish nails. Time to jump into short nail nail art again! Today’s look, though, is perfect for these in between holidays days.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour Grip Primer Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat
  • OPI Just Be-Claus
  • OPI Rolling in Cashmere
  • Essie Lady Like
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm striper brush

I absolutely adorable all things plaid — in fact I’m wearing my favourite plaid leggings to work today. Plaid nails are no exception. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so easy, or if it’s because there is endless colour combinations, but they really are one of my favourites, especially this time of year.

& I’m sure this won’t be the last plaid nail art design I share this season. In fact, I can pretty much bet on it.

What do you think about this chic plaid design? Would you wear this on your nails? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below, & let me know what short nail designs you’d like me to create & share!

Enjoy your Wednesday! 🖤

Burgundy Reindeer Sweater Nails 🦌

Hello lovelies & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a stellar weekend — the first weekend of November. I know mine was definitely a busy one at work. You can feel the holiday spirit already seeping into the air. Also, Starbucks Holiday cups are back — as is the gingerbread latte! — so that really makes you realize how quickly the end of 2023 is approaching.

But I’m staring off this week with some sweater nails, done prior to my big nail break on Friday. You know me — I love a good sweater inspired manicure. As soon as the weather gets that extra bit of chill, I’m all about the sweater nails.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essence Colour Grip Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ruby Do
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Ski Bunny
  • Sally Hansen CSM Pat On the Black
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Ghouls Night Out
  • Discontinued Born Pretty Store stamping plate
  • Nailstuff.ca clear stamper & scraper set
  • Nailstuff.ca metallic studs (no longer available)

It’s been a while since I pulled out any of my studs, & I kind of missed how they complete a look! Of course, I wore in retail so I banged mine up really quickly, but you can’t even notice from far away.

I also feel like this design is a good in-between look before we start getting into our more Christmas-y designs. I would be prepared for a whole lot of Sweater nails this month! I always find November my hardest month for nail art inspiration, because it’s half way between Fall & Winter, I don’t want to do Christmas too soon, & I’m never quite sure what I want to wear on my nails.

What do you think about my sweater nails? Do you think these are a fun November look? What kind of nail art do you gravitate towards in November? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below & let me know what kind of nail art you would like to see!

Have a fantastic Monday ♥︎

SWATCH SUNDAY — China Glaze Blue Iguana (& some bonus sparkle ✨)

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! The first Sunday of November, if you can believe it! Sadly, I’m starting off November with some extra short nails thanks to a bad, bad break at work on Friday.

So I wanted to make my nails feel extra pretty, so I dug through my stash & landed on this sparkly old school China Glaze shade. This is China Glaze Blue Iguana.

2 coats + top coat

Blue Iguana was originally released as part of the 2011 Summer Island Escape collection. It has an electric blue foil finish with a great micro shimmer. The formula was fairly thin, but I had adequate coverage in 2 coats. It also appears lighter on the nail than in the bottle, which was kind of a bummer — but maybe an extra coat or two would have fixed that. I also wish you could see more of the purple duochrome flash on the nail, as much as you can see it in the bottle. But it’s still beautiful regardless.

I was feeling like my short, stubby nails needed a bit more sparkle, so I pulled another oldie (released around the same time) from Icing to add a little pizazz: Icing Radio Super Star.

1 coat over Blue Iguana + top coat

I was actually really impressed with how closely the blue glitters in Radio Super Star matched Blue Iguana. It has a clear base with blue micro glitter, fuschia hex glitters & these fun silver star glitter. What you see above is just one coat over my base — & I had great luck with getting the star glitters onto the nail with minimal fishing.

It gave me exactly the sparkle I was craving to cheer myself up!

How are you feeling up these two fun polishes both together & apart? I feel like it’s just a smidge too early for holiday polishes (although I’m keeping my eyes open!) but I may see what glitter shades I can pull out for this month.

Have a happy Sunday!

Instagram Coffee Nail Art Collab ☕️🤎

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! This has been quite a week, so I’m a little happy it’s over — even if it does mean saying goodbye to spooky season. But I did join the monthly nail art collab hosted by @essieyall & @petitenailslover again this month, & I’m super excited to share my design… especially because the prompt is COFFEE!

& if there is one thing I love as much as nail polish , it’s coffee.

The polishes I used for this manicure are:

  • Base Coat: Essence Colour Grip Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Matte Top Coat
  • Essie Expressie Cold Brew Crew
  • Wet n Wild 2% Milk
  • Acrylic Paint
  • NailStuff.ca 9mm Mermaid Tail Liner Brush

I was going for a latte art design, so I used acrylic paint because I knew that I was going to need to be able to erase any mistakes — & I was right! This look took longer than expected to do, but I think it turned out just like the coffee art I used to do when I was a barista.

& I hope when you look at it, you can totally see what it’s supposed to be!

Don’t forget, you can check out the other designs through the hashtag #coffeenailartmanicollab2023 on Instagram. & down below, you can check out all the fun coffee themed designs collaged together. Everyone did such an awesome job!

What do you think of my coffee design? Does it totally scream latte to you? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below!

& let me know what your favourite holiday coffee drink is!

🖤

Batty Thermal Halloween Nails 🦇

Hello lovelies & happy Halloween! I couldn’t not try to sneak at least one more quick design in before Halloween was over. After all, Halloween is my most favourite holiday.

This look is a quick & easy one, using those Dollarama nail art stickers I’ve been gushing about all month. I had this idea of doing dark bats over a thermal polish — & I just love how they turned out!

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essence Colour Grip Base Coat 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Cadillacquer Nostalgia
  • Dollarama Halloween Nail Art Stickers

This is a super simple Halloween look — the thermal effect of Cadillacquer Nostalgia really does all the work. It’s been particularly cold recently, so I had to rest my hands against some hot coffee in order to show off the shift between colours — & you can kind of see how it transitions back to cold in these shots which is cool.

I hope everyone has a happy, happy Halloween! I’m looking forward to trick or treating with my kids tonight, & soaking in every last minute of my favourite holiday. & there will definitely be some sour patch kids enjoyed this evening!

♥︎ Stay safe & have fun!