#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Holly

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! This week is certainly speeding by. The whole month is speeding by! It’s kind of crazy.

Today I have prompt #3 for #GlamNailsChallengeDec — Holly! Holly is definitely a classic Christmas nail art design, but instead of going with the classic depiction of holly we see this time of year, I wanted to go with a more rustic interpretation.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • OPI This Isn’t Greenland
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Essie Off Tropic
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Red My Lips
  • OPI Suzy & The Arctic Fox
  • L’Oréal Feeling Kilty
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio

Originally I though I might go with the traditional holly look, but after browsing Pinterest, I decided I wanted to go a different direction. Maybe it’s because I haven’t done any floral designs in longer than I can remember—what is that about—that I needed to go with the next best thing. & the end result just looks so pretty to me.

I wanted to get a picture with the holly bush in our front yard, but sadly the birds are all the holly berries off our holly bush, so it’s looking pretty naked.

What do you think about this design? Do you like my take on the holly prompt? Have you been keeping track of all the other beautiful designs for this challenge? Let me know in the comments below.

#GlamNailsChallengeDec — Candy Canes

Hello lovelies & happy Wednesday! & happy December!

We’re officially in the end zone of 2020 now, & the count down to Christmas is officially on. I thought it would be fun to finish off this year with another round of #GlamNailsChallenge! Christmas manicures are one of my favourites to do, so I thought this would be a really fun month to participate.

Our first prompt of the month? Candy Canes!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Starrily Diamond Rain
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Get Mod
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Warm Regards
  • NailStuff.ca 4mm Micro Detail Brush (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

I thought about going the traditional candy candy stripe route, but I was really feeling some mini candy canes! These were actually super easy to do, just takes a little patience (& a teeny nail art brush certainly helps!) I actually painted these while drinking my morning coffee, in about 20 minutes, so that’s always a plus. &

they’re just oh so festive to boot!

I wore this look to work, & I got so many compliments on my nails. I mean, who doesn’t love Christmas nail art? Especially something cute & dainty.

What do you think about this nail art look? Would you wear these candy cane nails? Have you started your Christmas nail art looks?

Let me know what nail art you can’t wait to wear this holiday season!

Dainty Snowflakes

Hello lovelies! & happy Monday. It’s beginning to look a lot like… December. & a green one at that. But I really, really wanted some snowflakes on my nails — even if the weather feels more like October than a month before Christmas, that doesn’t me I can’t pretend!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Quo by Orly The Boulevard
  • OPI Pirouette My Whistle
  • China Glaze ChillinWith My Snow-mies
  • Essie Bobbing for Baubles
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper (COFFEE10 saves you 10%!)

First up, I created a jelly sandwich for my base using Quo by Orly The Boulevard, OPI Pirouette My Whistle & China Glaze Chillin’ With My Snow-mies. I thought it was the perfect dainty base for some snowflakes overtop. Also, I so rarely pull out Chillin’ With My Snow-mies, & it’s kind of sad. It was one of those polishes I bought simply because the name made me laugh, but I should definitely pull it out more.

I was also super, super happy with how my snowflakes stamped. They turned out so opaque, it made me so happy. Nothing worse than going to stamp an image, & it barely picked up, or the polish is just too thin & it looks like a shadow.

What do you think about these snowflake nails? Do you have snow where you are? Let me know in the comments below!

Cozy Plaid & Reindeer Nails

Happy Monday Lovelies!

Hope everyone is having a nice start to their week so far. I’ve already enjoyed a nice vegan nog latte, & got our shopping for the next few weeks done. Today, I have some more festive nails to share with you, this time inspired by an older manicure by an older manicure by @nbnailart (which I rediscovered via Pinterest.) I really really liked the mix of the plaid, & the gold & the reindeer head, so I decided to create my own version of it!

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • Orly Decades of Dysfunction
  • Essie After School Boy Blazer
  • Essie Mosaic On Down
  • Color Club Art Club Pink Pastel
  • Unnamed Kozmic Kolours Pink (from Dollarama)
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Striper Brush (COFFEE10 to save 10!)
  • Born Pretty Store Stamping plate BP-L032 (item #23268)
  • NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper

First off, I’m really feeling this colour combination, which gives me cosy Winter vibes. While I’m definitely feeling the shift towards holiday & Christmas inspired nail art, I don’t want to go Full Christmas just yet (aka red & green everything) so I feel like this colour scheme is a good start. You still get holiday vibes, without going overboard. That being said, I’m still going to be adding coconut Nog to my coffee & listening to Glee Christmas albums on repeat haha.

Second, I am really in love with how this plaid turned out. I always feel like my plaid attempts can get a little busy, so I was impressed with how these turned out following the original. Definitely how I’m going to be approaching my plaid nails from now on! & I will totally be doing a green & red plaid using this method…. soon. Probably after December 1st.

What do you think about this design? What Christmas/Winter/Holiday designs are you planning on doing this year? With the world being so scary, & uncertain, I’m definitely going to spend a good amount of time calming my brain by coming up with fun looks to share! I don’t know if I’ll be able to do 1 a day, but I’m hoping to do a great variety for the month of December, plus GlamNailsChallengeDecember, so stay tuned!

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!