Christmas Bling

This is my actual Christmas manicure. Super full of bling and sparkles, which is what I wish for you and yours this Christmas. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

My manicure notes:
I bought these CinaPro Dial-A-Gem wheels for the holidays. I bought one last year, but I was drawn to these 3D nail art pieces that were featured in this year's wheels. I knew I was going to have a bit of a trouble fastening these to my nails. I looked up a few tips and tricks and landed on using my leftover acrylic from my Halloween Claw manicure to adhere them to my nails (I'm dreading taking them off, but I'll have to manage). It seemed to work pretty well, but boy do I hate working with Acrylic. It is so smelly. But thanks CinaPro for giving me some inspiration for Christmas!

Christmas Trees and Snow

I didn't do very many Christmas themed manicures this year.  Here's a collage for the few I did. I guess trees and snow were the theme this year. We sure are getting a decent amount of snow here in Minnesota this winter.

Just a few manicure notes: Blue snow and trees are featuring Essie Lots of Lux a textured polish. I started to experiment with foil.  It's a fun idea, but I wish the application would yield more perfect results. My decals on both the "tree" manicures were from CinaPro Holiday "Dial-a-gem" wheels

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Christmas Eve, Eve and I was working on my manicure like a good little elf. Hoping with last until Christmas.  Wishing all of you a safe holiday full of friends, family, good times and all you wish for.

Santa: Base Three base coats China Glaze Hey Sailor.  Use of China Glaze White On White, Liquid Leather and Orly Luxe.

Bricks and Stockings: Two base coats China Glaze Classic Camel.  Taped off and a two layers of China Glaze Foxy.  Use of colors China Glaze White On White, Classic Camel, Starboard, City Siren, Hey Sailor, Def Defying, Liquid Leather Ulta Envy, Orly Luxe & Au Champagne, OPI Golden Rules!, Zoya Trixie.  Use of Bundle Monster Plate BM11 with Konad Special Stamping Polish in Apple Green.

Chimney and Rudolph: Two base coats of China Glaze Up All Night.  Use of China Glaze Classic Camel, Foxy, Liquid Leather, Orly Au Champagne, OPI Golden Rules! Topped Rudolph's nose with a gemstone.

Seche Vite was my top coat.

Holiday Lights

I feel better writing this post.  I always have the best intentions to keep you updated, but then fall woefully behind in posting.  But now I got you six new manicures for the holiday season, and if I'm a really good girl, I'll get my Christmas manicure up and out to you as well (course I have to create it yet, but I have some ideas!)  I love the look of this manicure and was worth using most all of my oblong, colored gems.  The hand painting was a bit tedious, but I'm happy with the results.  I really tried hard to capture the fact that even if these lights don't actually plug in and light up, in the right light, they almost look like they do.

I painted three coats of Zoya Harley and then added the gems.  Once dried, I mixed Zoya Edyta and Yara for the strand.  I used Seche Vite as my top coat.

Winterscape

This manicure is shaping to be one of my favorites this round of holiday nails.  It was very simple, but so whimsical.  Even if snow can complicate our every day lives at times, I'm so glad to live in a place where I get to experience it.  Here's hoping it stays around for a white Christmas!

I painted two coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather.  At the base of the nail, I sponged Orly Au Champagne as my snow.  Atop, I added a layer of Orly Twilight for background sparkle.  I stamped using Bundle Monster plate BM214 BM205 with Konad Special Stamping Polish in White.  My final touch was using the dotting tool to make larger snowflakes with Orly Au Champagne.  One coat of Seche Vite used to shine the final product.

Icing and Sprinkles

Every year I get together with my college friends to bake cookies for the holidays.  I try to use that fun day as inspiration, and once I saw this sparkle polish from China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil, Worlds Away polish line, I had a cookie inspiration.  Layering the polish on underlying color, looked like icing and sprinkles: a perfect cookie topping.

I painted three coats of China Glaze Def Defying, Hanging In The Balance, Creative Fantasy as base colors.  I also painted three coats on my pointer and thumb with three coats of It's A Trap-Eze! and used two coats of the sparkle polish to top the solid colors listed above.  Seche Vite was the top coat.

Deck The Halls With Double Balls

Ok.  Terrible title of the manicure, but "Double Dots" didn't seem very festive.  I was inspired by some nail appliques I saw at a store for this idea.  Figured it would be easy enough for me to do myself.  It was!

I painted a base two coats of China Glaze Cast A Spell.  Dots were made with the following: China Glaze Hey Sailor, Def Defying, Starboard, Zoya Reva, Trixie, Orly Au Champagne, Ulta Jaded.  Seche Vite was my top coat.

Nude Snowflakes

Minnesota hadn't gotten a big snowfall before this manicure.  It was my way of calling it to us, because soon after we had a crazy snowfall!  It was amazing and aggravating at the same time.  For whatever reason, nude is tricky to capture on camera.  Plus, my sparkles were so subtle, I also had difficulty capturing it.  Oh well, on with the snowflakes!

I painted three coats of China Glaze Knotty and added LA Splash Cosmetics Nail Glitter in Golden Egg.  Using Bundle Monster plates BM03, BM14, BM202, BM204 with Konad Special Stamping Polish in White.  One coat Seche Vite to finish.

Snowy Trees

This manicure was inspire by a very heavy snow we had here in Minnesota.  The best part about snow is the way the trees look afterwards.  It's so magical.  My manicure doesn't live up to nature's beauty, but I tried.

I painted a base of three coats of China Glaze Winter Holly and then for the design I added branches, snow and contrast with Zoya Paris, Edyta and Orly Au Champagne.  I used two coats of Seche Vite for the top coat.

Winter Wonderland

I feel like Santa bringing a present on Christmas Eve.  Just in time!  to show off my holiday manicure.  I wanted to do a mixed medium manicure and think I got to incorporate several of my manicure techniques to pull off this look.  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Left Hand:

 Right Hand:

I painted a base polish on all nails but ring, three coats, of OrlyAu Champagne.  On those fingers I marbled with the same and China Glaze White On White and Zoya Dove.  Evergreen trees were hand painted with a blend of Zoya Edyta and China Glaze Holly-Day and trunks with China Glaze Midtown Magic.  Deciduous tree was a base of China Glaze Liquid Leather and an overlay of China Glaze Midtown Magic; I added snow using a mix of Orly Au Champagne and China Glaze White On White.  Sleigh on my thumbs were first stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM213, using Konad Special Polish in Black (skate), Apple Green and Coral Blue (presents), China Glaze Crimson (sled) with China Glaze City Siren overlay painted afterward; I also added China Glaze Midtown Magic to the skate and China Glaze Icicle as silver ribbon and China Glaze Holly-Day for green ribbon.  All of these nails were completed with a sponging of Orly Winter Wonderland to mimic a snow-globe quality.  My glitter ring fingers were done by using tape.  First painting three coats of China Glaze Holly-Day on bottom, waiting for it to completely dry and then painting three coats of China Glaze City Siren and adding a glitter concoction of MAC pigment glitter in Red, LA Splash Cosmetic glitter in Silver Torpedo and Red and Silver hexagonal glitter for Esther's Nail Center.  Seche Vite was used to complete the entire manicure.

Candy Stripes

I needed a passing, holiday manicure to tide me over until Friday until I paint my "official" Christmas manicure, and holiday stripes seemed the best way to do that.  I like the final look, but I wish I would have thought about the fact that white stripes on red and red stripes on white are the exact same thing, but I guess since they are actually different colors, you can see that slightly, but it was kind of a fail in the color scheme of the final look.  Oh well!  

Left Hand:

Right Hand:

For base colors I used three coats of each of the following: China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Mistletoe Me!, Icicle, Orly Au Champagne, Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe,  . Stripes were painted with Konad Special Polish in Apple Green, Psyche Pink, White, China Glaze Icicle and Zoya Isla, using Bundle Monster Plate bm20.  Seche Vite, one coat, was used to finish the manicure.

Golden Gild

I made a few sparkle concoctions to mimic current nail polish trends in glitter polishes.  This is a second example (Red + Green = Awesome, being the first).  I like the result, but I'm not sure how festive it is.  I don't know why silver and blue is considered festive, but when I did gold and blue, not really so much.  Either way, the fingers shine and I like the touch of a holo water marble.

Flash:

I painted three coats on all nails of China Glaze Peace On Earth (forgot how much I love this color, very ugly/pretty) and added a mix of LA Splash Cosmetic Glitter in Golden Seahorse, Silver Torpedo and Yofi Cosmetics Skinny Dippin' to all fingers but ring.  My ring fingers were marbled with China Glaze L8R G8R and DV8.  One coat Seche Vite to shine 'em up!

Snowflakes

At first, I wasn't sure I really liked this manicure, but the more I had it on, the more I appreciated it and ultimately was happy with the result.  We barely have any snow here in MN, in fact, you can see more grass than snow at this point.  This makes my snowflakes wistful rather than obnoxious.

Right Hand:

Left Hand:

Trying to capture Shine Of The Times multidimensionality:

I painted three coats of Ulta Alter Ego on all fingers but my ring, and on my ring painted three coats of Orly Au Champagne.  I used the Alter Ego for blue snowflakes and China Glaze White On White for the white snowflakes.  Atop the entire manicure, I painted a coat of Essie Shine Of The Times and finished with one coat of Seche Vite.

Red + Green = Awesome

I am LOVING this manicure.  I was noticing the trend this year is both multi-sized glitters as well base glitter color with a single or dual glitter accent (think the holiday line Eye Candy, by China Glaze).  I figured I could do something as good, if not better, and I think I accomplished that.  I think this manicure is better in person to pick up on the red shimmer, but I'm happy with my pictures because the green really does pop IRL.

Flash:

Natural Light:

I painted three coats of China Glaze City Siren and then added Green hexagonal glitter (from  Esther's Nail Center) and filled in the gaps with MAC Pigment Glitter in Red.  I painted one coat of Seche Vite to compliment the shine.

Trimming The Tree

I originally took out all my darker, holiday-themed, green polishes and layered them three colors to a nail.  But the look didn't seem quite right.  I added the silver tinsel trimming and then they were true perfection.

Left Hand:

 Right Hand:

With my tree!:

I used the following colors for the green: Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe, Orly It's Not Rocket Science, OPI Glow Up Already, Ulta Envy, Zoya Apple, Zoya Suvi, Zoya Yara, Zoya Edyta, China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, China Glaze Paper Chasing, China Glaze Holly-Day.  The silver detail was hand painted on with China Glaze Icicle.  Manicure was finished with one coat Seche Vite.

Deck The Halls

Ok.  So I have gotten some new polishes for the holiday season (loving) and more importantly, after being sick (and tired), I decorated my house for Christmas and am finally feeling in the holiday spirit.  So I'm ready for the holiday themed nails to begin!

I painted three coats of China Glaze Holly-Day and added glitter from LA Splash Cosmetics in Midnight Flash.  I then added with China Glaze Passion and Bundle Monster Plate BM225 the Christmas Ball.  I finished the manicure with one coat Seche Vite.

Santa's Little Helpers

First off, thank you to my friend Jenny for the idea for this manicure. It is now officially in my "Totally Awesome" category and IMHO even better than the first time I thought of this concept. Check the original two finger manicure HERE if you are interested. I am leaving this year's Christmas manicures with a BANG by giving you one of my best manicures, I think, ever! This was a crazy process that took me about 3.5 hours in design/painting time. But don't worry, I was watching a lot of TV and eating dinner and taking random breaks. But totally worth it! Merry Christmas to all of my readers and I hope you have a safe holiday and enjoy yourselves!

Manicure deets: My elves are modeled after the elves found on THIS website.

I'll start with the general and colors used throughout the manicure. The base color is two coats of China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. Skin for the elves was done by mixing equal parts China Glaze Classic Camel and OPI Skinny Dip'n In Lake Michigan and White (see link for white detail). The brown straps for the elves clothing is China Glaze Ingrid and the brown body/overalls/hair is Evening Seduction. White detail is Ulta Angel Baby and black detail and outlining is Ulta Black Diamond. The "Merry Christmas" was made with Zoya Sarah and the star is filled in with Orly Luxe. The finished look was coated first with Seche Vite (to prevent bleeding with the matte top coat) and then mattified with Essie Matte About You.

Red Elf Colors: Zoya Sarah for hat, shirt and legs. Rosy cheeks in China Glaze Something Sweet.

Orange/Yellow Elf Colors: Yellow is a mix of China Glaze Solar Power and Essie Hello Yellow (no link, sorry), orange in China Glaze Breakin', Purple shoes and balls China Glaze Spontaneous. (this color was also mixed with white to make the light purple rosy cheeks).

Yellow/Green Striped Elf Colors: Red shoes, hat, pants are Zoya Sarah. Yellow is China Glaze Solar Power and green is a mix of China Glaze Paper Chasing and Emerald Sparkle. Rosy cheeks are Zoya Jolene.

Blue Elf Colors: Light blue color is China Glaze Bahamian Escape, Darker blue is China Glaze Shower Together, socks are China Glaze Entourage with stripes in Emerald Sparkle. Rosy Cheeks are China Glaze Peachy Keen.

And For Your Interest, Here's My Christmas Workshop:

O, Christmas Tree

Only three more days and then it's Christmas! So excited! Today I'm trimming the tree with nail polish. Well, at least the Christmas trees on my nails. I really like the finished look but found that the polishes with all their subtle and overt glitter made the camera unable to take a crisp picture. Just know that my nails are shimmery and shiny! Also, the pictures don't do the red gemstones on top justice; they are bright red and really reflect in the light. I almost feel like it would shine in the dark....light a light bulb!

I wanted to create dimension with the look I envisioned for my nails as Christmas trees (this photo was inspiration). So, first I coated two coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather for a dark base. I then sponged Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe just on my tips and the lighter It's Not Rocket Science from my nail bed to the previous sponged color line. I added an extra sponged layer of It's Not Rocket Science Just along the center of my nail for added color and light reflection. I hand painted the gold stripes first with Orly Luxe and on top of that OPI Gift Of Gold. I added red gemstones for the tree topper and finished the manicure with two coats of Seche Vite.