Mrs. Claus Nails

Hello lovelies. It's been a while and unfortunately I probably won't have time for another post until after the holidays.

I wanted to pop in and let you all know I haven't abandoned my blog (well, not permanently). I also finally made some time to do my nails which have been naked since *gasp* November! I had to do something seasonal for Christmas!

Behold, my Mrs. Claus nails! I found this design via Pinterest, originally from the blog Colores De Carol.

Mrs. Claus Christmas Nails in ZOYA Belle

Mrs. Claus nails

ZOYA Belle & CG Innocence

Colors used:
   ● base color - CHINA GLAZE Innocence
   ● Mrs. Claus suit - 3 coats ZOYA Belle
   ● white lining - WET n WILD French White Crème
   ● belt - WET n WILD Black Crème
   ● belt buckle - COLOR CLUB Disco Nap

I use the corner of cut pieces of tape to get the chevron shape and used a dotting tool for the white trim and details. I love this design and I think it is a fun, girly take on Christmas santa nails.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe Christmas if I don't get another post in.

Thanks for popping in!

Santa is Coming to Town

Christmas is just around the corner and the big man is a'comin! Santa Claus has to be one of the most iconic figures associated with any holiday. So, in true Christmas spirit, I did full Santa nails! Unfortunately, I have to admit, they didn't turn out exactly as I was picturing. All in all though, it's still cute and festive enough.

I used the following colors topped w/ Seche Vite:
     • Zoya - Sooki
     • China Glaze - Liquid Leather
     • China Glaze - Go Pink
     • Finger Paints - Paper Máché
     • Essie - Allure

So yeah, my pointer got a bit mussed up because I had to clean up a major polish spill! Merry Christmas, ladies!

Christmas Hearth

I'm quite proud of this manicure tonight. It took a while to complete because I used so many different colors and had to play around with the design a bit before I was satisfied. Also, dry times between each color... /rolls eyes. :-) But, you know how it is! Anywho, my nail art today is a Christmas Fireplace surrounded by stockings and then the Christmas tree in the corner. I know the watermarks are different, I've been playing around with them, but both pictures belong to me.

Colors Used (and there were a LOT!)
        • Zoya : Sooki (pointer and tree lights)
        • Zoya : Kristen (ash in fireplace)
        • Zoya : Kennedy mixed with China Glaze : IX (fireplace)
        • China Glaze : Holly-Day (tree, pinky stocking and ring finger)
        • China Glaze : Emerald Sparkle (pointer stocking)
        • China Glaze : Velvet Bow (bricks in fireplace)
        • China Glaze : Ring in the Red (pinky and stocking)
        • China Glaze : Snow Globe (pinky stocking fluff)
        • China Glaze : Lemon Fizz (tree lights)
        • China Glaze : Frostbite (tree lights)
        • China Glaze : Liquid Leather (fireplace)
        • China Glaze : IX (fireplace)
        • Finger Paints : Paper Máché (fireplace)
        • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear : Sun Kissed (150) (fire)
        • Barry M : Gold Foil (320) (thumb)

Told you there were a lot!! You should have seen how cluttered my desk was. All designs were freehand with a small art brush and all nails topped with Seche Vite. I hope you get some inspiration for your own holiday nails. Merry Christmas!!!

Red-Nosed Reindeer

To jazz up my Zoya Kennedy mani, I added a holiday decor to it. I free handed red-nosed reindeer using 2 art brushes. omg I love LOVE LOVE this mani!!! It's super festive and EVERYONE commented on it! I have to admit though, I am not the one who originally came up with this design. Sammy at The Nailasaurus is an amazing talented artist who came up with this, and many other, festive designs as part of her "12 days of Christmas" nails. I highly recommend you check out her blog.

I used the following colors in this mani:
         • China Glaze: Ring in the Red (noses)
         • Finger Paints: Paper Máché (eyes)
         • Zoya: Kennedy (base color)
         • China Glaze: IX (reindeer color)
         • China Glaze: Liquid Leather (reindeer outline)

As I said, I used art brushes to paint in the design. I found a pack of 4 different sized brushes from Michaels for around $4. If you are looking into getting a thin brush for detail work my advice is make sure you get a brush with strong bristles. If they're too flexible, your stroke will not be as fluid or precise. Also, do not try to dip your brush directly into your polish bottle, as this will most likely result in a huge excess of polish in a gloppy mess that is wasteful. Dab small amounts as needed onto some sort of smooth, non-porous surface. Same as recommended while using a dotting tool which is what I did the eyes with. Also, something to keep in mind while doing nail art is that you need to keep in mind whatever you design with your dominant hand will have to be replicated with your non-dominant hand, so don't go too detailed that you can't achieve a similar look on both hands.

Now on to how I painted this look. First I had my 2coat base color of Zoya Kennedy topped with Seche Vite. Then I used a fine brush to add the shape of the reindeer. Using my smallest brush I then outlined the shape in black then proceeded to fill in the extra details, eyes and noses.  I also used a thin coat of white before I painted on the red noses because Ring in the Red is a very thin polish that wouldn't have shown to it's fullest potential over a deep, dark brown. The design looked a bit rough at first, but after it FULLY dries, I topped again with Seche Vite and it gave it a smooth, glossy look. So if you are doing nail art with a fine brush and think it doesn't look smooth, don't worry because your top coat will help take care of that! (=

I hope you feel inspired to do some festive nail art of your own! Merry Christmas nailaholics!!

First Christmas Mani of the Season

'Tis that time of year again! All of my decorating is done and I am definitely high on Christmas spirit! I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for holiday decorating! The only problem now is to stop my dogs from stealing ornaments off my tree!!! Speaking of my dogs and my decorating, here is a quick pic of one of my favorite Christmas decorations! The reason should be self-explanatory.

I love my huskies!

So today's mani is a candy cane inspired theme. It's not perfect because I was free handing it on about 2 cups of coffee, but I am still pleased with the results. I love trying new nail art, especially holiday art.

my snowman salt shaker from Khols

For this, I started with 2 coats of Finger Paints: Paper Mâché then using an art brush I free handed the green and red stripes with China Glaze: Holy-Day and Zoya: Sooki topped with Seche Vite.

As an early Christmas present to myself, I ordered my first stamping plate off amazon. I can't wait to try this out and get my festive nail on!

Well, enjoying my stripes for now but always thinking about what I want to try next! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!