Holly-day Nails

Good evening beautiful readers!  I can't believe it's Sunday evening, I only have 4 days of work left before I am off on Christmas holidays and there are only 9 days until the big day!

As I was on my way home from finishing my Christmas shopping (yep, I'm DONE!), I heard the song White Christmas by Paul Brandt and I couldn't help thinking to myself how much I can relate to the first lines of the song

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,

just like the ones I used to know."

For those of us in South-Central Ontario to have no snow and less than 10 days until Christmas, it's a sad, sad thing ... in my opinion anyways!  Most people I know are OK with the no snow part, but me, I want it so bad I'm considering buying myself a snow machine for Christmas!  :D  (How sweet would that be?!)

Anywho, I did white nails yesterday for peace, in honour of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, USA that happened on Friday.  I took those nails and was able to add some Christmas cheer to them :)

For this look I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On, topped with Julep Melissa to give it a pearly finish :)  Then, using a toothpick I applied "V"s, sort of like you do when drawing birds in the sky, with Sinful Colors Exotic Green.  I did 2 of those, connecting the top one to the middle of the bottom one, and then a line sticking out the top to make the holly leaves.  Then, with the toothpick, I used Avon Cherry Jubilee to create the holly berries in a group of 3 :)

These are simple and chic, yet Christmasy enough to bring a smile to my face :)  I was going to do them on all my nails but wanted to keep it clean so I only did them as accent nails.

Are you tired of Christmas nails yet?  I''m sure not!  I could do them all year, but imagine how much red, white and green polish one would go through!!

White Nails for Peace

As most of you are likely already aware, there was a mass shooting at an elementary school yesterday morning in Newtown, Connecticut, USA where 20 children and 6 adults were "slaughtered" (according to the news casts we have been watching) by a man, who also killed his own mother and then took his own life.

As we know, the nail community is all about banding together to bring awareness to everything we can through nail art, even though some may think that nail art isn't "doing any good", but any way we can help or show our support is what really matters to us.  So we all pulled together to all do white manicures to support the families that are going through this really hard time, and to honour peace, non violence and remembrance of the innocent.

For this mani, I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On and topped it with Julep Melissa to give it a pearl finish.  I really love this look, even though the reason for it is not a happy time.

Although this tragedy doesn't effect me personally, I can't imagine going through something like this, or having something like this happening in my community and the hurt the family members of the lost are going through. My heart and thoughts go out to this community.

Elixir Lacquers Swatches

Alright ladies, here's what everyone has been waiting for!  Swatches from my Elixir Lacquers part of my nail haul this week!  Let's jump right in, shall we?  :D

First up, we have A Mermaid's Tale.  This is a beautiful teal with a shimmer of purple.  The shimmer is very slight, but it's definitely there.  I apologize for the flash photos -- there is so much sparkle and shine in this polish that my camera didn't take the best photos.

I love this colour.  I didn't know what to expect when I first ordered it, but I loved the look of it in swatches I saw in the polish comminuty so I decided to bite the bullet and get it.  I'm not one for polishes with loads of glitters because to be honest, it's a pain in the rump to take it off, even with the tinfoil method.  But this polish went on so smooth, and came off without me looking like I just beat up a fairy!  I would definitely recommend this colour to anyone who loves teals, or wants to try something outside of their comfort zone.  This was a colour that I kept looking at all day (I work on a computer so I don't look overly crazy if I pretend I'm watching my finger placement as I type, lol!) and never got tired of it, nor was I self-concious about wearing it! :D

Next up, we have Miss Kitty's Mee-yow :D  I got my sister Shannon, who was home to visit while I was swatching these colours, to swatch for me, and she wanted her nails this colour :)  I was a nice big sister and let her pick what she wanted to do hers with before choosing what I did mine with, lol!

Ohhh laaaaa laaaaa!  I LOVE this colour and cannot wait to paint my own this colour!  I am a purple-a-holic so this colour makes me go ga-ga :D  I love the colour of the purple and the shimmer of the blue that is throughout it ... *sigh* I think I'm in love with this polish :D  For those of you who love shiny things, this colour is for you!  Look at how the flash reflected off those nails! :O

Ok, before I get distracted looking at the purple too long, let's move on, lol!  Lastly we have Tease.  Again, this is one that I wasn't sure what to expect but because I looked at swatches before buying, I knew I would love it when I got it :D

I think this is my new favourite pink!  The pearl of this colour is absolutely AMAZING!  I took these pictures outside (I managed to get my nails done in time to capture them in the natural light) so I think that the blue skies above are somewhat reflecting off the polish so it looks slightly blue-er than it really is, even with the purple to blue shifting shimmer in it.  This colour reminds me of the inside of a seashell :D  If you aren't overly adventurous in your polish colours but want to try something new, this would be a great colour to start with.  The pink is very "conservative" but when you see it with the shimmer flowing through it, it gives it tons of character :D

All swatches are with 3 coats of polish with basecoat (Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps) and topcoat (Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat).

These are all great polishes.  I think out of these 3, I would rank them Tease as #1, Miss Kitty's Mee-yow as #2 and A Mermaid's Tale #3 in order of "love it".  I might change that when I try Miss Kitty's Mee-yow on my own nails, but that's how it stands right now :D

You can purchase Elixir Lacquers polish here.