NAILS | Santa Finally Makes an Appearance!

I have now done my nails 11 times this month. Seven of those being in the last 10 days and as crazy as it felt working on designs late at night and then feeling like I'd been run over by a truck the next morning, it has been hella fun. In all of the Christmas hoopla last week, I didn't get a chance to actually post about these Santa nails here and how I did them, but maybe this will give you some inspiration for next year! The Essie Winter 2016 Collection seemed fitting for this nail art so I hope you get a chance to pick up a few colours before they are ripped off the shelves!

Christmas manicure can get real old, REAL fast so when I came across this pin (here) depicting a Christmas tree with ornaments, I loved it. I also wanted to incorporate Santa somehow since I have NEVER done a Santa manicure on Cosmetic Proof before! I don't know why, but I guess I have never had the same attachment to Santa as other kids. I think it's an Asian thing, but I have never believed in Santa as I was told from an early age that my parents were the ones doing the gift purchasing. Maybe I have been deprived of something or been given the lifelong gift of extreme cynicism. I'm really not sure.


Santa Nail Art

Anyway, for the trees I started off by painting my nails two coats of
Essie - Go with the Flowy*, a fine glass-flecked grey and then used green and brown acrylic paint to hand draw the tree. For the ornaments, I dotted on Essie - Butler Please, Essie - Aim to Misbehave and Essie - Party on a Platform*. To get that reflection of light, I dotted on some white polish on the bottom of the ornaments.

For Santa, there were a TON of ways that to draw him, but the dotting way was the cutest! For his head, I started off with two coats of Essie - Brooch the Subject and then painted his red hat with
Essie - Party on a Platform. The edges don't need to be neat as we will then go right in with any white polish and dot on his beard and fluffy hat trim. Dot his eyes with black polish and his nose with Essie - Oh Behave!* and your Santa is complete! For his body, paint your nail two coats of Essie - Party on a Platform followed by a thick white stripe down the middle. Dot on the "trim" and then use a thin striping brush to paint on his belt. Outline his buckle with Essie - Getting Groovy* and then top coat the whole thing!

Santa Nail Art

Find the Essie Winter Collection at most mass retailers or Nail Polish Canada.

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