NAILS | Let the Holiday Nails Begin! #CBBxManiMonday

 

Press samples marked with *

Oof, my nails are still on the short side, but I was determined to make a design happen! I hadn't done a skittles manicure in awhile and it worked out because I could not decide how to kick off this month of holiday nail art! 

NAILS | Mini Rudolph the Reindeers #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

More than 10 years of nail art and I am feeling like a broken record when it comes to trying to be "creative" with holiday manicures even though they are my second favourite theme (Halloween is #1!). Now, that I don't have the same amount of patience as before, my manicures are simple and generally require no more than four bottles polish. Doing Star Wars, Grinch or Minions nail art usually had me bringing out 10+ bottles and even though I am so happy I have these manicures in my library, I'm not sure if I will be able to summon the energy to do nails like that again. For now, it's going to be about sweet and simple nails that anyone can do like these mini Rudolph the Reindeer nails!

NAILS | Abstract Christmas Tree Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

It's been a hell of a week(s) and though I don't like having two nail posts back to back on the blog, such is the time of the holidays and my work schedule. My skin has been flaring up with dermatitis around my chin that has been itchy and painful all due to stress so mentally I've just been trying to rest, eat well and make sure our place is clean and comfortable. I have been working non-stop even on my days off (sending emails and reaching out to clients) as it's the holidays and our busiest time so I look forward to Christmas Day where time stands still and I can rest!

NAILS | Santa's Hat French Tips #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

There are a number of reasons I am haven't been around. Work is the main one, but now I have discovered that some of my old blog posts are missing photos and I don't understand why. They seem be concentrated around 2015, but it's not like consecutive posts are missing photos are even photos of the same type. I haven't deleted any photos from Google Photos which is where I *think* the photos get stored, but honestly, I have never had the patience to figure out how websites work...I started uploading the photos again, but it is a painstaking job. I realized I didn't want to skip ANOTHER #CBBxManiMonday so I went with something quick and easy to do that also looked kind of chic! 

NAILS | Christmas Trees #CBBxManiMonday

 

Press samples

My nails are going to be the coffin shape for awhile as my pink broke shortly before I did this manicure so I had to make my nails even more narrow to compensate! On a positive note, it does give me some time to be creative with manicures that make use of this more triangular shape. I am on the home stretch this week when it comes to work as this is the final week until Christmas which falls on a Sunday. I will be spending it all by my lonesome which is totally fine by me as the longer hours of having to be an extrovert have been getting more and more challenging as the days go by. I look forward to recharging my introverted batteries for 2023 as things will get busy again for Lunar New Year which is a big deal at my work because of our mainly Asian clientele. 

NAILS | Candy Cane French Manicure #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I have had a very tiring and hectic week with work and I think it's only going to get more intense as we get closer and closer to Christmas. I had other plans for today's nail art, but time eluded me yesterday as I struggled to both relax and get everything I wanted to done. After breaking a nail and having to go coffin nails again, I thought trying out this style of freehand candy cane nail art might be interesting! 

NAILS | The Elves Have Come Out to Play! #CBBxManiMonday

Some press samples

I mentioned in yesterday's #SheetMaskSunday post that I wanted to take control of December and not let it stress me out or make me feel pressured in any way and though I am not entirely sure of how I will do that, I felt pretty good about myself yesterday. I stocked up on canned goods and groceries that will last as I will not have time to go out to get food much starting tomorrow. I also got the kitties some extra canned food and also started planning out my meal deliveries as I will be on my own on Christmas Eve (don't feel sorry for me as people in retail generally want to be alone to decompress on this day) and want to do as little cooking as possible since I will be working until 5:30pm that day. This little bit of preparation has made me feel better and then later today, I am going to get one gift for a coworker just so I don't have to go on the weekend when it might be busier. I have also made a small to-do list for the week which I can hopefully accomplish, but have told myself that it's ok if I don't as nothing on it is life or death.

NAILS | Polar Bears and Snowflakes #CBBxManiMonday

Firstly, I think because of the number of things I have had to do over the last few days it feels like it's ManiThursday! I had some car issues this past Friday where my alternator and battery died while I was on a major bridge in the middle of morning rush hour traffic! It was very scary as all my lights on the dashboard just shut off and I could no longer accelerate! I managed to use basically pure gravity to coast to the first emergency pullover area and I was lucky that no one rear-ended me as my signal indicator wasn't working nor were my hazard lights. It was also pretty cold at -1 degrees Celsius and where I was stopped, there wasn't transit or an easily walkable place to catch a cab, but thank goodness for Uber and the willingness of the drivers to pick you up from anywhere! My car is still getting repaired and at $1000 for the repair, I am glad that most of my Christmas shopping is done!

Purchased by me

NAILS | Christmas Wreaths #CBBxManiMonday

It's the last #CBBxManiMonday before Christmas! I knew this month would creep up on me and then whaddaya know? It is now the first day of Winter and it actually SNOWED in Vancouver! This is the first real snowfall for us as we generally get a ton of rain (which we did) so it was all very appropriate. I had today off, but I will be working right up until Christmas Day so I don't know how busy it will be. I always mentally prepare myself for busy shoppers and/or ridiculous Christmas miracles and even in this global state, people can still be unreasonable. We received a Christmas card from a client which looked all pretty on the outside, but when we opened it, it turned out to be a complaint that ended with the sentence "so file this in your cupboard of embarrassments". I mean, who takes the time to use an already overloaded mail system (used registered mail) to send something negative like this out into the universe?! Why even bother?!

Press samples

NAILS | Santa Claus Might Not Be Coming' To Town? #CBBxManiMonday

I'm going to bring it up again - how the hell is it Dec.23rd?? How are we here now? I always feel like the Holidays creep up on me and I never have time to adjust and now that I have been LIVING it, I feel like it's going by really fast. Honestly, as much as this is a season to be joyful, I hate the fact that it's so busy everywhere you go. Malls, transit, supermarkets, the street you name it! My only safe haven is home so I secretly cannot wait for the silence that comes with January 1st. Whether it's because people are hung over or sleeping off a long night, I just look forward to the silence of the that first day of 2020. 

 PR samples

NAILS | The Invasion of the Gingerbread Men #CBBxManiMonday

For the first time in awhile, I have done my nails BEFORE the actual Monday of ManiMonday! This week has been busy, but I have been surprisingly productive both at work and on the blog. I blogged a whopping 5x last week which has been unheard of since I went on staycation in September and managed to meal plan, not have to buy a single lunch or dinner outside on top of working a very hectic holiday work schedule. Mind you, I managed to acquire a two day tension headache somewhere in the midst of all this, but then I remembered that drinking water is my friend which has been quite helpful as getting sick is the LAST thing I want now that I am so close to not just surviving this month, but kicking its ass too!

 PR samples

NAILS | O Christmas Tree #CBBxManiMonday

I know that in my last ManiMonday post, I couldn't believe it was the end of 2019 and now I'm going to say that this has felt like the longest week! I had a headache that lasted 5 days, which got worse in front of a computer, and I have been feeling like there is no TIME to finish things up for the year! I am determined to not let the flurry of the holidays and deadlines rule me, but it is TOUGH to do because everyone else is trying to get things done before the year is up and it can be hard to ignore that kind of stress. Even at my dentist check up on Friday, there were people trying to book one last cleaning in because their benefits would cover it, but the receptionist kept saying that they were so booked! I will just continue to plug along here as this is Christmas #8 on the blog and though I have never been one to go crazy with holiday gift guides or posts, I do like me some holiday nails! 

Some polishes are PR samples

NAILS | Christmas Gradient Dotticure #CBBxManiMonday

I haven't done a dotticure since the beginning of October and I was just itching to do one again and though I had grander things planned for today's manicure, there was just too much to do and I didn't get a chance to start my manicure until 11pm which is when a dotticure is the ultimate solution! 

PR Samples

NAILS | Holly and Ivy #CBBxManiMonday

I have a very early morning so I'm going to try to keep this post as neat as possible, but from here on out, it's going to be holiday nail art and I will try to do more than just one a week like in the olden days. I am not the biggest fan of holiday nail art, but once a year it is fun to be have more focused themes and use up all the red, gold and green I have in my 2000 bottle nail polish collection! Today's mani is all about those exact colours with some simple holly and ivy that I somehow forgot how to draw midway through one of the nails so apologies for the one gimpy leaf.

PR sample and personal purchases featured