NAILS | Happy New Year! #ManiMonday

Well, people 2018 is here! I feel like people seem really excited about 2018 compared to 2017. I know that even my first post of 2017 was a bit of a downer talking about Trump and dry skin - two things that annoy me, but now it feels like 2018 is going to be better even though 2017 wasn't particularly bad for me. According to my "achievement jar" I got to do a lot of cool new things and I also took the initiative to travel twice for pleasure which is a good thing for me because I'm not a good traveler. Yes, I may have caught a stomach bug on one flight, but I survived! I have plans for Italy this year so I am hoping that I will feel comfortable enough to fly a longer distance without being heavily drugged.  

NAILS | Merry Christmas! #ManiMonday

It was really weird having Christmas Eve fall on a Sunday. Working in the retail industry, it was go go go this week and it honestly felt like Saturday should have been the end as I said my Merry Christmases to staff members who were scheduled off on the 24th. December 24th tends to be a busy one because we see the panicked faces of men who REALLY need to get a gift for their loved ones, but it tends to die right around 3pm when Christmas dinners start. This is what happened yesterday and by the end of the day, I was spent. When I woke up yesterday morning, I realized that I had nothing prepared for ManiMonday AND that I had Christmas dinner planned with my family that night. I had just picked up a Red Carpet Manicure One Step Gel Polish in the shade One Hit Wonder last week and realized that with just one step to worry about, I could do a FULL manicure on my coffee break at work!

NAILS | Cozy Winter Nail Art with KISS Accent Stickers

I missed ManiMonday this week. The first time in 2 years! Yes, I had some swatch photos that I could have used, but they weren't Christmas themed and it's all about Christmas and ONLY Christmas now! Vancouver had its first real snowfall yesterday and as always the city was caught completely off guard so bridges were closed and transit was massively delayed. Luckily, this is my weekend so I happily watched the havoc from inside my apartment!

I still have a number of winter polishes and manicure to share over the next week and honestly I have no idea if I will have the time to paint my nails almost every day so it's possible that some things might have to wait until next year especially the WhatsUp nail vinyls I had ordered. I am sad that I have only had a chance to use one so far. 

NAILS | Happy Halloween from KISS Nails!

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween nail art is one of my favourite things to do at this time of year, but I will admit that ever since my career switch earlier this summer, nails have been harder to polish due to just flat out fatigue. I try to keep them painted, but lately there have been stretches where I will go a solid week without polish because "I won't have time to take proper photos". This is when KISS Nails comes to the rescue with what seems to be a neverending wealth of designs for all seasons! Every Halloween, KISS releases limited edition press-on nails that make you wish it was Halloween everyday. This year there were some old favourites and some cute new designs that I couldn't wait to cover my claws with!

Kiss | Salon Secrets Nail Art Starter Kit with Awesome Zebra Nail Art

Over the last two years, my nail art hobby has grown in terms of drawer space and what I wish I had at the beginning was a starter kit that just had bits of the best stuff so I could have a taste of everything. Kind of like a nail art buffet. Earlier this year, Kiss introduced the Salon Secrets Nail Art Starter Kit ($16.99) which has everything from loose glitter, decals, brushes and dotting tools and rhinestones to create almost any nail art trend out there! It can be a bit overwhelming to look at everything in the kit and figure out what to do so thankfully there is starter guide that shows examples of designs to try.

Kiss | Gel Dress Nails with Peel-Off Removal (French Manicure)

I recently tried my hand (I realize how apt that expression sounds in this context) at the Kiss Gel Dress Nails and after having quite a bit of creasing at the tip of my nails using the full nail strips, I vowed to experiment one more time with just the French tips. Just a little bit of info for those of you who may have missed my first review, Gel Dress Nails are currently the only gel nail strips on the market that can be cured with LED/UV light and have peel-off removal. Cool, right?!

Kiss | Nail Artist Paint and Stencil Kit with Nail Art!

I loved using stencils as a kid and even well into my teenage years when I started collecting Pokémon stencils! The Nail Artist Paint and Stencil Kit from Kiss brought back all of those childhood memories and fed my grown up nail art addiction too! This kit comes with three nail art stripers in: black, white and silver glitter, which are really great staple colours to have as stripers, and 30 vinyl stencils.

Kiss | Gradation Polishes with Nail Art

We all know nail art is positively huge right now and for those that wish to achieve some of those amazing nail looks, but either don’t have the nail polish library or know where to start, never fear! Kiss is here! Kiss has a few kits for easy DIY nail art that can be done in a jiffy and with very little supervision! One of the easiest, but absolute prettiest nail looks right now is the “gradient” which to this day is my “comfort nail art”. It’s so fast to do, but is stunning to look at! The first step in creating a gradient is just choosing the right colours so Kiss has taken all of the guesswork out of the equation by creating four Gradation Polish Kits with the perfect trio of polishes to ensure that your gradient is seamless. I have the gold kit to share with you today, but there are also pink, black and a blue glitter gradient kits.