Guest Post by Nail Polish Pursuit: Christmas Nail Art + Video Tutorial

Please enjoy this guest post by my friend Paola from Nail Polish Pursuit!

--

Hi Pretty Polishers and Kellie Gonzo fans! I'm Paola (Pa-OH-La) aka Nail Polish Pursuit. I am SO honored that Kellie asked me come back and do another fun and cute guest post for her amazing blog! Kellie has been a wonderful mentor and inspiration to me throughout my nail polish blogging journey. Isn't she the best? I know we can all agree Kellie ROCKS! So for my guest post today, I've got 4 Christmas nail designs to show you. These are pretty simple and quick in case you need any last minute Christmas nail art ideas.

To create these designs you will need the following:

That's a lot of polish right? If you don't have all of these colors you can use what you have, or you can create only 1 of these 4 designs and paint the rest of your nails red or green for the holiday season. You also don't have to use these exact colors I used, but in case you're interested, here is the list:

Gold polish - Ziv by ZOYA
Red polish - Sooki by ZOYA
Green glitter polish - Logan by ZOYA
Nude polish - Rue by ZOYA
Pink polish - Lo by ZOYA
Blue polish - Sia by ZOYA
Silver polish - I'd Melt For You by China Glaze
Orange polish - Lady & the Vamp by China Glaze
Black polish - Never Have Too Mani Friends! by OPI (Hello Kitty Collection)
White polish - French Tip by Color Club

You're also going to need a dotting tool or toothpick, a fast drying top coat (I used HK Girl by Glisten & Glow), straight nail vinyls or tape, and a thin nail art brush.

Now let's take a look at how to create each one:

CANDY CANE
Yummy, simple, and festive!

1. Start with a white base. I love using French Tip by Color Club because it's a one coater and super opaque!
2. Apply a fast drying top coat and let it completely dry for about 15 minutes.
3. Apply your nail vinyls at an angle to give the appearance of the candy cane swirls. If you don't have nail vinyls you can cut tape into different sizes.
4. Apply 1 coat of your red nail polish and remove the vinyls or tape immediately while the red polish is still wet.
5. Once that is dry, apply your fast drying top coat to seal the design. TIP: Apply the top coat sideways so you don't smear the design.

SANTA CLAUS
So jolly and bright!

1. Start with your red polish and apply only a small amount to the top 1/3 of your nail closest to your cuticle.
2. Then apply your nude polish to the middle portion of your nail. Don't worry about making the division of colors perfect because you will be covering it up.
3. Next take your white polish and create a "french tip" line at the bottom of your nail to create Santa's beard.
4. Once that is all dry, take your dotting tool dipped in white polish and create a line of dots side by side in between the red and nude polish to create Santa's hat.
5. Now take your dotting tool dipped in black polish and make two small dots in the nude polish section of your nail to create Santa's eyes.
6. Then use your thin nail art brush dipped in black polish and create a half moon shape under the eyes to create Santa's smile.
7. Last you're going to take your dotting tool dipped in your pink polish and make two dots at each end of Santa's smile to create his jolly and bright cheeks!
8. Once everything is dry, apply your fast drying top coat to seal the design.

CHRISTMAS TREE
This isn't a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

1. Start with a white base. Apply fast drying top coat and let it fully dry for about 15 minutes.
2. Next take two pieces of vinyl or tape and make an X across your nail to create the outlining of the tree.
3. Then add your green nail polish in between the "X" outline. While the polish is still dry, remove the vinyls or tape.
4. Let that completely dry and you can leave it as is or you can add ornaments to you tree like I did.
5. Using your dotting tool dipped in gold and silver polish, make dots inside your tree to create the ornaments.
6. I added a star on top of my tree using a tiny nail art star that came in a wheel I bought at my local beauty supply store. You can also find these on amazon.
7. Once everything is dry, apply your fast drying top coat to seal the design.

SNOWMAN
With a carrot nose!

1. Start with a blue base. Apply fast drying top coat and let it fully dry for about 5 minutes.
2. Then take your white polish and create a circular mound shape at the bottom of your nail.
3. Next take your dotting tool dipped in white polish and make dots at the top portion of your nail to create snowflakes.
4. Now take your dotting tool again but this time dipped in black polish and make two dots at the top of the white mound to make the snowman's eyes.
5. Last take your thin nail art brush dipped in orange polish and make a sideways triangle to create the snowman's carrot nose.
6. Once everything is dry, apply your fast drying top coat to seal the design.

You're all done! Hope you enjoyed these cute and fun Christmas nails! Remember you don't have to make these look perfect, even the best nail artists make mistakes. Your designs will be unique and beautiful.

I also have a step by step video tutorial for these nails on my YouTube channel here:

I wish everyone a very Happy Holidays and a huge thank you to Kellie for giving me this opportunity to be a part of her awesome blog!

--

Thanks so much for guest posting again Paola! I love nail art oh so much and I fail so hard at it, so thanks for bringing some creativity to my blog! Let me know what you think! What are you wearing on your nails for the holidays? Be sure to stop by the Nail Polish Pursuit blog and subscribe if you want, or follow her on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube!

❤ Kellie

Virago Varnish Holiday 2015 Ugly Christmas Sweater Collection Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I have a new holiday polish collection to show you today from indie brand Virago Varnish! They have put out seven glittery lacquers for the season called the Ugly Christmas Sweater collection!

Press Sample

Abstain From Champagne is a holographic champagne full coverage microglitter in a clear base. This wowed me right off the bat, super blingy and the glitters are a little bit flatter than I expected which made it very easy to apply. Great glitter payoff, making it almost a one coater for me! I did use two to totally cover my nail, but I was super surprised at the coverage on this.

Happy Holla Daze is a festive glitter topper with hex, circle, square, and shredded glitters in white, red, green and silver. I layered one coat over OPI Cinnamon Sweet. This is a "typical" holiday glitter mix, but it's a little more unique thanks to the shredded white pieces. I really like this look. It would also look great over black or a dark green!

Lit Ladies Dancing is a microglitter mix of holographic royal blue and white matte small roundish hexes with black shreds in a lightly tinted blue jelly base. This was on the thick side, but not too difficult to manage. I did a normal first coat and dabbed a little on the second coat to get the coverage you see here. This reminds me of baseball for some reason...not sure why haha!

That Sleigh-Doh has a black jelly base with a mix of black and white matte and holographic microglitter and larger grey hex and square glitters. There are also some twinkly bits of iridescence popping out, which makes it more dimensional. This one was also a little thick, a bit tricky to apply evenly. I really like the result though, this is one of my favorites in the collection.

Where the Elf Is Santa? is a holographic deep teal green and blue microglitter in a clear base. This was pretty easy to apply, but there wasn't a ton of glitter payoff on the first coat. I build it up with three coats. This is a nice variation on the traditional holiday green we always see!

Stay Jolly My Friends is a red and white version of Lit Ladies Dancing, except instead of black shreds there are white squares. The red glitter in this one is really reflective, super christmas-y! This was a little easier than the blue version to apply, not sure why. Two coats here.

Indies Do It Sweater is a multicolored holographic glitter topper with hex, square and triangle glitters in a clear base. I layered one coat over Sally Hansen Pacific Blue (original). This is a nice departure from the type of glitters we normally see in holiday collections, very party appropriate. Great glitter payoff!

These all dry to a more matte finish so a top coat is recommended for all shades. The heavier glitters may need two coats to be completely smooth. The normal cap for Virago Varnish polishes is black matte, but for this collection they all come with a white matte cap. If you prefer the original black, just leave them a note at checkout. My friend Phoebe has a live application video review on this collection on her YouTube channel if you want to see these in action!

These are on sale now on the Virago Varnish website. The two microglitters, Abstain From Champagne and Where the Elf Is Santa?, retail for $11 each while the rest go for $10. The full collection sells for a special price of $68.50. They always offer free shipping over $50 using the code 50FREESHIP. (They ship to the US & Canada, email them for international orders.) And luckily, they are holding a sale right now through tomorrow Friday, Dec. 11 at 11:59 pm PST giving you 20% off your entire purchase using the code 3DAYSALE - wow! So run over if you want to pick these up in time to use for the holidays!

See you again soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Blogging for a Cause - My Guest Post on Work/Play/Polish

Hi friends! Today I am being featured as a guest blogger on my friend Leslie's blog Work/Play/Polish. She is doing a series to highlight the charity Polished Girlz, a group "bring sparkle to the lives of girls with special needs or frequent hospitalizations by bringing the trendiest nail art parties to them, while teaching them the importance of hand washing to reduce infection rates and repeated hospital admissions".

You can view my post here and be sure to subscribe to her so you can see all the other great guest posts she's planning. I can't believe I did nail art! It is a recreation of one of Instagrammer @amkuch15′s manicures, just switched up to different colors. Happy holidays!

Press Sample

Join me on my other social networks:
Facebook ▴ Twitter ▴ BlogLovin' ▴ Instagram

Product samples were provided for consideration.

My 2012 Holiday Manicure

I hope all of you have enjoyed your winter holidays! Here's a peek at my holiday manicure. If you follow my Instagram account you might've seen this already. I used Chanel Diwali for the base color. Diwali is a gorgeous metallic pale gold shimmer. The glitter is Rainbow Honey Glittering Rapture, a blend of red and golds and shimmers in a clear base.

You can buy Chanel lacquers at your local beauty counter or online at www.chanel.com for $30, although I got to try mine from the new rental service Lacquerous.com. (I will most likely be doing a post regarding my experience with them soon in case you are interested.) You can purchase Rainbow Honey lacquers at www.rainbowhoney.com for $10 for a full size bottle or $5 for a mini. What did you wear on your nails for the holidays this year? Are you planning on a fancy mani for New Year's?

Some of these products were provided for review.

Pretty & Polished Holiday Picks

Hi friends :) My girl Chels who makes Pretty & Polished lacquers and accessories has some new polishes out for the holiday season, here are two of them.

Love Always, Candy Cain is a glitter topper in red and white, 'natch considering the name. Anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with peppermint and this time of year it's friggen everywhere and I love it. This polish has small round white and red matte glitter, large red and white heart glitter, medium & large red hexes and large white hexes in a clear base. I used three coats over Cult Nails Nevermore.

This is called Island of Misfit Toys, which I get is a cartoon reference but I just watched Perks of Being a Wallflower (unbelievable film, btw) and they mentioned it in there so it was fresh in my mind when I picked these out. This glitter is a mega hodgepodge of colors shapes and sizes, but it really works. I was surprised at how much I like this. Three coats over Wet n' Wild white.

You can buy Pretty & Polished nail lacquer at their Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/prettyandpolished. Minis are $4.75 and full size bottles go for $7. I haven't been disappointed by any P&P polishes, and these are no exception. Go check out the rest of her holiday selection on her blog www.prettynpolish.com.

P.S. I know my nails are SUUUUPER long in these picks, cray cray right?! I just cut them but you might see another few posts with them this long. I credit Duri's Rejuvacote.

OPI Red Hot Glam

I got this polish in a random MakeupAlley swap. It was a Beauty Brands (I am not personally familiar with the store) exclusive for holiday 2010. Red Hot Glam is a blue based red, kind of around the same hue as I'm Not Really a Waitress, with microshimmer in red and blue. Very flashy and very holiday appropriate. This is three coats.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

$OPI What's Your Point-settia?

I borrowed this. *sigh* I can't believe I'm showing you this with a big ol' smudge in my pinky finger but I didn't notice until I gave the polish back and was going over the pictures. And I like how the other fingers turned out. So...I'm human haha I make mistakes, I figure you can handle it ;)

What's Your Point-settia is a Sephora by OPI 2010 holiday color, a deep cranberry red with red and gold sparkle. Not the most unique polish nor my favorite red with gold but I do like it well enough. I really love the $OPI formula, it's been fabulous for every single polish of theirs I've tried. This was no exception.  Two coats.

You may notice that I have begun to put a watermark on my photos again. This is in response to a recent blogger's blatant theft of my photos and posts, which I have experienced before but never at this magnitude. It is really pathetic and just sad. It's one thing to get inspiration or ideas from another person's work, but to literally copy and paste their words and photos is just disgusting. Until yesterday, he/she had copied and pasted my entire blog profile too, which needless to say, is beyond creepy. And Blogger has yet to take down the offending posts (as well as the other bloggers' she has copied from), so as I am afraid it might keep happening, I am willing to sacrifice a little bit of aesthetic pride and put my blog address in my photo. Hope you don't mind :/

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Diamond Cosmetics Free Shipping & New Holiday Colors

FREE SHIPPING! 5pm Thursday December 16 through 5am Sunday December 19. ALL ORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED BY Tuesday December 21. Enter promo code HOLIDAY at checkout

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Orly Rockin' Rocket

My newest nail polish is called Rockin' Rocket *shakes head* haha. Not the silliest name I've ever heard, but it still makes me groan a little. This is in Orly's Holiday collection, the second one I've tried and the only other one that really appealed to me. RR is a brownish red crème with gold red shimmer. The formula was fairly easy to handle, about the same consistency as the green from the same collection, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. This is two coats.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

China Glaze Little Drummer Boy

Finally! The last nail polish in China Glaze's 'Tis the Season To Be Naughty and Nice Collection! I cannot believe I left it out, it was one of the colors I was most excited about.

Little Drummer Boy is a dark navy with a metallic blue shimmer. I found it a little goopey, like Peace On Earth. However, it is really gorgeous once I was able to get it on well. This doesn't scream "holidays" to me, but it is nice to have a blue in this collection! This swatch is two coats.

Here is my video of the entire collection, you can see my YouTube channel with all my other videos HERE--but don't expect to see me on camera. At least not yet haha. I'm too shy ;)

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

This was provided to me for an honest review.

fingerpaints winter dreams pt. 2

aaaaaannnnddd i'm back folks with the second round of swatches for the fingerpaints winter dreams holiday collection.

mistletoe mischief is a terrific candy green with fine silver green shimmer.  the color is lovely and i adore that it's a jelly, it allows the glitter to just swim around in it and it gives it a fabulous depth.  this is two coats.

just plum fun is a gorgeous glowey purple, but i've seen a lot of this kind of color this year.  oh well, everyone has got to have one right?  the shimmer in this color is nice.  this is two coats.

mulberry madness is my absolute favorite from this collection.  chunky but not too chunky glittery red with a sprinkle (more than merry mittens) of silver glitter.  this is two coats.  this one dries a bit matte so a topcoat is needed for sure. 

so what's the verdict?  any must haves for you outta this collection?  these are available at Sally Beauty Supply, in stores and online :)

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

these products were sent to me for an honest review. please see disclosure statement for more information.

fingerpaints winter dreams pt. 1

i am very happy with the fingerpaints winter dreams collection. they have pulled out some really cool textures and colors for this season. here is the first half of my swatches :)

winter wishes is a super unique polish. it's a champagne white glitter shimmer. when i first saw it, i was like, uh what is this dirty snow? but when i had it on i really appreciated it for what it was. a tawny bling filled lacquer that warms up my skin nicely.  i really like this baby and like i said, it definitely isn't like anything i own already!  two coats.

holly good times looked kinda scary in the bottle, at least to me.  then i was like, oh duh it's thanksgiving colors!  wonderful harvest gold and autumn red and an orangey shine going on.  i really love the micro glitz that this polish has.  this is only two coats too, so it's not too hard to make opaque!

merry mittens is the exact color of autumn apples, that rustic red color that i love soooo much around this time of year.  it has a bit of gold duochrome around the edges too!  and a lovely sprinkling of gold glitter makes it just adorable.  this is two coats.

stay tuned for part 2!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

these products were sent to me for an honest review. please see disclosure statement for more information.