Hello and happy holidays!  This week has been so insanely busy.  What is it about the end of the year that just makes all your priorities pile up at once?  Even with all the distractions, I have been looking forward to this mani for weeks.

This week I’m using my winnings from Bundle Monster’s “Name This Mani” Instagram giveaway.  I thought that I was just going to win the specific plate in the picture, but I actually won the entire Sugar Coated stamping kit!  I was already happy to get just the plate, and I became absolutely ecstatic when I realized it was more.  So I won by naming this manicure “Winter Pink Me Up”, which is the inspiration for my nails this week.  I didn’t want to use the pink or floral exactly, because I wanted something more “traditional”, but I like the idea of a pick me up.  So I wanted to keep my nails light and bright.

What I used:

• Base Coat:  Glisten & Glow – Base Coat
• 1st Color:  Sally Hansen Hard as Nails – White On
• 2nd Color:  Bundle Monster – Nation’s Treasure
• 3rd Color:  Sally Hansen Insta-Dri – ASAP Apple
• 4th Color:  Painted Polish – Stamped in Greenery 2.0
• Glitter:  Live Love Polish – Sparks Will Fly
• Top Coat:  Glisten & Glow – Top Coat
• acetone nail polish remover
• Twinkled T clean up brush, size #2
• Bundle Monster mini lotus mat
• Latex-free cuticle tape
• Bundle Monster BM-XL483 stamping plate
• clear silicone stamper & scraper
• lint roller sheet
• Bundle Monster tiny double sided dotting tool/nail art brush

I started with the base coat, and then one coat of the Sally Hansen – White On.  I knew that the white would be thick and good for one coat, but it was just a little too thick.  There was even a big chunk in it that I had to get rid of.  It’s gross, and I think it’s time to invest in some nail polish thinner.  I then decided to try the cuticle tapes.  They were a little harder to put on than I expected, but still generally easy.  I’m just picky, and tried to get them on perfectly.  After the cuticle tapes were adjusted to my satisfaction, I started stamping little gold snowflakes on to the white.  It was only after I was done stamping every nail that I remembered that I wanted my ring and thumb nails to be different colors.  Oh well, I just went with it.

My white polish was just a little too thick

Stamping with the latex-free cuticle barriers

The next step was the reverse stamping.  I’d never even tried it before, so I knew it was going to be a little bit of a challenge.  I had to take a break to go watch some Youtube videos again on how to properly do this.  It seemed very doable: top coat, stamp image, fill with color.  So that’s what I did, placed some top coat down and let it dry, then stamped my images.  But almost immediately afterwards, I spilled my red polish.  Luckily, my lotus mat and scraper saved everything.  Not all of my stamps transferred to the mat perfectly, so I had to make a few extras.

Why I need lotus mats everywhere: spilled polish

My decals in the making – you can see one didn’t work out

While my reverse stamped nail decals were drying, I decided to stamp more snowflakes on my ring and thumb nails.  I used Sally Hansen – ASAP Apple for red, and it stamped great.  But then came the green.  For some reason the Painted Polish – Stamped in Greenery 2.0 would not pick up the small snowflakes.  It would stamp the star and gingerbread house next to the snowflakes, but no the actual snowflakes.  I spent way too much time trying over and over again, and just slowly became more and more frustrated.  I didn’t want to try another color because I had already made the decals with this one.  So I just ended up using the best parts from each try, and slowly piecing it together.

By the time I was done with all of that, my decals were perfectly dry.  I started with some more top coat on my left hand, and then placing the decals in the middle of my finger nail.  I smudged the gingerbread house a bit, but I wasn’t about to redo it.  And then came my right hand.  I put the gingerbread people on fine, but I put the house and snowman on backwards!  I was so frustrated by this point that I almost rage quit.  (So much for a pick me up haha)  But my stubbornness won out, and I completely redid my middle and pinky nails.

I smudged the house while placing it, but the decals worked great

And then I put my last two on backwards

I decided to wait until the morning to write anything because I knew I wasn’t in a good enough mood to say anything positive.  It took me HOURS to get these done and I didn’t get to bed until well after midnight, so I was in full cranky mode.  Once I woke up, I chose to add a little extra sparkle and iridescence on top.  And now that I’ve completely calmed down, I think they look great and are perfectly festive.

Winter Pick Me Up – left hand

Winter Pick Me Up – right hand

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Update:

My nails did so well this week!  And I’m so proud of myself for not trying to pick at them.  There was only one small issue on Sunday when I decided to paint my toe nails, and didn’t notice until hours later that I had gotten a smudge of the teal blue on my middle finger.  So it was too late to try to fix it, but I just let it be since you can barely tell.  Then on Wednesday night, I got a tiny chip on my thumb nail.  But, it was another thing I didn’t bother fixing.

There’s a slight smudge of teal

Other than a tiny chip, there weren’t any issues