Gelish Christmas Mani | Trees, Snowmen, and More!

Merry Christmas!
I had planned on getting this up on Christmas Eve, but I was SO INSANELY BUSY I had no time. I'm currently writing this up 2,000 miles away from home, visiting the soon-to-be in-laws (Steak N Shake and Cracker Barrel, here I come!!). I've received so many incredible Gelish and nail art gifts this Christmas (MoYou, omg MOYOU) - I can't WAIT to get home and start swatching and reviewing! As it is this will probably be my last post until the first or second week of January. :( But don't worry, I've got tons of stuff to write about in January!
While I've absolutely LOVED all the faire isle nail art I've been seeing, I knew I didn't have the time (or talent, omg) to create something so intricate. I decided on a simple, fun mani for Christmas that'd give me the opportunity for just a tiny bit of nail art. ;)

I also changed the shape of my nails (AGAIN) to a blunt almond/squaletto. I've seen that shape pop up a couple of times on Instagram and I loved how classy it looks. The corners of my nails are just TOO brittle to maintain a square shape (the corners chip even with gel polish on), but I thought this might be a nice way to have a square-ish shape while eliminating those pesky corners. The shape actually looked really severe and weird without polish, but once I got polish on and started capping the free edges it really softened up all the angles. I'm hoping with more practice I can make this shape work.

For the above manicure I did the following:

Thumb Nail:

1. • 1 coat Just What I Wanted, cure
2. • Scrub loose green craft store glitter into the tacky layer
3. • 1 coat Just What I Wanted, cure
4. • Wipe tacky layer. Paint on Sheek White until snowman shape is achieved, cure
5. • Add one more layer of Sheek White to achieve opacity, cure
6. • Add eyes and mouth with Black Shadow and buttons with silver Folk Art acrylic paint, cure
7. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Index Nail:

1. • 3 coats Sheek White, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Lay down two parallel pieces of striping tape, paint 2 coats of Red-Y And Waiting in a round shape, cure all coats
3. • 1 coat Life of the Party over the red polish, cure
4. • Using tweezers, slowy and carefully pull the striping tape off. Add dots and zig-zag pattern with Sheek White. Add ornament hook with silver Folk Art acrylic paint, cure
5. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Middle Nail:

1. • 3 coats Sheek White, cure all coats
2. • Paint design with 2 coats of Red-Y And Waiting and 2 coats of Just What I Wanted, cure all coats
3. • 1 coat Life of the Party over the red polish, cure
4. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Ring Nail:

1. • 3 coats Sheek White, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Lay down 3 pieces of striping tape in a zig-zag pattern
3. • 1 coat Just What I Wanted in triangle shape, cure
4. • Scrub loose green craft store glitter into the tacky layer of the green polish
5. • 1 coat Just What I Wanted, cure
6. • Using tweezers, slowy and carefully pull the striping tape off. Add dot of Structure to top of tree and place stud, cure
7. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Pinky Nail:

1. • 2 coats Red-Y And Waiting, cure all coats
2. • 2 coats Life of the Party, cure all coats
3. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

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