My Christmas Nails | Snowflakes & Baubles Inspired by MadamLuck

 Merry Christmas! At the time of writing this, it's almost just after 8pm on Christmas Eve - a lot closer to Christmas than some of you in the northern hemisphere, I'm sure! I wasn't intending on sharing these nails with you today, but I was so pleased with both the nail art and the photography that I just needed to get them up. Before I continue, I should say that this is not an original design; I was inspired by the very talented MadamLuck. You can see her original nail design here, and follow her on Instagram @madamluck to see all of her work!

I've done a few different Christmas nail art tutorials on my YouTube channel this year, but as they were all done weeks before the 25th, I had bare nails this morning. I lost some of my nail art mojo a few months ago after suffering a bit of a burn out; which all came as a bit of a shock. It's been a few months now and I've had time to reflect, and I now know the reason it happened. The same as many bloggers; I turned my beloved hobby into a pressure-filled, time-constricted, 50-hours-a-week job. When I do nail art tutorials for YouTube, it's often purely for the viewers. At least 50% of the time, I wipe off the polish just hours after applying it, and it's normally only on one hand. This is for a variety of reasons; to save time, to do another tutorial straight after it, because I have a client coming, or because I have things to do and don't have time to wait for my nails to dry. It can take the enjoyment right out of it!

I've known that painting one hand and removing it has been a problem for a while, but haven't really done much about it; I've focused more on cutting down my reviews, re-organising my YouTube schedule and relieving general blogging pressures. It's been working; I was feeling relatively confident that I could continue this long-term - but there still was a hint of doubt. However, this week I've managed to paint my nails (on both hands, and off camera) twice, and I loved it. Took me back to the old days when I would perch on the edge of my table covered in study notes and paint designs on my digits for hours, forgetting to eat or drink and then having that awful moment of "oh my god, I need to pee!" My passion for nail art is well and truly intact; it never really went, in hindsight. It's silly how much pressure you can put on yourself, when really it's only you doing it. There are obviously external factors that made it a bit tougher, but if I keep this as a hobby, I can stop and start whenever I want, and keep it fun, creative, fresh. My followers are all lovely and I can count the negative comments I've gotten in the last 2 1/2 years on one hand. I just love, love, love the blogging community, the viewers, the readers, everything about this little world. I have no intention of leaving it, so in order to stick around it's time to make my nail art more about what suits me... and I have a feeling it's going to up the quality of my work as well. 

So there's a little update. To be honest, I didn't need to say all this, but in case you were one of the 300 people who watched my "Shall I Quit YouTube?" video (before I pulled it down), there is a happy ending to the story. There's a lot more happening in the next few months for me too, but I think I'll tell it after-the-fact... things change to easily! Back to the nail art, now ☺.

I used a variety of nail polish for this design, plus some acrylic paint. I find the latter great for the foreground; in this case the baubles. It's a lot more opaque and doesn't require a white coat first, as the paint stands out brightly by itself.

Here's a list of the polishes I used:

China Glaze - Running In Circles

China Glaze - Platinum Silver

Nicole by OPI - Carrie'd Away

Nicole by OPI - Sheer Fun

Nubar - Royal Blue

Sally Hansen - Himalayan Blue

Sally Hansen - Wedding Crasher

Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

Snowflake nail art seems a bit weird, considering here in New Zealand our Christmas is in Summer. I was more attracted to the baubles in this design, the snowflakes were secondary - but I still love them! I'll just convince myself that I'm having my own little White Christmas... even in this 30°C heat.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, I was really happy with these photos. I've struggled to find good lighting in the house I'm house-sitting at the moment, but well, turns out if you go outside in the middle of the afternoon there's a abundance of bright, natural light. Perfect!

I love this little bauble I stole from our Christmas branch (definitely NOT a tree), and it made a good prop for these photos.

I did take some bauble-less photos too, which I feel are significantly less sparkly, and therefore barely worth looking at. However, if you feel the need, look away ☺.

I had a few issues doing the black detailing on the right hand; as I often say, I am so not ambidextrous! With a bit of patience and the knowledge of how to fix up mistakes, I managed to get this done.

And here's a another pic. Posing with this hand is so difficult!

I hope you like these nails as much as I do! I still have them on and will for a good few days, so it's nice to put up a post about nails that are so recent. If you're wondering about my 10,000 YouTube subscriber giveaway, I'll be putting it up in the New Year, once all the Christmas madness is over.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. Remember to keep yourself safe, eat too much and tell someone you love them.

♥