Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. I have to admit that after so much firmly themed nail art over the past few months, my brain feels firmly in the no more theme zone, so over the course of this month you'll probably be seeing a fair bit of abstract or graphic nail art while I recalibrate my brain a little bit. For our first #CBBxManiMonday theme of the year we decided to lean into the Pantone Color Of The Year, but also keep it a little loosey goosey with a theme of Blue & Purple. Lucky for me, I had some beautiful new polishes from NailStuff.ca** that fit perfectly in that theme just waiting to be used. 

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If you haven't check out Dimension Nails' polishes yet, you are missing out. This vegan, environmentally conscious brand is one of my absolute favorites and never fails to bring incredible pigmentation and gorgeous formulas. Honestly, I have several of her polishes at this point and every single one has blown my mind. So, of course, I was thrilled beyond measure to have a handful of new ones to try courtesy of NailStuff.ca (PR) and I decided to just go in on this mani and use a bunch of them.

For my base, I grabbed Arctic Wolf, which is described as a creamy micro-shimmer white - which is much a much more direct (but entirely accurate) description than I would have given. White polishes, particularly really pigmented crémes, have been my nemesis because I absolutely hate the way they apply generally, so I tend to avoid white base mani's, but I think this is the antidote. Like all of the other DN polishes I've tried, this one is insanely pigmented but applies really smoothly and beautifully. For this mani, I did do two thin coats, but miraculously I think that if you polish a little bit heavier you could easily get away with one.

This sort of from-the-corner abstract drybrushing technique has become a bit of a staple for me, but I feel like it's one of those designs that can end up being insanely versatile depending on your colour choices and placement. For this mani, I wanted to keep it simple so I grabbed for a smoky mid-blue créme and a rich, deep metallic teal. I started with the lighter shade and applied swipes of it coming from the corner, applying more heavily at the tip than at the base, and then I followed with the darker shade, being careful to apply this one a little more lightly overall. Next, I went in with a black créme and a dotting tool to apply a few dots on each nail at the bare corners. 

For my stamping, I wanted it to be really, really distinctly abstract, so I grabbed for a plate with this sort of swoopy line designs and chose images that I thought would fit each nail well. I applied the abstract images in black at the center of each nail, positioning them to get the best fill of that space. Once I was happy with the overall design, I sealed it in with a nail art top coat and then followed with a generous layer of glossy top coat for shine.

And voila!

Honestly, every single time I try out a new-to-me polish from Dimension Nails, I'm so overwhelmingly impressed with how gorgeous they are. There are few brands that I sing the praises of this consistently, but this one definitely sits amongst, in my opinion, the best indie polish brands for créme polishes. Also, they are available from NailStuff.ca, which is great for us Canadian nail enthusiasts. I am also an affiliate with NailStuff, so if you're a new customer do please feel free to use code TRYSH for 10% off your first order. 

Don't forget to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World in PINK today to check out what the ladies have on their nails for this first #CBBxManiMonday of the year. 

Thanks for reading!