Friday 29 November 2013

Purple One-Stroke Flowers

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

My title today is sort of unimaginative, but I'm running down to the wire on getting this out today (well, MY today), which is when I said I would! Also I'm suspiciously and mysteriously tired. I think I overslept. There are worse things in life.


I still can't one stroke to save my bloody bloomin' life. Truly cannot. But I keep trying! Maybe I should borrow a book from the library or something. I watch YouTube videos with eagle eyes and I still think it's pure unadulterated magic.


The base of this is three coats of Still Waters, followed by one coat of Happy Anniversary. The rest are all acrylic paints, done with a flat and an angled one-stroke brush.


There is a winter storm warning in effect for this weekend, with additional snow dumps of up to 30cm (1ft) and gusting winds and temperatures down to -30˚C (-22˚F) by the middle of next week and why yes I am in fact distracting myself with flowers, how astute of you to notice.


Polishes used:
Liquid Sky Lacquers - Still Waters
OPI - Happy Anniversary
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
acrylic paints
flat one-stroke brush
angled one-stroke brush
complete ineptitude

I'm thinking that, nonetheless, my next design will be more wintry. It's hard not to be influenced by my surroundings. How's the weather where you are??

xo,

J.

Thursday 28 November 2013

SWATCHED: Mentality Candy Jelly Holos

Nothing to Disclose -- kind of (read on)

Hello lovelies! 

Today's post comes as a result of a slight hiccough in order packing. You see, I had ordered a bunch of Mentality polishes, and awaited for them to arrive with bated breath. And then they did! And they weren't my order! It turns out that my box was mixed up with another customer's. Hillary, in an example of exemplary customer service, has shipped me my correct order, and told me to keep these lovely polishes as well (gosh, so nice!!). I figured the least I could do would be to swatch them.

So that I don't repeat myself endlessly, I'll put this all here: all of these are three coats, no topcoat. The formula on all of them was very easy to control and apply (none of these photos involved clean up!! A MIRACLE), but you'll not want to go over your strokes too much or you'll create bald spots. Because these are expressly jelly holos, they are a touch on the sheerer side; Mentality makes stamping holos as well, so if you're in for extreme opacity, you might want to look into those. All of these holos have cosmetic grade holo powder in them, not Spectraflair, so you won't be seeing rainbows in my light box. (Somehow, Mentality themselves have captured the rainbows in their swatches-- they're obviously better at corralling rainbows than I am!) Now, let's dive in!


Bon Bon is a jammy pink with slight berry undertones. I'm not a pink girl but this one is deep enough that I like it. 


Marmalade is an interesting one. In the above photo, it looks decidedly orange, but in real life I found it looked orange with a wee bit of pink to it. It made it much more approachable and wearable than straight orange (I love orange polish, but I know not everybody does).


Taffy is an acid yellow-green. I found this one almost a bit frosty, and it isn't as saturated as it looks in the above photo-- more washed out. I absolutely adore colours like these but they don't play nice with my skin tone. 


Sourball is a grass green with the slightest bit of blue to it, which pulls it away from the 'kelly green' territory and more into 'evergreen'. The weird lumps you see are my fault, I think, for applying the polish too soon after shaking it. Blame the messenger for that one.


Pastille is my faaaaavourite. It's got a wonderful tonal shimmer to it, which I hope you can see above. I love this shade of aqua, it's playful and deep without being straight teal.


Gumdrop is a Wonder Woman blue. This one looks a bit sheerer here than it was in real life.


And finally, Hard Candy is a straight purple. It's much less blue than it appears above; not that it's a violet, but it's much less of a grape. It treads that fine line in the land of purple that my camera absolutely hates. It's also not as dark and saturated as it appears-- it reminds me, if this helps, a bit of a cousin or half-sister to A England's Lady of the Lake.

Polishes used:
no base or top coat

And so there you have it! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the nail art I owe you-- I hope to have that up tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Hopefully it'll have been worth the wait! This little exercise gave my newfound appreciation for what swatchers do. It's a laborious process, swatching polish, and it dries the living heck out of your hands. Bow down to the master swatchers, for they live in the land of parched skin and impeccable nail polish application!

xo,

J.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Deconstructed Snowflakes

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Just a quick post tonight, as I'm off babysitting with my friend Andrew and we literally just took the toilet apart because one of the kids threw a toy train down it earlier in the day and it was irredeemably clogged. Ah, children. Little bundles of joy and unrestrained havoc.


Anybody who follows me on Instagram or Facebook saw something sort of vaguely like this that I did yesterday. Well, that started chipping almost immediately (blasted Marc Jacobs polish!!), so I decided to redo it in more seasonal colours.


All of this vertical-line-ness started with my seeing this manicure by the inimitable Spifster. She's an amazing nail artist and you should be following her. At any rate, I could do various iterations of this design over and over again forever.


I started with three coats of Dream, and the white is Tempest, all done with my striping brush and a dotting tool. With these seasonal colours, I thought I'd do something that looked, well, seasonal. When I finished, I thought it looked like Picasso's take on snowflakes, hence the title of this post.


Polishes used:
Zoya - Dream
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
striping brush
dotting tool

Like I said, expect more of this kind of thing from me in future! But I will go a bit more detailed in my next nail art for you, my lovely readers, because you're here for the Good Stuff. ;)

xo,

J.

Friday 22 November 2013

Catching Fire

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Today I decided to be topical. I also wanted a bit of a break from detailed work like my last polar enterprise, though this ended up being more of a hard case than I anticipated.


Sorry about the smudging! Topcoat can be a real bitch when it wants to, hey?


My aquatic mani from a long time ago was very popular so I thought that, with the new Hunger Games movie coming out today, it might be nice to try it with fire. It was sort of a bad idea? I mean, it all got smudged and the white unders are peeking out and bah! BAH.


Anyway. I started with two coats of Don't Pretzel My Buttons, followed by painting on the fire shapes with French White. I then painted on the fire bits with the rest of the colours, going from yellow to red.


Polishes used:
OPI - Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Y'All Come Back Ya Hear?
Nina Ultra Pro - French White
Revlon - Electric
Essence - Fortune Cookie
American Apparel - Lopez Canyon
Inglot - 724
Layla - Fire It Up (Softouch Effect 08)
Sally Hansen - Cinna-snap
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

Next up, Outrageous Ville. I'm thinking of something Effie Trinket inspired... makes sense, goes with the theme, might be impossible, you know. The whole shebang.

xo,

J.

Thursday 21 November 2013

Polar Bear

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Let me start this post by apologizing for my cuticles. Holy whoa are they awful in these shots. It looks like I went up to the Arctic to paint these nails plein air by watching an actual polar bear. (I did not; it was inspired by this photo.)


In fact, he is something of a poor specimen of a polar bear, isn't he? But he was fun to paint, if a bit frustrating to position on two nails.


Water, ice floes, and bear are all acrylic paint. All painted on a base of two coats of White On so I had something opaque to work with.


POLAR BEAR IS GLARING AT YOU (don't take it personally, he's just kind of a grump):


On my thumb, I layered a whack of blue polishes, including Passport Blue, Jungfrau, 204 (a purplish flakie), and Pitaraq:


Polishes used:
Sally Hansen - White On
American Apparel - Passport Blue
Elevation Polish - Jungfrau, Pitaraq
Inglot - 204
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
acrylic paints
tiny detail brush

I have received so many beautiful polishes over the last week, and no idea what to do with them. I'll try to think of something before the weekend, when I have my O for Outrageous prompt for my ABC Challenge and not the foggiest clue what to do about it. Will try to get something tasteful in before I take a leap into the great void of outrageousness!

xo,

J.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

SUPER HUGE GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!



I've recently hit a number of milestones; 100+ followers on Bloglovin', 100+ followers on Facebook, and 4000+ followers on Instagram. I was going to hold out for 5000+ on IG, but I just couldn't wait for someone to win these pretties, so I present to you my most fah-bu-lous giveaway yet!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All you gotta do is have fun with the Rafflecopter widget above! Don't forget to read the Terms and Conditions!! Giveaway ends in 9 days, 3 hours, so GO GO GO!

xoxoxoxo,

J.

Sunday 17 November 2013

SIMPLE SUNDAY: Holiday Lights

Nothing to Disclose

I lied about avoiding holiday things. But I was seriously stumped, lovelies, I was!


You see, my prompt this week for my Follow the Devil ABC Challenge was N for Neon. NEON! There's a foot of snow on the ground outside (no, not exaggerating) (there may in fact be more than that) (it was -15˚C/+5˚F out today). How the bloody hell am I supposed to use neons at this time of year??


This was my answer. Holiday lights, loosely inspired by Sarah at Chalkboard Nails. (Hers are way nicer, naturally.)


I started this look with two coats of my trusty Camelot, followed by one thick coat of Masquerade for interest. I then dabbed on the white circles with White On (diluted in acetone) and a cotton bud, and dabbed Moon overtop of that for the glow effect (seen below). I painted the bulbs on using undiluted White On and my Nina Ultra Pro neons, used Seraphina for the wire, and topped it all off with top coat.


If I were to do this again, I would bother to dilute the neons with acetone and daub them onto the circles as well, for lighting congruity, but I didn't want to get overly complicated with a Simple Sunday design. I'd also recommend just using white acrylic paint and a tiny brush to do the wire, using nail polish made it way too thick.


Polishes used:
piCture pOlish - Masquerade (no longer available)
Sally Hansen - White On
Americal Apparel - Moon (glow in the dark)
Nina Ultra Pro - Punki Pink, Orange Flame, Solar Flare, Lime Light
Zoya - Seraphina
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
cotton bud
acetone for diluting nail polish
medium detail brush
tiny detail brush

I will try to make my next design less holidays-ish, more just plain wintry. Because, I assure you, I have plenty of inspiration in that department. Maybe I'll even do a mani for all your crazy Americans and your way-late Thanksgiving! ;)

xo,

J.

Guest Post by Kate #2!

Nothing to Disclose

Sometimes, I do my boyfriend's daughter's nails. I don't often post about it (in fact, I've only posted about it once before), because I figure there are really only so many iterations of pink and sparkly that you need to see. But today we did something different!


We used Angry Birds stickers! Albeit sparkly Angry Birds stickers (which cause no end of trouble for my camera to focus on).


It is infinitely harder to paint on such tiny nails. Those above are slingshots (they look more like it in person, without the glare). I started by painting two coats of Blue Balloon on all her fingers, then used White On for the little clouds, Mutagen for the grass, and a combination of Dominate and Camelot for the slingshots. The birds, hands, and pigs are all nail stickers I found... somewhere... a long time ago. Sorry about that.


Polishes used:
GOSH Cosmetics - Blue Balloon
Sally Hansen - White On
Revlon - Dominate
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

I will have some 'real' (as in, on me) nail art for you either later tonight or tomorrow afternoon, depending on how much I feel like editing photos, haha. It'll be glowy, though, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait!

xo,

J.

Friday 15 November 2013

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Lined French

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Saved you the best for last.

At least, I think they're the best. I may be biased, though, because this look was done before the move, when my nails were in their long, squoval glory. Oh, how I miss them. GROW, NAILS, GROW!!!


You know, I only noticed that the lines on that one stud were facing the wrong way after I'd taken photos, so I'm going to pretend it was on purpose.


This look started off with a coat of Nail Foundation and a coat of Nail Glow. Once dry, I taped off the French tips with those sticky guide thingies (you know the ones), and sponged on a gradient of Tempest and, if memory serves, Recycle. I then removed the stickies, used Camelot to freehand on the thick lines, and topcoated/stuck the studs on.


At the time, the following ring was brand new to me, so I had to include it in photos. Mostly because it's by Bliss Lau, and she rocks killer geometric nail art like this all the time.

Ooh, aah.
I really AM pretty happy with these. Better than the last time I tried this, don't you agree?


Polishes used:
China Glaze - Recycle
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
Dior - Nail Glow (base coat)
studs from The Nail Room (a word of note: these come holo-looking, but acetone removes the holo)
liner brush
cosmetic sponge (for the gradient)

I can't believe that's it for another rendition of Digit-al Dozen week! Where does the time go? Next month is full-on festive, so you've got a month to whip out your Non-Denominational Wintery Holiday decorations and get in the spirit! (And I promise not to mention anything more about said N-D.W.H. until then!!!)

xo,

J.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER TALENTED LADIES OF THE DIGIT-AL DOZEN ARE UP TO:






Thursday 14 November 2013

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Sketched Flowers

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!


Todays' mani is an attempt at a technique invented (as far as I know) by Precious Polish. She's busy nowadays, so doesn't get to post as much, but you need to be following her. She's amazing. Her sketchy style (cf., her recent penguin, elephant, and owl manis) is a real coup de coeur for me.


I have not done her style justice. I'm not done aping it, though-- I will find another reason to bust this sketchy style out, I'm sure.

What is up with the lobster hands? I have no idea.

This look began with two coats of White On, followed by sketching in increasing order of opacity: Ridnitsohkka, Recycle, and Camelot. (I'm kind of digging this week's theme if only because it also shows how much you can do with the same few polishes over and over!)


Polishes used:
Sally Hansen - White On
China Glaze - Recycle
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
tiny detail brush

Tune in tomorrow for the last instalment of this Black & White week! And it's a blast from the past! (You'll see why.) (No, I'm not telling.)

xo,

J.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER TALENTED LADIES OF THE DIGIT-AL DOZEN ARE UP TO:






Wednesday 13 November 2013

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Plaid

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Remember yesterday, when I said that today's mani was my least favourite? It WAS the truth, and then... well... read on.


I'm not sure why it is, but the moment I heard about the theme for this month's Digit-al Dozen week, I knew I was going to do plaid. It was ~fated~.


I actually had to redo this mani as the first attempt was awful. I know, I'm a perfectionist, my definition of awful may vary from the norm-- but I assure you that, in this case, I do mean awful. So I've spared you the sight of it! Hooray!


Of course, Jacob had to come say hello. And flip up my background and install himself in my lightbox until I coaxed him out of there. 


I began with two coats of White On, followed by thick lines in Ridnitsohkka. I then went into the intersections of my grey lines and filled them in with Recycle to mimic overlapping. I used White On again for the thin white lines, and Camelot for the thin black lines. My linework is improving, hey?


Polishes used:
Sally Hansen - White On
China Glaze - Recycle
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
thin liner brush
tiny detail brush

I bet you're relieved that today's mani was something more normal, right? I must have been taking a trip through the Twilight Zone yesterday.

xo,

J.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER TALENTED LADIES OF THE DIGIT-AL DOZEN ARE UP TO:






Tuesday 12 November 2013

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White X-Ray Nails

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Here we are at day 2, and my mani today is a bit of a holdover from Hallowe'en.


Let's be honest here: did YOU have any idea what was going on if not for the title of this post?


DISTAL PHALANGES, Y'ALL. I started this with two coats of Camelot, then dabbed on the circles with watered-down White On and a cotton bud. I then painted on the main bone bits with White On, and used the watercolour technique to sort of moosh the polish around.


I should have gone to find some face paint and painted my whole fingers. That'd have been awesome! And would have contextualized these quite nicely.


Polishes used:
Sally Hansen - White On
butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)
pure acetone for the watercolour technique
one-stroke brush
cotton bud

I'm going to put this out there now: tomorrow's mani is my least favourite, by far. That's why it's going on Hump Day. So, uh, brace yourselves, I guess?

xo,

J.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER TALENTED LADIES OF THE DIGIT-AL DOZEN ARE UP TO:







 
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