DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Monochrome Teal Floral

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Hello lovelies!

Today's venture into photography land was, as you can tell, far more successful.

I had three teal polishes stacked side by side and had zero idea what to do with them. So, true to form, I did a floral. (There is no going wrong with a floral.)

I began with two thicker coats of Willow, which is stunning in every way, and then painted on random blobs of Still Waters for the petals and 1977 for the leaves. I then used Ski Teal We Drop to outline everything, deliberately going for a sketchier/messier look.

These are my second favourite look of the week! I am, of course, saving the best for last. >:)

Polishes used:

Arcane Lacquer - Willow

Liquid Sky Lacquer - Still Waters (LAST CALL! GO BUY IT NOW!)

la couleur couture - 1977

OPI - Ski Teal We Drop

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

medium detail brush

tiny detail brush

I've got something kind of similar on the docket for tomorrow, so I hope to see you then!!

xo,

J.

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

Blue Lace Moons

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Hello lovelies! I told you I wouldn't be gone long! ;)

Today I have a look I'm rather proud of.

I missed my Follow the Devil ABC Challenge prompt for this past weekend, which was L for lace. So I decided to revisit a look I'd done a while ago and try my hand at some more lace moons.

I feel like I've come a ways since then, though it's also because I used my tiny detail brush for these instead of a nail art pen nib. I find I have much better control that way.

Base is two easy peasy coats of Erudite Charm. Zoom the below photo to see the black speckles and blue microglitter in action, plus the wee copper/pink shimmer particles (which are quite hidden on the whole; I wish they were more present). This is a wonderful denim blue and I will probably use it in a jeans look in future.

Lace was done entirely in white acrylic paint. I sourced an image of lace trim from the Internet and went to work. :)

Evidently I took lots of photos of this one.

Polishes used:

Arcane Lacquer - Erudite Charm

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

white acrylic paint

tiny detail brush

I'm still woefully behind on my Digit-al Dozen manis. I hope to have another look for you on Friday, and the rest of my time will be spent playing catch up. See you soon!

xo,

J.

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Skittle Tips

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Hello lovelies!

OH BOY OH BOY HERE WE GO

Day 1 of Skittles week! To be honest, throughout this endeavour, I've learned that I'm crap at skittles. I just don't think disjointedly like that. The gestalt of nail art requires some ability to think of the greater whole in a whack of differences (i.e. every nail must be different), but there is some leeway to be found in doing something similar on each nail and tweaking it slightly. Hence, today's mani.

Say goodbye to that thumb, you're never seeing it again.

So, here's a funny story. I did all of these manis in advance, and patted myself on the back, and then completely did not write down what I used for any of them. I'm going to do my best to guess at the polishes I used, ok? But don't hold me to them.

This was a super-easy but super-effective look. Paint nails in No Way Tawdry, paint tips in various colours, and top with top coat and studs. Na naaah! But I really liked how this looked. I will revisit this in future.

I failed to get the rectangle stud in the middle of my middle finger and, no gonna lie, it's driving me nuts. But see, SEE the flakie goodness in No Way Tawdry?! It's a beautiful beautiful polish:

Polishes used:

Arcane Lacquer - No Way Tawdry

Lime Crime - Pastelchio, Parfait Day

Cult Nails - Tempest

la couleur couture - 1977, 2013 (top coat)

studs from The Nail Room

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

See you tomorrow for yet more Digit-al Dozen Week fun! I'm kind of giddy!

xo,

J.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER TALENTED LADIES ARE UP TO: 

Summer Strawberries

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LOVELIES. Oh, my lovelies. If only you knew the toil behind this manicure.

"Jolène," you protest, "this is really easy." YES. But it took 4 do-overs! I tried every conceivable strawberry mani before I ended up with this one! What is wrong with me today.

At any rate. I'll keep it brief because it's past midnight and Momma has a serious sleeping problem, in that she needs to do lots of it or else she'll fall apart... like... a joke in terrible taste about leprosy.

This began with a coat of Tempest (ONE COAT!), with strawberries done in An Amorous Disposition (will need to be showcased better in future), greens in Shawn, and little dots in Kalahari Kiss.

Polishes used:

Cult Nails - Tempest

Arcane Lacquer - An Amorous Disposition (only Australia)

Zoya - Shawn

China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter A-Peel (base coat), Glitter Food

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

I have a serious request. I've been so low on nail art inspiration lately! I don't know why, but it sucks. Is there anything you, lovely lovelies, would like to see me take a shot at? I'm all ears over here!!

xo,

J.

Luna Madness

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Good evening! Today I'm using one of my new Arcane Lacquers, Luna Madness, in a somewhat literal manner:

This didn't turn out quite as expected, to be honest, and it's not doing any justice to the beautiful complexity of this polish. Click here and scroll down for Bec's own swatch. I painted with watered-down white acrylic paint and the polish itself, layered a couple times over. Not fluffy enough! HULK SMASH

Weird hand pose FTW!

Polishes used:

Arcane Lacquer - Luna Madness (only available in Australia for the time being)

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter A-Peel (base coat), Glitter Food

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

white acrylic paint

detail brush

cotton swabs

I'm thinking another Arcane for tomorrow, but we shall see! If you are celebrating Father's Day tomorrow, all the best to you and your pops, my lovelies!!

xo,

J.