Puzzle Pieces

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Today's post is all about my Follow the Devil ABC Challenge prompt: P for 'puzzle'.

This is a pretty straightforward look. It took waaay longer than it should have, though.

I started with a base of two easy peasy coats of Where the Wild Things Are. It's a beautiful polish, but it's subtle, so you won't get the full gorgeousness of it through my photos. There's a macro down near the bottom that will hopefully help with that. I am always drawn to greyed-out blues / blue-toned greys like this. Add in tiny silver glitters and iridescent glitters and micro-shards and, well, you have a polish with my name written all over it. Plus it applied like a charm, requiring almost zero cleanup.

I then painted on the squares in white acrylic paint. And here's where it took forever: I had to go over them three times to get them to opacity. (And they still aren't COMPLETELY opaque.) Argh! Once done, I used a dotting tool to place the 'interlocking' bits of the puzzle pieces in mostly random order. So long as you have a dot per side of a square, you're good to go.

Finally, here's the macro I promised you. Check out the golden/green shimmer, too!

Polishes used:

Cadillacquer - Where the Wild Things Are

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat; two coats to smooth out the bumps from the dots)

white acrylic paint

one-stroke brush for painting the squares

dotting tool

This cold I've got just won't kick the bucket. I'm a snifflemonster. I'm making tons of soups to try to rectify this, and I'm sleeping like a sloth, but still I sniffle. SNIFFLEZ 4 LYFE.

xo,

J.

Graffiti Gashin

Press Sample

Hello lovelies!

Today's post features a water decal, something new to me! Let's jump right in, I'll explain as I go.

This look is loosely based on a baseball cap I have, which a long-ago ex-coworker of mine painted with 'gashin' in neon pink in a (much better realized) graffiti style. I will never wear that cap, COULD never wear that cap, but I nonetheless love it to bits.

So when David at Moon Sugar Decals, a newer water decal company, contacted me to do a review for them, I hopped on the opportunity to use these spray can decals. I started with two coats of Moody Blues, one of the new piCture pOlish collaboration shades, and then used a cotton bud to daub on white acrylic paint on the pinkie before applying the water decal. Like all water decals, you trim the decal from the page to the size you want it (I cut off the bottom bit so that I could put it on the bottom half of my nail like this), plop it in some warm water, wait about 30 seconds, then fish it out, slide the decal off the backing, and place it on the nail. 

Now, I don't have a ton of experience with water decals, so I'm not sure how most of them are. I found the Moon Sugar decal to have the thickness of a regular sticker, minus the stickiness (obviously). It was therefore a touch rigid, which meant that I had to hold down the edges for a while to make sure they stuck flush to my (rather curved) nail. It took two coats of top coat to smooth it out, but nothing extreme in that regard. The upside to the thickness is that there's no chance of ripping or distorting, which I hear is a thing that can happen with water decals. And removal was pretty easy, but you'll probably want an orange stick to scrape off the plastic film if you're using full-nail decals. 

One of the really neat things about Moon Sugar Decals is that they do custom work! So if you've always wanted, say, your logo, or a particular lace pattern, or miniatures of your favourite (non-copyrighted) artwork, or anything like that -- the sky's the limit!

Here is a macro of Moody Blues to show you that, while extremely subtle, there are in fact tiny pink sparks in the blue glass fleck base:

Polishes used:

piCture pOlish - Moody Blues (the pink bits are way more apparent in the bottle than on the nail)

Nina Ultra Pro - Punki Pink (on top of white, for the lettering)

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

white acrylic paint

cotton bud

Moon Sugar Decals in spray can (they do ship worldwide, and shipping in free/cheap!)

tweezers for manipulating the decal

This was a fun mani to do! Even if I learned that I'm crap at graffiti lettering. I actually enjoy how the G and the A came out, though they aren't very graffiti-esque...

I have a cold, I'm all stuffed up!! It's the worst! Anybody else sharing a similar affliction? I hope you get better soon~

xo,

J.

Winter Skittle

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Tonight I have a skittle for you, which is a phenomenon relatively unheard of, from me.

I was running low on inspiration and so I thought it might be nice to indulge in The Season and do a winter/holiday-theme skittle. It helps that we've received a foot of snow over the past 24 hours and all I really want to do is curl up in bed with hot cocoa and never set foot outside ever again...

I started with a base of two careful coats of All Bidness, a black linear holo with gold flakes (I took some photos in direct light to show the holo, and others in indirect light to show the flakes). So here's the thing-- it was crazy thick. I pre-ordered a few CbL polishes and all of them are thick thick thick. I don't know if this is unique to the pre-order session I took part in, but I needed to let you know. Some polish thinner should fix everything up just fine, though, and in all other respects these polishes are lovely.

I then painted on all the designs with white acrylic paint and a combination of various striping and detail brushes. Yes, I realise that I have an eight-pointed snowflake, a thing that Does Not Exist. It occurred to me after the fact, thank you for not passing too hard a judgment on my poor soul. ;)

Polishes used:

Colors by Llarowe - All Bidness (the holo is stronger than my photos show!!!)

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

white acrylic paint

liner brush

detail brush

I am seriously so low on inspiration these days, I have no idea why. I think it's because all of my mental energy is going into finding myself a place to live, come January, AND finding myself a job to afford a place to live. Ay carumba. It's a mess.

xo,

J.

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)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top 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.

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.

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)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top 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.

Snowy Windows

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! It snowed overnight. Winter is officially here. There are a few centimetres on the ground as I type this. I'm getting my winter tires on tomorrow morning, provided I can drive to the tire place on my summers. I'm inconsolable. I hate winter. But it gives me an excuse to do nail art.

For this look, I was aiming for a 'candle through a snowy window' sort of a thing.

I started with two medium-thick coats of Cape Liz. I then did two coats of topcoat to protect the base from what was to follow. I painted on the candlesticks using Shawn, and dabbed on some acetone along the bottom to blur them out. The flames were done with Helios and Sulfur Blaze.

The snow was done with White On and the watercolour technique, which mostly saw me dabbling through polish and acetone with relative abandon. There was no method here; just whimsy. Finally, I took a tiny brush and dotted on the snowflakes with undiluted White On.

Polishes used:

Cirque - Cape Liz, Helios

Zoya - Shawn

Cover Girl - Sulfur Blaze

Sally Hansen - White On

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

When my nails are longer, I think this would be a cute look to revisit with little window frames covered in snow. We shall see. I might be absent for a couple days as I frantically work to catch myself up on Digit-al Dozen work (I did two manis yesterday! Both for December! WHAT). But I won't be gone long, I promise!

xo,

J.

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Fall Leaf Skittle

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Today's my favourite of all the skittles I did for this week. I really, really adore it. That's why I took, like, a meeeellion photos of it.

Sorry about the staining. I did what I could to mitigate it. :)

This look started with a coat of Rejuvacote and a coat of Nail Glow. Everything on top is done with acrylics and my tiny detail brush.

From thumb to pinky, the leaf types are: maple, oak, elm, poplar, and birch.

Gah, I've run out of things to say! Time for filler. Today was very busy. My partner had a new house built and we went for the inspection today (possession date is next Wednesday). It took two and a half hours! But it's good they were thorough, right? It's the kind of thing you want someone to be thorough for.

And then I got my hair did (woot woot), and I went to pastels class, where bales of hay whooped my keester. Like, really. I got my derrière handed to me by some hay bales on a bed of grass. I'd post photographic proof but I'm too ashamed. I'm going to keep working on it, I think, to see if I can salvage it.

Polishes used:

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Dior - Nail Glow

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

acrylic paint

tiny detail brush

I can't believe tomorrow is the end of Digit-al Dozen week! My inaugural one! I will save my tears of joy for my next post. ;)

xo,

J.

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

Crystal Print

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

I'm sorry for my radio silence, again. I've been throwing together a post that will remain top secret until tomorrow (not for my blog-- that's the only hint I'm giving you!) and that has been taking up some of my time. But I'm here with a mani for you today!!

My original plan was to do this on a base of Happy Hands' Am I Not Yours? (that link will bring you to Instagram proof thereof). But then my body reacted weirdly with the peel-off base coat and all of my nail polish literally popped off my nails the next day. WTH.

I look jaundiced in this photo; please ignore... my liver is working just fine (I assume).

So instead, I'm bringing you this design atop three coats of Crystal -- there is no good reason why she is as sheer as she is, this polish, let me tell you. Zoya could have thickened it up by increasing the metallic flakie content and it would still have applied just fine, while causing me fewer headaches. So, there's a warning for you. But aren't the blue-and-gold flakes just gorgeous??

This design is actually a copycat of a mani done by @rheatheylia on Instagram (click that to be taken to her original), based on a skirt that she owns. Isn't it lovely, though? I had to take a stab at it. The design was done using white acrylic paint.

Polishes used:

Zoya - Crystal

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat; AND BE WARNED, IT SHRINKS ZOYA POLISHES)

white acrylic paint

tiny detail brush

Who here has explored the Formula X for Sephora polishes yet? I found one that may or may not have made me gasp in the store. I'm definitely wearing it next, but I'm not yet sure what I'll be putting atop it... so stay tuned for that!

xo,

J.

Basket Weave

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Sorry for my absence lately, my sweethearts. I've been working on some secret stuff for next week and then wore the base colour for today's mani for three days unadorned (gasp)!

For this weekend, my ABC Challenge prompt was I for iridescent. I had zero clue what to do with it.

So, I totally took it the easiest way possible. Hah. Whoops?

For this look, I started with two coats of Germanicure, which is my single favourite polish of all time. I topped than off with a coat of Iris, which is comprised of tiny iridescent flakes -- how I snuck in the theme for this week! I then painted on the basket weave first in Nightmaren, then in Stardust, and finally used Funny Bunny as an accent.

The below photo shows how Stardust is duochrome; it looks pink in the centre of my thumb and golden at the edges.

Polishes used:

OPI - Germanicure, Funny Bunny

Cirque - Iris

Pretty Serious - Nightmaren

Nubar - Stardust

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

detail brush

I've been going through some rough times in the past week, my friends. (You can tell because my watermarking on these photos is kind of wonky-- I'm definitely spacey.) I'm sure I'll be back to my chatty, somewhat batty self soon. In the meantime, if anybody has any leads on teaching in Korea next year, send 'em my way! ;)

xo,

J.

Simple Arabesque

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

It was with mixed emotions that I took off my galaxy nails. But I needed to file my pretties down a bit, and I was kind of itching for a change. And so:

I sort of wasn't kidding about the "practice line work until no longer crap at it" thing. These look horrible in macro, but they're cute from arm's length!

This one's the most colour-accurate.

The little arabesque design is white acrylic paint, on a base of Blue is Beautiful, a lovely thermal. It is rather sheer; what you see here is two rather thick coats, and it could have used a third.

Blue is Beautiful has little blue iridescent glitters, and micro-holo glitters. The holo will of course not show up in the light box, but you can see the iridescent ones below:

Here, I dipped my hand into warm water to try and show you more of the colour shift. It goes from a sheer pale grey when hot, to light blue, to dark grey, to dark blue. Phew!

Polishes used:

Polished by KPT - Blue is Beautiful

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Rice - Glossy Glam (top coat-- I've heard good things, so far I like it!)

white acrylic paint

liner brush

I think that, tomorrow, I will attempt a technique that I haven't yet done, but is very popular. It'll look kind of like cake... that's all the hint you're getting. :)

xo,

J.