Between Two Fir Trees

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! How are you doing today? It's -40˚ here (which is the same in Celsius AND Fahrenheit -- did you know that?) with the wind chill, so I'm hiding out inside by the fireplace and not moving if I can at all help it. ;)

Today's mani was a bit of a saga. It started chipping almost right away, which has nothing to do with the base polish -- Between Two Fir Trees, a stunning nude-pink base with speckled green and gold metallic and holo hex micro/mini glitter -- and everything to do with the layer of Glitter A-Peel I used. Something about that base and my nails are no longer getting along, it's like trying to stick two magnets of the same polarity together...

Anyway! Between Two Fir Trees went on amazingly well, especially given its pale base; two medium coats was all I needed for opacity. It isn't very rough, but you'll probably want two coats of top coat for better smoothness. I then used the name of the polish kind of literally and used acrylic paints for the fir trees, the snow, and the black cable between the trees. The little lightbulbs are done with nail polish.

I'm actually really digging this one. It wasn't super laborious to do, but it's nonetheless very cute. It helps that I had such awesome inspiration! I ordered four Cadillacquers altogether and this made me very excited to use the other ones...

Polishes used:

Cadillacquer - Between Two Fir Trees

Nina Ultra Pro - Punki Pink, Orange Flame, Solar Flare, Lime Light

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

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

acrylic paints

detail brush

long striping brush

Are there any seasonal designs you'd like to see me take on? I have one ABC Challenge prompt for this weekend (P for Puzzle), and then next week is Digital Dozen week again (yay!), but I'm totally curious as to what kinds of things you'd like to see throughout December. I'm a bit of a Grinch if I'm being totally honest, and don't much celebrate Christmas, so sometimes these things are not obvious to me...

xo,

J.

SWATCH: Durm und Strang

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Hello lovelies!

Sometimes you just need to swatch something.

Today's swatch is Durm und Strang, which I like as much for its name as for its look.

I just have two wishes for this polish: that there were more lime green hexes, and that the base was more jelly to allow depth. I like that it's a two-coat polish (one thin, one thicker to get at those elusive bits of green), but I wouldn't mind a third coat if it meant more jelly awesome.

The accent nail is a watermarble of Green with Envy and Pelican Gray over a coat of Silver Sweep. It's subtle but I like it.

Polishes used:

Scofflaw Nail Varnish Manufactory - Sturm und Drang

Sally Hansen - Silver Sweep, Green with Envy

China Glaze - Pelican Gray

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

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat; I've learned it's best to really wait until your base polish is starting to dry before putting Glossy Glam on it, or else you will be dealing with a lot of shrinkage)

watermarbling paraphernalia: cup of room-temperature filtered water, toothpick, masking tape, cotton buds...

I'll be working on nail art this week, but probably in anticipation of Digit-al Dozen week next month. I'll try to get something in for you lovelies to look at!

xo,

J.

Law of Attraction

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Hello lovelies!

So this is the polish I was drooling over in Sephora:

It's called Law of Attraction and is very aptly named. Unfortunately, it applies like molasses. It's thick as all get-out; shown are three coats which, when given the two coats of Glitter Food it needed and the coat of topcoat to smooth it all out, made for a seriously thick nail. No fun. But it's a canvas, and it needed something!

Random geometric blobs! It's seriously the only thing I could think of that would stand a chance against all that bling. I don't HATE them, but I don't like them, either. They're coming off ASAP. But I can't only show you my successes, can I? ;)

Blobs are all acrylic paint. I wish my white acrylic paint were more opaque. Next time I do something like this, I'll be using my KONAD stamping polish, I think.

I'm really excited! For reasons that have nothing to do with this manicure, but I'm going to tell you Right Here anyway because I hate having photos back-to-back without any text in-between them!! I started a pastels course in the fall of 2010 but only made it to three classes (out of 8) before my schoolwork and exams caught up with me. And I just signed up for the same course again, and am starting tomorrow evening! I'm pretty stoked. I really enjoyed it, last time, and my creativity could use a boost.

Zoom this photo: this polish is so full of bling that not even my lightbox could kill all of the holo!

Polishes used:

Formula X for Sephora - Law of Attraction

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

Elmer's glue (base coat)

white acrylic paint

striper brush

Would you like to see photos from my pastels class in future updates? I will probably include them until someone tells me to stop, hehe...

xo,

J.

Fall Houndstooth

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Hello lovelies!

I hate doing gradients and I hate doing patterns that are finicky, so today's venture was interesting, to say the least.

The ABC Challenge prompt for this week is H for houndstooth. I rather like houndstooth, actually. It's probably my favourite pattern. BUT. When I do it in large quantities, things tend to get out of hand. They go wonky. They're subject to entropy. You get the idea.

In this case, my squares kept getting closer and closer together. Dagnabbit!

I began with a base of a gradient using Coney Island Queen, Martian Sea, and 347. (I hate gradients, I hate cleaning up after them, oh heavens it is The Worst Thing after water marbling clean-up.) I then painted on the houndstooth with the KONAD polish. If you need a questionably useful refresher on how to do houndstooth, please click here. (And while we're revisiting the past, why were my cuticles so much happier then than now? Now they're like overgrown brambles! Augh!)

The claw! Haven't seen that one in a while.

Polishes used:

Pahlish - Coney Island Queen

Pretty Serious - Martian Sea

Inglot - 347

KONAD - Special stamping polish in white

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

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat; sort of smudged things in places, boo...)

medium and tiny detailing brushes

make-up sponges

cotton swabs and swear words for clean-up

I have the BEST holiday nail idea. Isn't that frustrating? Useless for the next almost three months... But I can't help it! The season makes me think of being cosy, not creepy/frightening as Hallowe'en deserves. So it gggoooeesss.

xo,

J.

Spice Cake Drippy Nails

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Lovelies, I'm a day late, I hope that's ok! I was working on a secret project. :)

But here is a mani for you:

I've never done drippy nails before! They look a bit messy here, sorry about that, but I actually really like how they look on the hand. 

For this look, I began with three coats of French Roast. It's a lovely microglitter and I love it on the nail even more than I thought I would, but it could stand to be denser. With the size of the glitter, I think a two-coater would be entirely possible without forsaking ease of application. But, at any rate, three generous coats later, I had very sparkly brown nails!

I applied one coat of Glitter Food, one coat of top coat, and then painted on the drips in white acrylic paint first and Coney Island Queen second. I wanted the overall look to be kind of cake-and-frosting-ish. I think I should have left the drips white, though; it was a cleaner look.

I posted a video to Instagram of the sparkle of the base colour in action:

Polishes used:

Cirque - French Roast

Pahlish - Coney Island Queen

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

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat)

white acrylic paint

medium detail brush

I'm parched for inspiration, but I think I have a plan for my next one. It'll be a gooder.

xo,

J.

Galaxy Nails

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Hello lovelies!

I cannot lie, I'm pretty happy with today's nails. I did them while half-drunk last night, which would usually portend abject failure, or hilarious hijinx, but in this case: success!

Today's ABC Challenge prompt is G for galaxy. Galaxy nails have a long, honourable tradition in the nail art world. They're fun and low-pressure; usually you just sponge on various colours, have at it with a dotting tool and some white polish, and voilà! But noooo, Jolène had to go all realiiiiistic.

Here's my source image: 

Save this photo if you want an awesome galactic background for your computer. Oooh, aaaah!

Obviously, I didn't try to replicate the source photo exactly, but I did try to keep my design sort of in line with the spirit of the thing.

I used so many polishes for this. I've listed them all below, but I can't really get into the process of painting this. It kind of went: black, dark colours, medium colours, lighter colours, turquoises, white. That's as descriptive as I can get. I was really feeling this one through! I'm really pleased with how it turned out, though. :)

And, frankly, I'm also super-pleased that I did it all with nail polishes. Woot woot! Sometimes polish is actually more appropriate a painting medium than acrylic, and galaxies are one of those instances.

This photo can be super-zoomed to see all the detail, including the faintest starts that are a combination of Galinda and black + acetone (the only thing that doesn't come across is the faint holo from Greatest Treasures):

Polishes used:

A England - Camelot

OPI - Germanicure, Rally Pretty Pink, Funny Bunny

Maya Cosmetics - Smolder

Nfu Oh - JS42

Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Nightmaren

Literary Lacquers - Greatest Treasures

Nubar - Stardust

Modha HD - Ousada

American Apparel - Moon

Cirque - Galinda

Liquid Sky Lacquer - Still Waters

Deborah Lippmann - Mermaid's Dream

Cult Nails - Tempest

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

Have you ever tried galaxy nails before? (Fun, hey?!)

xo,

J.

Lined French

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Hello again lovelies!

Two posts in one day because I've got something very simple and kind of out of the ordinary for you.

I wanted to take on the challenge of doing a French mani in an interesting way, because they've never held any appeal for me before. This is what I came up with:

Things I learned from this adventure:

1) I am crap at linework;

2) I need to thin my Glitter Food.

For this look, I began with base coat and a coat of Nail Glow. I then freehanded the moons in Gossip Over Gimlets, did the exaggerated French tips in Recycle (using French tip guides, because whoa let's not be over-ambitious here), and the linework in Tempest (which also needs to be thinned). Topped it all in Glitter Food for optimal smoothness, and top coat to finish it off.

Polishes used:

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Dior Couture - Nail Glow

China Glaze - Gossip Over Gimlets

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Recycle (which is a beautiful dark green, but not as dark as pictured)

Cult Nails - Tempest

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

liner brush

I could see a better-executed version of this being a really classy look for a cocktail party or other style-forgiving event. It holds up on its own without being too complex. :)

I bought a Marc Jacobs polish today that is literally the least me-like polish I now own, and my next challenge is to incorporate it into a mani! Eep!

xo,

J.

Pahlish Polishes! [Pic Heavy]

Press Sample

Hello lovelies!

I have a special post today: Shannon over at Pahlish sent me a couple polishes to review, and they are both absolutely stunning. I'm going to bombard you with pictures and words now. Okay, go!

First up we have Fevers and Mirrors. This is a deep, vampy jelly base that perfectly skirts the burgundy/wine-purple divide, with gold tiny circles, tiny fuchsia holo hex, teeny gold squares, teeny pink holo squares, itty bitty holo hexes, and flake shimmer in gold and (I think) red. Phew!

Lo! A wild cinderella hand appears!

Shown are two generous coats of polish, one thin coat of Glitter Food, and one thin coat of 2013. I would recommend three thinner coats instead of two thicker ones... except... I found that this polish dried super fast. Insanely fast. This is very much a 'get it right in three strokes or move on' kind of polish. Which is excellent for those of us on the run! And sort of iffy for those of us, like me, who are secretly incompetent at painting our nails.

My lightbox would not cooperate with this one. It kept making the base come out way darker than it is. I've taken a flash photo (below) to show you the real colour of the polish: 

And, of course, lightboxes are where holo (and all other sparkliness) goes to die. So you'll have to trust me on the fact that the sparkle comin' off this polish is wonderfully robust, even with the dark jelly base.

Next up we have my favourite of the two, Greenery and Humid Air! This is a beautiful deep teal coloured jelly base with what looks to be glass fleck in blue-purple, green-gold, and pink. But in reality I think this polish is made of magic. You really need to own this one, trust me.

'Greenery' made me think of leaves, so I opted to paint some fall leaves on this one. Because it's so chock full of the shiny goodness, I didn't have to worry about covering up any of its beauty. :)

Again, this is two generous coats, with one thin coat of Glitter Food, and one thin coat of 2013. The Glitter Food was likely unnecessary. As with Fevers and Mirrors, this polish dried wicked fast. You'll need to move quick, but again, it's worth it.

I'm bummed because my photos look solely teal, when I promise promise promise you that there is a whole heck of a lot more going on with this polish. Here is a post over at Pointless Cafe that gives you a slightly better idea.

Here, I took this weirdly-coloured photo under direct light in hopes that it shows the multi-colour goodness a bit better. Please to be zooming in:

Polishes used:

Pahlish - Fevers and Mirrors (I'm told this is available through the Big Cartel store but I don't see it; it may be currently out of stock), Greenery and Humid Air

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

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

acrylic paint

detail brush

And there we have it! Both of these shades are standalone shades, and should be available, as mentioned, through Pahlish's BigCartel store. While both are stunning, I really can't say enough good things about Greenery and Humid Air-- it needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Pahlish make a ton of beautiful polishes, and I do recommend you check them out. :) 

Working on some nail art today, hope to have it for you tomorrow!

xo,

J.

Lady Luck

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Sorry about the not-posting thing. Things in Real Life have been problematic lately. For instance, today I was fired! Well, not fired. I've been on medical leave for the past... numerous months... and now that I'm ready to go back to work, there is no open position for me. Hence I get a severance and sent on my way! FUN TIMES Y'ALL. But I saw this coming from a mile away, so while I am definitely hitting the wine as we speak (well, I put it down to type, I cannot type with my toes), I'm not unconsolable.

It's more that I'm choosing to see this as Lady Luck giving me the opportunity to get myself on a different path. I'm not sure what that path is, yet, but I've been working for the same one company for 8 years now (pretty well my entire adult life), and maybe a change is a good thing.

So to you, Lady Luck, I dedicate these nails.

Method on these was kind of tricksy. I began with regular base coat and ridge-filling base coat to give myself a good canvas, then I used Liquid Palisade to draw the shapes on (I did two coats for extra sturdiness). Once the shapes were dry, I painted on the white with Tempest and peeled away the Liquid Palisade. I then used my detail brush and my black and red polishes to draw on the outlines. Not my best work, but I find larger curved lines like this the hardest things to do cleanly with polish. :)

Polishes used:

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

Essie - ridge filling base coat

NYC - Grand Central Station (top coat)

Cult Nails - Tempest

A England - Camelot

Layla - Softouch Effect 08

Liquid Palisade

detail brush

I have a really neat and detailed idea for what to do next, so I hope to have awesomeness to show you tomorrow or Saturday. And if you're good and eat all your veggies, I may even water marble.

xo,

J.

PS: I am currently extra-glad that all of you read this blog. This hobby has brought so much positivity and sweetness into my life, and I'm especially appreciative right now. And no, this isn't the wine talking. <3

Garden Party

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Lovelies, it's a whole twelve hours before my usual posting time! I might be getting a high from all the sunshine that's out right now.

The base for today's manicure is Garden Party, with a gradient of Hellebore on top. I then drew on the bunting (because what's more garden-party-ish than bunting?) with Jacqueline, Tallulah, and Tempest.

Sunshine photos make my cuticle oil look EXTRA OILY. Sorry about that!

Here I have taken a proof shot with a plant (technically they are many carrot plants), to prove that I was in the garden when I was taking these Garden Party photos.

What I feel I haven't conveyed about this polish in these photos is its complexity. I love the pale green and bright blue circle glitters, but there are also white hexes in three sizes, teeny lavender hexes (and squares?), and these small iridescent hexes that flash blueish and are totally awesome. (My love of all things iridescent is probably evident by now.)

Polishes used:

Tryst Lacquers - Garden Party (it may be batch variance but mine is much pinker than it looks here)

Cirque - Hellebore

Zoya - Jacqueline, Tallulah

Cult Nails - Tempest

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

NYC - In a New York Minute (top coat)

I hope you have sunshine where you are, too, my lovelies! And that you get the enjoy it!

xo,

J.

Main Squeeze

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Another of my multitudinous Tryst Lacquers today -- Main Squeeze!

Main Squeeze is described as a blood orange jelly with white satin hexes and squares (in two sizes), plus orange iridescent mini glitters. In these photos, that description is pretty bang on, but in real life, the colour leans more coral than it appears here. I actually love it in photos and in person, but it tickles my coral-love bone more than my orange-love bone in reality. (That sounded awful, didn't it?) I should note that it's almost impossible to get the satin hexes out, and I'm not sure why (they aren't huge or anything). I think they just really like the sides of the bottle. Your only hope is to shake the bottle vigorously every nail or two, and I was too lazy for that. I think the polish looks lovely even without them.

Simple look tonight; started with My Vampire is Buff as the lightest, followed by Kalahari Kiss, followed by Sun Kissed, followed by blending Sun Kissed and Kalahari Kiss a bit with some Action. Doing circles with tiny brushes is a huge pain in the arse.

I am now going to continue my pic spam. These were more photogenic than some of the nails I've done recently, so I kind of went overboard.

And finally, a simple swatch of my other hand, with Main Squeeze on its own. This is more colour-accurate than the above (I think there was some attracting going on with the orange, er, oranges-- this isolates the polish better). Wouldn't it be cool if all my swatch photos turned out this good? Something was working well tonight...

Polishes used:

Tryst Lacquers - Main Squeeze

Cult Nails - Scandalous (1 coat as undies just for some added opacity, didn't change the colour)

OPI - My Vampire is Buff

China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss

Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed

Essie - Action

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

NYC - In a New York Minute (top coat)

Hey, here's a fun fact for you: my left hand poses so much better than my right hand, which is tragic. Why? Because, in Grade 7, a kid named Ryan was teasing my friend Allie and keeping some book or other away from her and I went to punch him in the stomach for it, except I missed and hit his hip bone and broke something in my hand. It only occurred to me that I broke something many years later, when a nail tech was massaging my hand and asked if I ever broke it. I guess Grade 7 Jolène assumed that being unable to close her right hand for a whole month was standard post-punch process?

xo,

J.