Neon Lace... Typa Thing?

Nothing to Disclose

No idea what to call this one, lovelies.

I haven't done 'real' nail art in a while, it felt good to hammer something out in less than 2 hours! I consequently have something of a picspam for you today.

I started this look with two coats of French White, followed by 2 coats of Clowning Around and 1 coat of Freckles on the ring finger. On the rest of the fingers, I busted out the colours I used for my Watercolour Floral and started with a similar base, then opted for some kinda floral-ish lace-ish pattern overtop, done in black acrylics.

If you need a refresher on how to watercolour with nail polish, please click through to this post here.

Interestingly, I definitely prefer the look on the accent finger instead of the rest of the fingers. The crispness of the black lines against the white background is just too excellent -- I'll have to revisit this in future.

Polishes used:

Nina Ultra Pro - French White

Zoya - Charisma

piCture pOlish - Sunset

China Glaze - Def Defying (this one stains, be careful!)

Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around, Freckles

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

black acrylic paint

tiny detail brush

I'm hopefully going on a MAJOR hike this weekend (45km in 13 hours, because I'm a nutjob), so there may be radio silence until early next week. I'll be sure to make it up to you! And I may have a bit of a surprise in the next day or two anyway... ;)

xo,

J.

Watercoloured Floral

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

You thought I disappeared, didn't you? No no. I have been exceptionally busy, though, because we're listing the house next Monday (we found out this Monday), and I have been in hyperdrive to prepare!

All that aside, I DO have nail art to show you. ;)

It's been a rare event, lately, that nail art turns out in a way that pleases me, but that's just what's happened here. I had a rough idea of what I wanted, going in, and it turned out pretty well spot on!

I began with two coats of French White, with two coats of In A New York Minute over top. I then dabbed on Def Defying, Sunset, and Charisma, dabbing pure acetone over each colour before proceeding onto the next. Once done, I did all the outlines in black acrylic, using my tiny detail brush.

I've tried to take photos in a few different lighting conditions, but of course the NEON doesn't really come through as well as it should! I think I'm in love with Sunset. Actually, I'm sort of in love with all three colours -- but if you could only pick one, pick Sunset. Put it on your toes if you must. It's gorgeous.

Polishes used:

Nina Ultra Pro - French White

NYC - In a New York Minute (top coat)

China Glaze - Def Defying

piCture pOlish - Sunset

Zoya - Charisma

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

black acrylic paint

tiny detail brush

It may be a while yet before I get to do more nail art, but I'll try not to abandon you altogether! I do have one mani completed recently that I haven't posted about yet, that will go up either tomorrow or Saturday. Wish me luck with all this cleaning!!!

xo,

J.

Neon Brushstrokes

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! I'm on the fence about this one; maybe you can help me figure out if I like it or not.

I got this idea from Missy's somewhat similar brushstroke-ness-thing. I like hers way way WAY better.

For this look, I began with a gradient of Sacred Ground, Ridnitsohkka, and Tempest. I then did brushstrokes on top with Punki Pink, Solar Flake, Orange Flame, Lime Light, and Charisma. I topped it off with little studs from Born Pretty.

Polishes used:

Cult Nails - Tempest

Spa Ritual - Sacred Ground (this polish is amazing, if you do not own it you are crazypants)

Elevation Polish - Ridnitsohkka (being reformulated; restock due 7 August 2013)

Finger Paints - Punki Pink, Solar Flare, Orange Flame, Lime Light

Zoya - Charisma

Orly - Bonder (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

black 1.5mm studs from Born Pretty

So, yea or nay? I honestly am not sure. I think I liked this in principle way more than in practice. At any rate. Until next time, my lovelies!

xo,

J.

Garden Party

Nothing to Disclose

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.

Teal Paisley

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies! Tonight I have for you a look I posted to my Instagram last night, but posted so late that I wasn't able to get a post up.

I did twin nails with @amylovesnewwave over on Instagram and we opted for teal paisley print in honour of Teal Nails for Scleroderma, an awareness-building campaign that sheds light on scleroderma, a disease that affects the skin and several organs and for which there is no cure.

You can see our mutual attempts by clicking here.

This was a lot of fun to do, actually. I used a base of Jacqueline, with shapes in Tracie and Anna Maria. The gold embellishments is all acrylic paint.

Polishes used:

Zoya - Jacqueline, Tracie

Contrary Polish - Anna Maria

gold acrylic paint

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

Are there any causes very close to your heart that you've tied into your hobbies before?

And a (rather late) happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! I hope you've all had an excellent day. :)

xo,

J.

Summer Strawberries

Nothing to Disclose

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.

Purple Flowers

After completing a pictorial for the gradated dotted ikat look, I decided I wanted something quick and easy to do as nail art.

These are the famous Mr. Candiipants flowers; she has a tutorial on YouTube (start from 1:00 if you want to skip her characteristic intro-ramble) for anybody wanting to know how to do them. They're easy as heck and I love the visual punch they have! I made mine bigger than hers just because I was feeling something in-your-face, but you can make the petals larger or smaller by adjusting how little polish you leave on the brush. I used a dotting tool for the middles, but you can use the nail polish brush if you wipe pretty much all the polish off and are very careful.

I used three shades of more-or-less neon purple (which of course aren't showing up properly), plus a neon green for the little leaves.

Polishes used:

Zoya - Charisma

Models Own - Pukka Purple

Elevation Polish - Pic du Gar (deep almost neon purple jelly -- may be my favourite new purple)

Nina Ultra Pro - Lime Light

A England - Camelot

Cult Nails - Tempest

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

small dotting tool

Another easy look (plus tutorial) will be up tomorrow, and then I'm off to Victoria for the weekend to be pampered at the Magnolia, have high tea at the Fairmont Empress and, of course, nosh at Re-Bar! So excite!

xo,

J.

Mirage

Hello lovelies!

Today's post is instalment #1 of 4 about a series of custom polishes that Kimberly over at Tryst Lacquers made for me. She's a sweetheart and her polishes are awesome; I strongly recommend you check them out if you haven't already. She only ships to Canada and the States at the moment, but I'm happy to do some nail mail magic if you spot anything you really want!

This is a much paler orange than it's appearing in photos-- the last photo gets it the closest. It's a pale orange with an edge of peach, filled with silver micro holo glitter and opalescent flakes. The flakes come in small to quite large, and the odd one is a pain in the butt, requiring you to wipe them off the brush lest they get all curly on your nail. A good coat of Glitter Food, though, and the bumps are all sorted out. It dries down to a good thickness, even with 3 coats. And, in spite of the flakes, it's a super-easy polish to apply and control. Kimberly makes a good product!

This is a simpler nail art in large part because I felt like something I could hammer out quickly, and because I used 100% nail polish for this look, so I didn't have the workable time of acrylics on my side. I think it came out quite cutely! That little buffalo skull is my favourite part, and the part I thought I'd have the hardest time with.

The opalescent flakes in an orange base strongly reminded me of mirages in the desert, so that's why I named it Mirage! :) I fiddled with the levels and colour balances to try to get the polish colour more accurate in this photo, but it's still a bit too darkly orange. You'll have to use your imaginations! ;)

Polishes used:
Tryst Lacquers - Mirage (custom)
OPI - My Vampire is Buff
Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow
Nails Inc - Porchester Square
Zoya - Godiva, Tracie
Rescue Beauty Lounge - Recycle
Elevation Polish - Xixabangma, Streetside NYC, Temperance
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Seche Vite (top coat; only on top of Mirage, not on top of nail art)

The other three custom polishes I have to show you are Confection, Rosin, and Calypso! I gotta brainstorm ideas...

DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY CONTEST / GIVEAWAY!!


J.

Snow Bengals

Hello!

This was my second attempt at this particular bit of nail art, and while I'm still not convinced it looks anything like its inspiration, I wanted to get 'er done for the inimitably sweet @lilyandjinks. The inspiration was the marbled markings on the eponymous Lily, a beautiful snow Bengal you can see in action here, here, here (oh GOD the CUTE)... and here. I'm basically in love with her.

The background is definitely more Lily but the markings ended up darker than I was aiming for, and are therefore a bit more Jinks. So, I guess I'm just all kinds of Bengal-happy over here.

For this, I used a combination of Temperance, Tettegouche and Dominate (with accents of Jacqueline for highlights) on top of a sponged gradient of Kalahari Kiss, Jacqueline and Spirit. I used nail polish thinner to help blend everything a bit.

This was supposed to go up yesterday but Spamalot was a mostly unanticipated bump in my schedule! Still, I hope it was worth the wait.

Polishes used:

China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss

Zoya - Jacqueline

Elevation Polish - Temperance, Tette (formerly Tettegouche)

Revlon - Spirit, Dominate

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri (top coat)

Poshé nail polish thinner

size 0 flat brush, nail art brush

J.

SIMPLE(R) SUNDAY: Batfight!

Today's nails were inspired by a few things: first, @glynnavyre on Instagram wanted to see explosion nails; second, I'm headed down to Calgary today for the Fan Expo; third, my friend Jen insisted, upon the occasion of our last hanging out, that we watch the scene in the good ol' Adam West Batman movie wherein he is struggling somewhat underwhelmingly with an inflatable shark affixed to his leg.

It was a good scene.

ZZONK is a real thing; I saw a screencap of it!!

To do this look, I used the explosion mani technique (YouTube it, it's all over the place) and simply added words in a combination of white acrylic paint and nail polish.

This is my favourite one.

Polishes used:
Layla - Velvet Effect 08
OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Jade is the New Black
Revlon - Electric
Zoya - Tallulah
GOSH - Nero
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Dior - Gel Coat (top coat-- AND LOOK AT THE SHRINKAGE, SWEET RHUBARB PIE)

All the delightful geekery in the world to you!


J.

Beachy Watermarble (Learning Curve Ahoy!)

Hello lovelies!

Today I tried my hand at watermarbling. I did exactly four fingers and then threw in the towel. People who can watermarble with ease are astounding and awe-inspiring and I am definitely not among them. I'd prefer to paint little Yodas and go cross-eyed. Doing this made me want to build a time machine just so I could go a couple of hours into the past and tell myself not to do this.

For this, I used a combination of Godiva and an acrylic wash of Van Dyke brown to get sort of a sparkly wet sand look. I then covered up all that work with my ineffectual watermarbling.

So it goes! This technique takes a lot of practice (the YouTube gurus make it look so eeeaaasssyyy ;___;) so I'm trying not to lose hope altogether.

And a detail shot to show you the abysmal little bubbles I had everywhere, the terrible clean-up job I did, and the delightful sparkly sand!

Polishes used:

Zoya - Godiva

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On, Pacific Blue, Mellow Yellow

INM - Out the Door (= the clear stripes)

Dior - Gel Coat (top coat)

acrylic paint in Van Dyke brown + wash brush (#4)

usual watermarbling accoutrements

Going for something simpler for my next look, and I have a Swatch Saturday for you tomorrow (and it's GORGEOUS, you'll see)!

J.

Sideways Rainbow Braid Nails

This was going to be SO GOOD. Like most things I've tried lately, it didn't quite work out that way. It's not a total disaster, it just isn't the awesomesauce I was expecting.

I've been seeing a lot of braid nails around, so I thought I'd give it a shot, but sideways, and rainbow. All things are usually better when rainbow. A lot of the colour variations aren't showing up in the photos (especially the pinky; those are 3 very distinct colours of purple, not that anybody would ever know!). This was terrible to clean up, so please don't examine my cuticles-- they're a war zone. :P

And then I bumped my ring finger and pinky while making dinner. Sadpanda.

Polishes used:

Layla - Softouch Effect 08

Inglot - 724

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Pronto Purple, Cinna-Snap

Essie - Action

American Apparel - Lopez Canyon, Sunshine State, Crescent Heights

OPI - My Paprika is Hotter than Yours

Zoya - Shawn, Sylar, Mira

Revlon Top Speed - Electric

Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Blue Gums on Boxing Day

Elevation Polish - El Cap

Girly Bits - Arctic Sunrise

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (top coat)

Dior Gel Coat (top coat)

Until my next outrageous and unfulfilled adventure, my darlings!


J.

Golden Poppies

Hello lovelies. :)

I've been cogitatin' about a tattoo design for a very dear friend of mine and she loves Mucha's poppies, understandably so, which put me in mind of poppies in general. The unbelievably talented Nail Artist (IG: @riddhisn) is having a Floral/Brand/Sport contest, so I thought I'd enter these, even though they didn't come out even remotely as wonderfully as they exist in my head. As usual.

For this, I began with a base of Tallulah (for opacity-- one coat wonder!) and Order of the Garter (for the shade of blue I wanted). I then did the poppies in acrylics, and outlined it all in Filthy Rich very painstakingly with a nail art fountain pen. I then gave it glitter food and a coat of matte top coat. To make the poppies stand out a bit more, I went over them with shiny topcoat. (This effect is more noticeable in person.)

Polishes used:

Zoya - Tallulah

A England - Order of the Garter

Quo by Orly - Filthy Rich

acrylic paints in a variety of colours

one-stroke brush, detail brush, nail art fountain pen

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

Essie - Matte About You

Poshé topcoat (only on the poppies)

Here's hoping you guys like these more than I do! I'm allowed two entries to the contest, so you'll probably have another floral coming your way in the next couple of weeks.


J.