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:

Cult Nails - Tempest

China Glaze - Recycle

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Dior - Nail Glow (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top 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:

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

Elevation Polish - Ridnitsohkka

China Glaze - Recycle

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top 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:

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

Elevation Polish - Ridnitsohkka

China Glaze - Recycle

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top 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:

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:

A England - Camelot

Sally Hansen - White On

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top 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:

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Music Notes

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

SO BEGINS DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK #2.

This week, we're doing black and white manis. This is exciting to me. I love constraints like this, I find it helps me to imagine nail art possibilities better than being told to do anything.

For Day 1, I opted to combine my Digit-al Dozen prompt with my ABC Challenge prompt, which was M for Music. This mani started with two coats of White On and one coat of HK Girl on all fingers.

I then put two thick coats of Moonlight on my thumb and ring fingers as accent nails. To be honest, this is one place where I rubbed against my Digit-al Dozen prompt a bit. This would have looked so BOSS with a brightly coloured glitter topper, and I had just the one in mind (Moosh by Happy Hands). Argh! Oh well.

The designs were all done with Camelot and my trimmed-down long liner brush and tiny detail brush.

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen - White On

Indigo Bananas - Moonlight

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat -- trying it out, have heard good things, will report back soon)

tiny long liner brush

tiny detail brush

I'm really happy with how the lines came out in this mani! They would have been even better if I'd used a fluid acrylic paint, but for something done with nail polish, I'm quite pleased. :) Come back tomorrow for another black & white mani!

xo,

J.

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