Chalkboard Nails

Nothing to Disclose

... Not as in the extremely talented nail blogger. As in nails that are meant to look chalkboard-ish.

Doing chalkboard nails was the idea of one of my lovelies over on Instagram. I regrettably haven't run very far with it, but it's a fun look for when you're feeling lazy!

This look began with two coats of Camelot (best black ever), followed by some sponging of Marble for the dust effect, then Filthy Rich for the chalk holder along the bottom. Text is done with Tempest, and the whole is coated in two thick coats of Matte About You.

On the subject of which -- you notice the dots that are distinctly whiter and sharper than the sponging? Those are weird calcifications in Matte About You. Has this happened to anybody else? I have no idea what they're doing but I strongly disapprove. In this case, they sort of blend in, but I've had them nearly ruin a manicure before. Time to consult Missy's informative Iron Polish post on matte topcoats and get myself a butter LONDON matte topper, I think!

Can anybody guess what the equation is? Any maths nerds out there? Show yourselves, ain't no reason to hide! I'll write it below in white text, highlight it and read if you're hopeless at maths like me:

The theory of general relativity as formulated by our good friend Einstein. :)

Polishes used:

A England - Camelot

Spa Ritual - Marble

Quo by Orly - Filthy Rich

Cult Nails - Tempest

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

Essie - Matte About You (top coat)

I have some seriously awesome posts coming up in the next few days -- a W-themed mani, and another crack at paisley print, so I hope you'll look forward to those!

xo,

J.

Inverted Chevrons for Easter!

Happy Easter Monday to all who celebrate! I am amused that it falls on April Fool's Day this year. There's only so much coincidence a person can take before they can't help but smile.

This is a very toned-down Easter nail art, inspired by the very talented Emily at Globe & Nail, who did this look with a deep navy and a blingy micro-holo band and it looks FANTASTIC, so go see! Emily also has the best nails, the crispest swatches, and the world's best blog name (if you are Canadian and get the joke).

For this, I pulled out what I feel is the quintessential Easter polish: Adeste Fidelis [sic]. Named for a hymn (English version is "O Come All Ye Faithful") that the polish's creator once saw Pavarotti sing in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Montreal, she took the cathedral's interior as her inspiration in putting together the colour scheme. I think it's as classy as a glitter possibly can possibly be, and, though it is obviously intended as a Christmas polish, the medium pink and pale green glitters remind me of the Easter dresses I used to wear as a child.

Because I chose to paint the bottoms a different colour altogether, to maximise the effect of the matte topcoat, I only taped off the chevrons once, and then freehanded the band of gold. This was probably not the best of ideas, but it wasn't a TOTAL disaster.

A coat or two (as needed) of Glitter Food to smooth everything out, followed by quick-dry topcoat and Matte About You on the tips (freehanded as well), and they're done!

And, finally, a close-up to show you just how complex Adeste Fidelis is. A lot going on, but somehow it never becomes overwhelming!

Polishes used:
Smitten Polish - Adeste Fidelis
Rescue Beauty Lounge - Plié
Quo by Orly - Filthy Rich
Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food
INM - Out the Door (top coat)
Essie - Matte About You (top coat)
one-stroke brush

I hope you're nomming on chocolate right now! I sure am. (Though this isn't new; I pretty much always am regardless of the occasion.)


J.

FLAKIE GRADIENT OH YEAH

This one is going to be picture-heavy. There was no way for me to capture the true multi-chromatic awesomeness of this manicure, but I gave it my most valiant shot. This is my take on the matte flakie gradient over at More Nail Polish.

drool

A quick run-down of the method here, and then I'll let the photos do the talking. I started with a base of GOSH Nero, a super-opaque black creme. (Actually, it's kind of thick, so I thinned it down some to get it to better self-level.) I then did vertical stripes of Nfu Oh 38 (red-orange flakies that shift to golden-green), Inglot 205 (golden-green flakies that shift to aqua), Nfu Oh 39 (bright green flakies that shift to turquoise), and Inglot 204 (glowing deep blue flakies that shift to royal purple; this is the only transition that I just couldn't eke out for these photos). I did the same pattern on my ring fingers, except using horizontal stripes, and I mattified the middle fingers.

more drool

excuse the lesser quality; I was drooling away in the car for this one so I had to use my phone

rainbowsssss

I am unclear on how I will ever one-up these puppies

Here is a huge picture to show the multi-chromatic shift as I change the angle of my fingers:

editing this in Photoshop made me realize how much I suck at Photoshop

And, lastly, an awkward, too-dark video to show this manicure in action. Maybe eventually I'll be better at stuff like this. Not going to put any money on it.

While I was out stomping around in the snow taking most of the above photos, a raven came to visit! These photos do absolutely no justice to his(?) size. A seriously amazing bird. The height of my forearm, easy, with (of course) an impressive wingspan. Love!

And just for the heck of it, I got my Black Milk order in the mail yesterday, and now that I own Mucha leggings, my life may well be complete:

La Trappistine leggings by Black Milk Clothing, as viewed through a crappy phone pic

I am plotting seriously awesome things for the beginning of next week, which I hope I will pull off as awesomely as I have them in my head. We shall see!

Polishes used:
Nfu Oh - 38, 39
Inglot - 204, 205
NYC (New York Color) - Grand Central Station (topcoat; loving it so far)
Essie - Matte About You


J.

Flakie Swap Mani + Stamping + Matte

There has to be a more elegant way of phrasing these things.

When The Polishaholic's collaboration shade with piCture pOlish, Mallard, arrived in the mail, I decided it really needed to be paired with its kissing cousin, Sephora by OPI's 212-Sephora. And then I had to screw around with it some more, because that's how I roll.

DOUBLE CLAW ACTION (flash on left, daylight on right)

I cropped that one aggressively to spare you the sight of my awful little wrists. You can kind of guess at the horror as it is, but I promise the worst got the chop.

For this, I did a swap mani with Mallard on my left hand and 212-Sephora on my right, switching the polishes for the double accent nails (middle and ring). I then stamped the giraffe(?) print image from Bundle Monster plate #BM-313 on both my ring fingers using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep. Then I top coated the double accent nails with Essie's Matte About You.

Whew.

As I tenderly pat the leather couch.

This was my first time stamping, ever, so the outcome was a little wonkier than I'd like, but it'll do. The following photo shows the flakies in action: while Mallard's show up very orange and very green at the same time, 212-Sephora's are predominantly copper-orange that shift to green at extreme angles.

Stamping wonk!

A close-up to show how the matte topcoat brings out the flakies more:

go macro lens, go!

A bit about these polishes... Mallard applies slightly thick, but it isn't at all unmanageable (like buttery, but a notch more viscous). Its first coat shows off the (surprise!) VERY teal base of the polish, and it's opaque and emerald-shimmery at two coats. The flakies are sparse and medium-sized, and it's easy for the base polish to cover them up. 212-Sephora was a huge PITA. I know lots of bloggers are fond of SOPI polishes, but I've yet to find a single one that doesn't make me want to punch something. It was alarmingly streaky on the first coat, and super-watery. I expected the base to be thinner to account for the different kinds of glitter, but I haven't had a polish make a run at cuticle-flooding in a long, long time, and yet this one did. It's a black-brown base that ends up looking like a dark bronze-khaki when at opacity. It needed a generous three coats to get there and to even everything out. Its flakies are smaller and more numerous, and its shimmer is coarser (almost micro-glitter) compared to Mallard's. It also technically contains holo particles, but good luck finding those on the nail. Mallard's thickness meant that Good to Go again played its magic shrinkage trick, though it wasn't so bad this time. I think I'm going to have to start a database of which top coats shrink which brands of polish...

And I leave you with an awkward and vaguely evil hand-clasping. Deploy the skeleton fingers!

In case you find this way intimidating, know that I took this photo with a blanket over my front like a bib.

Polishes used:
piCture pOlish - Mallard
Sephora by OPI - 212-Sephora
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Silver Sweep
Essie - Good to Go
Essie - Matte About You


J.


PS: LOOK WHAT I JUST GOT! Tortoiseshell mani, here I come.

Elevation Polish nail mail! <3