Plaid and Roses

Nothing to Disclose

Did You Know: I have never done rose nail art before. How is this possible? Am I forgetting something? How did I go this long-- anyway.

Fixed that!

This look was done for a bestie triplets nail look with IG users @glitterfingers and @i_heart_nailart, both of whom are as lovely as they are skilled. I've already threatened to track @glitterfingers down in the UK to have her do my nails, holy jeez.

This is almost all polish, and more complex than it looks. Started with two coats of Tempest, followed by two coats of Iris (she is not showing up in these photos, but the added dimension of the mini-flakes is lovely in person). The solid stripes are Pelican Gray, the dark stripes are Recycle, the dots are Camelot. The roses are Mount Augustus with lines in Pic du Gar. The little leaves are Pastelchio with lines in Anna Maria. Only the black outlines of the roses are black acrylic paint.

We hope to be the nail art version of the Three Musketeers and do joint efforts every 2 weeks or so, and I cannot wait-- working with talented artists gets my creativity going like no other!

Polishes used:

Cult Nails - Tempest

Cirque - Iris

China Glaze - Pelican Gray, Recycle

A England - Camelot

Elevation Polish - Mount Augustus, Pic du Gar (shop will be reopening 31 July in the evening)

Lime Crime - Pastelchio

Contrary Polish - Anna Maria

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

black acrylic paint

detail brush

xo,

J.

Snapshots: Kurta, Summer Dotticure

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

I wanted to share with you two looks I completed recently and posted to Instagram, but not here (it happens sometimes, say if something is specifically an IG request).

First up, we have a twin nails look with @thedevilwearspolish based on the design of one of her kurtas. I love these little elephants sooo much.

Polishes used:

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

OPI - Germanicure

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

gold acrylic paint

detail brush

Next, we have a simple summer dotticure requested by a wee denizen of Instagram (only 10 years old!). I of course had to had fun with her request, which was yellow-on-pink dots, because that's how I roll. This is an easy look to recreate if you use a small dotting tool and you take your time.

Polishes used:

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Nina Ultra Pro - Punki Pink (of course, the NEON does not show up, but trust me, it's NEON)

Cirque - Iris (shimmer top coat)

Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

wee dotting tool

I'm always happy to field requests, so never hesitate! In the meantime, I'm thinking of more neons. I just painted my toes with Sunset (see previous post) and they bloody well glow and I love them.

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.

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.

Pride Week, Adventure-Time-Style

Nothing to Disclose

Today I have a rainicorn for you. Yep. To the chase!:

It's Pride Week here in Edmonton, so a steed made out of a rainbow seemed to make sense. (It does!) And the base of this one is the beautiful Princess Bubblegum -- if Jindie Nails made more subtle polishes like these, I'd own every one. It applied like butter in 3 thin coats and boasts a mix of eeny weeny neon glitters in pink, blue, and purple, plus small neon glitters in pink and purple, AND blue/green iridescent glitters in micro hexes, micro squares, and micro bars. Whew!

Happy Pride Week! Ride on, you rainbow unicorns.

Polishes used:
Jindie Nails - Princess Bubblegum
Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter A-Peel (base coat), Glitter Food
Seche Vite (top coat)
acrylic paints
detail brush

xo,

J.

Lace Moons

Hello lovelies!

Today I've done some crochet lace moons over a beautiful, complex base polish.

I could not get a colour-accurate photo of this polish to save my life. Love Letter to Bea Arthur is lovely polish, more dusty pink in person versus the mauve that's showing up, filled with golden flakes, dark brownish flakes, golden shimmer, and these intriguing electric violet micro-flakes that just tie the whole thing together. On top of that, I've used watered-down white acrylic paint and a pen nib to create the lace patterns. I opted not to be anal retentive about my perfectionism today, since I was going for something homier. I hope that came through?

A candy manicure has been requested of me by Kate. I may tackle that one soon, though it'll require some thought...

Polishes used:

Scofflaw Nail Varnish Manufactory - Love Letter to Bea Arthur (this is a much more colour-accurate photo)

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Seche Vite (top coat)

white acrylic paint

very fine pen nib in holder

Neon Animal Print

... Now those are three words I never thought I'd say. This has to be the most un-me nail art I've done so far, and I'm in love with it nonetheless.

For this look, I started out with a base of Spirit, then painted on various blobs / stripes / dots / curves in the neons. Once dry, I used black acrylic paint for the leopard spots and the... miscellaneous stripes? Not sure what the heck animal I ended up with, there. (It's my very first time doing any kind of animal print; please be gentle.)

I've tried to take photos in various lighting conditions to capture the neon, but no photos ever really do capture neon. Neon is the vampire of the 80s and it refuses to show up in photos.

I find it fitting that I painted these yesterday, when it was +30˚C out, and took photos of them today, when it is +15˚C out (and was +5˚C this morning!). I live in a terrifying place.

Polishes used:

Revlon - Spirit

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

Finger Paints - Silkscreen Green

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Seche Vite (top coat)
black acrylic paint
striping brush, detail brush, tiny dotting tool

Hoping and praying for the warmth to come back,

J.

Swatch Saturday: Bathed in Light

Oh, holy moly. This polish. Just look at it. This is the polish you wear to work and then people gape when you go outside in the afternoon. This is Bathed in Light, by Dandy Nails.

The above is the multi-chromatic goodness as it appears indoors. I loooove the pink with greenish edges. The base colour is actually a greyed-out blue, which shows up at acute angles (you'll see).

In direct light, the pink goes all flaming on us, and the holo glitter comes to life:

Here is that blue-grey I was telling you about:

The full shift:

Lastly, a blurry photo to show the holo glitter at work:

Polishes used:

Dandy Nails - Bathed in Light

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

INM - Out the Door (top coat)

Delicious, right?!

J.

Hand-stitched Quilted Nails

Hello friends!

As promised, I've tried to bring you something more entertaining today. A total sweetheart named Shivani over on Instagram wanted to see quilted nails, so that's what I've done!

Sorry for dry fingers! I forgot to moisturize!!

For this look, I used three coats of Oodiful, which I pressed in using a cuticle pusher when the paint was not yet fully dry. I then painted in the seams first with silver, then with black hand stitching. Lastly, I painted a couple little flowers and petals using acrylic ink mixed with acrylic modeling paste for texture.

Polishes used:

Nail Pattern Boldness - Oodiful

Sally Hansen - Silver Sweep

black, white, red, yellow & green acrylic paints

INM - Out the Door (top coat)

acrylic modeling paste

detail brush

I hope you enjoyed these. And, because it's impossible to avoid current affairs and it isn't desirable to do so anyway, I just want to say that I hope that anybody you may know in love in Boston is safe and sound tonight. My heart goes out to everybody affected by this unconscionable and unfathomable crime.

J.

Tutorial: Magnolia Blossoms

Hello again lovelies!

Per requests over at Instagram, I've put together a roughshod tutorial on how to make magnolia blossom nail art. I was doing this rather late at night, so I hope you'll excuse the less-than-stellar photo quality!

The list of materials is at the bottom, under all the photos (where it usually is), and to try to cut down on the size of this mammoth post, I will write the steps as a caption to each photo. Here we go!

We start out with our supplies: brushes (one-stroke, detail), paints, palette, small amount of acetone for clean-up, base polish, topcoat, glass of water, napkin.

The first step is to paint your nails. I used butter LONDON's Fiver last time; this time, I used Tough as Nails Lacquer's Salute my Shorts (and it is so, so, so perfect and amazing). Give it a good topcoat once done.

And here is our completed nail, cleaned up around the edges and topcoated.

This is not a step, I just want you to see how awesome this polish is.

On to the painting! I've got a blob of white, a blob of alizarin crimson, and a blob of the two of them combined to make a deep pink. I then load up my one-stroke brush as though I'm going to do one-stroke flowers, BUT I DON'T. (If you need help knowing what I mean by loading up the brush a certain way, just YouTube one-stroke flowers.)

The first petal goes on. As you can see, I'm not doing one-stroke, it's more that I pull the brush slightly sideways and then downwards. It's a squiggle motion.

Second petal. I usually make it thinner than the others. To do this one, I pull the brush vertically and slightly left, lift off, then do the same but pulling slightly right.

Third petal! The reverse of the first one.

I've switched to my detailing brush now. The smaller the detailing brush, but better. I've added some darker pink spots near the bottom for depth.

I then use my detailing brush to beef up the white as needed. (After all, magnolia blossoms are usually more white than they are pink!)

Then I get into the branches. Magnolia trees like to grow horizontally, so I keep the branches moving that way. The blossoms are always perched on top, and frequently sort of in the middle of the branch, so that's where I put them. For this, I've used my detailing brush with pure Van Dyke brown, with highlights in a mix of white and brown.

The last painting step is to add the leaves. I usually keep the foliage sparse, because my favourite magnolias bloom when the leaves have barely passed the budding stage. I use pure sap green and a mix of white and green for this step, plus my trusty detailing brush.

Wait a good long while for your acrylic paints to dry (especially if you're using the same brand as I am; I love them for their workability and fluidity but they do take longer to dry), topcoat your creation, and you're done!

Supplies used:
Base coat of choice
Base polish of choice (used Tough as Nails Lacquer - Salute my Shorts)
Topcoat of choice (recommend a thicker one, like Seche Vite or Poshé)
Acrylic paints in: white, deep pink, brown, green
Brushes: one-stroke, detailing, plus a clean-up brush if base polish needs touching up
Glass of water to clean brushes
Paper towel to clean brushes
Palette for mixing paint

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll try my best to help! Let me know also if you'd like a tutorial for anything else I've done, I'm happy to give it a shot. :)

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.