DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Vintage Cutouts

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Hello lovelies.

Oh my goodness. Before we dive in, let me just apologize for my absence. Since I returned from San Francisco, my work situation (by which I mean lack of work situation) has been preoccupying me in the extreme. I'm anxious all of the time, and am sleeping like a sloth because of it. I have little creative energy, and therefore little of myself to apply to nail art.

But it is Digit-al Dozen week this week, and if nothing else, I'm going to try to complete the week as part of my commitment to my fellow ladies, and to you, my lovelies. So, let's do this! This week's theme is vintage.

I decided to start off simple, to avoid committing myself to something overwhelming. I was struck by inspiration while visiting Nory's look for today and saw the leftmost dress here. Cutout necklines! Super cute and vintage-ish.

I used Nail Vinyls for the moons, and actually did these twice, because the first colour I used (a bronze) didn't have enough contrast with my nail bed.

I still think I should have gone darker, for even more contrast, but there was no way I was going to do these a third time! These are also my R for my (abandoned-too-long) Follow the Devil ABC Challenge: reveals!

Polishes used:

OPI - Jade is the New Black

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

Nail Vinyls in half-moon

medium detail brush

I have zero idea what I'll be doing for the rest of the week, and I can't promise I'll get them all done on time -- I'm waiting to hear back from an employer in particular with whom I had a third interview last Thursday, and I'm on pins and needles for some resolution. All my emotional energy is going there. But! I will get the week done however I can, bit by bit. :)

And do you like the new nail shape?!

xo,

J.

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

An InLinkz Link-up

SIMPLE SUNDAY: Retro Fishtail

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Hello lovelies!

SURPRISE! I have a post for you! I am probably on a plane right now, but I wore this look for a dinner out on Friday and I decided I wanted to share it with you.

PINK NAILS PINK NAILS WEE OO WEE OO. Seriously I don't think I've had pink nails since I was 10. I'm calling this a retro fishtail because the colours seems very... "70s wallpaper" to me.

This started with three coats of Mt Augustus (which is paler in real life, sort of a bright pastel pink with coral leanings), followed by two coats of Pastille for the upper fishtail, and one coat of Educate for the lower fishtail. Some studs, and done!

This shot gives you the shimmer in Mt Augustus, the holo in Pastille, and the green flakes in Educate.

Polishes used:

Elevation Polish - Mt Augustus (which I think got discontinued?)

Mentality Nail Polish - Pastille, Educate

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

1.5mm studs from Born Pretty Store

Okay, now FOR REAL I'm leaving you all for a week. You can follow my adventures on Instagram, I'll try to post interesting photos about my trip there!

xo,

J.

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Monochrome Honeycomb Ombre

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Hello lovelies! Whew, what a mouthful today's title is. And it proved to be the hardest-to-photograph mani I've ever done, too! I had to set the white balance WAAAY off to even get the differences in the colours to show up at all.

Waugh! It's a shame, because it's a lovely mani in person. (You'll just have to take my word on it.) It's an ombré of pink/orange/coral tones. I started by painting my nails with, from pinkie to thumb, 1963, Generally Hazzardous, My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours, 724, and Jinx.

I then 'bumped' each colour over by a finger (e.g., used 1963 on top of Generally Hazzardous) in order to draw the honeycomb shapes. It turns out I'm crap at honeycomb, so I'll have to practice that more. :)

This is as close to a colour-accurate photo of the polishes as I was going to get:

Polishes used:

la couleur couture - 1963

Pretty Serious - Generally Hazzardous

OPI - My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours, Jinx

Inglot - 724

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

medium detail brush

I love love love this colour family but it's impossible for the differences to show up on camera, or at least, on my camera. Any experiences like that before, for you? So frustrating! Come back tomorrow for a look that at least didn't elude my meagre photography skills...

xo,

J.

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

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Monochrome Oranges

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Hello lovelies! So begins another week of The Digit-al Dozen! This month our theme is monochrome -- varying values of the same colour (including black and white). I cheated ever so slightly for today's simple look.

How did I come about doing a summer look in the middle of winter? I asked my beau to name a colour, he chose orange, this is all I could think of. True story.

I started with two coats of White On, and then filled in the oranges starting with the peel (1964 and Y'all Come Back Ya Hear), then the pith (a mix of Streetside NYC [this is how I cheated; used yellow] and White On), then the flesh of the orange (Y'all Come Back Ya Hear with highlights of Funny Bunny and White On).

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen - White On

OPI - Y'all Come Back Ya Hear, Funny Bunny

la couleur couture - 1964

Elevation Polish - Streetside NYC (discontinued)

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

thin liner brush

medium detail brush

Don't forget to check out the giveaway we've got going on right now! I'll be back tomorrow with more monochromatic madness. ;) I've got a couple really nice looks for you this week, so I hope you'll stick around!

xo,

J.

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

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Red/Green/Gold Holly Berries

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Hello lovelies!

Today's Day 2 mani is a day late; yesterday was full of existential greyness. Sorry about that. But here I am!

Holly berries are the easiest thing to do, in terms of holiday designs. They also hold a special place in my heart because they're one of the designs that I distinctly remember doing when I was a kid, using only toothpicks. 

I remember quite literally nothing about the polishes that I used for this mani. You have my sincerest apologies, but there's no way I'm going to be able to throw together a Polishes Used section for you today. 

The only thing I remember is that the base is, as best I can recall, Nails Inc.'s Mayfair. It's a pearly off-white that seemed worthy of the season. Macro time!:

I broke my index nail down to nub yesterday, too, just in case it wasn't apparent that it was a Really Bad Day. I have one look for tomorrow for Day 3 completed on my normal nails, and then I have to figure out if I'm up to the challenge of doing Days 4 and 5 on nubs. Eeeek. I'm a bit ashamed?! Even though there's nothing to be ashamed OF?!?! So yeah.

xo,

J.

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

Deconstructed Snowflakes

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Hello lovelies! Just a quick post tonight, as I'm off babysitting with my friend Andrew and we literally just took the toilet apart because one of the kids threw a toy train down it earlier in the day and it was irredeemably clogged. Ah, children. Little bundles of joy and unrestrained havoc.

Anybody who follows me on Instagram or Facebook saw something sort of vaguely like this that I did yesterday. Well, that started chipping almost immediately (blasted Marc Jacobs polish!!), so I decided to redo it in more seasonal colours.

All of this vertical-line-ness started with my seeing this manicure by the inimitable Spifster. She's an amazing nail artist and you should be following her. At any rate, I could do various iterations of this design over and over again forever.

I started with three coats of Dream, and the white is Tempest, all done with my striping brush and a dotting tool. With these seasonal colours, I thought I'd do something that looked, well, seasonal. When I finished, I thought it looked like Picasso's take on snowflakes, hence the title of this post.

Polishes used:

Zoya - Dream

Cult Nails - Tempest

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

striping brush

dotting tool

Like I said, expect more of this kind of thing from me in future! But I will go a bit more detailed in my next nail art for you, my lovely readers, because you're here for the Good Stuff. ;)

xo,

J.

SIMPLE SUNDAY: Holiday Lights

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I lied about avoiding holiday things. But I was seriously stumped, lovelies, I was!

You see, my prompt this week for my Follow the Devil ABC Challenge was N for Neon. NEON! There's a foot of snow on the ground outside (no, not exaggerating) (there may in fact be more than that) (it was -15˚C/+5˚F out today). How the bloody hell am I supposed to use neons at this time of year??

This was my answer. Holiday lights, loosely inspired by Sarah at Chalkboard Nails. (Hers are way nicer, naturally.)

I started this look with two coats of my trusty Camelot, followed by one thick coat of Masquerade for interest. I then dabbed on the white circles with White On (diluted in acetone) and a cotton bud, and dabbed Moon overtop of that for the glow effect (seen below). I painted the bulbs on using undiluted White On and my Nina Ultra Pro neons, used Seraphina for the wire, and topped it all off with top coat.

If I were to do this again, I would bother to dilute the neons with acetone and daub them onto the circles as well, for lighting congruity, but I didn't want to get overly complicated with a Simple Sunday design. I'd also recommend just using white acrylic paint and a tiny brush to do the wire, using nail polish made it way too thick.

Polishes used:

A England - Camelot

piCture pOlish - Masquerade (no longer available)

Sally Hansen - White On

Americal Apparel - Moon (glow in the dark)

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

Zoya - Seraphina

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

cotton bud

acetone for diluting nail polish

medium detail brush

tiny detail brush

I will try to make my next design less holidays-ish, more just plain wintry. Because, I assure you, I have plenty of inspiration in that department. Maybe I'll even do a mani for all your crazy Americans and your way-late Thanksgiving! ;)

xo,

J.

SIMPLE SUNDAY: Blood Splats

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Hello lovelies!

So, remember yesterday when I was worried about my being hung over today? GUESS WHAT.

I'm posting from the past again! The point of my inebriation levels of last night are totally moot! How smart is this? I should post from the past more often.

It's not a Hallowe'en season without some blood splats. Now, I need to have a word with you all, here. It's of critical importance, and should be known in a post-Dexter world. It's not really blood splatter, it's blood spatter. I know, I know. It's a bit like how the Classicist in me flinches whenever somebody calls them pottery shards instead of pottery sherds. Drives me nuts! Thank you for listening to this mini-rant.

This look started with a staggering four thick coats of Naked. It doesn't even give me mannequin hands! All that work for nothing! Needless to say, especially given its price tag (I got it on clearance, thankfully), Naked does not come recommended.

The accent finger is two coats of Chyna. This polish reminds me of Dorothy's shoes and does come recommended. So classic-looking in spite of the texture!

The blood splats (it's not really spatter, it's much more haphazard splotches, I think) were done first in Fire It Up, and then in JS42 for depth. The whole thing took about a half-hour for both hands, making this Simple Sunday appropriate.

Polishes used:

Deborah Lippmann - Naked

Zoya - Chyna

Layla - Softouch 08 (Fire It Up)

Nfu Oh - JS42

medium liner brush

Have you done any Hallowe'en manis yet? This feels so out of my comfort zone, haha!

xo,

J.

SIMPLE SUNDAY: Fire Alarm!

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Hello lovelies!

Today's look came about because I painted my nails with this gorgeous colour, Rusted Lux, and then had no idea what to do with it.

One of my Instagram lovelies suggested fire, and I kind of ran with it. In the direction of the absurd.

I took a look at my studs and thought, "Hey, these kind of look like exclamation points." And from there I decided on a fire signage kind of idea thing. You know, one of those idea things. Right-o.

Rusted Lux is a weird polish, it's a very sheer base with opaque flakes in it. The coverage of the flakes is what gives the polish opacity. I used three coats, but it could have used a fourth. It is amazing, though. Even my boyfriend grabbed my hand and exclaimed about how pretty it is. Glowy beauty.

Zoom this one in and you can see all the flakes in action!:

Polishes used:

SpaRitual - Rusted Lux

KONAD - Special Stamping Polish in White

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat)

rectangular studs from The Nail Room

round studs from Born Pretty Store

medium detailing brush

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.

Simple Arabesque

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Hello lovelies!

It was with mixed emotions that I took off my galaxy nails. But I needed to file my pretties down a bit, and I was kind of itching for a change. And so:

I sort of wasn't kidding about the "practice line work until no longer crap at it" thing. These look horrible in macro, but they're cute from arm's length!

This one's the most colour-accurate.

The little arabesque design is white acrylic paint, on a base of Blue is Beautiful, a lovely thermal. It is rather sheer; what you see here is two rather thick coats, and it could have used a third.

Blue is Beautiful has little blue iridescent glitters, and micro-holo glitters. The holo will of course not show up in the light box, but you can see the iridescent ones below:

Here, I dipped my hand into warm water to try and show you more of the colour shift. It goes from a sheer pale grey when hot, to light blue, to dark grey, to dark blue. Phew!

Polishes used:

Polished by KPT - Blue is Beautiful

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Rice - Glossy Glam (top coat-- I've heard good things, so far I like it!)

white acrylic paint

liner brush

I think that, tomorrow, I will attempt a technique that I haven't yet done, but is very popular. It'll look kind of like cake... that's all the hint you're getting. :)

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.

Snapshots: Kurta, Summer Dotticure

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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.