Swatch: Polished by KPT - Dichromate

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

I just got back from a period of being up at my parents' cottage without reception. I thought I'd show you what I've been wearing for these past couple of days -- Dichromate.

Dichromate is a green (warm) to orange (cold) thermal polish, and the shift is quite volatile and noticeable. It's been insanely hot here lately, though, so getting both colours to show has been a bit of a challenge. Most times it's just a lovely bright apple-ish green. :)

Application was interesting, a bit. The formula is a bit thick because of, I presume, the heady mix of metallic shimmer and thermal pigment. It tends to gloop ever so slightly on contact with acetone, which means clean-up requires a bit of patience. Your best bet is to go with 3 thin coats, making sure not to finesse them too much, and giving plenty of drying time in-between. The result is worth it, it's really fun to watch it shift colours!

Lastly, here is a photo I took of the clouds and the moon, with my parents' dock on the lake visible thanks to the little lanterns:

I hope to get some nail art done while I'm out here but, barring that, you'll definitely still be getting swatches! I'm thinking of readjusting my nail shape, too, but that's still an Idea and not a Plan... ;)

Polishes used:

Polished by KPT - Dichromate

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

I miss you, my lovelies! I hope you're all well. :)

xo,

J.

Triangular Rhinestones from Born Pretty Store + Another Guest Post!

 Press Sample

I have a bit of a special post for you lovelies tonight! And not just because I went oval-ish with my nails aaaaAAAAHHHHHH

Born Pretty Store were kind enough to contact me about reviewing products, and I had to jump on these amazing little triangular rhinestones (#17): 1 Box Shiny Candy Colorful Rhinestones Geometric Shape Acrylic UV Gel Nail Art Decoration! Aren't they precious? At 1.5mm, they are definitely on the tiny side, and you'll need some patience working with them, but this look took me about 20 minutes per hand, so definitely not the same ballgame as glitter placement. (At the link above, #18 are 2mm triangles, which might drive you less nutso to place on the nail.)

Pardon the index finger, not sure when/how that happened. :/

This isn't the first time I've ordered from Born Pretty for my nail art needs-- I've purchased from them twice before. Free worldwide shipping is definitely slow shipping (usually about 3 weeks), but I haven't had a package go AWOL and my orders are always correct, which boggles the mind when you consider how many products they stock. They are a fixture in the nail art community for a reason!

This look was simple: paint 3 coats of My Vampire is Buff, apply a NON-QUICK-DRY topcoat where needed, use a dotting tool dabbed in some topcoat to pick up and place the rhinestones, and seal with quick-dry topcoat when done. It's much more subtle than most of the nail art I do, but I'm kind of digging it! They look like Technicolor four-leaf clovers!

AND GUESS WHAT-- I did another guest post! This time, over at Tips and Topcoat! Lou is incredible, you really need to check out her work. Click here to see the post, and again, give her blog some love!!

Polishes used:

OPI - My Vampire is Buff

Born Pretty Store - 1.5mm triangular rhinestones (#17)

Duri - non-yellowing topcoat

la couleur couture - 2013 (quick-dry topcoat)

dotting tool

I'm going to visit family and friends in Montreal until the 29th, so posting will likely be sporadic. I have shipped myself a box of polish to use while I'm there (oh, don't you even judge, you know what it's like), so I promise to at least have posts of SOME sort for you-- likely straight-up swatches (gasp).

AND DON'T FORGET: if you decide to buy these rhinestones (or anything else) from Born Pretty Store, use my discount code ABCQ10 for 10% off your order!

xo,

J.

Simple Aquatic + a Guest Post!

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

So, I survived part of the Skyline Trail. 36km worth of trudging around with beautiful views. I pinched something in my right hip and my feet have a collective 6 huge blisters, so the last major ascent/scree was not going to happen. I need to work out more before tackling 12 hours' worth of hiking!

But I do have nails for you today!

I'm doing an ABC challenge with my buddy @thedevilwearspolish on Instagram. We're calling it the Follow the Devil ABC Challenge and doing one prompt a week. This week: aquatic! I decided to keep it simple.

I started with two coats of Lavender Cloud, followed by Skylar for the water. I then went over Skylar in some places with Arctic Sunrise, Aqueous, and Love Letter to Kurt Vonnegut. Little shine details in Tempest, topcoat, and done!

Zoom in on this one for all the shimmery awesomeness of the polishes I used:

And I have a surprise for you! I did a guest post over at Gnarly Gnails, run by the inimitable Missy! I love Missy to death, she's the sweetest and has always been so encouraging in my blogging endeavours. One thing I've always appreciated about her swatches is that they show you exactly what you need to know about a polish. They're professional and sharp-looking, but they do not sugar-coat how a polish actually behaves. It's really refreshing! And did I mention she's sweet? Click this teaser image to go see my post, and give her blog some love!

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud

Zoya - Skylar

Girly Bits - Arctic Sunrise

Tryst Lacquers - Aqueous (custom)

Scofflaw Nail Varnish - Love Letter to Kurt Vonnegut (limited edition)

Cult Nails - Tempest

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

I'm working on another surprise! I will have that for you on Wednesday sometime. I may even be able to get something up either tomorrow or Tuesday, fingers crossed!

xo,

J.

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.

Sea Turtle Hatchling

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

I know, I've neglected you. Things over the past weekend or so were very busy, lots of showing and in general lots going on. But I've got a post for you tonight, and another for you tomorrow!

Today, I have a turtle for you. Turtles are cute.

I did this little guy out of entirely acrylics, as part of a bestie twin nails endeavour with @rachelsequoia (if you have Instagram and are not following her, you are out of your bloomin' mind).

He turned out a lot more stern than my source image. Gah! Oh well.

Polishes used:

none!

acrylics in all sorts of colours

size 0 flat brush

tiny detail brush

I have a bootcamp in the morning so I'm off to hit the hay. And, seeing as I just finished watching Robot and Frank, I may also need a cathartic sob into my pillow. Such a good movie, but so sad, guys. And it summarizes nicely the differences between my boyfriend and I: at the end he chirps, "That was cute!" and I weep and state, "That was devastating!" LORDY. See it if you haven't.

Until tomorrow, my pretties, and remember to wear waterproof mascara when watching movies!

xo,

J.