DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Vintage/Shabby Chic Floral Wallpaper

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Hello lovelies!

Lookit this! An on-time post!

Debbie did a floral wallpaper-type design yesterday, and I had recently seen Katy's invention of this design over at her blog, and I was inspired to give it a shot! It is something of a "second-class" design for me because I didn't invent it myself, but I'm trying to give myself a break this week. :)

For this design, I started with three coats of Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, from the new Brazil collection. It went on pretty smooth, but needed 3 coats for opacity. I then painted the roses with Poco a Poco and the leaves with Crescent Heights (I wanted to use CG's Budding Romance but my bottle won't open and I'm an impatient human being).

I then took my tiniest detail brush and went in with Camelot to do all the lines. In retrospect, I should have used Revlon's Dominate (my go-to dark brown) because it would have added to the vintage feel. I'm kicking myself over it a bit.

Polishes used:

OPI - Don't Bossa Nova Me Around

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Poco a Poco (no longer in production)

American Apparel - Crescent Heights

A England - Camelot

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

medium detail brush

tiniest detail brush

Today I was called into the office of the place I'm trying to work for, to meet the other admin assistant who currently works there. It was super nice, she's a total sweetheart. I know they have yet to call my references, and I'm hoping that goes well... but I'm otherwise feeling a bit better about my prospects now. :) Yay!

xo,

J.

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An InLinkz Link-up

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Monochrome Green Damask

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Hello lovelies! Today's mani is just a half step away from yesterday's, in my mind.

For this look, I began with a base of Dragon, and then I used a medium detail brush to paint on bits of damask patterning using Def Defying.

Once you have a source photo, it isn't all that difficult or long, plus damask is a rather forgiving pattern when you deconstruct it like this.

I like how it turned out, actually -- what I'm learning from this week is that I really like tonal differences in nail art. You can do some extravagant designs and they come out sort of perfectly subdued. It's really nice! I will have to do more monochromatic designs even after the week is done...

In direct light to try to catch a bit of the holo twinkle in Dragon...

Polishes used:

A England - Dragon

China Glaze - Def Defying
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

medium liner brush

Do come back tomorrow for the last (and my favourite) look of the week! It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time and I'm glad I finally did.... (ooh, the suspense!)

xo,

J.

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Subway Map

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HELLO LOVELIES!!

Have you missed me? I missed you, too. I've had a quiet holiday season, which is a good thing in my books. I hope yours was everything you wanted it to be.

I'm, in fact, about to go play some drunken Super Smash Bros. Brawl, because we have a Wii and it's the right thing to do, but first-- I have nail art for you!

I don't even know. Really, not even a clue. I think it was vaguely inspired by subway maps?

My base for this was one coat of Silver Sweep, followed by two coats of Atomic. The thicker lines are done in Camelot, using my striping brush. The wee thin lines are cheater lines; I did those with a .005 Copic liner pen.

Sorry about the cat hair above. Didn't realize I had to sticky-roller my lightbox. If someone would stop sleeping in my lightbox, this would probably not be an issue. Alas, it IS a box, therefore it is to be slept in, apparently.

Polishes used:

Sally Hansen - Silver Sweep

piCture pOlish - Atomic

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

.005 Copic liner pen

liner brush

What are you hoping for in 2014? I'm hoping for a job, mostly. That'd be a killer start to my year! :)

xo,

J.

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Red/Green/Gold: Little Bells

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Hello lovelies! Today is Day 1 of Utter Nubbily Nubbiness.

Augh!! Try not to avert your gaze. They don't bite, even if they're sort of gnarly looking. (And not the good gnarly, like Gnarly Gnails; the bad gnarly.)

I went outside the directive a bit with the base colour I chose for this; two coats of Colline du Charf. I thought I'd need three, and I probably would if my nails were longer, but for this two medium coats were perfect. I love this colour, it's so dainty and stuff. I'm not 100% sold on it as the base to this manicure, though. The bells don't stand out against it as much as I thought they would.

The bells were painted with Shirin and Filthy Rich (the little lines). The string and bell details were done with Camelot. The leaves were done with Shawn and Tracie, and the berries are Nightmaren.

Polishes used:

Elevation Polish - Colline du Charf

Mentality Nail Polish - Shirin

Quo by Orly - Filthy Rich

Zoya - Shawn, Tracie

Pretty Serious - Nightmaren

A England - Camelot

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

tiny detail brush

liner brush (which didn't save my lines, unfortunately; what a sorry state of affairs...)

How do you like these? What base colour would you have used?

xo,

J.

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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.

Guest Post by Kate #2!

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Sometimes, I do my boyfriend's daughter's nails. I don't often post about it (in fact, I've only posted about it once before), because I figure there are really only so many iterations of pink and sparkly that you need to see. But today we did something different!

We used Angry Birds stickers! Albeit sparkly Angry Birds stickers (which cause no end of trouble for my camera to focus on).

It is infinitely harder to paint on such tiny nails. Those above are slingshots (they look more like it in person, without the glare). I started by painting two coats of Blue Balloon on all her fingers, then used White On for the little clouds, Mutagen for the grass, and a combination of Dominate and Camelot for the slingshots. The birds, hands, and pigs are all nail stickers I found... somewhere... a long time ago. Sorry about that.

Polishes used:

GOSH Cosmetics - Blue Balloon

Sally Hansen - White On

I Love Nail Polish - Mutagen

Revlon - Dominate

A England - Camelot

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

I will have some 'real' (as in, on me) nail art for you either later tonight or tomorrow afternoon, depending on how much I feel like editing photos, haha. It'll be glowy, though, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait!

xo,

J.

DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Lined French

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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.

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DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Sketched Flowers

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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.

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DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Plaid

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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.

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DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White X-Ray Nails

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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.

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DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Black & White Music Notes

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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.

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DIGIT-AL DOZEN WEEK: Hallowe'en Skittle

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Hello lovelies! It's the last day of my very first Digit-al Dozen week! I SURVIVED.

Today I have for you a Hallowe'en-ish skittle. I saved it for last because, A) I think it's the most accomplished in terms of what a skittle manicure is really all about, and B) it means it's closer to Hallowe'en proper.

Where do I even begin with these? Okay, okay. Thumb is two coats of Lopez Canyon with Xixabangma detail. Index is one coat of Streetside NYC with Camelot detail.

Middle finger is one coat of Xixabangma with Lopez Canyon / Streetside NYC / Camelot detail. Ring finger is two coats of Camelot with studs. Pinky is two coats of Lopez Canyon with two coats of 205 layered over top.

Don't even ask what the middle finger is; I have no answer to that question.

Polishes used:

American Apparel - Lopez Canyon

Elevation Polish - Streetside NYC, Xixabangma

A England - Camelot

Inglot - 205 (flakie)

1.5mm studs from Born Pretty Store

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation (base coat)

Rica - Glossy Glam (top coat)

detail brush

dotting tool to pick up studs

Do you have any Hallowe'en plans? I went out and bought a pair of plaid satin pyjamas and a grey satin half-robe today, because I am going as Hugh Hefner. That's right. And my older boyfriend will be outfitted with bunny ears. :) We have three (THREE) Hallowe'en parties to go to, all of subsequent weekends! Phew!

xo,

J.

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