Catching Fire

Nothing to Disclose

Hello lovelies!

Today I decided to be topical. I also wanted a bit of a break from detailed work like my last polar enterprise, though this ended up being more of a hard case than I anticipated.

Sorry about the smudging! Topcoat can be a real bitch when it wants to, hey?

My aquatic mani from a long time ago was very popular so I thought that, with the new Hunger Games movie coming out today, it might be nice to try it with fire. It was sort of a bad idea? I mean, it all got smudged and the white unders are peeking out and bah! BAH.

Anyway. I started with two coats of Don't Pretzel My Buttons, followed by painting on the fire shapes with French White. I then painted on the fire bits with the rest of the colours, going from yellow to red.

Polishes used:

OPI - Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Y'All Come Back Ya Hear?

Nina Ultra Pro - French White

Revlon - Electric

Essence - Fortune Cookie

American Apparel - Lopez Canyon

Inglot - 724

Layla - Fire It Up (Softouch Effect 08)

Sally Hansen - Cinna-snap

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Glisten & Glow - HK Girl (top coat)

Next up, Outrageous Ville. I'm thinking of something Effie Trinket inspired... makes sense, goes with the theme, might be impossible, you know. The whole shebang.

xo,

J.

Guest Post by Kate #2!

Nothing to Disclose

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.

Deconstructed Patterned Mani

Lately, there has been a resurgence of what is being called "tribal" nail art. It's a beautiful technique, characterised by dividing the nail up into sections with horizontal lines and then filling in the sections with different patterns, often with a gradient background. To my mind, there is nothing 'tribal' about it, and I try to stay away from words like that, anyway.

In light of all that yammering, here is my deconstructed take on the trend.

This did take as long as it looks like it did. I started with a base of two coats of Guy Meets Gal-veston (which is actually a neon pink jelly; so, not the red that appears here!), taped off the lines, and then sponged on two coats of a gradient of Electric, Aciiied, and Green with Envy. I coated that with Seche and then went to town with a fine detail pen to get all the designs. In a way, using a pen is cheating, compared to a detail brush, but I really wanted to use small shapes. Plus, the time, effort, and necessity for a steady hand all remained the same. ;) Another coat of Seche to seal everything and it's done!

Polishes used:
OPI - Guy Meets Gal-veston
Revlon - Electric
Models Own - Aciiied
Sally Hansen - Green with Envy
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Seche Vite (top coat)
striping tape
fine-point tweezers
Pigma MICRON .005 pen
makeup sponges
microscope eyes

I think I'll leave these be for a day or two before I move on to the next thing. (My left hand currently has only the lines and gradient, gotta work on that one slowly!)


J.

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.

Snow Bengals

Hello!

This was my second attempt at this particular bit of nail art, and while I'm still not convinced it looks anything like its inspiration, I wanted to get 'er done for the inimitably sweet @lilyandjinks. The inspiration was the marbled markings on the eponymous Lily, a beautiful snow Bengal you can see in action here, here, here (oh GOD the CUTE)... and here. I'm basically in love with her.

The background is definitely more Lily but the markings ended up darker than I was aiming for, and are therefore a bit more Jinks. So, I guess I'm just all kinds of Bengal-happy over here.

For this, I used a combination of Temperance, Tettegouche and Dominate (with accents of Jacqueline for highlights) on top of a sponged gradient of Kalahari Kiss, Jacqueline and Spirit. I used nail polish thinner to help blend everything a bit.

This was supposed to go up yesterday but Spamalot was a mostly unanticipated bump in my schedule! Still, I hope it was worth the wait.

Polishes used:

China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss

Zoya - Jacqueline

Elevation Polish - Temperance, Tette (formerly Tettegouche)

Revlon - Spirit, Dominate

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri (top coat)

Poshé nail polish thinner

size 0 flat brush, nail art brush

J.

SIMPLE(R) SUNDAY: Batfight!

Today's nails were inspired by a few things: first, @glynnavyre on Instagram wanted to see explosion nails; second, I'm headed down to Calgary today for the Fan Expo; third, my friend Jen insisted, upon the occasion of our last hanging out, that we watch the scene in the good ol' Adam West Batman movie wherein he is struggling somewhat underwhelmingly with an inflatable shark affixed to his leg.

It was a good scene.

ZZONK is a real thing; I saw a screencap of it!!

To do this look, I used the explosion mani technique (YouTube it, it's all over the place) and simply added words in a combination of white acrylic paint and nail polish.

This is my favourite one.

Polishes used:
Layla - Velvet Effect 08
OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Jade is the New Black
Revlon - Electric
Zoya - Tallulah
GOSH - Nero
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Dior - Gel Coat (top coat-- AND LOOK AT THE SHRINKAGE, SWEET RHUBARB PIE)

All the delightful geekery in the world to you!


J.

Sideways Rainbow Braid Nails

This was going to be SO GOOD. Like most things I've tried lately, it didn't quite work out that way. It's not a total disaster, it just isn't the awesomesauce I was expecting.

I've been seeing a lot of braid nails around, so I thought I'd give it a shot, but sideways, and rainbow. All things are usually better when rainbow. A lot of the colour variations aren't showing up in the photos (especially the pinky; those are 3 very distinct colours of purple, not that anybody would ever know!). This was terrible to clean up, so please don't examine my cuticles-- they're a war zone. :P

And then I bumped my ring finger and pinky while making dinner. Sadpanda.

Polishes used:

Layla - Softouch Effect 08

Inglot - 724

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Pronto Purple, Cinna-Snap

Essie - Action

American Apparel - Lopez Canyon, Sunshine State, Crescent Heights

OPI - My Paprika is Hotter than Yours

Zoya - Shawn, Sylar, Mira

Revlon Top Speed - Electric

Pretty Serious Cosmetics - Blue Gums on Boxing Day

Elevation Polish - El Cap

Girly Bits - Arctic Sunrise

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (top coat)

Dior Gel Coat (top coat)

Until my next outrageous and unfulfilled adventure, my darlings!


J.

Earth Day 2013

Hello!

It is still Earth Day (where I am) (just barely)!

I whipped these up as quickly as possible, which shows, BUT I wanted to do something because the Earth is important to me. As it should be to everybody. (I am talking to you, corporate "persons".)

This is not to scale even remotely, and it is scientifically as off the mark as it is possible to be. You've been warned.

aaaaawkwaaaard

This look is all nail polish except for the Earth, its atmosphere, and the ISS. Because that is indeed the ISS! With a heart! Cmd Hadfield takes some gorgeous photos of this planet, and his love for it is apparent, and my Canadian self is very fond of him and his every-uncle-ness. And so there you have it.

middle finger is KIND OF the milky way-- kind of

Polishes used:
GOSH - Nero
OPI - Happy Anniversary!
Revlon - Spirit
acrylic paints
one-stroke brush and detail brush
Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food (on acrylics only)
Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri (top coat)

Insert Captain Planet theme song here!


J.

Waistcoat Wednesday!

Hello lovelies!

I have a friend, Laurent, who wears a waistcoat to work every Wednesday. They are what he has christened Waistcoat Wednesdays. I appreciate the concept (I'm a Fancy Friday kind of gal), and I came across these little bows in an Essence nail art kit, so I thought I'd give the idea a whirl. :)

I did this by first painting a base of Grey-t to Be Here (I may be obsessed!), followed by the little heads in Fashion Safari. The white is all acrylic paint, as white nail polish got too gloopy. The vests are Vertigo (accent Grey-t to Be Here), Nero (accent JS03), Big Smoke, and Dominate (accent Temperance). I mattified everything before affixing the little bow ties.

The index is my favourite. :) I like the brown plaid + green.

On my thumb, I painted two lovely coats of Builder's Tea, which went on fantastically and is so beautiful I couldn't ever capture it on camera properly, but here is a close up just in case:

Polishes used:

Essence - Grey-t to Be Here

NYColor - Fashion Safari

Revlon Brilliant Strength - Dominate

Elevation Polish - Temperance (limited edition, get it now before it's gone!)

butter LONDON - Big Smoke

GOSH - Nero

Nfu Oh - JS03

Chanel - Vertigo

Tough as Nail Lacquer - Builder's Tea

Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food

Essie - Matte About You

black & white acrylic paint

tiny bows from a random Essence nail art kit

I love dressing in full business wear on occasion, it brings out my androgynous side for sure. :) You? Worth it or too much hassle?

J.

Cartoon Nails with Faux Half-tone

Cartoon nails are a big thing right now. I've seen them all over the place, and I find them impossibly cute. Very clever was the person who thought this up! Triztron over at Instagram wanted to see me do cartoon nails, and I happened to have prepared this post anyway! (I'm not sure this is what she had in mind-- she is very talented at doing cartoons ON her nails-- but I can give that a shot sometime soon, too!) And because I don't like making my life easy, I thought it'd be neat to do an accent nail of a half-tone like pattern.

The cartoon nails themselves were very straightforward and I'm sure there are a bajillion tutorials up on YouTube by now, but the basic premise is to paint your nails black, then paint them the colour you want (leaving a border around the tops and sides), then adding the black stripe at the bottom, followed by the shine marks in white.

For the half-tone, I found a picture online and tried to replicate it. It didn't work. In fact, it didn't work even a little, but I like the look anyway. Sort of macro-looking. I used two jellies for this, along with a bright fuchsia and black acrylic paint.

Polishes used:

Nfu Oh - JS20

Zoya - Frida, Charisma

GOSH - Nero

OPI - Jade is the New Black, Nail Envy Matte (base coat)

Revlon Top Speed - Spirit

INM - Out the Door (top coat)

black & white acrylic paint + detailing brush

Do you like this look at much as I do?

J.

Sketches in Geometry Class

I hated geometry. I'm not the world's most maths-inclined person, but I'm especially resistent to geometry-- I nearly failed that segment of the curriculum in grade 9, only to score nearly perfect on the trigonometry segment. My teacher was very confused.

All that said, in my never-ending quest to use all of my jelly polishes, all of the time, I came up with this idea:

For this look, I started with a base of Spirit and Funny Bunny, which I topcoated to help it dry faster. In the meantime, I cut geometric shapes out of paper to which I'd stuck tape. These templates allowed me to colour in the jelly shapes and, once those were dry, use a pared-down striping brush to produce the messy, sketchy 3D-sort-of lines in black acrylic paint.

CLAW

The pinkie is my favourite <3

Polishes used:
Revlon Top Speed - Spirit
OPI - Funny Bunny
Nfu Oh - JS20, JS28, JS29, JS34
Zoya - Frida
INM - Out the Door (top coat)
black acrylic paint + striping brush

Are you a maths type, or not at all? Any time a class or subject really just kicked yer butt?


J.

Sunbeams!

Hello! Today we have sun (though it is still cold), and to celebrate the sun after about a week of snowy dreariness, I did up a cloud mani in which the tips are actually clouds:

This manicure refused to photograph properly in the lightbox, so I don't have my usual picspam for you. (Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you!) To do this, I began with a base of Grey-t to Be Here. Once dry, I used my striping tape to mark off the lines you see, and painted in the beams with a variety of jellies. Once all the tape was removed, I painted the sun (it's actually 4 separate colours, of which you can see all of 2 in the pictures, weep) and then cloud tips, followed lastly by the little birds.

I despise flash photos, makes my fingers look all shiny, but this way you can see the shimmer in the base colour peeking through the jellies. This was more noticeable in person and very pretty!

Lastly, a close-up of Grey-t to Be Here, so you can see the flake shimmer more clearly. It's predominantly pink, but technically duochrome, going golden at acute angles. Because the shimmer is small-particle, however, that shift is pretty well imperceptible on the nail.

Polishes used:

Essence - Grey-t to Be Here, Fortune Cookie

Nfu Oh - JS20

Zoya - Katherine

OPI - Houston We Have a Purple, Y'All Come Back Ya Hear?, Funny Bunny

American Apparel - Sunshine State

Revlon Top Speed - Electric

Quo by Orly - Lemon Drop

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Lavender Cloud

Contrary Polish - Hallelujah (limited edition mini; sent out with the full set of Love Lyrics minis)

GOSH - Nero

Back to the polish with me!

J.

World Water Day 2013

Today is World Water Day! Which, in light of all the attempts to privatise water, rampant pollution, major oil spills, and the general business of catering to humanity (hello, agriculture!), is super relevant. Super important.

EWWWW FLASH (I'm so sorry!)

The theme for this year is water cooperation. For this mani, I tried to put two hands underwater, reaching for each other. Interestingly, this works just fine in person, but the darker of the two skin tones refuses to show in my lightbox, which explains the use of flash photos (yuck). I've included a couple of crappy photos to try to give you an idea of what this looks like, but I remain mostly dissatisfied with the outcome. I'll have to do better next year! ;)

This was the only way to get the other hand to show up!!

I did all of the painting with nail polishes, on a base of Across the Universe, one of my favourite polishes ever, for obvious reasons:

 I hope we all put our heads together to make sure that we keep water as safe, as available, and as protected as possible. It's so critical!

Polishes used:
Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe
NYColor - Fashion Safari
Revlon Brilliant Strength - Dominate
Nfu Oh - JS29, JS34
OPI - Funny Bunny
Revlon Top Speed - Spirit
Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food
INM - Out the Door (top coat)
Poshé (top coat)

J.

St. Patrick's Day Nail Art: Nyan Pot-O'-Gold!

I had ZERO inspiration for St. Paddy's Day nail art until I was lying half-awake in bed this morning. And of all things to find inspiring, an outdated meme is a weird one. I probably ate too much sunomono last night (noooo, not possible!).

May I present: Nyan Pot-O'-Gold.

I dunno guys, it seemed appropriate.

I started with a base of Passport Blue, which I coated with my 20-grade Spectraflair topcoat to give it some pizzazz (yeah, I used 'pizzazz', deal with it). I then used white acrylic paint to draw the 'shadow' of the rainbow and the pot of gold. The blacks/greys are also acrylic paint, as are the little star details. The gold is nail polish, as are all the colours of the rainbow.

I tried to make the rainbow segments shorter at the end to denote them 'fading away' (kind of), but it didn't work.

On my thumb, I kept it simple with two (amazingly easy, gorgeous) coats of Liquid Leprechaun (HOW PERFECT?!). It was smoothed out with one coat of Poshé pretty well-- I'm noticing just the tiniest bit of texture now, about an hour later, so it's probably a 2-coater, which is excellent considering how much glitter it packs.

And I leave you with this purposefully blurry double-shot to show you the sparkly goodness of the Spectraflair topcoat and Liquid Leprechaun:

Polishes used (rainbow colours are in italics):
American Apparel - Passport Blue
Indigo Bananas - Spectraflair topcoat (20-grade)
Quo by Orly - Filthy Rich
Nails Inc. - St. James
Essie - Action
Revlon Top Speed - Electric
American Apparel - Crescent Heights
GOSH - Blue Balloon
Zoya - Mira
Pretty Serious - Liquid Leprechaun
OPI - Nail Envy Matte (base coat)
Poshé (top coat)
Black & white acrylic paint

Set in Lacquer has a contest going for St. Patrick's Day nail art, so I'm thinking I will submit this there. I can't expect it'd win (good grief, it's a riff on Nyan Cat, let's be serious), but it can't hurt to try to branch out and meet new people!


J.