Swatch Saturday: El Cap

At the request of my friend Megan, who wanted to see more plain swatches from me (in a fit of frustration at nail art, I think), I've decided to institute Swatch Saturday! Every (or almost every) Saturday, I will post photos of a simple manicure, sans nail art.

Today, I have Elevation Polish's El Cap, topped with accent nails of Cirque's XX.

My camera had a heck of a time picking up the true nature of the shimmer in El Cap in the lightbox, and it was a dreary day outside so I couldn't use the sun to my advantage. El Cap is a sort of dark cornflower blue with electric violet shimmer, and is a dream to apply. Anywhere in the following photos where you see a pink/violet shimmer, know that that's what the polish actually looks like in regular lighting.

A couple of close-ups here to show the holographic goodness of XX. These were 1 thick, dabbed-on coat per nail.

Polishes used:
Elevation Polish - El Cap (should be restocked in May)
Cirque - XX
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Nail Pattern Boldness - Glitter Food
Poshé - top coat

I have a simple nail art look for you tomorrow, and then a failwhale extravaganza for Monday, but I hope to give you something awesome to look at on Tuesday, so sit tight!


J.

Wedgwood China Nail Art

Hey lovelies! I'm sorry for my radio silence for most of the past week; a cold kicked me in the butt and my sinuses and I remain in a protracted battle even as a type this. BUT, I'm feeling better enough for some nail art!

I noticed I'd banged up the index after this photo, and fixed it in the rest. Sorry for the unsightliness!

For this look, I wanted something very fluid, very organic, very imperfect. So I started out with a base of 3 coats of Bella-- which is to die for, it's squishy and perfect and at 3 medium coats it self-levels like a champ. But it also takes forever and a year to dry-- you have been warned. I then painted on all of the details with indigo fountain pen ink and a tiny brush. I took my inspiration from photos of Wedgwood China I found through Google Image Search.

Polishes used:
Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)
Rescue Beauty Lounge - Bella
Essie - Matte About You (top coat)
Diamine Old English Fountain Pen Ink - Indigo (painted on top of matte top coat)
detail nail art brush

I have many more plans for the upcoming days, provided I win this microbial war, so stay tuned!


J.

TOESDAY #2: Zoya Charisma

Guys, Charisma is so bright. It's so bright it broke my camera's little image-processor brain. This is what Zoya's website depicts:

That is accurate in terms of shade, but not in terms of brightness. Charisma is NEON FUCHSIA. It dries matte, like all neons do, and it's got a somewhat anti-self-levelling formula, as even the best neons do. It's a neon. It's my one and only neon. I really, really love it.

Here are some photos that do not depict colour accurately (again, see above for the colour). The over-saturated photos do, however, get a good sense of the neon awesomeness of this polish.

The following photo makes Charisma look raspberry-coloured. It is not. But I wanted to show off a bit more of my psychedelic absurd amazing Black Milk leggings. They have the same tone of fuchsia in them, and again, my camera couldn't capture it. But click on the photo to see the leggings in action, it'll give you a good idea!

Polishes used:

CND - Stickey (base coat)

Zoya - Charisma

INM - Out the Door (top coat -- very important step, not nearly as bright without it)

Until the next time I show you my feet and possibly freak you out,

J.