Tag: Fingernails
True Blue
I’m back! After a full mastectomy and reconstruction, I thought I’d be out of commission longer. Don’t get me wrong – I walk about as fast a turtle and can barely move – but sure can paint my fingernails.
Before I got started, I went ahead and trimmed and buffed my nails, so that I’d have a good canvas to start from. My ringer finger and pinkys were getting long, so those took the most trim.
My daughter had already picked a color for my toes, which she would be painting for me later. She chose LVX “Haitus True Blue” – a special edition polish released at Hiatus Spa + Retreat. I think one of my aunt’s gave it to her for Xmas, so I guess that’s how she ended up with it? I’d never tried LVX polishes before – this one is pretty nice. It’s a bit thicket than I’m used to, but still workable. The first coat had streaks, but the second coat leveled out and gave beautiful coverage. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and ended with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I wanna say that this blue is the same “True Blue” as the Madonna cassette. For real, I have the cassette tape underneath my bed, but I don’t have the mobility to go check. If I ask my husband to look, he’ll want to start trashing the stuff I have hidden under there. I checked Google though and Google agrees with me.
Milk Chocolate
Even though I know I have to take off all my nail polish and toenail polish tomorrow – for surgery – I had to freshen up my nails last night. I can’t not paint my nails on Friday night. It’s like I have some sort of psychosis.
Julep “Jenn” is a creamy milk chocolate polish. It’s like Willy Wonka’s chocolate river!
This is two coats of “Jenn” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Dorothy, DUH
If I was one of the Golden Girls, I would OBVIOUSLY be Dorothy. I have the fierce wit and I have the height. The only thing I don’t have is a sketchy ex-husband with a dumb mustache. (Don’t worry, honey – that’s isn’t a hint.)
Fresh Paint “Dorothy” is a fierce metallic pink. At first, I thought it was a dupe of Zoya “Bobbi”, but “Bobbie” is darker and brighter. Phew, I didn’t end up with a dupe. I’d almost call “Dorothy” a rose gold, but it’s more like a rose silver. Is rose silver even a real thing?
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, then painted two coats of “Dorothy”. I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I fixed the cuticles on my thumb and index finger with Julep Vanish! They look so much better now – color me relieved.
Snow Princess
It’s fucking cold. I feel like I can’t get warm…until I get into my car. For some reason, my car is hot. Then I’m driving and trying to take my jacket off. Dangerous, I know. This weather is going to kill me.
ANYWAY, I did Snow Princess nails. They are NOT Frozen nails, they are Snow Princess nails. There IS a difference.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with two coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. I think “Tokyo Pearl” is my most used polish – I’ve used HALF the bottle. That’s like…$1 worth of nail polish! I topped them with Sinful Colors “Flake Out”, which is a silvery microglitter, with matte blue glitter and holographic star glitters. There weren’t enough stars – I was fishing for each one. It was so fucking annoying. I only got one star per nail, before I gave up. I finished up with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
My cuticles need help. Please don’t even look at my index finger – it’s like my cuticle is taking over my whole fingernail – I need to melt and scrape it. My hands are dry, but I’m keeping them hydrated and lotioned up…but the hangnail struggle is real. I’m gonna try working on them before my next manicure…
Every Kiss Begins With…
Another polish so soon? Did you see that bad purple? It had to go.
I had to clear my palette with Julep “Kay”, a shimmery neutral taupe. It’s almost a pearl finish. It’s slightly darker than my skin, so I don’t feel as washed out as when I wear lighter, skin-toned polish.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, two coats and finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I’ve been a Julep subscriber for over 4 years. It’s not super extravagant, but it’s not inexpensive either. The reason I continue my subscription is the consistent high quality of these polishes and variety of finishes. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was disappointed in a Julep polish…some of the beauty products have been hit or miss, though. I plan to continue my Julep subscription for the foreseeable future.
The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak
Is there such a thing as a “bad” purple? A “villainous” violet?
Butter London “Violet’s Revenge” is one of those “bad” purples. “Bad” in so many ways…first off, it reminds me of a bad guy – specifically the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak. (Why did Strawberry Shortcake’s nemesis bear such a striking resemblance to Divine cohort David Lochary? And didn’t Sour Grapes remind you of Mink Stole? Food for thought.)
It goes without saying that this purple is also reminiscent of other baddies – The Joker, Thanos, Ursula, Grimace…all bad and a similar shade of purple.
But I digress, the color itself is not why I removed this polish after a day and a half – it wore horribly on me. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, painted two coats and then finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. The polish thinned in a few places when I applied the top coat, plus there were a few pinprick bubbles and ripples. I haven’t gotten ripples in a year! The polish also chipped almost immediately – so disappointing. I’m going to chalk it up to an incompatibility between the Butter London formula and Glisten & Glow.
Persephone
Fresh new new nails for a fresh new year. 2018 couldn’t be any worse than 2017, right?
Wait, forget I said that. I don’t want to tempt fate.
My first paint job of the year is Julep “Persephone”. Crushed berry holographic – it’s basically a bright fuchsia with multicolored sparkles throughout. It’s abso-fucking-mazing. I am really loving this month’s Julep Collection.
This is two coats of “Persephone” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Boudoir Nails
Red matches everything, huh?
I had an AMAZING photo shoot with Paskey Boudoir in Dallas last week. In addition to shaving things I haven’t shaved in years, I wanted something special for my fingers and toes. I finally settled on Sinful Colors “Ruby Glisten”, a deep red glitter. Red is the one true neutral – it matches anything – from pearls and satin to sweatpants to nothing at all.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I painted two coats of “Ruby Glisten” and topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. An amazingly long lasting manicure – I got six full days of wear. The picture doesn’t do it justice – it was SO much shinier!
Festive AF
What? More festive Xmas nails? Damn straight – I’m festive AF.
AF means ‘as fuck.’ All the cool kids are saying it. I heard my son say it. I’ll allow it. He did, however, inform me that I am no longer allowed to use the word “dank” – I.E. when I was talking about “dank memes” at McDonald’s and must have embarrassed him. Oh well.
I decided to go for a Xmas tree look – I feel like I’m obligated to do one every year. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I laid down two coats of Sinful Colors “Vintage”. I topped with a single coat of Sinful Colors “Holiday Rebel” and then finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. It’s a very subtle Xmas look.
Xmas Spirit
Just days until Xmas, and I find myself sorely lacking in “Xmas Spirit”. The tree is up, the house is decorated, presents wrapped…I’ve even been listening to Xmas music ON PURPOSE…and there is no Xmas Spirit to be had. I think I figured out why…no Xmas-themed nails yet!
This month’s Julep box had the remedy to that situation. I picked Julep “Dyani” as the background for the snowflake decals. Those little decals were stubborn as fuck – they did NOT want to come off the backing paper in one piece. I used my thinnest, sharpest tweezers and got all but one of them off in one piece. This is two coats of “Dyani”, over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, then decals, then Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
As soon as my nails were done – not even dry – I felt it entering my body. I felt almost…jolly? The Xmas Spirit had returned to me…until this morning. Michael Buble’s cover of ‘Santa Baby’ rotated onto my Amazon Station and I made the mistake of listening to the whole thing. I’ve never hated a Xmas song as much as I hated that song. It made me want to smash my Xmas tree with a bat and then set it on fire.
Maybe I’ll feel better by next Xmas.