Syrup & Succulents

Those of us entrenched in the nail world tend to know where we fall when it comes to nail art: Lovers, Haters, and Lack of Skill to Execute. I am decidedly in the last category; I love nail art, even the delightfully tacky over-the-top Japanese falsies encrusted with pearls and bows (although the functionality of said falsies means that I'll have to hold off until I can afford to hire a full-time maid).

I'm not much for attempting nail art myself, since any artistic talent I may have does not translate at all to nail polish. I bought a dotting tool set once upon a time and used it once. Luckily these "syrup nails" are easy to do, even for a nail art dummy like me.

 "Syrup nails" are basically a type of gradient manicure that uses a sheer jelly. In my humble opinion it works best with a polish that is very sheer--I feel it gives a smoother looking gradient this way. I did mine with ORLY Beverly Hills Plum, which is a beautiful translucent coral. This is 7 coats of Beverly Hills Plum at its darkest, plus 2 coats of Seche Vite and 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station. One of my favorite things about wearing this manicure is that all the layers of lacquer gave them the super-glossy gel nails look, which I love. A commented that it looked like I had dipped my nails in blood, which the macabre in me also loved.

Unrelated to my nails, I bought four tiny little potted succulents, and I plan on doing the Blogger-y thing and re-pot them into tiny handmade pots. That's for next week :)

Jelly Apples

This week my nails have been painted red, red, red, with a classic--Essie Jelly Apple. I'm always tempted to throw some glitter over any mani that crosses my path, but for once I resisted with this one, and I love it. There is just something so glam about a simple red mani, and I'm definitely going to be wearing it a lot more often whenever I feel like letting my inner pinup loose. Jelly Apple in particular is super shiny and juicy looking with a lot of depth, and it looks like candy on my nails.

At first coat, Jelly Apple pulls very blue-toned; in fact I was incredibly disappointed because I was sure it would be too cool for my skin, which is very warm and looks awful with blue-toned reds. But at second coat all my fears were assuaged because as it builds in opacity the overtly cool tint evens itself out to a lovely glassy red that doesn't pull blue at all.

Jelly Apple has a very nice formula that practically applies itself. Here I'm wearing 4 thin coats. You could probably be okay at 3 coats if you don't mind the tiniest bit of visible nail line.

CrowsToes Hell Hath No Fury

It's another Indie day! 3 coats Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl with 1 coat CrowsToes Hell Hath No Fury. Leave it to Crowstoes to make me like bar glitter and ORANGE in one polish (for the record, I really dislike bar glitter and orange, forget ORANGE bar glitter). Hell Hath No Fury has a very nice formula for such a chunky glitter--application was super easy, although you do have to nudge the bar glitter around a bit if it protrudes over the edge of your nail, as is the nature of bar glitter. And how much do I love those giant red hex glitters?? This one will definitely be a contender for "most epic holiday mani" over a red...for now I'm enjoying it over the luscious grape-y goodness of SC Daddy's Girl. I like how the iridescent purple glitters peep out from among the red and sets this one apart from other red-themed glitter topcoats.

Disclaimer: This bottle of Hell Hath No Fury was sent to me as a gift. My undying love for it is my own!
You can purchase your own bottle of CrowsToes Hell Hath No Fury for $10 from Llarowe!