Nanny’s Sofa

Before she passed away last fall, my grandmother owned a sofa in this exact pattern.  And she just friggin’ loathed that thing.  Kill it with fire, you could not.  It was simply indestructible, and being of that generation that would never think to part with a thing over something as “insignificant” as its looks, she kept it.  For nearly 20 years.  You know, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t believe I ever saw her sit on that sofa.  She had her chair that she always sat in and a couple of other occasional chairs, but the couch was the big, slippery, dusty rose-printed elephant in the room.

I imagine that the sofa came into being in much the same way as these nails – totally by accident.  I was actually aiming for a soft, delicate floral design.  It wasn’t until I sat back and took a good look at my work that I realized I had created something that could most charitably be referred to as chesterfield-esque.  And in case I had any doubts, when I showed them to my husband and noted that they were not quite what I originally had in mind, he said, “What, you weren’t going for your grandmother’s couch?”  Sigh.

You So Jelly

Just some gently bobbing jellyfish, going along with the flow (the flow being Enchanted Polish’s wonderfully watery Neptune, a green-to-blue duochrome that reminds me of the ocean’s inky depths.)

Spike Strip

It occurred to me the other day that one of my favourite nail art designs, a chicken scratch sort of knit pattern, also looks a great deal like tire tracks.  So as these things go, twas but a hop, skip and a jump later before I was elbow-deep in lacquered tire treads, here Lilypad Lacquer’s holographic Rainbows in Space over Essence’s Color & Go in Chic Reloaded, a shimmery green-to-grey-to-purple multichrome that (quite appropriately for this manicure) reminds me of an oil slick.

Then because I can’t ever leave well enough alone, and also because my monochromatic tire track design was looking a bit bare, I laid down two silver spiked nail charms right at the edges of my cuticles on my middle two fingers.  Et voila, a spike strip!  Nail art punnage at its finest, folks.  But all the same, just know I’ve got my eye on you, crash queens and moto babies, and drive safe.

Unicorn Bath: A Mini Lush Review

At the end of last year – you know, 18 whole days ago – I purchased a number of bath time goodies from Lush, including this colourful cutie, a bath bomb by the name of a Luxury Lush Pud.

As I already noted here, I think the main reason I purchased this bath bomb is because I delight in its silly name.  “Pud” is just such a funny word, is it not?  Because bath bombs and other assorted bath time products are typically not my jam.  I’m predominately Team Shower, in no small part because my bathtub is quite tiny and really can’t accommodate me AND a metric ton of bath products.  But the Pud was too cute, and I was powerless to resist its rainbow-hued charms (or the many, many 30 second videos I watched on Instagram of Puds spinning about a tub) so into the virtual shopping basket it went.

So how did the little devil perform?  Not super well!  Although in defence of the Pud, I ought to note that I loaded up my tub with bubbles before dropping in the bath bomb, and I suspect they kept it from doing its thang to its full potential.

Because my Luxury Lush Pud was a bit of a dud.  I’ve heard of “deactivated” bath bombs before – anything that relies on a baking soda-based reaction has the potential to go bad, particularly if the product is stored in a humid place like, say, a bathroom (mine was not.) It’s not a total deal breaker, but when you’re paying $6.95 for a single use product that falls squarely into the “This is a special treat” category, you really want it to perform as advertised.

My lavender scented bath bomb just sort of sank to the bottom of the tub, and then after 30 or so seconds, a thin ribbon of cotton candy pink began to wind its way through the bubble layer.  After another 30 seconds, the little coloured discs on the Pud broke off and drifted into the creamy, bubbly pink, leaving pastel-coloured rainbows in their wake.  So pretty!  Total unicorn bath.  But again, not quite as advertised.  At its very best, I had a one-foot by two-foot patch of creamy pastel rainbows directly in the middle of my tub – quite different from the videos I saw of bath bombs zipping merrily about a gigantic Jacuzzi tub.

I realize I’m harping on a lot here about looks.  That’s because a bath bomb is a bath bomb is a bath bomb – baking soda held together with essential oils.  Which is something you can DIY perfectly well on your own at home, without the $6.95 price tag.  So in this case it really does come down to appearances.  And while the Lush Pud is darn adorable in solid form, its reality ultimately didn’t quite live up to its promise.

Luxury Lush Pud

Brightening up an otherwise overcast and snowy day with this manicure inspired by a Lush bath bomb I used last night, a little baking soda-and-oils-infused creature by the name of a Luxury Lush Pud.  Released as part of Lush’s just-passed winter holiday collection, I swear I purchased this bath bomb simply because of its name – “pud” is a funny word. That it created some pretty cool and colourful bubbles come bath time was just a nice little bonus.  Until I climbed in and disturbed it all with my everything, my bathwater looked like cotton candy!  Did not smell like it, but that’s a discussion for another day, or tomorrow when I post a mini review on the Pud itself.

But for now, let’s enjoy the nails!  I know I am, especially now that I’ve got the dreaded water marble part out of the way.  Wretched bane of my nail art existence, but the best representation of the way the Luxury Lush Pud twirls around your tub, throwing off streaks of rainbow-hued bubbles.

Foot Candy

No, I have not changed the focus of this blog to foot fetishism…yet.  Rather, I received a rather awesome pair of ice cream-style ballet flats for Christmas (generous gift-giver: me!) that were just begging for a sweet matching mani, and who am I to deny my shoes when they’re calling out for love?

This manicure is your basic drippy waffle cone design, but the shoes are a different matter altogether. Available solely (heh) through Shoe Bakery, these flats, and their many gorgeous high-heeled cousins, are handmade, custom made and beautifully unique – edible-looking, wearable works of art that are now inspiring this edible-looking, wearable work of nail art.  I can’t wait to give these guys a proper workout come the spring and summer – just in time for ice cream season.

Jagged Little Pur-Pill

Here’s a simple swatch of an unexpectedly cool polish, Whimsical Ideas by Pam’s purple shard-stuffed Fantasia.  I say “unexpectedly” because this is one of those polishes that pictures simply do not do proper justice.  Photography rarely treats purples very well, come to think of it.  So when I purchased Fantasia, I didn’t really know that the flakes were two different shades of metallic purple, lending this glitter topper a kind of colour-shifting, duochrome type of look.  Very pretty!  Here I’ve layered Fantasia over Nfu Oh’s lavender-hued jelly, JS12.  The thought originally was that I’d combine the two polishes in a kind of jelly sandwich, but I liked Fantasia perfectly well enough on its own, flashing delicately between metallic indigo and plum with every shift of my hands.

The one negative to this polish is that unlike, say, last year’s chromatic flakie craze, the metallic shards in Fantasia have some body to them, and the rougher-than-usual edges want to poke up through your topcoat.  I used two coats for this manicure, and I probably could have gone for three, just to hedge my rough-edged bets.

Sweet Mani!

Okay, so I can see Mike and Ikes being a favourite – they’re fruity and gummy and sour/sweet in a pleasant, not-at-all-real kind of way.  But those little paper dot candies? Has anyone ever enjoyed those in the history of ever?  They’re mostly just very, very cute. Which is precisely the reason they’re now adorning my nails, alongside a smattering of Mike and Ikes.  Finger candy at Finger Candy. 😉

One-Brush Floral

As in I used one brush – just a tiny detail brush – not that I attempted one of those single-brush manicures where you load all the polish onto a fan brush and then whammo kablammo, two strokes later your nails are a veritable garden of delicately rendered blossoms and not at all the beginnings of your fourth nail polish-related nervous breakdown.  Just me?

Rainbow Knits

It’s frosty cold and snowy today, and I thought my nails – in addition to the rest of me – could use some bundling up in something bright and cheerful.  This little chicken scratch-type knit pattern is a favourite of mine.  It’s easily adaptable to any sort of colour combination, particularly variegated rainbows, and a dead easy technique, to boot – nothing more difficult here than some very basic brushwork.

I did get a little overzealous with the clean-up, though, and my middle finger paid the price. That’s why it’s adorned with a pretty little bow; all the better to hide the quarter inch of blank space between my cuticles and the rest of my manicure!