Fish Flakes

Chromatic flakes, actually, in the form of ILNP’s fabulously fun Ferris Wheel, adorned with a couple of golden fish bone charms.  Lots of F-word punning going on around here today. 😉

The Colour of Imagination

That’s what our Disney overlords have deemed this bright, sparkly pink, here shown as ILNP’s squishy, summery polish, Jello Shot.  In its never-ending quest to siphon allllll of the money out of your wallet, Disney periodically declares X, Y and Z colours to be the hottest, trendiest hues to grace a pair of glittery Mickey ears.  This year the Mouse is stumping hard for this Imagination Pink shade, as well as a silver holographic hue they’re calling Magic Mirror Metallic, here shown as another ILNP polish, this time gonzo rainbow-thrower, Mega.

I love both of these hues – is there anything more spectacular than the midday Florida sun cresting the spires of Cinderella Castle and alighting on a beautiful pair of Mickey ears? – and while I’m well down with the inspiration behind the silver holo, I’m less sure about the Imagination Pink, because the name, well, stinks.  Like, what precisely IS the colour of imagination?  How does Disney know it’s pink?  What if it’s, like, sludge brown?  Why is it not orange or purple, the colours of Figment the IMAGINATION Dragon at Epcot?  Dude’s got an entire ride called Journey Into Imagination with Figment – as in “a figment of your.”  Is it really necessary to start assigning other hues to as nebulous a concept as imagination?

Anyhow, I think Disney missed the mark with this one, which of course means it’ll be the most wildly popular colour release in ever, and two years from now when our entire world is awash in various shades of hot pink, I’ll bow and grovel before our Imagination Pink overlords.  Until then, at least I know my nails are on point. 😉

Frozen Fingertips

Still frosty, still frozen, only now we Canadians have a lot of American company – welcome to continuous sub-zeros, my southern friends.  Ain’t she glorious?  I seriously haven’t been warm in weeks.  I just live in little furry boot slippers and every layer I can get my frostbitten hands on.  Looking forward to enjoying some sunnier Florida temps soon.

Until then, another icy-looking mani featuring ILNP’s silver holo, Mega, under a frosted dusting of Enchanted Polish’s Freeze Machine.  Brrrr…

Fall Fun Fridays: Favourite Autumn Polishes

This Friday’s theme in the little blogging collaboration I’ve been doing with my friends Jay of The Scented Library and Julie of The Redolent Mermaid is one near and dear to my lacquer-loving heart – those beauty items, accessories or fashionable finds that only see the light of day come Fall.  Living in a place that sees its predominately cool-to-frigid weather interrupted only by bursts of sweaty summer humidity, I have an absolute ton of cold weather-only clothing – my closet is a veritable tribute to black sweaters and many, many fingerless mittens.  So nothing too special there.

I do, however, have quite a few autumn-only nail polishes.  I suppose it’s a little weird to segregate your beauty items into seasonal appropriateness, but here we are (hey, those “Find Your Colours!” makeup-matching programs that were so popular in the ’80s – I was just talking about this with a friend the other day! – made an entire industry out of it.)  Here’s my pick for my favourite mostly Fall polishes. 😉

Leaf of Faith – KB Shimmer

Straight up cranberry jelly, right, extra lumpy? 😉  I used this polish years ago to create one of my all time favourite manicures – cranberry sauce from the can, still in a solid log and bearing its all-important rings.  This is a staple on Canadian Thanksgiving tables, FYI.  The television show Corner Gas had an entire episode about Brett Butt’s quest for a solid log of ringed cranberry jelly; his holiday meal could NOT begin without it!

Road to Awe – ILNP (I Love Nail Polish)

Dusky Halloween purples tinged with the barest hint of autumn’s crunchy golden leaves.

Brains & Boo-ty – Painted Polish

Halloween in a bottle!  Beware, though, this polish is an absolute beast to remove; just snaggy glitter for days.

Lava – Sally Hansen Lustre Shine

This gorgeous, tequila sunrise-hued polish is one of the oldest in my collection.  It is so, so flattering; I think it looks just like a maple leaf on the cusp of its big yellow-to-red colour change.

What are your favourite Fall-onlys, friends?  Anything I really ought to be adding to my collection?  Please do hit me up, and a wonderful weekend to you all. 🙂

Purple Haze

Never actually been into Hendrix (so random, very tiresome) but I am into these nails, which technique-wise, are way outside my usual.  In that there is an identifiable technique at work here – two of them, actually, sponging and striping tape – instead of my usual free-handed approach.  I like the precision, even if I think there needs to be more of those cool holo-striped beams.  And perhaps a change in colour, something a bit more vibrant that won’t merge quite so seamlessly with the silver base polish I used here, ILNP’s ultra holographic Mega.)  Maybe pink?  You know, like the long lost Jimi Hendrix song, Pink Haze. 😉

Leafly

Here’s a pretty, autumn-appropriate polish to add a bit of subtle sparkle to your seasonal soirees, ILNP’s chromatic flakie, The Road to Awe (as in “Oooo!” not “Awww!”)  Despite being released two or three years ago, this polish is still available on ILNP’s site, a testament to its beauty and popularity – it’s just a gorgeous polish.  And a fantastic pick for the Fall, too, with its colour-shifting chromatic flakies in a range of plummy purples, bronzey oranges and leafy yellows (here over a basic black creme, always the best base on which to show off any of these kind of chromatic polishes; classic bedfellows, if you will.)  I also love the smattering of hyacinth blue flakes – they’re the perfect hit of neon to liven up The Road to Awe’s crunchy, glittery “leaves.”  Perfect and perfectly pretty.

Pew Pew!

Holographic lasers (ILNP’s silver holo, Mega) dance across a midnight blue sky (Enchanted Polish’s Desert Night Sky) in this simple, striping tape-enabled manicure. Pew pew, a direct hit!

Fall Fun Series: Forest Floor

A number of blogger friends participating in the Fall Fun Series live in Florida, which is currently being lashed by Hurricane Matthew.  Being roughly 1,600 miles from the action, there’s little I can do but wish for my friends’ continued safety and a speedy resolution to the storm.  But while they’re all hunkered down, I thought it might be a nice little diversion to take a peek at the softer side of Mother Nature with both this very leafy manicure, and some of the changing leaves I’ve recently spotted around my neighbourhood.  And not for nothing, Florida friends, but when this coming winter rolls around and I’m up to my Canadian eyeballs in freezing rain, you will have it allllll over me!

This simple, sponged-on manicure was a total breeze and so much fun – I love nail art that calls for you to just play around with a whole mess of colours.  It also reminds me of the crisp blanket of multi-coloured leaves that fall to the ground of a maple forest floor.  And nothing more exciting here than red, green, orange and brown polishes randomly sponged over a light tan base and topped with ILNP’s very leafy-looking The Road to Awe multi-chrome flakie.

But looking up from my nails for half a second, one of the things I’ve really enjoyed about participating in the Fall Fun Series is that it has forced me to stop, slow down and really appreciate the beauty of my surroundings at this time of year.  Living on the bend of a tree-lined river, with the leafy Gatineau Hills visible from every one of my windows, I suffer an embarrassing amount of leaf riches.  And yet, every year when the final burnished leaf hits the ground, I’m surprised that Fall came and went so quickly, and I hardly even noticed its presence. No wonder Ma Nature’s so pissed come wintertime.

But this Fall I’m finding myself present, to use an obnoxious term, in ways I’ve simply not been in years past. And if that comes at the behest of a blogging challenge, well, that’s just fine with me.

I can’t just lay down some lacquered leaves, though, and leave (wah-wah) it at that.  So how about the real deal? Like these leafy trees (against an endless-looking sky) along the Ottawa River that are just beginning to turn.

Or these vibrant trees edging the parking lot of a local theatre (where I recently watched Bridget Jones’s Baby, which I quite liked.)

Or this tree that stands to the side of a path directly below my balcony.

There’s so much beauty out there – you just have to pull your head up every now and then and actually enjoy it. Stay safe, and happy Fall, friends.

Eye Spy

This combination of polishes, ILNP’s multi-chromatic flakie topper, Paradox, over Enchanted Polish’s plum holo, January 2015, reminded me so much of the colour and effect of the wallpaper in Disney’s Haunted Mansion, I added some not-so evil eyes just to seal the ghostly deal.  These nails should keep the haunts of the Mansion extra happy, but all the same, keep your eye(s) on this one. 😉

Disney Girl Challenge: Ariel (One More Time)

Looks like third time’s the charm for these charming Ariel nails that borrow quite a bit from a previous design, while adding some serious infrastructure upgrades in the form of new shells – a couple of nail charms from Daily Charme – for one Miss Mermaid.

I love these nails!  I think this manicure turned out so well, particularly the shells, which started out life as plain white charms that I then painted a holographic purple (Enchanted Polish’s August 2015), highlighted with the same purple multi-chrome I used in Ariel’s tail.  Speaking of, her tail also got a bit of an upgrade – ILNP’s glitter flakie topper, Supernova, over Polish Me Silly’s mermaidy multi-chrome, Paradise, for a scale-type look.

Ariel’s face over on my thumb also looks much improved.  Pupils are the windows to the soul, and everybody should have them, even my little Disney nail characters. 🙂