We’re sailing in uncharted (frozen) waters here, friends, as these nails represent the first time in over 1,500 manicures (whaaa?) that I’ve not fully painted my nails to opacity, opting instead to go The Full Nail Monty! Or The Partial Nail Monty, as there’s some edge-of-the-nail accessorizing at work here in the form of Sally Hansen’s very frosty-looking Gem Crush in Showgirl Chic. Simple and elegant frozen fabulousness.
I think this polish, Sally Hansen’s Gem Crush in Glitz Gal, looks like granite. Feels a bit like granite, too. The Gem Crush polishes aren’t designated as textured polishes per se, but the diamond dust-type micro glitter that makes up its base does have a feel, particularly once you get into multiple layers like the three I’ve shown here. A coat or two of Seche Vite will smooth that out in a jiffy, and enhance Glitz Gal’s silver holographic glitter at the same time. That’s when it really looks like stonework, or the way the pavement glitters after a summer storm. And then, as the final finishing touch, I added a tough-looking silver spiked charm from Daily Charme to my ring finger for a mani that really rocks. Or just looks like rocks.
Yeah, I’m not sure I know what exactly that is either, but that any sort of rose pink/pewter/pale green colour combo is invariably described as being “Victorian.” I studied quite a bit of Victorian literature in university, but I don’t recall any lectures on their preference for dusky pastels, just that the poetry was quite florid, vital infrastructure was non-existent, class divides were worse than they are now and, if you were a degenerate writer at least, you died of all the sexually transmitted diseases before the age of 25 (whaddup, Byron, you sexy beast.)
I think my grandmother on my dad’s side would have adored these nails. She loved to decorate in this type of silvery rose colour, and at one point she even owned a pale pink Christmas tree. Believe me, I have tremendous envy!
For these grandmother and Victorian-approved nails, I went with a handful of complimentary Sally Hansen polishes from their Gem Crush and Color Foil lines, silvery-rose glitter Razzle Dazzler and metallic Rose Copper, respectively. I like how this design looks a bit like super posh, liquid metal holly berries. They’re T-1000 berries! Ooh, or holly berries for the Terminator’s gran! (Yes, folks, that is a prime example of the non-linear paths my brain occasionally takes. Hope you enjoyed the ride. Please exit through the gift shop.)
Confession: These nails are about as close as I like to get to open bodies of water capable of producing such waves. It’s not the waves themselves per se, because surfing looks awesome, nor a fear of drowning, because I’ve always been quite a strong swimmer, but rather the thought of all the aquatic squishies and biteies that dwell beneath the surface, just waiting for a tender, dangling limb to drift into their zone of attack…*SHUDDER* To quote Xander Harris of much-missed Buffy fame, I’m both tender and delicious! I mean, at the very worst, something large, slimy and hungry could eat you, and at best, something smaller, slimier and just as hungry could eat you…it’ll just take longer! Wait, that doesn’t sound like the better end of the deal…best to stay on land and keep the majesty of the ocean where you can better appreciate it – far, far, FAR away and maybe only in lacquered form!
For these nails I used a clutch of Sally Hansen Gem Crush polishes, a glittery mid-year gift from my husband, including Big Money, the sandy pink on my ring finger, and Blingtastic and Showgirl Chic, the silvery blues surfing the waves.
Finger Candy 