Frosty Freeze

That’s me!  Or rather, I’m frosty and freezing.  To paraphrase Captain Raymond Holt of Brooklyn 9-9, where I live (Eastern Ontario, Canada) it is colder than Cocytus, the frozen lake of Hell.  And has been that way – resolutely, aggravatingly so – all. week. long.  We’re talking temps that dip into the mid-20s (NEGATIVE 20 DEGREES) but owing to BS metrics like windchill, actually feel like they’re in the -30s.  I haven’t been warm all week.

Anyhow, all that to explain how these nails, which started out in a tropical place, wound up looking more like frosted snowflakes.  Because everything in my life is frosted in snowflakes these days, so why not also my manicures?!  Also because the glittery purple polish I chose, a nameless stocking stuffer I received last year, is itself just frosty enough to make what started out life as floral fronds into ice cold lace daggers.  Or sorry, as you may know it, snow.  Because there’s also been a ton of that this week as well, inexplicably – it’s really not supposed to snow when it gets this cold, but somehow, it’s managed BOTH at the same time!  As have I with these nails. 😉

Glam (Polish) Snowflakes

Here’s another one for the pretty ‘n’ glittery mani files, this time a semi-successful pastel snowflake design atop a holographic gradient using a Glam Polish lacquer that always reminds me of round, glittery Christmas ornaments.  Actually, save the base polish (lakur’s beautiful purple-grey Opal) and the bright turquoise creme on my index and pinkie fingers (A England’s Whispering Waves) I used three Glam Polish colours here, glittery, ornament-y You’re Entirely BONKERS, dusky pink Hey Mama and sea foam Ladies Choice.

I’m not sure how successful I was with the design on my two middle fingers – it looks more like coral or some sort of hanging flower than a snowflake.  I suppose that’s a function of the colours I chose here – there really aren’t that many pink and blue snowflakes out there.  And if there are…well, that probably can’t be good. 😉

Sunset Snowflakes

I think this could be a refrain sung right ’round the world these days, but here in the Ottawa Valley, we have been experiencing some very odd weather as of late.  Way early snow (we always get it, but it rarely sticks this fast), sub-sub-freezing temps and mini blizzards alongside the winter’s setting sun.  So inspired was I by this latter event (pretty for the grand total of about 30 seconds before the endless frozen precipitation obliterated the sunset’s gorgeous pastel hues) I did some nails!  Anything to cheer m’self up weather-wise, ’cause it’s only November, and we Canadians in this for the long haul.

Unicorn Dreams

To paraphrase Ed Helms’ little tiger-centric ditty in The Hangover, what do unicorns dream of, when they take their little unicorn snooze?  Do they dream of impaling idiots in expensive Etsy unicorn headbands, or even bigger idiots at Coachella in some holographic catsuits?

Okay, so I think the whole unicorn thing is a little played out.  I particularly dislike any of the numerous indie bath and beauty products named after any bodily function or fluid of a unicorn.  Seriously, that’s so gross, stop giving your products such off-putting names.

Still, slight diatribe aside, it’s the best descriptor I have for this polish, Liquid Sky Lacquer’s Dream – unicorn-y.  Just look at that rainbow flare!  And the tiny blue flakes and the micro shimmer, and the almost neon-looking holographic effect, too.

I love this polish so much, and I just had to dig it out of “Why don’t I wear this more often?” storage yesterday to take advantage of the dazzlingly bright sun and clear blue skies.  Because this was the weather we were experiencing here about a day and a half ago – total whiteout.  You know, just your standard, bitchingly lame springtime blizzard.  As you do.

And then today’s afternoon forecast is calling for more of the snowy same, only hopefully this time ever so slightly less fierce and roof-rippingly intense.  So good thing I got all these rainbow unicorn sparkles in while I could. 🙂

Icy Sweets

In oh so many different ways, but mostly this way, because hey look, check out what’s been going on for the past 36 solid hours!

I should note that these are totally common weather conditions in my city at this time of year.  Hell, these are sometimes common conditions at the end of April.  But as always (and I am confident I’m not alone in this assessment) I am now done, done, done with the winter.  Effing snow globe life is for the birds (or particularly disturbing episodes of Black Mirror.)

So it’s just as well I’m bound and determined to drag out every single springtime polish I own this week, if only to see if all those cheery shades can course-correct my crap weather-induced bad mood.  Here I started with KB Shimmer’s Sweet Egg-scape, a pastel glitter bomb that I always think reads a bit more Valentine’s Day than Easter, but to each polish creator their own, you know?  And then I topped it with a couple of icy treat nail charms, because we really can’t have anything spring-like around here without covering it in a crisp layer of frost or two inches of frozen slush, now can we?  Whoops, so much for reeling in that bad mood…

Snow Much Fun?

Eh, I’m not sure how much fun a snowstorm is at this time of year.  Even us loony (Loonie?) Canadians are tired of the wet, tired of the ice, tired of the slush (and where I live, it frequently snows straight through to about the middle of April.)  Ugh, why do I live here again?  Oh right, because Canada is awesome. 🙂

And so is this nail polish, KB Shimmer’s optimistically titled Snow Much Fun!  I typically drag this lacquer out around this time of year, if only to remind myself that snow really is beautiful, and ONE DAY it will eventually stop.  Right?!  Oh my word, PLEASE let it stop!

Delicate Drifts

It might be a little early in the cold weather season for my mitts to be looking quite so chapped, but the condition of my hands, as well as the inspiration for these nails, is perfectly in keeping with the crazy (and crazy cold) weather we’ve had lately.  Drifting snow, freezing rain, bitterly cold temperatures, maybe a bit of hail – we’ve had it all, and somehow all at once. It’s a horrible weather miracle!

I think this manicure is really pretty, particularly the flakes on my index and pinkie fingers, which I created using the pond manicure technique, which is when you free-hand a nail art design between layers of a super sheer jelly polish.  It a cool technique that makes everything look soft and diffuse, perfect for designs of fluffy, sparkly snow gently piling up on the windowsill.

In Winter It’s a Marshmallow World

Oh my gosh, so much snow yesterday. And perfect snow, too – downy, fluffy, sparkly bits of icy lace falling straight from the heavens. Beautiful and festive, yes, but also a royal pain in the arse to navigate – on snow days, if you don’t need to be out on the roads, you really shouldn’t be. Best to leave the marshmallow world to the snowmen, like these cute little charms my husband recently gifted me from Daily Charme, here atop KB Shimmer’s snowstorm-in-a-bottle, Snow Way. At least with their cute little scarves and jaunty hats, they’re warmly attired!

Neon Snow

These nails are a direct reaction to today’s weather, which apparently has called for apocalyptic snow.  Forty-two centimeters of the stuff, actually, setting a one-day record for snowfall in my city.  This would be relatively un-noteworthy (in Ontario, we get multiples of these kind of storms every winter) were it not for the fact that I’m caring for a friend’s home while they’re away on holiday, and that includes their driveway. Also not particularly noteworthy, but for the fact that I live in an apartment condominium, and I am hopelessly rusty at the “art” of slinging snow.  As in I haven’t done it in about a decade.  And now I’m about to shovel roughly 8,657 pounds of the stuff, to say nothing about the crusty build-up the city plows leave behind at the end of the driveway, and that’s all assuming I can even get near their house in the first place…okay, better take a pause here.  Think I’m working myself up into a snow shoveling-induced panic attack.

Nails!  Back to the pretty, pretty neon nails.  I actually had to take these photos inside, because outside on Hoth, it’s a marshmallow world that is unkind to photography – my flashy neon pink was reading a rather sickly orange, and that just won’t do.  Dump all the snow on me you want, world, but leave my neon pink manicure ALONE!!!

P.S. I took this photo eight hours ago when things were still somewhat manageable.  I just sent my friend an e-mail that simply read, “I hate this f*cking place.”