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. 😉

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…

Frosty Freeze

I was over at my parents’ for dinner last night, and both prior to and after I had THE most delightful time sllllooowwwwlllly driving my car up and down their double driveway, windows open, listening to the solid sheet of ice beneath the wheels of the car snap, crackle and pop.  It was a bit like driving over a frozen body of water without the fear of plunging to an icy and untimely death.  Gotta get your fun where you can, right? 🙂

These sponged-on nails are just as icy as my parents’ driveway.  For New Years, I hope it sees a bit of melt.

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.

Peak My Interest

So winter returned with a vengeance today.  Seriously, check this out.  That totally indistinguishable mass of grey clouds and pelting snow?  Hiding an entire RIVER.  The Ottawa River, to be exact, not that you’d ever know it.  Clearly I am living in a snow globe.

Shit’ll melt (heavens, that was an elegant turn of phrase) but until then, I need to do something to cheer myself up.  Because this major a snowstorm this late in the season is a major bummer.  Enter KB Shimmer’s Peak My Interest, a sheer, coral pink jelly sprinkled with periwinkle, pink, baby blue and white hex and triangle glitter. I always think this polish looks like Palm Springs in a bottle – it’s very early bird special, no?  Maybe that’s just the fabulously flamingo vibe I also get off this polish.  Hard to escape the Florida with this one!