HANDS, NAILS, ETC.

I was ripping off a design from online in which the person had longer nails. Not sure the white branches translate as well short, think in future I'll make it graphically simpler. But it's fun for now.

I think that's my favorite orbit mani yet!

When I am in NYC will you do my nails??? I am envious of LL and it will inspire me to take care of my cuticles.

that looks awesome, l!!
winter is a good time to do nails because it's one of the only areas of exposed skin

It makes me keep my dry awful cuticles in shape, too.

io, that looks great!

Thanks! I'm going to a show tonight, will twiddle my fingers a lot unnecessarily to show them off. q, of course I'll paint your nails if you want, if we can find a time! Sometimes when I finish my own I'm sad to be done already because I have more ideas to try, come on over.

I think LL is onto something about winter being nail time--in summer they're wet and in the sun and sand all the time (well, mine are) and a mani would be p much toast. And you get to have a visible body in the summer and wear light clothes, so there are other ways to feel luxurious and do something for your senses. Winter is a time that needs more color and calls for a little more formality and a harder outer shell to go with fighting the elements. We'll see how long I stay obsessed.

I tend to have painted nails in the winter, and painted toenails in the summer.

i read somewhere on pinterest that pam non-stick spray INSTANTLY dries nail polish, so i gave it a try tonight - i would say it works about 90%

I am pretty sure this is my personal favorite paint job of any I've done:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Manipulative/Electronicladybug.jpg

Cute!

Thx! The pink is really coral-y. I don't know, I just love it.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/17f6a57e5c0712737f34cf94a10b6cc6/tumblr_mh9lhdQglE1rlbyzno1_500.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/fe4bca107a26573b5c0c473c37c5fd2d/tumblr_mh9li8Oozj1rlbyzno1_500.jpg

both ads are from 1965 if this tumblr is to be trusted

nail art brush set for $6 and free shipping!

Those look good! I hope their quality is better than my brushes, some of which have disintegrated from the repeated lashings of acetone, and some of which aren't the right size and shape for details or small lines. I have to go to an art supply store and pick out more specialized ones, but that's okay. Use them in good health and have fun!

I tried a complicated color combination today...didn't like it. Tried a different polka-dot pattern on each finger...didn't like it. Ended up with this, which is same old-same old for me but what can I say--I LOVE IT.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Manipulative/Explosive_zps930ca219.jpg

That is a truly obnoxious orange, btw. Not red, as it may appear.

I got bored.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Manipulative/Multi_zps4547da23.jpg

Is that a little skull and crossbones on your left ring finger?

Whoa, nice work!

Yes, it's a tiny fimo slice made for nail art! I bought a whole kit of them, most of the others are girly, fruit slices, butterflies (which I will never use) but I do like the skulls.

Very cool.

rockin!

You want to hear a very cute story about nails that maybe made me tear up a little? I went to my nail lady for Shellac not last Friday but the one before that and we wound up talking and I told her what's going on in my life. By the time I'd left she said that for the foreseeable future until I adjust to being on one income etc. she's only going to charge me her Groupon price (which is $15 < than the normal price) because she wants me to keep coming and knows how good having nice nails can make you feel. It was so damn sweet.

wow! that's a really lovely gesture

Right?! I totally protested and told her I wouldn't let her but she was really adamant about it and it was just a really nice sweet thing.

Aw, that makes me happy! It's nice to know that people are so kind, and that someone is caring for you in that way (and having nice nails do make you feel better imo).

Aww, E! What a sweet gesture.

Rad nails, L!

OPI and Butter have both gone up in price. I haven't noticed if any other brands have.

My local beauty supply store has stripers in a world of colors for $1.99 each, and a bunch of cheap brands of polish that I don't know anything about for like $5 or something, so I hadn't even noticed!

OMG, Juliana Hatfield just responded to my nail polish question on Twitter.

QUESTION HERE, PLEASE. And the response, naturally!!

^^^

‏@julianahatfield
this is what happens when i go to sephora
@soybombyx
@julianahatfield what shade/brand is the pink one?
‏@julianahatfield
@soybombyx dior lucky, maybe? it's brighter in person

I wanted to know because it looked similar to the one I am wearing now.

I think I am going to go buy Matte About You and also that OPI Onyx stuff that everyone seems to love so much and do black black matte nails for a minute.

(where do I get all this stuff again?)

Sephora or Ulta for sure, or some drug stores sell OPI and Essie.

I've ordered the bulk of my nail stuff from amazon.com at discounted prices from beauty supply stores.

Ya, it'd be difficult for me to pay retail after seeing that both of those products can be gotten for like $5/ea on Amazon (though shipping ain't free)

What I do is usually make a list of the colors or things I want and then see how many of them I can get from the same 1 or 2 beauty supply companies. Usually I can group things together. Doesn't have the instant gratification of retail purchase but then again retail means taking a $2.25 subway ride each way so it probably evens out.

I've been playing with neon-colored matte polishes and these striper brushes in black and silver, it's definitely very compelling, but I miss the graphic simplicity of the geometric paint jobs.

i noticed last time i was at the bookstore that there is a whole fashion magazine devoted to nails now

http://24.media.tumblr.com/e3768fb45d6db1d2485b91c566c7aedf/tumblr_mjb8qeH3Rd1qgp36ro1_1280.jpg

whoa

Galaxy nails!! They are so awesome. I haven't tried 'em because I've never gotten started on sponge-painting, but I might have to.

experimenting with planets/nebulae would be preeeeeeetty cool too
i might try that shit myself tbrr

I want galaxy nails!

Another nail fad I saw mentioned somewhere is turquoise nails, like marbled to look like the stone. It seems to involve a water marble that you spray with hand disinfecting spray, which breaks the surface tension and opens up a bunch of holes.

Aha. http://www.spektorsnails.com/2013/01/turquoise-stone-water-spotted-nails.html

OMG those are amazing.

I can't figure out how to show blogspot imgs but here's another good set: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2iXYwFbEGT8/UQ1rD4mS4bI/AAAAAAAAAu0/keDlUlhu66s/s1600/tumblr_mhiyp835lA1qzw2pco1_1280.png