Monday, September 30, 2013

My home made pretty!

Hey everyone! Whew, painting the nails is one thing, but actually posting about it is another. Maybe with the colder weather approaching, I'll have less time for outdoor things and be inside all day polishing away!

I'd like to show you a polish that I made all by myself! Not from a premade bottle with eyeshadow or anything, but from scratch! My very first and I love it! I made it a few months ago, but I'm just now getting around to showing you.

This is a bright pink, with hints of blue/purple duochrome. This goes on super well with just one coat, but I had to do two just because.

This pic was taken with flash. The rest were just in my lightbox. This shows the holo effect the best. Obviously nothing will compare to how this looks in the sunlight. It's just sooo pretty in that natural bright light!


 You can see a bit of the color shift in this picture, as well as a bit of the holo effect.


I posted this picture because you can see the color in the bottle pretty well. The blueish tone really shines through in this shot.

I wish these pics showed the slight color shift better, but it's so slight that I'm not surprised one bit that you can't see it very well. Really, you can hardly see it in person when you know what you're looking for.
I love this polish so much! I've been finding myself wearing it constantly. I haven't named it, but I do think it needs one. What do you think? Any good name ideas for this lovely polish??

Thank you so much for reading, and especially thank you for putting up with my few-and-far-between posts!! I hope you enjoyed this lovely indie by yours truly!

♥ Jono

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Friday, August 30, 2013

Almost frosty gradient...

This mani reminds me of frost. Which isn't really that great! I'm not ready for the cold! Summer feels like it just started. I'm sure for all of you attending school, you feel the summer has already ended. It has, though, right?

I almost didnt post this. I did this mani about 3 weeks ago but was NOT thrilled with how the pictures turned out. The lighting made me sad, but I like the mani far too much to not share it. So here it finally is!






Hopefully on one of these angles you can see the colors well enough!! I think you should be ok. =)
Here we have Zoya Neely and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Neely is the base color, and the OPI is doing the gradient. I found that this OPI isn't the best to gradient with, because it required just a few coats too many. It certainly worked well, however!!

The hearts that are incredibly subtle are from a silver holo that I made. Yay, I made a pretty! =D It stamped very well with BM 317.

I am super in love with this manicure! I can't believe how something so simple can be so lovely.

So I'm headed out to go camping this weekend. Hopefully the nails don't break too much. If they are in decent shape when I return, I'll get something nice for you.



Lastly, I want to give a shout out to one of my best friends and favorite bbygrl, Masha at Lost In Lacquer. She is such a doll and I love her sooooo much! I had to give her a goodbye hug this week. She is moving away from me. =( So I wanted to make sure that ALL of you know how amazing this woman is!!! ♥♥♥
Masha, I'll miss you sooooo much! Good luck in everything ahead!!

Loves!!!
Jonochi

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Simple and Daring

Hey friends,
I often see ladies with these massive acrylics with a lot going on. Lot's of color, lots of dots, lots of lines and stripes. My thought process is usually something like, "Pretty! Well, kinda. It's a little too much... No I take that back, it's pretty!" Nail art is pretty cool regardless how it's done, or who does it. I can't judge acrylics at all, because I have done them myself and it takes skill! Don't let anyone say it's not art!

Anyway, this mani is kind of inspired by all of the liney-dotty acrylic manis you see here and there. Simple, easy, yet stunning and eye catching! And not nearly as much going on. This is mostly because the lack of long acrylic!

Also I got sunshine shots! YAY for not doing nails at midnight!

This is a Ginger, a holo by Julep. As with most holos, the pictures don't do a bit of justice to the amazing effect! I love holographic polishes!
I was speaking with someone who had made a few polishes and she said something like "I don't like to take away from the quality of my polishes by adding holographic." I mostly understand, but you can always make two! That and, holo is in. Right? I don't folow trends very well, but it is still a pretty hard to get look, so I think it's still in!

The pink is Venique Kitten Heel Slides as shown in a swatch here. It's such a pretty color, and I know I don't use it enough! The white is Venique Wingtip White.

I used a small spotter brush for the detail. I miss doing detail work. Time for a steady hand again, I think!

 This is from the shady side of the tree. The color of the julep is so pretty with or without the holo effect! For this mani, I originally wanted to use OPI DS Classic, but I apparently gifted that out. =( This Julep works just as well.



What is your opinion on holos? Do you think they are overdone? Or could this world need more?
Let me know!

Thanks for reading!!
♥Jo

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Friday, July 26, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 16: Was a Gift...Also I'm Back!!!

Hey all!!
I've had some incredibly horrible nail breaks these last few months. There was blood. So yeah, I didn't feel up to blogging or even nail art in general!
I did manage to get some Pokémon themed nails in for Comic-Con. No pics, because it's the exact same thing I've done before!
Comic-Con, by the way, was a BLAST! I went with some really good friends and had a wonderful time. Already excited for next year!

Anyhow, here is [Finally!!] the last bit of my untried challenge!!

I don't have many bottles that were gifted to me, so I made use of just one! This will be a bit more of a swatch post, at that point. Oh well!


This is Borghese Marino. Raine at Lacquer Lily gave this to me back in the day. Thanks girl! Just now getting around to using it. And for a challenge! Does that make me less of a friend, or better because I was saving it for a special occasion?!


It needs more...But looking through my stash I realize just how few gift polishes I have, and then trying to find ones I haven't used?! Riiighhht.....

When in doubt...Mattify!


 I'm really down with the mattified look still. Is this look so last year? I don't care. =)



Super sorry about this short short post here! Short and incredibly simple! But now that my nails aren't non-existent (I say that with little to no exaggeration...), I'll be back in action with pretties for you very soon! =D

♥ Jonochi

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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 14 and 15: Glitter and Creme

Double today! That actually catches me up, too. YAY!
I'll keep this short. It's late, I'm tired.

These two untried polishes are glitter and creme!

This is Milani Silver Dazzle one coat glitter. And it was, too! I still did two coats, of course. It was fun because it dried with that glitter texture finish. I'm pretty sure I've had this polish for almost 2 years, so look at them being ahead of the game? Over the Milant, there are a few glitters of Essie Stroke of Brilliance that you can't see very well. I could NOT get a good pic. Oh well, it's decent enough for what it is!

Well, here is a good pic! This is our cremes. Butter London Toff and Julep Millie. Nails are almost too short for tips, but I haven't had tips in so long, I really needed it!

WOW! Just one more challenge in this UPC. We made it, guys! =D I may even have it up on what would have actually been the last day when keeping to the 3 day schedule. We'll see.

Short post? Yeah, maybe kinda I guess. Haha! ♥

Here are the other lovely participants!
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner

FYI - I will be having a blog sale soon! I just have to figure that out and get it running. Should be neato!

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 13: In Season

Ugh...I've been sick with a cold all weekend. I'm so done with this =(
It's going away now, but I've still got a sinus infection and seriously stuffed up. My ears hurt...
The worst part is the aaallllmost sneezes. The sharp intake of breath, ticked nose and then...nothing. And then my eyes water like crazy. =/

Lighter news!!
This day of the challenge is 'In Season'. Here I picked a nice coraly-pink color. I am not sure about this polish, though.


 This is a Claire's mood changing polish. 3 coats. Can I say it? Im going to: Shitty formula. There is no other adjective that can describe it! (Goodbye, family friendly blog!) It dried with a rubber finish, which is fine, but not what I wanted at all. Even after 3 coats there is still drag. It's just...bad! This is at room temp. Just sitting on my nails a while. Definitely more cold than not.

 Here it is after running it under hot water.

 Cold water. Basically the same as the first pic. I'm really thinking room temp is the same as cold just because I was cold for the first pic. Yeah, probably it!

 I wanted that natural gradient look you see with most mood polishes. I had to cheat and use an ice cube on the tips after hot water. I had to move fast so I couldn't even dry my hands!


This is after a few pats on a towel and a few snaps of the camera. Probably all of 15-20 seconds after the previous pic. As you can tell, the darker is already fading to light. Sitting here typing this i do notice a TINY color difference. My fingers are no longer icy cold, so that helps I'm sure.


Other lovely participants! ♥
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 12: Prettiest

Yay! Back on schedule...The one day late schedule, I mean. =D

Today is prettiest untried. Of course I have a holo that I've never used so that wins!I almost used this as most expensive, but it wasn't. Also it's the prettiest!

Butter London Fishwife is simply STUNNING! This takes 3 coats to get to this opacity. That's not terrible for a beautiful holo. The formula was a little inconsistent, but the finished product is so worth it!

 What's this?? I was blogging during the middle of the day? What is that strange natural light outside???

 Here it is in the lightbox, just so you can see it NOT in the sun!

The sun sure shows off the beautiful holo effect. Don't have any holos? Get down to Ulta and get this one! =D


Don't forget to check out the other participants getting ready to show off their prettiest untried polish!
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 11: Ugliest

Hey all.
late, yes. It's okay! This is for the ugliest untried polish. I'll keep it short, since I'm tired and should probably sleep soon!


Bar glitter is...Meh. The red is Nailtini Bloody Mary and the gold is Nailtini Millionaire. Both of these were in different Ipsy bags in the past. No no, the red isn't ugly at all. I rather like it! But this gold bar glitter is crazy. There are tiny little gold glitters init, as well as gold and blue/green (as in duochrome ish) bar glitters. Ever since I got it I've kind of hated it. Wearing it for a day has only a tiny bit changed that. Bar glitter isn't the worst thing in the world, but I definitely would pick something else!!

Anyhow, be sure to check out the others participating in this challenge! Good night! Or...Morning.

Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner

Little update: I am STOKED to see this challenge is being used by others across the blogosphere! YAY!
However, I am kind of bummed...Some of the images being used are cropped down to just the challenges. =( The credits and "rules" (guidelines!) have been removed.
So, as you original challengees: I deem thee the rightful knights of protecting this challenge! If you see it being done by a blog but they are using a cropped or redone version of the challenge, link them back here and to the original picture!
Most likely they won't be the one who edited it. They'd likely enjoy having the full and credited version. ♥♥♥
Thanks so much for keeping the challenge going!

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 10: Most Expensive

Yay, I managed to get this one up still only one day late! See how it's not midnight yet at my house? Yup, that's a thing.

Anyway, today is the most expensive untried I have. Masha picked this up for me in New York a while back. It's so pretty!




 This is a beautiful holographic purple. Fascination Street by Cirque. It sells for $15, and incredibly well worth the splurge! Support indies!!

The h9olo effect was hard for me to capture, but you can see it in the bottle fairly well. And OMG the sun. Do I have a sun pic? No, because it's midnight. But I did have the bottle in the sun, and like most holos, its absolutely gorgeous!!

So here I thought I'd do some underwater shots to get the effect. They didn't work so well, but this one turned out alright!

 Why is the surface of the water all ripply and covered with hair?

This. This is why.
Dr. Frank N. Furter is ON IT when he hears running water. He'll never go into it, but boy does he love to drink his water...



Other participants of the challenge. =)

Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner


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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 9: Cheapest

Wow. I really thought I would be on time with this one! But no, I actually am scheduling myself around being late, apparently. I thought today WAS the right day!! Oh well. Still just one day late, no biggie!!

Today I am showing my cheapest untrieds. This one was pretty hard, but I settled with a polish from the dollar store and a Wet n Wild. These are so untried, I haven't even used either brand on this blog.

This actually turned out really great!! I am very pleased with the results!




This is Wet n Wild Tickled Pink and L.A. Colors Pink Sizzle. I bought the WnW for a grab bag last year for my first nail polish party. I put a little WnW in everyone's bag, and this was a leftover. It's a cute pink, but it kinda clashes with my skintone, I think. These pics look fine, but IRL it's meh.
The L.A. Colors was during my phase of "Don't care what brand, GOTTA BUY!". Pretty sure I bought it at the little market next door to my mom's house. These are actually both really decent polishes, other than they both stink and for sure cannot be 3free! Well, maybe the WnW is, but still. I have yet to figure out why I discriminate against cheap polishes, I just do. I can't be the only one, right?? Other than they both needed one too many coats for my liking.

This mani was suuuper simple. Base of Ticked Pink, then I free handed the tips and covered the bad line with the holographic mirrored stripe tape(I have a hoop tape like that!). The accent was simply random striping tape covered with the Pink Sizzle.

Don't forget to check out the others participating in this challenge as well! I'm sure they are on time, too. =D
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Amanda at Designer Nail Accents
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish
Alison at UKNailRunner

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Untried Polish Challenge 8: Newest

Hey! Day late again. Oh well, at least I'm consistent!
Today I decided to recreate a mani that Missy from Gnarly Gnails had on. Only after I did it did I realize It could be way better. But it is still a fun design!! Hers are spaced much better than mine. Mine is super busy. Kind of a lot going on in the design with how many stripes I did.





You like blurry photos, right? :D
Here it is! This is Zoya Farrah and Josie. Farrah is a beautiful neutral, I love it so much! I just got it and Josie with the Zoya earth Day exchange. I only bought 5 bottles for myself with that. Crazy right?!

Anyhow, I will be redoing this mani again someday. I'll make less happeneing though. Also I'll use tape for the final coat over the stripe tape. That will make it look quite a bit better, I'd say.
I really love this tape design!!!



Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Erica at Coat of Mani Colors
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish 
Alison at UKNailRunner

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Friday, May 10, 2013

Untried Challenge Number 7: Oldest

Oh no! I'm late again!

Oh well. I still present you with a manicure!
Although, it's not  much to behold. xD


Bluuuurrrrrr......

Revlon Touch of Mauve is this nice neutral peach tone. It does have a slight shimmer finish , but the pics don't show that very well. It's sat since I bought it probably over a year or so ago. I've been missing out, yes?!?
To top it all off, I am using Orly Shine On [you] Crazy Diamond. I had a bottle of this that I messed with all over a fake nail trying to get a holo look. I swear I remember it more glitter dense. Perchance this bottle is older then the one I originally had. What I mean is that I had this polish, and swapped it out in a swap basket (Now my lovely roomie owns it, I'll have to invade her stash to compare the formulas). I got it back from someone else in the swap. Also it smells more chemically. So yes, I'm thinking it's an older bottle! No big deal. I feel like I have to own this polish for the name! =)

Anyhow, I'm pretty sure these two polishes aren't exactly the oldest bottles I own, but this challenge was super hard!! In the end, I'm sure I have a few Sinfuls that are much older and unused. But there you have it. =D

♥♥

Other beautiful participants!
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Erica at Coat of Mani Colors
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish 

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Untried Challenge Number 6: Cool

Hey! A day late on this one, my internet was down yesterday after work. Boo.

I'll keep this post short seeing as I have to be to work in a few minutes.

The bottle I'm holding is Cirque Planet Caravan. I have always felt that purples are cool colors, because it's a secondary color of blue and red, it could really go either way. So to make it more cool I've added Essie Dive Bar gradient. Now there is no doubt it's cool. Also a little sticker. Because it needed something!!
One pic today. It was hard to capture the subtle gradient in multiple angles, so this works just fine. =)

I'll have some super great swatches soon of some super great polishes I just picked up. Stay tuned!

♥♥

[edit]  I missed the list of participants somehow...
Masha at Lost In Lacquer
Raine at Lacquer Lily
Amy at Fancy Side
Sam at Polished Art
Lizajane at Organic Neglect
Blueberry Pie at Blueberry Nails
Kristina at Lacquer Fetish
Missy at Gnarly Gnails
Uni at Acetone FIles
Erica at Coat of Mani Colors
Isabel at Little Fairy
Raux at Raux Polish 

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Venique Sweet Little Addictions Swatches and Reviews

Hello everyone!
This collection that I have today has been out for a little over a month now, but I'm just getting my hands on it and reviewing it.

Venique's new collection is called Sweet Little Addictions. It's a candy coated collection of bright neons! They are all UV reactant, too! Some way more than others.

A few characteristics of all of these colors (so I don't say it six times!) is that they dry with a rubbery finish. Not exactly matte, but definitely not super shiny. You may see some shine in the pics, but that has a bit to do with the fact that I take my pics before they are set and dry. They are all a creme to jelly formula. I say both because it's almost somewhere in the middle. Each is opaque within 2 coats, unless specified. I'm kind of very in love with this collection!

Sugar Hi-Heeled is probably the blue that I've been looking for. I don't know why I wanted it, but this is it! 2 coats. The color is very bright, but not blinding. The first application was almost watery, but this may be my fault for lack of shaking. The second coat was opaque and thick as it should be.

 Give a Girl a Heel Breaker. This almost minty green is the only one that needed 3 coats. The formula seems to be a bit thinner than the others. The color is very nice. It's much more pastel than neon, but still calls for a "wow, that's a bright nail color!"

 Kara-Melt Chews was incredibly hard to photograph. The camera said it was more deep purple than it really is. I won't lie, I had to color manipulate this one to get the color closer to what it really is. It is a bright fuchsia color. Of the collection, this is the least UV reactant.

I'm a Sucker For Wedges. This bright pink almost needed 3 coats, but I let it slide. It is incredibly similar to the color listed below. I almost had a hard time remembering which one was which when I began to edit the photos.

Sugar on Hi-Platforms. You've seen this one before! This pic is so much better, though. It actually shows the color! It's more bubble-gum colored than the one listed above, but very similar. I think that one of these colors should have been replaced by a yellow or red to complete this rainbow of colors a bit more. Both pinks are lovely shades, but very similar for the same collection.



Orange Strap Wedges. Think of that bright orange hat and jacket that hunters wear. Yep, this is it. This photo tones down the vibrance of this color quite a bit, but I think you'll thank me for that! This orange is so bright that I swear I didn't need a UV light to give it the same effect! Outside, in the sunlight with everything else bright, this may look lovely. But indoors with only artificial light it is incredibly distracting! I'm not knocking the color at all, I'm just giving a fair warning! Had I given this pic the full brightness of the color, it would have looked terrible on even the most perfect of calibrated monitors!

That being said, a few of these pics may look bad on some monitors. They seem to be fine on my system(which is by no means calibrated, so here's hoping!), as well as a few others I've looked with. They are bright. Hopefully they won't blind you! I'll tone down the contrast if I need to. Let me know!

Here is a bonus picture. I set them up to my blacklight just to show you how vibrant they can be. Check out that orange!!



Very slow shutter speed with this. They are in the order listed in the post. I love how the floor is illuminated by the polishes! As you can see, Kara-Melt Chews hardly has any brightness to it under the blacklight. Definitely has some, however! Orange Strap Wedges just blows me away in this light! I think it will be my new clubbing polish. =)

PS - YAY I built a new lightbox! It's not quite everything I want yet, but it's so much better! I'm actually pleased with the pictures. =D


See you next time!♥

All polishes in this review were purchased by me. This post is in no way endorsed by Venique.

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