JORD Wood Watches Review

Hello all! Something a bit different today, and *surprise* it's actually some newly created content.  I received this lovely wood watch from JORD a couple weeks ago, and have put together a neat little photo spread to show it off.  I'd forgotten how much I love doing things like this; here we go! 

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

The model I got was the Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple.  The packaging presentation was absolutely beautiful, as you can see below.  

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

It came in a wooden box with the JORD logo on the top.  Underneath the cushion holding the watch, there was a cleaning cloth, a warranty card, and a few extra links.  

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

Inspired by the natural simplicity and elegance of the watch, I painted my nails in two coats of the earthy but rich LaCC 1981, and added a row of gold loose glitter along the base of each nail.  Topped off with one coat of Seche Vite, as always.  

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

Of course I was delighted to find that the watch fit perfectly.  In terms of size, it's a bit on the chunky side for a women's watch.  I personally prefer larger watches, so this was absolutely perfect for me.  However, if you're one who prefers smaller, more streamlined watches, this particular model may not be for you.  (I actually only own one other watch, and it's even larger than this one.) Luckily they have got quite a good selection of models, so I'm sure there's something for everybody. 

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

I've been wearing it around quite a bit over the past couple weeks, and have gotten a few compliments on it which is always lovely.  It is quite a unique piece, and I'm glad to have added it to my wardrobe! They are a bit on the pricier side (for a young professional artist like me who doesn't get paid very much) but if you're looking to treat yourself, this is definitely an awesome piece. 

JORD Wood Watch: Fieldcrest in Zebrawood & Maple

This watch retails for $120 USD, or £77 GBP at the current exchange rate.  You can find this specific model here, and also browse the rest of the JORD watches collection. 

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided in return for my honest opinion. 

Wooden Watch Review

Skittlette from the Vault

Hello!  It feels slightly strange to be writing a post again, since I haven't blogged since January.  I didn't stop for any other reason than that I found it wasn't really compatible with my work schedule.  Being a professional ballet dancer in a company that does lots of performing has been amazing, but unfortunately I've got to wear nude polish when I'm onstage, which is quite frequently.  I'm not sure if I'll get back into blogging regularly, but I've got quite a few photos piled up in folders that never got posted, so I'd at least like to get those shared.  Beyond that, I have still been doing my nails frequently, so I may pop up from time to time with new stuff.  

There have been some other major changes with me, the main thing being that I'm now living in England as an Irish citizen.  Once I finished the season with the ballet company in Toronto, I moved to London and have been here with my family since May.  I will be starting with a ballet company north of London in just over a week now, which I'm very excited for!  

Anyways, I know you're all just here for the nails (if any of you are still left after my unplanned hiatus!) so here's something I hauled from the vaults.  This was from a week-long stint at the end of January where I went oval before filing them down to nubs again. 

The polishes used here are LaCC 1973 (purple), LaCC 2005 (white), LaCC 2002 (black), and A England She Walks In Beauty.  The houndstooth pattern is from BM-322.  

So I *guess* if I get back to posting enough, I'll be one of the group of English nail bloggers now?  Anyway, I know my performance schedule this coming year will be absolutely crazy, as we're touring all year and doing about 130 performances all over the UK.  But I'll work on clearing out the vaults for now, and beyond that maybe find time for the occasional post once in a while.

Thanks to all of you who've stuck around! :)

Frilly Knickers Grey-dient

This morning I've got some gradient nail art to share with you, featuring two of the polishes from the LaCC Fall 2014 Collection which I swatched here.  

I started by laying down one coat of 2000 (grey), and then sponged on the gradient with that and 2002 (black).  I thought it could use a little something more, so I added a coat of Butter London Frilly Knickers on top.  It's all sealed with a coat of Seche Vite.  

It's a pretty simple look, but I quite enjoyed wearing it!  What do you think?  :)

LaCC: Fall 2014 Collection

Hello!  I'm super excited about today's post, since I get to share another LaCC collection with you!  This is a collection of five polishes that were released for Fall 2014; there's a beautiful blue, a great nude, and the ever-useful black, white, and grey.  Let's get to it!  

Continue reading after the jump. 

NYE Mani

Hooray, Nutcracker season is over!!  My December was pretty much consumed by doing those twenty performances, so much so that I sadly only got to do one Christmas mani.  But as fun as the run was, I'm glad to be done with it for another year, and we've got a few weeks now of just rehearsals so I can actually (hopefully) have time to do some nail art again!  

Our last shows were on Decmber 30th, so of course one of the first orders of business on the 31st was doing some awesome nail art for New Year's Eve that was totally not stage-appropriate, woohoo!!

I just recently received the LaCC Fall release polishes in the mail and hadn't had time to play with them yet, so I decided to use the black 2002 as the base for my nail art.  There will be a full review of this collection up shortly, as soon as I finish swatching them all.  

For now, all you need to know is that this is just one fabulous coat of 2002!  The nail art was painted freehand with a nail art brush and Barry M Gold Foil.  I picked up that polish while I was in London because I had heard good things about painting and stamping with it; this was the first time I've tried it and let me say that I was super impressed!  I'm normally one for only freehanding with acrylic paints because I find polishes difficult to work with (especially in line work).  But this polish was so super easy to work with, it will definitely be a go-to from now on!  

It's been a long time since I've done any freehand work, especially attempted fine lines like this, so I was a bit nervous going into it.  But in the end, I was really pleased with how it turned out!  It has a bit of a Gatsby 20's vibe to it, which I'm loving the feel of!  What do you think?  :)

1941x1997 Watermarble

Good morning!  It was my 19th birthday yesterday, and even though I had to go to work all day for extra Nutcracker rehearsals, it was a pretty good day!  I was glad to at least have Saturday off though, because I got to do some early Christmas shopping and went to see Big Hero 6 with my boyfriend, which was such a funny movie.  My main birthday present from him will the new Pokemon Alpha Sapphire for 3DS, but that doesn't come out until this Friday so I've got that to look forward to!  :)

Anyways, today's post is just a watermarble mani that I did before leaving on tour in October.  I saw both of these beautiful LaCC polishes sitting side by side in my helmer, and knew that I had to put them together on my nails!

Not too much to explain here really.  The red, 1941, is from the core Fall/Winter line that was released in late 2013.  The light dusty periwinkle, 1997, was one of two new releases for Spring/Summer 2014.  Two easy coats of each for full coverage, and as always the LaCC polishes are fabulous to use for water marbling.  All nails are topped off with LaCC 2013 top coat. 

What do you think of this look?  :)

Born Pretty Store Review: 3D Rhinestones

When browsing though nail art supplies on Born Pretty Store I usually gravitate towards the water decals, but I figured I should try something different this time and picked these rhinestone decorations instead.  

I started with two thin coats of LaCC 1997, blocked off the stripes with striping tape, and painted the rest with LaCC 1973.  I added the large rhinestone decorations with a dot of nail glue, and attached the smaller rhinestones with top coat.  The 3D decorations felt decently secure on my thumb nail since it's less curved than my other nails, but the flat back of the decoration on my middle finger nail wasn't quite as secure, as the edges poked out quite a bit.  They managed to last through a couple hours of the evening, until I took them off to shower before bed.  

I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan of these, they looked very cheap and plastic-y compared to other 3D decorations I've tried from BPS, and I was wishing they were just a big more sparkly.  However, the opal colours in the oval one were quite pretty!  

Don't forget to use my code PPJ61 to get 10% off your order.  What do you think of this mani?  Let me know in the comments!  :) 

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Dusty Colour Blocking

In a post over at The Nailasaurus last week, Sammy did a cute colour-blocking mani; she also linked to Adobe Kuler, as a source of colour inspiration.  Let's just say, I was hooked for a solid twenty minutes scrolling through all the amazing colour combinations that I would never have thought up by myself!  

Obviously, today's nail art is inspired by one such colour combination.  Specifically, this one.  I also decided to grab inspiration from Sammy's colour-blocked design, because my head was too busy swimming with colours to be able to think coherently about making a design up, (as well as loving her design, of course!) 

Source

Although my polishes don't match the inspiration exactly, these are the colours that it made me think of when I saw it.  The polishes I used are mainly LaCC (you know how much I love those for nail art!).  I've used LaCC 1981 (salmon-nude), 1997 (periwinkle), and 1969 (green), as well as LVX Fantom (white).  

It's been quite a while wince I've done a tape mani, I tend to avoid them because of the ages waiting between drying and taping.  However in this case, I think it was totally worth the patience, because I love it!  I'll definitely be using Adobe Kuler as a source of inspiration in the future as well, it's so useful.  What do you think?  :)

Guest Post at Polished Elegance

Good morning!  After an exhausting weekend of shows directly followed by a week of touring for performing and teaching, I'm finally back.  However, I'm moving to a different city in just under two weeks, so not much time to rest.  

I did a guest post for the wonderful Lisa at Polished Elegance which was posted on Monday; I would have shared sooner but I only got home super late Monday night and didn't remember to schedule a post in advance.  Anywho, you can click here or on the photo below to be taken to the guest post!  

I've also created a tutorial for this nail art, so keep an eye out for that (hopefully) tomorrow!  :)

LaCC Floral Nail Art & BPS Gold Studs

Good morning!  As I mentioned in Saturday's post, I was super excited to do some nail art with the new LaCC Spring/Summer releases.  This was the first design that I came up with, and I knew it would look awesome accented with these nail art studs from Born Pretty Store.

I started with three thin coats of LaCC 1992, one of my favourite light pink/nude polishes ever!  Next, I freehanded the roses using a few LaCC purples: the new shade 1997 for the main part, 1973 for the darker outlines, and a bit of 1972 for some more dimension.  Once that was dry, I taped over the flowery halves of my nails and painted the other half in the new shade 1969.  I also added some leaves on the flowers in the same green to tie it together.   All nails were topped with two coats of LaCC 2013 top coat. 

I was going to attach the studs with nail glue, but upon grabbing mine I discovered it had glued itself shut... I tried all I could but it wasn't budging, so out of necessity I just attached them with dots of Seche Vite.  They're pretty large so they didn't stay on very long that way, but I'm sure they'd stay on a lot better with nail glue!  

You can buy these gold studs here from Born Pretty Store.  Don't forget to use my coupon code above for 10% off!

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

LaCC Spring/Summer 2014: New Releases

Good morning!  I wasn't planning on posting today, but I got some exciting nail mail and just had to squeeze in a post... I've got the two new Spring/Summer releases for La Couleur Couture!  :)

LaCC is one of my favourite brands for their consistently flawless creme formulas in universally flattering shades.  On top of that, LaCC polishes are 5-free, cruelty-free, vegan, breathable, gluten-free, paraben-free, and UV inhibiting.  What's not to love? 

Onto the new shades!  1997 is a complex creme; depending on the lighting it can read as a dusty mauve, lilac, grey, or periwinkle.  So beautiful!  

I applied two effortless coats, sandwiched between LaCC 2012 base coat and 2013 top coat, which keeps any mani chip-free for days on end.  I'm so in love with this shade; it feels very rainy-spring-day to me, which is a lovely bit of nostalgia for me as I grew up in Vancouver where it's rainy 80% of the time.  It also happens to be where LaCC is based!  ;)  I've already done some nail art over this beauty, so look out for that post in a week or so.  

1996 is an interesting green creme, it borders between a pastel green (like 1968) and an army green.  This one also looks different depending on the lighting, so I can do a comparison with some other greens if that's something you're interested in seeing.  Let me know!

Once again, two perfect coats for opacity.  No top coat on this swatch, just to show you how shiny these polishes are by themselves!  They also dry incredibly quickly.  This one feels like a lovely floral green, and is a very flattering shade that I'm sure would look amazing on a lot of different skin tones!  I'm already bursting with ideas for nail art with this one, it'll be great for floral looks!  

You can see my reviews of previous LaCC collections here:  Spring/Summer 2013 & Fall/Winter 2013.  LaCC polishes are available online through the LaCC website, a list of other online retailers can be found here.  Also, as of very recently, LaCC polishes are available at 750+ Shopper's Drug Mart locations across Canada!! 

I'm head-over-heels for these two new shades, and I really can't wait to get to working them into some fun nail art looks!  I'd love to hear your thoughts as well!  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Upside-down French

Happy Friday!!  I've still got class and rehearsals all day Saturday and an audition on Sunday though, so this isn't exactly the last day of the week for me, haha.  Today I've got a look to share that I wore earlier this week and thought was pretty cool!  

But first, for those of you who read my last post and were curious, my sister started her blog earlier this week!  It's called Contemporary Affair, and you can see her first post here.  (Blog design done by me from her ideas, until she can figure out how to redo it herself!)  ;)  I'm sure she'd absolutely love if you could pop by and take a look;  I think her first post is great and I'm really excited to see more, and if you are too it would be awesome if you could leave a comment!  

Onto the nails!

I picked up OPI This Gown Needs A Crown at Winners a couple weeks ago, and finally got around to wearing it.  I applied three easy thin coats alone, and figured it needed a little something more.  I decided to add a reverse French tip (straight half-moon?) with LaCC 1999 for a stark contrast, and I'm really happy with how it came out.  

I think the silver and black compliment each other so well; the slight contrast in finishes and stark contrast in shade makes this simple mani really bold!  What do you think?  :)  

And one last shameless sister blog plug, because (I may be a bit biased) but I really hope that she enjoys blogging and does well, and want to get the word out!  <3

Studded Neutral Gradient

Good morning!  I had a nice relaxing 4-day break over Easter weekend, but I'm ready to get back to blogging!  However, as those of you who know me personally (or follow me on IG) are aware, my immediate family is moving to London (England, not Ontario) tomorrow, so this weekend has been anything but relaxing for them as they packed up the entire house to be shipped across the pond!  As for me, things are still up in the air as to whether I'll stay here for another year or go with them, but we'll see how it all works out. 

Over the past few days I've been helping my sister set up her own blog to document her new life in London, as well as fashion, nails, and food posts.  She's planning to start posting over the next few days, so once she does I'll definitely link to it so you guys can check it out.  I helped her with photos for the first few fashion posts! ;) 

Onto the nails!  This is a look I wore a few weeks ago, and really loved the simple sophisticated look of. 

I started with a coat of LaCC 1981, and the then sponged on the gradient with (lightest to darkest) LaCC 1981, 1988, and 1998.  I then added columns of gold studs to my accent nails, and finished it all with two coats of Seche Vite. 

I'm a huge fan of neutral gradients, they just look so awesome and these three LaCC polishes blend together perfectly!  What do you think of this look?  :)

NCLA Nail Wraps: Brillapalooza

A couple days ago I checked my mailbox as usual, only to find a wonderful surprise - a set of NCLA nail wraps sent to me by the lovely Tiffany at Nail Polish Canada!  I really like the mix of designs in this set, so I chose a couple and put together a skittle mani.

I used two of the NCLA Brillapalooza nail wraps for my middle and ring fingers.  My pinky is two coats of LaCC 1999, and my index is two coats of LVX Fantom with a black stud from Born Pretty Store.  All nails (including the wraps) are topped with a coat of Seche Vite.  

I forgot to take a photo of the set of nail wraps before removing the ones I was using, so I've included the photo from Nail Polish Canada. You can find and purchase this set here; all orders within Canada currently ship free (no minimum) so take advantage of that while it lasts! ;)

This isn't a full review post because I've previously reviewed NCLA nail wraps - you can find those posts here.  However, I will mention that I didn't have nearly as easy of a time applying these as I did with the other sets; the wraps now seem to be a bit thicker which makes it a bit more difficult to get a completely smooth finish.  It wasn't too much of an issue though, I'd still recommend these!  

A lot of these wraps are designs on transparent backgrounds or have transparent cutouts (like the ones I used,) so I'm interested to experiment with how I can incorporate the rest of them into nail art.  What do you think of this look?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment!  :)

Your Potions Master

Good morning!  Today's look is a simple double-accent manicure I did a while back, featuring Crows Toes Absolum - Your Potions Master.

I started with a base of LaCC 1999, two perfect coats for opacity.  My accent nails are topped with one dabbed coat of Absolum - Your Potions Master.  For my other two nails, I picked individual glitters out of the bottle and placed them on the nail.  The whole thing is smoothed out with a coat of Seche Vite, followed by a coat Essie Matte About You.  

I really enjoy wearing Crows Toes glitters matte - you can really see all the individual glitters that go into these complex polishes! 

Incidentally, this mani ended up perfectly matching both of my Agent P phone cases!  Yes, I am the cool kind of 18-year-old girl who has two different Perry the Platypus phone cases.  Unfortunately though, I only got photos of my mani with the one I was using at the time.  I love it!!  :)

Negative Stripes

Although they aren't nearly as festive as my skittlette mani a few days ago, this is what I actually had on my nails on Valentine's Day! 

This was my first time trying negative space nail art, and I was really happy with how it came out!  After painting my base coat (LaCC 2012) I laid down two pieces of striping tape and quickly painted two thin coats of LaCC 1941, and removed the striping tape while the polish was still wet.  I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.  

I was initially hesitant about trying this technique because I was worried that the whole naked-nail-showing thing would just look weird, but it actually looked very modern and sophisticated!  I much preferred this to my over-the-top Valentine's Day skittlette, haha!  Which do you prefer? :)

Casino Royale Framed 1972

I'd been wanting to try the framed nail look for quite a while now, and I finally got around to doing it last week! 

The colour scheme was inspired by a few of the ballet company dancers' Yumiko leotards; two of them have leotards in this dark berry colour with faded lilac trim, and I love those shades together! 

I started with two coats of LaCC 1972, and freehanded the frames with OPI Casino Royale.  I decided to add the line down the middle when I was really not liking how the frame looked, and it did make it a bit better. Unfortunately I just wasn't a fan of this look, personally.  I've loved photos of it on other's nails, but it just didn't look great on mine.

Have you ever tried a technique that you loved on someone else's nails, only to have it fall flat on your own?  Let me know in the comments! 

1999, Recycled & Upgraded

I mentioned in Friday's post  that I'd recycled the black nails from that mani and made an entirely different look, and that's what I'm sharing with you this morning!  

Same as before, the black nails are two perfect coats of LaCC 1999, which has great staying power when sandwiched between LaCC 2012 base coat and 2013 top coat!  To those nails I added some square peach studs from the Born Pretty Store.  

I changed my two accent nails up by putting on three thin coats of piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream, a favourite spring/summer polish of mine!  The weather's not been very nice, so I was in the mood for something bright!  Those nails are topped with one easy coat of my favourite black and white glitter topper, Different Dimension Social Suicide.  All nails have two coats of LaCC 2013 top coat.

On a side note, what do you think of this different watermark?  I was trying to come up with something that was more unique and incorporated my logo, but I'm not sure if it's readable enough and if the image distracts from the nails.  Let me know what you think!  

Anywho, I much prefer this look to the previous one.  Recycling those nails to use as a starting point for a very different double-accent look was a fun way to quickly change up my mani!  :)

Chita & 1999

Happy Friday!!  I'm so ready for the weekend... Anwyho, just a quick post this morning with a double-accent mani I wore a couple days ago.  :)

On my accent nails I used one perfect coat of Zoya Chita, and added three black studs from a Sally Hansen I <3 Nail Art kit using Seche Vite.  I wasn't too impressed with these studs, unfortunately; a lot of them are misshapen around the edges and have little pokey bits, and they stick up from the nail more than I'd like.  Although they did stay on for two whole days, without any top coat to seal them in!  (Didn't want to ruin the textured finish of Chita!)

My other nails are all two effortless coats of LaCC 1999, the most perfect black with a lovely deep shimmer.  Those nails are topped with one coat of LaCC 2013  top coat.  

Honestly, I was kind of indifferent about this mani.  Not that I really didn't like it, but I just wasn't a huge fan.  I love these two polishes individually, though!  What do you think?  

I've recycled the black nails in this mani and switched up the accent nails, so keep an eye out for that post soon!  :)