DRAGONS ARISE(AND BOOTS)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is what I demand you scream at the top of your lungs, while you extend your arms to the heavens at the stroke of midnight.  Feel free to omit the boots part Deal?  Deal.

This manicure I actually did at the beginning of December and forgot to post it.  It's A-England Dragon and microbeads.  I wore it because I did another one of those fan fiction shows.  This time round it was Game of Thrones*.  I honestly was clueless on what I should do.  So I decided this would be the perfect time to use Dragon!  If you don't understand why it was the perfect timing go read the books(A Song of Ice and Fire) or watch the show.  It was simple and badass.  It was perfect.

Now I was hoping to take some shots in the sun so you could see Dragon in all its glory.  Alas in the 4 days I had the on the sun would NOT come out :(  Oh well.  Despite the fact that I didn't get to show it to you in the sun I would like to point out one of the reasons I LOVE holos like this.  No they aren't crazy and in your face.  In the sun they reveal their inner sparkle.  But even when you go inside while the holo might disappear you are still left with a stunning, rich colour.

 

Oh and check out my new Steve Madden Combat boots!  Courtesy of boxing day :) If you spend any amount of time with me you will quickly realize that my pair of combat boots are my favourite pair of shoes!  I've had them for a few years and decided it was time to upgrade.  I chose these because they were still simple enough to really wear with anything and anywhere. 

 

Last but not least EVERYONE HAVE A FUN AND BE SAFE WHILE RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR!!! So let's keep is classy and try not to start dry heaving on the way home :D

In which George fulfills one of her biggest lemmings ever:

China Glaze DV8:  Say it soft and it's almost like praying.

I've been wanting this polish since I first saw a photo of it about 2 years ago.  The sexy turquoise and the gorgeous holo were CALLING MY NAME.  I can hear it now, all the way across the Atlantic.

So I was always too frugal to buy it, but in light of my recent windfall I killed a few lemmings and this was one of them, thanks to the magic of eBay and someone in Australia.

So the first thing I noticed was that the usual complaint of a shitty formula was... Bullshit.  I mean like if this formula is bad I don't want to know what good is.  It GLIDES on and is perfect in two coats.

I didn't test the wear but I imagine it's short.  Not like I care, because for this gorgeousness if it gets me through the night, I am HAPPY.

Let's all mourn my long nails :(  Nail Envy rehab is going well, though!

One last shot in the shade because it's just as pretty there :D

You can't spell snow without 'No'.

Now I can give you a long and arduous list of all the things I hate, but I don't have time today.  Although I can tell you one thing that is one the list.  Snow.  Oh how I loath it.  We had a snowstorm the other day(ETA: And now it's snowing again!).  Ugh.  Now in my perfect world there would be a heavy snowfall maybe one a month from November to February.  It would be all pretty at night, everything would look stunning in the morning and I wouldn't have to leave the house that day.  Then the next day it would be completely melted, no slush(perfect world remember) and the weather would go back to being a crisp 10°C(This by the way is my idea of a perfect winter daytime high).

This being said even if I hate something, chances are if it looks pretty I will put it on my nails.  So here is my version of simple snow fall nails.  First I started with a base of Orly Sweet Peacock, then I did gradient tips with OPI Happy Anniversary(It is more noticeable in real life), next I dotted white acrylic paint for the snow flakes finally I finished off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust.  Easy as pie.  Unless you can't bake.

While we're on the topic of things I hate I guess I can add another thing.  Really hot weather. Vacation to Jamaica? Pass!

 Base on it's own.  Blue foil (dare I saw peacock blue?), 2 coats.  The formula was good but it wasn't amazing.

Sation Diamond Diggin' Diva

This post should be titled "Why I love glitter" because this polish is effing fabulous.  So I found this baby at Winners near my job in Toronto, and I'd never seen the brand before.  OBVIOUSLY I bought one as well as two other polishes of theirs(including the base colour you see here) and so far I am pretty impressed!

This is one coat over Sation Loudest Color.

So this glitter has plain silver glitter, large holographic hexes, and black hexes.  Talk about random selection, but I LOVE THIS.  The black gives it dimension and the holo sparkles are so pretty!  I need more ideas of what to layer it with, though.  SUGGESTIONS?

The black glitters are what make this awesome.

So I'm in AFRICA.

WHOA.  Hey Valkyries, remember me???  Probably not, you fickle folks, but you get to put up with me anyway.

So for those who've forgotten, I'm currently with the parentals in SOUTH AFRICA, where my dad hails from and where my mom spent 10 years with him directly pre-me(I just turned 24 and they've been in Canada like 24.7 years).

So far, we've been on the family farm just outside Pretoria(where if you don't like centipedes, goats, large drooly dogs, one-eyed cats, and FLIES OH SWEET MARIA THE FLIES you really should just look at pictures), Jo'burg to see old friends, Hartebeespoort dam, and Cape Town for a day.  Now we're in the middle of my request, Oudtshoorn, because OSTRICHES.  I like ostriches a lot.  There is a small chance I might ride one while here if I get over my fear of brown ostrich armpit goo and having my organs ripped out by one kicking me.  More than likely I'll just hug one but who knows what the next few days will bring.

ANYWAY.  The original plan was that I would schedule a ton of posts while gone, but I was too busy, so I'm doing it now.  This is my version of Kas's Random Wednesday posts, basically just a "here's what I've been up to so far!" for this absence.

Basically I'm escaping the cold Canadian winter for summer and enjoying the heat.  For your viewing pleasure, here's a photo of the sunset from my first night here that I took on the farm where my aunt lives.

Regular posts coming again starting tomorrow!

Random Wednesday: Let's talk socks. And of course the rules that go along with sock wearing.

Wait am I the only one with a sock system?  I should explain.

I haven't worn a pair of matching socks in almost 13 years(So more than half my life).  Not only that but 95% of the time my socks are those obnoxious bright ones with pictures of monkeys on them. I don't know why I started it, so don't ask.  Can I stop it?  Probably.  But I'm not going to try.  The idea of wearing matching socks at this point makes me feel uncomfortable.  I'm sure the world wouldn't implode if I did, but just in case I like to be safe. When people joke about forcing matching socks onto me it makes me feel real anger.  I've been late going places because I couldn't find the right socks.  Yes despite the fact that I don't wear matching socks there is method to my madness.  You can't just throw any two socks together.  Here is the system:

• Patterned socks go on the left foot
• Animal/living things socks go on the right foot.
• Two(2) patterned socks may not worn at once(See exceptions later).
• Animal patterns are the exception and may be worn on the right foot if needed.
• Animal socks can be worn on both feet.
• If one(1) of the animals on the sock is a monkey it must go on the right foot.
• If both socks have monkeys it does not matter what foot they are worn on.
• If a sock is gifted by a good friend pattern, animal or whatever it trumps everything and goes on the right foot.
• If matching socks MUST be worn I will wear "matching" socks.  ie. Two(2) white socks that clearly aren't the same but it isn't super noticeable.

These are the rules I have been following for the past 13 years.  My good friends mother, who is a university professor called me OCD.  I call it quirky.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Now let's all take a moment to remember...

Just how adorable my Christmas nails were last year!

Ps.  I hope Santa brought what you wished for!  If not it's probably because you're a bad person.  I'm just kidding!  It's because he's not real. :D

Pps.  While were on the topic did you guys get anything interesting for Christmas?

Jessica: Glitterati - I don't know! It's weird!

Glitterati is from Jessica's 2012 Holiday Glamourama collection.  Now this is a very strange glitter imo.  I like it but I'm not sure it screams Holiday for one.  Also it's just weird.   When you look at it in the bottle it looks brown or orange, with tiny bits of blue glitter.  Then on an angle there's a colour shift to green.  It's kind of like the glitter version of Nubar 2010...But it's not.  I feel like you wont understand unless you own it, or you came over and looked at my hands(don't).  I used two coats and it was a bit on the thick side.  But thinner will fix that!  And finally as you can see I layered this over black.  On it's own it looks horrible.  Just dreadful.

All in ll though I really like it.  For a glitter it isn't too in your face and yet it is still very noticeable!

It reminds me of fallen leaves, that then turned radioactive.  You know what I mean right?

 

This is what it looks like in the bottle most of the time.

 Then the rest of the time is goes all crazy like this.

Ps.  Huzzah it's Christmas Eve!  I hope Santa brings you what you asked for.  

OPI: Holiday Glow (REMIX!!!)

Well not a remix.  More like a re-swatch.  This was actually one of my first post almost a year ago.  And I decided I wanted to re-swatch it!

Holiday Glow is from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection.  It's discontinued but I see it all the time still.  Especially at beauty supply stores.  Swatching it again I realize that this is a brownish purple. Filled with gold and I want to say copper glitter.  It applied in 3 coats and the formula was super easy to use.  Photos were taken after no cleanup.

I don't know what it is but last time I swatched it I didn't love it.  This time I do! :) And maybe it's because I'm wearing it now but I think something called Holiday Glow is perfect for leading up to Christmas. Everything kind of has that Holiday Glow to it.  People, houses, stores.  It's everywhere! It's like herpes. I can ruin any post :P

Hope you guys have an amazing Christmas!

China Glaze - Angel WIngs

George actually got this for me for Christmas(one of many polishes :P)!  At first I was a little on the fence about it because it was gold.  For some reason when it comes to gold polish it's like a really amazing guy.  You look at them and think it's too good to be true.  Then you think "Who am I kidding?  We would be GREAT together!".  I'm always weary about gold polishes, but I always end up loving them.

Angel Wings was no different.  It's from China Glaze's 2012 holiday collection(What's this?  I'm posting a very current polish? *gasp*).  It's made out of fine, dense gold glitter, with some fine holo glitter thrown in there.  One coat offers almost complete coverage. Two makes it completely opaque. I use two coats of top coat for this (Sally Hansen Insta-dri and Seche Vite).  Without top coat it's like sand paper.  And it will generally om nom your first coat of it.

But all in all I fell in love with this beauty!

Merry Bling-mas? Stud-mas? - My Foray into Born Pretty and Nail Studs

I'm excited to be showing you guys some 2mm gold square studs I was sent from the Born Pretty Store!

First these come in a small resealable bag with a few hundred studs.  Maybe I have weak child like fingers (How does one measure finger strength?) but I could not for the life of me open the bag.  I had to get someone else to open it. The next time I openedd it  I just cut the top off and put it in another bag.  This probably means I need to spend more time clicking away on Tumblr.  That sounds about right.

Now I fell in love with these 2mm studs over the 4mm studs (which they also sell) because you can do so much with them.  Like the larger studs you can do the simple designs. But if you want you can also do something a bit more detailed because you can fit more on your nails. And also they aren't so small that you don't know what they are!

Keeping with the holiday spirit I painted my nails Fright Night Claw Polish VooDoo, and China Glaze Glittering Garland.  Then I studified it(That's a word now).  On my thumb I did a tuque because Christmas = Winter... Et je suis Canadienne.  And on my ring finger I did a Christmas tree!  I kept the rest simple by just adding a single stud to each finger.  I didn't want it to be overwhelming. In addition I used some random clear rhinestones and microbeads.  I finished with two coats of top coat(SH Insta-dri then SV).  Mainly because I have a fear that things stuck to my nails will fall of in the shower.  And I was happy because the top coat didn't make the studs look odd, or twice their size :)

I love, love, love how this turned out!  These studs will for sure be part of my NYE mani!

Again you can buy this over at the Born Pretty Store for crazy sweet prices, and free shipping.  And you can use our coupon code if you order, for 10% off!

 AND on top of that since it is Christmas there are having even more discounts that you can use on top of that! Huzzah!

-Site wide 20%-50% off from Dec. 23rd-25th
-All orders over $20 will get a Christmas stamping Plate from Dec. 15th-25th
-All orders over $30 will get a $5 coupon feedback from Dec. 15th-25th
-And  big prize for the biggest purchase from Dec. 23rd-25th

This product was sent for honest review.

WELL HELLO THERE

HELLO VALKYRIES.

We have met before. I return to bring you more of my phenomenal wit. The About Me page will be updated when I figure out how to internet.

For my first post as a ~*super duper official nail blogger*~, I wanted to do something special for you! I've had this design in mind for a while and this seemed like a good time to try it out. I have tried here to recreate the cover art from Broken Social Scene's self-titled album.

As you can see, my cleanup here was total balls. DON'T EVEN CARE, LOOK HOW AWESOME THESE ARE.

I used China Glaze Vermillion, a gross Revlon thing I grabbed at Dollarama because I have no pinks (it's scented. WTF.), Essie Orange It's Obvious, China Glaze Stone Cold, Art Deco Black, Wet N Wild Wild Shine French White, Warpaint Beauty Matte Topcoat, and white acrylic paint. I listened to Buffy Sainte Marie, Not BSS.