High Maintenance

For this mani I wanted to highlight China Glaze High Maintenance, a gorgeous true blue-based red that I previously swatched in this post. The upsides to swatching on a plastic display circle are that I don’t have to use a truly headache-inducing amount of acetone in one sitting, and I can easily see what colours I have for future manicures (and I feel fancy like I’m having a salon experience). The downside is that sometimes a polish doesn’t look the same on the display circle as it does on the nail. This was the case with High Maintenance, but in a very good way.

Indirect sunlight, indoors. A tad darker in reality.

On the nail High Maintenance remains sanguineous and vampy goodness, but even more so. It is richer, really a blood red, and a bit darker than my camera wants to capture. The finish on the nail is also a little different, being somewhere between a creme and a jelly — juicy, intense and definitely blood-like. It’s such a gorgeous shade I was tempted to wear it by itself. One of my all-time favourite reds.

Taken with flash, and I've messed around with the light and contrast to try to show a more true-to-life blood-red colour.

But I can’t leave well alone so continuing with a bloody theme I added V-shaped french tips in another shade I love, Kleancolor Bite Me. Bite Me is a rich red glitter that flashes black. Being so full of micro and regular glitter it works great as a nail art polish, becoming opaque over another shade in one coat and by itself in two. This isn’t a red glitter than looks inappropriately Christmasy on the nail (Christmas begins and ends in December for me), and looks beautiful by itself. It’s not a very rough-finish glitter.

Nails on Sunday

I’m writing this quickly before my husband and I go out — it’s our wedding anniversary today, as well as V-day — and I’ve just finished scoffing a slice of the most perfect Black Forest cake made by a German master baker. Oh lord this cake. And the best thing is I’ve got several days’ worth left in the fridge.

On Sunday I had a friend over to do her nails, and this is what we ended up with. She wanted a more classic mani with a twist, while I wanted to use my matte top coat and went for something with an industrial feel.

Me: base coat of Orly Top 2 Bottom; 2 coats China Glaze Some Like it Haute; taped off 1 coat of China Glaze Long Kiss (it’s quite opaque so 1 coat was fine); sealing coat of Orly Top 2 Bottom (matte polish directly on top of a design can smudge so seal with a regular top coat first, the end result will be no less matte); 1 coat China Glaze Matte Magic.

Here's Some Like it Haute by itself.

Check out those rainbow flashes from the larger pieces of glitter.

The matte finished product. Taken in dim fluorescent lighting, this is the closest to the real life look of the design. The usually sparkly Long Kiss went a delicious slightly blackened smokey red, and Some Like it Haute became more like glittery concrete. Exactly what I was hoping for.