Nail-job craving: I’m running my second marathon this Sunday (the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon) so you know what that means…a marathon manicure with Leeanne at Tips Nail Bar.
How I satisfied that craving: Leeanne proposed “mani a la mod,” a graphic 60s-ish look (you might recognize it as she did the look for the September issue of Fashion). She used Shellac in Blackpool and China Glaze in White on White.
It took nearly three hours to complete, and when Leeanne was going practically cross-eyed creating the intricate patterns, I asked her if it was any comfort that I’d be running for longer than the manicure took to create. She said that she couldn’t ever run a marathon (but she so could!) and so this is her way of running one.
How this nail colour make me feel: Focused on the race. When my mind wanders, I catch a glimpse of my nails and prepare mentally for running the looong race.
Love it or hate it: Love. And it’s fashion-y so it’s totes wearable post-marathon for, like, real life.
October 13, 2012
Nail-job craving: After having my marathon manicure (the incredible chevron-dot nails) for two full weeks, I was thinking I’d return to something less out there — simple, maybe two tones (maybe even just one shade). For day to day, I tend to prefer something less busy. But then I went into Tips Nail Bar and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Leeanne Colley more excited. “I’ve got something in mind!” she announced. And, as I’ve learned, when Leeanne has something she’s cooked up, you just go with it.
How I satisfied that craving: Leeanne showed me a tester nail she’d done the design on — a swirly pattern of neons, and black polish overtop in a graphic pattern — WHOA. It reminded me of “black magic” (remember doing that as a kid? Colouring on paper in colours and then putting black crayon overtop and then using something pointy to “draw” by scraping the black crayon, revealing the rainbow underneath??).
Yowzers. I wanted. My only request was that we do a different colour on top. So this is what Leeanne used:
Artistic Color Gloss in Spotlight on the base nail.
Swoops of neon gel polishes overtop: Amazon Flirt, Shake It til you Samba and Coco Cabana Banana, all Gelish, and Hype from Artistic Color Gloss.
Then Leeanne applied China Glaze Custom Kicks (a regular nail polish) over the entire nail, and using a brush dipped in acetone, swept away the nail colour in a graphic striped pattern — it’s almost like a reverse version of the colourblock manicure she did for me last year for a half-marathon race, only now the stripes reveal the nail art underneath.
On one pinky, we tested out China Glaze Bahamian Escape, and decided to keep it as an accent nail.
And three hours (yes, three hours!) later, voila!
How this nail colour make me feel: Energetic (which is good as I’ve slept very little this week!). The name — OP Magic — well, Magic from black magic craft-y thing, and OP because the blue pinky especially made us think of that clothing brand Ocean Pacific that was hot in the 80s (or was it early 90s?).
Love it or hate it: Love.
May 25, 2012
Nail-job craving: Something EPIC. I’m running my first marathon (that’s 42.2 kilometres, for you non-running folk) and I’ve had some pretty fantastic manicures for my half-marathons (remember the colour-block manicure for my personal best half-marathon last spring? Or the hot pink and yellow pointed pinkies? And how about the sleek, streamlined black and white v-gap number I sported for the Nike Women’s Half in San Fran?) so this nail job has to be at least twice as amazing. Something as amazing as me, the former non-runner, running a marathon.
How I satisfied that craving: When I saw this manicure on Paige from Fashion, the first words out of my mouth? “Holy sh*t.” And I couldn’t get it outta my mind. The chevron shape, but way hotter with the tiny dots of colour? So I asked Leeanne at Tips Nail Bar to do a similar look. The manicure took a long while (although not as long as it’ll take me to run the marathon!) and it was very busy at the salon so she started my manicure and Emi Schneider finished up most of the dotting. Here’s what they used:
Base coat: Entity in Spotlight (that’s the white). Colours: Nars Amchoor (that’s the yellow), Nars Ratin Jot (that’s the purple), YSL Bleu Majorelle (that’s the blue), China Glaze Japanese Koi (that’s the orange) and Revlon Knockout (that’s the black). Dots were created using a dotter tool from a craft shop.
How this nail colour make me feel: I think this is my favourite “race manicure” thus far. It makes me think of both pretty glassware from Anthropologie, but also the pixelated colours of an Archie comic book. It reminded a makeup artist at Tips who was getting her nails done next to me of an MIA video. Emi’s dubbed it the “heavy chev-y” mani (chev-y as in chevron).
Love it or hate it: Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. I’m gonna take this as a sign that my marathon is going to be fabulous.
May 4, 2012
