Patriotic NOTD

I have a very good reason for not posting this week until now: Tuesday was my last day at work and now I am officially retired! Monday and Tuesday I was packing up my office, wrapping up last minute tasks, and celebrating the end of my working life while riding an emotional rollercoaster that had me sad to be leaving people I'd built relationships with over 16 years but excited about the next stage in my life. The past two days I've been busy at home as Mr. K and I have been planning our adventures for the next couple months and readying the house to host his family's reunion. But I did take time out yesterday to put 4th of July inspired polish on my tips and toes, so figured I'd take a little more time out to share while it was still timely. Those photos in my backlog will just have to wait a while longer.

For the featured polish in my mani, I chose the most recent red, white, and blue glitter to join my stash: L'Oreal Raise the Flag, which is so new I haven't even had a chance to get it into a display post yet. It has tiny bar glitter in the colors of the US flag packed in a clear base.



Choosing a base for these sorts of polishes can be challenging. Too light, and the white blends into the background. Too dark, and the blue disappears. I went with a medium blue creme, High Tide, from the same L'Oreal display that I found the glitter in. I used two coats of High Tide over a base of Duri Rejuvacote and Salon Sciences Instant Artificials, then topped with one coat of Raise the Flag. The glitter needed a light hand to prevent dragging the bars to and even off the tip of the nail but otherwise was easy to apply. Diamond Dry topcoat finished the look.



In ideal lighting conditions, the base/glitter contrast for this combination is good. Much of the time in real life, though, the blue glitter blends into the base visually, but since the overall effect is still red, white, and blue, that's okay.





For my toes, which I won't redo as soon after the holiday as my tips, I chose to go with a simple classic red creme. This is also from, but from an earlier era: Big Apple Red, in the elegant subtly curved bottle with the dark purple cap. I think this particular bottle actually joined my stash in the 1980s rather than being something I picked up via swap or dollar store later, as I remember putting this shade on my nails for a vacation with my mom during the time when I only wore pale neutrals on my tips to work, so bright bright red was a signal I was truly off work and ready to have fun.



In deference to those of you with foot phobia, I'll make these next two photos smaller than usual (as always, click for bigger). First, a progress shot; I wear these ratty old sandals while I paint my toes so I can walk around while they're drying and not get my feet dirty (out of deference to Mr. Sensitive Nose, when the weather is nice I usually do the polish part of my pedis on the patio, sitting on the back steps).



Tips and toes ready to celebrate:



I hope those of you have a long holiday weekend have lots of fun and stay safe!