Hi Goddesses
I'm really delighted that today's Guest Blogger has gone with a Hanukkah theme. It's something I've considered this year, but without being able to find a great way to execute it. Luckily, Jin from Superficially Colorful has done an AMAZING job. I wish I could cheat and call this my own!!
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Hello beautiful people!!! Ehhm... ehhm... I am a little bit nervous and very excited. It's such a great honor to be a guest in here!! Thank you so much Debbie!!!
So while Christmas is getting near, today is the first day of the Hanukkah and I am inviting you all to light the first candle with me! There are 8 days in Hanukkah and every day we light one more candle, until at the 8th day our house is full of light and color and love (and of course yummy food!)
So for my first candle's eve mani I started with 2 coats of the very sheer Waltz by Essie. Naturally, I didn't choose it to get a white background. But it does give a smooth and slight lighter then natural colored nails to begin my gradient with.
For the gradient I wanted to create the colors that I remember from my mother's home: the reds and purples in the darker areas and the yellow-orange light and sparks of the candles' flames. I will detail the polishes I used for you at the end of this post.
Now, if you know me already, you know that cleaning my cuticles is not my strongest side. I am having issues with this as I straggle to find the right path between clean but moist cuticles. I did find out though, that if, before starting my gradient, I apply some cuticle oil to my skin and cuticles, the cleaning process becomes a lot easier!
Then I added a golden strip at the tips of my nails, to depict the Menorah. Actually in Hebrew the word is not exactly Menorah. The Menorah has only 7 candle holders while the Hanukiyah - the one we use in Hanukkah, has 9 holders. But I anyway concentrated in my mani on the candles more then the Hanukkiyah so this was just a tiny bit of extra info for you. Some more bits of info are that the tradition is to start placing the candles in the Menorah from the right. so the first candle would be the one on the far right and it will be lit by the "Shamash" - the one candle that is lighting through the entire holiday and is placed on a slight higher post then the other candles, either on the far left or on the middle of the Menorah. So for the first night of the Hanukkah, I lit the right-most candle - on my pinky and I created a slight higher post on my index for the "Shamash".
But I felt the middle fingers were too empty for this festive occasion, so I filled them with some jelly donuts, the traditional food of Hanukkah. our donuts are not like the American ones. They are not ring shaped. They are little fluffy balls with some red jelly injected into them and a lot of sugar powder spread all over them. Yumm!
So whatever holiday you choose to celebrate - have a WONDERFUL one! filled with family and loved ones and a lot of peace and joy.
And as promised - the polishes I used, from left to right: Life (a local brand) - Grapes, China Glaze - Riveting, Sally hansen - Mellow Yellow, Orly - Rocketin' Rocket, China Glaze - Passion, Zoya - Veruschka, A-England - Elaine and China Glaze - Mahogany Magic.
I really hope you enjoyed reading and I would like to thank Debbie once again for having me here!! And you are all invited to light more candles with me and celebrate any and every reason you choose to celebrate!
Ah, thank you Jin - that is one AWESOME mani. And er ... doughnuts... are they on the way ??
The 12 Blogging Days of Christmas is now on a little break. Next week the Digit-al Dozen does Christmas, so you have 5 days of my manis, and then the bloggers are back on 17th December. Eeeeek, that sounds close to Christmas!!
Enjoy xx :)