Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break. Here in jolly ol' England, business was much the same as usual: chilly weather punctuated with days of "nice" weather. By nice, of course, I simply mean I wasn't freezing my ovaries off. It's officially December now, which brings with it a new nail art challenge and continuation of the existing challenge I've been working on for Llama Nails. Doing two challenges at once will be interesting, and by interesting I mean "oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die." The new challenge comes from the FB group Crumpet's Nail Tarts which is spearheaded by Debbie of The Crumpet, and is a really large group of nail enthusiasts. The challenge is winter/Christmas themed and will only last for the month of December. My first challenge nails will be posted tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this theme as I have some great ideas for it.
Today, however, I continue on the path of the Holiday themed manis with this week's entry: Hanukkah.
I wanted to capture some of the essence of the holiday without going too far over the top. I started with a shiny bright blue base coat which is traditional to the holiday and symbolizes the flag of Israel. On my middle finger using a white striper and dotting tool to make yellow and gold flames, I've created a tiny menorah, the nine-branched candelabrum used in most Jewish households to symbolize a miracle which occurred around 160 BC, during which time the Jews revolted against the rule of the Greek king Antiochus IV Ephiphanes of the Seleucid Empire. According to Rabbinic history, when the Hebrews reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, they were only able to find one jug of ritual oil uncontaminated, and estimated that it would only burn for a single night. In what is now celebrated as a miracle, the oil lasted for eight nights, and thus the holiday of Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting a candle on the menorah each night for eight nights.
On the remaining nails, I added gold and bronze dots, which represent Hanukkah gelt, which is money or coins typically given to children at Hanukkah. When I was a kid, I remember seeing those little mesh bags full of gold-wrapped chocolate coins and thinking that was really neat. I also remember the first time I actually tried one and thinking it was nicer to look at than to eat, but that may have been a low-quality brand. Either way, I've not tried one since, so I don't know if there are any good ones around.
Colors Used:
Belle Glamour Sunlight on the Water (blue)
NYC Backstage Brown (Copper)
elf Copper
Barry M Gold Foil
elf Yellow
Kiss white striper
Whereas I'm not Jewish, I think this particular mani is representative of the holiday while still being respectfully subtle - I would hate to have to tell someone "no, I'm not Jewish, I just wear Hanukkah nail art for a challenge".
Also a note: I've used a Belle Glamour polish for this mani because it was part of a quad of polishes I purchased for the purposes of swatching and reviewing. I will soon have a full review coming of this beautiful blue as well as the other 3 colors I received.
While we're talking Hanukkah, don't forget to check out the other manis from the ladies of the Llama Nails FB group, linked below.
I'll see you guys tomorrow with my first of the winter/Christmas challenge manis!
Much love,
Ali