Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Fireflies, to all who celebrate!

And to those who don't, happy Thursday!

I love doing nails for my friends, and I had the opportunity to do some Christmas/Winter-themed ones for them this year:

Stamping Snowflakes

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Adventures In Stamping challenge was about Christmas.  I thought it would be fun to take one "holiday" - Friday the 13th - and turn it into another one!

Exfolimate - The Cutting Edge of Exfoliation #exfolimate

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

 Hello, Fireflies!

I like having smooth skin as much as the next gal.  I've tried body scrubs, polishes, and brushes.  But I'd never seen anything like the Exfolimate.

TRI - Teardrops

Hello, Fireflies!

It's a new month, and a new set of colors for the Tri-polish Tuesdays challenge.  Which, of course, usually means three colors I wouldn't have chosen to put together on my own, so I spent some time scratching my head and wondering how to do this.

Oddly, enough, I'd been using a lot of yellow and red together lately for superhero challenges, another odd combo... that you see in a lot of comics.

This nail art was inspired by a stamped mani by alygatrrr.. that I foolishly though I could do freehand.  Um. yeah. Not so much.

I started with a gorgeous blue from Above The Curve, called Suspense, and China Glaze Lemon Fizz, a surprisingly nice pale butter yellow.

"Just paint the teardrops," they said.  "It'll be easy," they said.

They lied.  Getting them the right size, with the right shape, and with the right space between them felt like the equivalent of painting the Sistine Chapel.  Way outta my league.

There was much swearing and gnashing of teeth.

I used OPI Over and Over A-Gwen to dot the middle of the teardrops.  Which, then, of course, I neglected to let dry all the way and smeared my first nail with topcoat.

More swearing and gnashing of teeth ensued.

Thank goodness for topcoat, which hides a multitude of evils. If the road the hell is paved with good intentions, I think the road to heaven is paved with Seche Vite. Or Ice Cream.

Bottle shot: China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Above The Curve Suspense, and OPI Over and Over A-Gwen.

Have you ever tried to imitate someone's look or nail art, and just struggled every step of the way?

An InLinkz Link-up

Glitter Flakie-splosion!

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for another round of undies and glitters, but today I have some iridescent or flakie glitters.

Sigh.  My faves.  Something about those flecks of color-changing goodness.

First up, the metallic blue of OPI Seventh Inning Strrretch with Zoya Manhattan - which looks yellow, but is really full of sparks of color and changes the blue to a funky, flashy green.

Above The Curve Adriel is a pretty rose pink with a subtle holo, and becomes a juicy raspberry flakie pool with Sweet Color WO12.

Flakies over black is one of my favorite combos. Wet 'n Wild Black Creme isn't really necessary, though with CrowsToes Helheim - it has a black jelly base all its own. Love those subtle purple flakies.

Another black/flakie combo is Wet 'n Wild Black Creme with Dance Legend Anna Gorelova #12.  Reminds me of Finger Paints Twisted! Love the multicolored flakie rainbow goodness!

Are you a Flakie Fiend like me?  What's your favorite flakie?

Tie-spiration Gold and Green

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for another round of Tie-spiration, where hubby picks a tie, and I make a mani!

Those of you who have Nabi polish readily available are lucky.  I had to order mine from eBay! I love all the holos I've tried, even though they are scattered, they are pretty pigmented.  This one is Nabi Gold.

I used some tape to create a checkerboard pattern with Above The Curve Anona, an olive-golden-green.

Maybelline Bold Gold is my fave gold for stamping, and it does pretty well for nail art, too. 

Add a little black for contrast and some topcoat!

Bottle shot: Nabi Gold, Maybelline Bold Gold, Above The Curve Anona, and a black nail art striper.

So, what do you think? Does it look like his tie?  Have you ever taken makeup/fashion/nailart inspiration from your significant other's wardrobe?

GOT - Something a Little Tropic-holo!

Hello, Fireflies!

It's warming up here in Florida, time to start thinking about summer cocktails, days on the beach, and tropical manis!

I started with some golden sand - Mentality Euphoria.  My camera couldn't even pick up on all the holo glitter, it's very sparkly.

I love Above the Curve polishes, and Prototype Blue felt like the water on a summer's day. 

I added a little white and gold glitter with a couple of nail art stripers, because I felt it should be breezy, and there would be small waves in my imaginary tropical paradise.

You don't see a tropical drink only because I already drank it.  The little umbrella is stuck in my hair behind my ear.

Bottle shot:  Mentality Euphoria, Above the Curve Prototype Blue, and nail art stripers in white and gold glitter.

If you could have anything tropical painted on your nails, what would you get?

An InLinkz Link-up

Get Lucky - Green Waterfall #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Tip o' the hat to ya!

A couple of days ago, someone in a nail group asked for a comparison of Enchanted Polish Britney Spearmint and July 2013, and I had those two polishes handy, so I did the comparison.

Then, it came to me.  "Self," I said, "These are green - and I have one green mani left to do for this challenge.  Let's do a waterfall!" And, so I did.  I used the tutorial from The Nailasaurus. 

I started with Zoya Dree, a muddy brownish-green and Cliche' Salto Alto, a metallic blue-green.

Next, Above The Curve It's Because I'm Green, Isn't It?, a forest green holo.

Lastly, Lime Crime Pastelchio, a bright yellow-green.

I need a little practice, I think.  My stripes don't have that little flicky thing at the end that they're supposed to. 

My husband said that it looked like the Monster drink logo.  Kinda made me mad, and so I took it off right away.  Darn him!

Bottle shot:  Enchanted Polish Britney Spearmint and July 2013. Zoya Dree, Cliche' Salto Alto, Above The Curve It's Because I'm Green, Isn't It?, and Lime Crime Pastelchio.

I think I've gone through most of my green untrieds with this challenge! I'm ready to wear something... anything... other than green - after today!  Have a great holiday,  - or, if you don't celebrate - a great time drinking green beer!

If you missed it, my GlamGlow review posted today, too!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Purple Holo Argyle

Hello, Fireflies!

I can't believe it, but I'm spreading my artistic wings and trying something today that I've NEVER tried before:  Argyle.

Yes, I had to look it up to make sure I was spelling it correctly.

Once thought only good for socks and preppy sweaters, now you can have Argyle on your nails.  I made a purple one.

I started off with Girly Bits Remember Aja, a charitable polish made in memory of Aja Chandler. 

It's a scattered purple holo with some fine glittery bits for extra sparkle.  Easy application, and is rather unique in my stash!

There are several different ways to do this pattern, but I was inspired by a tutorial by NailDecor (she's on Instagram here, but I found it on a Pinterest of some tutorials, here.)

Next, I made a triangle on each fingertip with Above the Curve Aphaea, a greyish-purple with a subtle purple shimmer and holo.  I love AtC polishes, they are always great formulas.  This one is as well, if a little on the thick side, and the holo is scattered and subtle.

I made a trianglish-type blob on the top of the nail with Aly's Dream Polish Rumpleberry.  I have a lot harder time painting things on the nail bed side.  So awkward.  Luckily, a lot of my mistakes are about to be covered up with the argyle pattern and smoothed with topcoat.

I had to keep looking at the tutorial to make sure I was doing this right! I thought, why am I having such a hard time making triangles today! Geometry class was a long, long, long time ago.  Stay in school, kids!

I liked it, but I wanted more depth, so I added another set of lines in white this time, slightly off-set.  I love this!

The white and black together over the purple is so fresh. 

Bottle shot:  Girly Bits Remember Aja, Above the Curve Aphaea, Aly's Dream Polish Rumpleberry, and my trusty black and white stripers.

I could see doing this with so many different colors, using more contrasting colors, holiday colors - lots of possibilities! What color combinations do you suggest?

Beauty Tuesday - Ellis Faas, and an inspired mani #TMSOrlando

Hi, Fireflies!

Out of allll the amazing things I saw at The Make Up Show Orlando, one of my favorites was the Ellis Faas booth.

In my blogger pack, I was given a sample of Ellis Faas mascara to try, but I couldn't leave without buying the 'Ellis Red' lipstick.  I was so impressed with both items, I knew they had to be my first review for you.. and I had to do an inspired mani!

I wanted to incorporate both the black mascara and the red lipstick, so I did a 'framed' mani using Finger Paints Black Expressionism and a red holo from Above The Curve called, Prototype Red.

Here's the bottle shot:  Above The Curve  Prototype Red and Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

On to the Ellis Faas lovelies - I dig the packaging.  Everything comes in these elongated silver bullet cases.

The end of the tubes tells you what the product is, though, so you don't have to open everything up to see what's what.

L101 is the Creamy Lips Ellis Red.  The applicator is a sponge, and the product comes out when you twist the barrel.  My only complaint about this packaging is that when I had this lipstick in my work bag, some of the product would invariably leak out of the sponge.  Fortunately, it's a thicker formula, so it didn't run anywhere, but I don't want to waste a drop!

Ellis Red mimics the color of natural blood.  The idea is, because everyone's blood looks the same, this color red won't clash with anyone's skin tone.  I find it very wearable, and have truly fallen in love with this color.  I find myself picking certain outfits just so that I can wear this lipstick.

The Ellis Faas mascara has also become my absolute favorite mascara to use.  The only downside for me is the extra-long wand.  If I'm not careful, I usually get a dab of mascara on my cheeks!  I'm pretty uncoordinated, though!

The formula on this mascara is the best I've ever used.  Not only does it cover well with no clumps, it feels amazing all day long.  My lashes never get crunchy or flaky.

At the end of a long day, my eyeliner is smudging, but my mascara isn't budging.  No dotty spots, no flakes.  Comes off with my makeup remover wipes!

Lipstick and mascara both by Ellis Faas.

On EllisFaas.com, the Creamy Lips retails for $35, and the mascara retails for $34.

Have you tried Ellis Faas?  What did you think?