Glitterati with the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida

Hello, Fireflies!

This month's BBCFL roundup is all about makin' it rain! Yes, glitter!  I've rounded up a bunch of different looks I've created with different kinds of glitter used in different ways.  Hopefully, you'll find a look that inspires you to wear glitter your own way.

Tri-Polish Tuesday - Lily Gradient

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm so happy with the way this nail art cam out! Especially after it started with a streaky yellow base coat, Ulta Cream Of The Crop.

I tried doing a sponge gradient with Barry M Blue Moon, a soft pale blue, with a slight shimmer, but they're both so sheer that they just absorbed into the sponge.  I achieved pretty much the look I wanted by just painting the two colors on my nail!  Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one.

I used these Lily water decals from Born Pretty Store in a mani earlier this week, but I actually created this one first.  I loved the decals so much, I just had to use them again! And then, I ordered another set that I paid for (these were sent for review.)

These are the epitome of Spring/Easter nails.  Pastels, light, airy colors, with bright lilies.

I fell in love, and I fell hard.  And, I'm so proud of myself for using all three colors of the Tri-polish challenge! (golf clap)

These decals are so easy to use - just cut off the decal you want to use (you don't even have trim it that close!) soak it in a bit of water for 10-20 seconds, slide the decal off the paper backing with your fingers or a pair of tweezers, and put it on your wet nail.  Slide it around until it's where you want it to be, and then blot gently with a lint-free cloth - or just let it dry on its own.  They don't lift like stickers, and they melt away with the nail polish remover, so there's no extra clean up.

Bottle shot:  Ulta Cream Of The Crop, and Barry M Blue Moon, along with the sheet of decals.

Do you love these as much as I do?  I can't even take most of the credit - the decals did most of the work!

If you'd like to go shopping at the Born Pretty Store, feel free to use my coupon (GVX31) for 10% off! Born Pretty Store can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and their blog.

An InLinkz Link-up

Matchy Monday - inspired by my Indian-print dress

Hello, Fireflies!

Today, I have a simple, but beautiful color polish to show you:  Barry M. Copper.

I love a microglitter like this that has flashes of other colors.  The pink and chartreuse are what drew me to pair it with one of my favorite dresses.

This dress has, what I like to think of as, an Indian-style print.  Some areas of the dress are tan with a pink hue, like here:

And other parts have this pattern with greens and blues and even rust colors.  I love how this makes the polish seem more green and gold!

One of the reasons I like changing my polish every day is to see what inspiration I get from what I wear - even if it's to pick out the right purple to wear with my t-shirt!  Are your nails inspired by your outfits?

Summer Challenge - Last Hurrah!

Hello, Fireflies!

It's the last day of August, and the last day for all the summer challenges I was doing!  School started for me this week, and I think I'm going to be too busy for daily challenges, but I am hoping to keep up with the NCC and my stamping on Sundays with the Adventures in Stamping group. (I am so embarrassed to show you my stamping for tomorrow, though!)

So, in line with the Around the World/Fall is coming/BBQ theme - I give you:

The All-American Labor Day end of summer cook-out!

I started with one coat of Barry M. Mushroom.  I don't know what happened to the texture, it may have been that I didn't wait for my base coat to dry enough.  Barry M makes wonderful polishes in the UK.  I got this one in a blog sale, but Ninja Polish also carries them.

I wasn't worried about the messed up texture, because I was going for a Saran Wrap mani!  I actually did this with a piece of grocery bag and a bit of Zoya Louise.

With the grill marks I made with OPI Black Onyx and a striping brush, and a little topcoat, doesn't it look like some meat on the grill?

And, here's the bottle shot:  Barry M. Mushroom, Zoya Louise, and OPI Black Onyx.

What are you doing for your last hurrah of the summer? 

Mint Mani for Talia Joy

From Nail Polish Wars:  "For those of you who might not know, the beauty community lost one of it's most treasured members on Tuesday morning ... Talia Joy Castellano.  Talia was a beautiful thirteen year old girl who was battling two horrible forms of cancer, neuroblastoma and preleukemia. She was also a supremely talented make up and nail artist.  You might have seen her amazing appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, where she was also made an honorary Cover Girl!"

I didn't know Talia personally, but her story has touched me, so I wanted to join other bloggers today in celebrating her life with a mint mani.

This is Barry M. Greenberry.

This is one of Barry's Gelly line - so the shine is all part of the polish - no topcoat here.  It is vibrant and gorgeous. This is three coats.  I could have gotten away with two if I had been more careful.

Talia was so sparkly, I wanted to add a little sparkle to her commemorative mani.  This is Chirality Epica.

This is such a dense glitter, I had to use an *almost* dry brush to get just a little on the nail.  I'm sure this could be opaque if desired, but I wanted the mint to show through.

Bottle shot:  Barry M. Gelly in Greenberry, and Chirality Epica.

If you'd like more information on Chirality, you can find them on Facebook, and their BigCartel shop.

Talia Joy has left a legacy behind on the internet.  If you'd like to check out some of her videos, here is her YouTube channel.

What do Crocs and Sea Salt have in common?

Well, in the nail world, they are both textures!  Today I have a few random ones that I don't have a full collex of.

Julep Madeline - Sea Salt texture.  Their version of the creme texture mani, it is a very pretty delicate seashell pink.  Needs at least two coats for opacity, and is probably the least textured of all the ones I've tried, so it might be a good starter texture!

Barry M. Ridley Road Texture.  Oh, mint.  I must have a mint polish in every brand, and now in different textures!  I love this color, and it's pretty fun in this form.  It's another creme texture, bumpier than the Julep, and I think bumpier than the Milani, too, if memory serves.

Barry M Croc Effects.  I may be over crackle, but I am loving this.  I am wearing Black Croc Effects over Pretty Jelly Hestia (from the Goddess collex - stay tuned tomorrow for swatches from the whole amazing collection.)

I have one thin layer over my index and middle, one thicker layer over my ring and pinkie fingers.  On my thumb I have two layers, with the second applied after the first had already cracked.

With topcoat, it looks like patent leather!  The thinner layers took on a bronze look from the color underneath, and the thumb with two coats took a long time to crack a second time and looks too thick.  I recommend one thick layer.  It's fun to watch it make the pattern, too. It's entertainment!

Ok, I admit, I still have crackle polishes, too, but I rarely wear them.  This effect I would wear loud and proud.  It's awesome.  Same with the sand/salt/etc textures.  They are really fun and versatile.  Did you find one that you liked?  Do you still rock a crackle mani?  Don't worry, I won't judge you... much. ha-ha!

Sunday Stamping - Happy Easter

The theme for this week was Easter. 

Yesterday, I did a mani with different pastels.  Today, I wanted to focus on one color.  So I did a kinda-sorta ombre with purple.

From thumb to pinky (and left to right in the bottle shots) Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Whisper, Rimmel London I Lilac You, Barry M Gelly Prickly Pear, Essence Oh My Glitter! and (front bottle) Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Orchid Express.

While looking through my stamps, I found one that just said Easter to me - the lily.  This stamp is from Bundle Monster 314, and I stamped with Finger Paints Paper Mache.

Per usual, these stamps look better on larger nails.  Or, at least it would be easier to tell what the picture is supposed to be! 

Are you celebrating today?  Did you do a festive mani?

The Darker side of Contrary Polish

I love wearing darker polishes.  I know I have li'l nubbins, but I don't care - I'll wear what I want!  I hope you will, too.  I want to show you a couple of Contrary Polishes I picked up that have a bit of a darker side to them.

Mystery.  I think this was part of Contrary's Holiday collection, but I'm not sure.  I found it on sale at Llarowe, and I'm glad I did.  I love brown polishes, and the gold shimmer in this one is so pretty.  Gold and brown are so nice together.

I wanted to do some nail art, so I picked a color that I thought would help bring out that shimmer.  This is Sinful Colors Zincing of You, and the beginning of Nailside's infamous cloud mani design.

I also really love blue and brown together, so I used China Glaze Adore, a metallic blue, to finish the cloud and to add some dots.  I'm loving all this metallic shimmer!

Lopsided bottle shot.  Oh, Blogger, why u no fix this?

Bright Night.  It's actually a bit of a dark night to me, but there is a bright blue shimmer to it, which adds some really pretty depth to this polish.

 

I was inspired by Robin Moses' design for 'Elegant Blue Tentacles" to do this version: 

I even did my right hand:

I used Barry M. Gelly in Blueberry for the 'tentacles', Barry M. Blue Moon for the dots, and added the iridescence with Sally Hansen Sea and Be Seen.  Bottle shot:
 

You like Contrary Clouds or Tentacles?


If you'd like to find out more about Contrary Polish, you can find them on Facebook.  She sells minis via e-mail through her blog, but you can buy full-size polishes through Llarowe, and some other e-tailers (she has a list on her blog.)

Nail polish is like Duct Tape.. it has a light and dark side..

I was intrigued by the idea of nail art that uses a contrasting light and dark color to make a simple, but bold statement.  Aside from one polish, I was also having fun playing with the Illamasquas I got on sale!

Barry M. Gelly in Lychee.  If you were thinking that this "Gelly" is like a "Jelly/Jellie" then you'd be wrong.  It's more of a reference to a gel manicure, in terms of the glossy shine.  These polishes are actually fairly opaque, and some are even one-coaters.  Lychee is the nude of the collex, and I really like it! It's a porcelain look, both in color and shine.

I saw this look from Kimberly Maran on Pinterest, and it inspired me to do something similar.  I used Illamasqua Gamma to create a diagonal French.

I did take it one step beyond, however, and applied Nubar glitters in White and Black Polka Dot - black on the orange side, white on the nude side.

The second look I did was inspired by this vintage mani I saw on Grape Fizz Nails.   I started with Illamasqua Bacterium, a shimmery nude with an iridescent shine. 

I should have probably used tape for a cleaner line, but I wanted to try freehanding the line.  I used Illamasqua Vice, a cherry reddish purple, for the center.

 For this last look, I started with Illamasqua Baptiste, a shiny, dark purple.

For a fun twist on the light/dark theme, I did a Ruffian with one of their new glitters, in Speckle. 

Bottle shot.  If you turn your head, it looks normal.

Use the Force!  The Illamasqua Force! What do you think of contrasting light/dark manis?