Bringing My Skin Back To Life with Kleem Intensive Rejuvinating Vitamin C Serum

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

With all this cold weather, even here in Florida, even my oily skin is feeling a little drab and dull.  Rich moisturizers just tend to make me break out, so I look for serums to get extra nutrients into my skin.  My favorite skin-brightening ingredient is Vitamin C, which is a big part of this Intensive Rejuvenating Serum by Kleem Organics.

The Vault - Glitter Ideas

 Hello, Fireflies!

I haven't done very many holiday nail looks this season, but one thing I can always make time for is a little glitter to feel festive!  I have a few looks I pulled from the vault to share with you today.

Leftover Halloween Candy? Or Fall Pumpkins?

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you recovered from the festivities of yesterday?  Whether you indulged in black cocktails, or chocolate candies, there's always a Halloween Hangover.

The best part? Bags of candy go on sale!

One of my fave Halloween candies is the mallowcreme pumpkin.  This mani is an homage to that pumpkin, but it's also a sign of fall in general. The mani I was inspired by was a Fall Pumpkin mani by Plump & Polished.

I used OPI Glints of Glinda for the whole nail, then painted the pumpkin with Urban Decay Bang, and made the stripes with China Glaze Metro Pollin-tin.  The stems are painted with a metallic green striper.

I remember, as a kid, sitting with my brother and emptying out our bags of candy and trading.  Mom would always come in and take the candy she wanted.  Mostly, I didn't mind, because she liked all the coconut ones I didn't like as a kid.  But, she never traded for anything!

Hey, mitts off my candy!

Are you going to buy discounted Halloween candy favorites, or are you happy to put all the sugar aside until Christmastime?

Jack O'Lanterns

Hello, Fireflies!

I got a little ambitious with my nail art today.  Every now and again, I think I can do something... well, let's just say that I need a little more practice with this one!

I was inspired by these awesome Jack O'Lanterns from Kayla Shevonne.  I started with a sparkly black background.  I love KB Shimmer Stark Raven Mad.  It's the blackest black holo ever.

I started painting the faces in with white, and then used yellow, yellow-orange, and then pumpkin orange to fill in the white.

They look like Clown O'Lanterns. LOL.

Bottle shot:  KB Shimmer Stark Raven Mad, Orly Hook Up, China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin, Urban Decay Bang, and a white striper.

Ok, maybe next year, I'll go as a Clown O'Lantern.  Start a trend!

An InLinkz Link-up

Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida Wear Pink!

Hello, Fireflies!

This month, the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida decided to think Pink! So, we all did some kind of look with pink.  I have a head to tips pink extravaganza to share!

I don't have a full picture of the dress I wore, but the dress is black with a fuchsia top that is has a sort of starburst pattern. I based the majority of my look today off that fun pink!

I know that not everyone was able to get the Lorac Mega Pro eyeshadow palette, but if you wanted it, I hope you got it! I really like Lorac shadows.  I used a few of the mulberry-type shades to create this look.

I had also just gotten the It Cosmetics new QVC collection, so I'm wearing their new Hello mascara with the melted fiber technology.  I don't get crazy long lashes with it, but that's fine with me.  If my lashes are too long, they touch my glasses, which makes me cray-cray.  I'm also wearing the It Cosmetics Black/Brown gel liner and I'm in love.  Really great liner, and the color matches my eyes.

Perfect ensemble to pair with a bright pink lip!  I picked up the new colors from the ELF matte lipstick line, and they are all fabulous.  This is ELF Fuchsia.

This nail look turned out a little more neon than expected, but I still liked it.  I started out with China Glaze Strike a Rose, which was so bright! Layering Wing Dust Feel The Burn over it gave it a little bit of a neon coral feel. 

I used Dashika Big SdP-D to make the stamp.  I like how they include reverse images of the same pattern!

I like stamping over glitter and seeing the little flashes peek through.  I wish my stamping had come out a little clearer, though.  I used Cult Nails Nevermore to stamp, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Bottle shot:  China Glaze Strike A Rose, WingDust Feel The Burn, and Cult Nails Nevermore.

I'm also wearing the new It Cosmetics Celebration Illumination Foundation in Light, and the ombre' pink blush.  I'm a fan!

Need a pick-me-up? Try hot pink! How do you rock pink?

Neon Racing Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

Welcome to October! New month, new NCC challenge.  This month, we're doing stripes!

I love stripes. They are the masters of illusion in nail art.  For today's mani, I was inspired by a black and white design from Wondrously Polished. 

I just picked up some summer colors on clearance at Cherry Culture, and while I wasn't aware so many were neons, it's suprisingly okay with me.  I'm ready for Fall, but it's hard to let go of summer when you live in Florida and the temperature is still in the 90s, even if the leaves have fallen off of the trees.

So I'm happy to pair China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener, a neon lime green, with OPI Incognito In Sausalito, a deep, blackened navy blue.  It's like the best of Fall touched by the last lights of Summer.

Bottle shot:  China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener, and OPI Incognito In Sausalito.

Are you immersed in Fall colors yet, or is there still room for a glimpse of summer in your look?

To Everything, Teal, Teal, Teal, There Is A Season, Teal, Teal, Teal...

Hello, Fireflies!

Well, to everything there is a season, and the season of the Tri-Polish and Golden Oldie Crumpet Challenges has come to an end.  Today is the last Tri-Polish challenge, and it is also the beginning of the new Crumpet challenge, the 52 Week Pick 'n Mix challenge!

To celebrate, I have two manis, and two linkups.

For the Tri-Polish challenge, it seems only fitting that I only get in two of the colors - grey, and teal.  I've always been an underachiever.  The polishes are so pretty, though, maybe you won't mind.  I started with Different Dimension Have A Grape Day, which is a thermal polish... but I couldn't capture it. 

This design is inspired by Bianca Fredrich.  Her acrylic creations are so elegant.  I improvised on my nubbins.

The French Tips are done with Different Dimension Gasoline Rainbows, a  gorgeous charcoal grey holo with a rainbow holo, and then I used a black striper and added a little rhinestone.

Bottle shot:  Different Dimension Have a Grape Day and Gasoline Rainbows, and a black striper.

The first prompt for the the Pick 'n Mix challenge was to do a 2-color gradient, and include a teal.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Wait 'n Sea, and then did the gradient with China Glaze X-Ta-Sea on the tips.

Kinda looks like I used three colors, doesn't it?  That's just the sheerness of the purple, letting the teal bleed through.

There has been a resurgence of the popularity of China Glaze Fairy Dust in some of the polish communities, so I couldn't resist Fairy Dusting All The Things! It was so sparkly in person, I couldn't even capture how gorgeous. 

Bottle shot:  China Glaze Wait 'n Sea, X-Ta-Sea, and Fairy Dust.

I hope this was a good send off for the previous Crumpet challenges, and a good intro to the new one! I hope you'll continue to join me in finding new colors, combinations, and patterns in exploring nail art!

As always, I encourage you to share your creations on my Facebook page!

Shattered Glass, 80's Style

Hello, Fireflies!

Ready for today's stamping challenge?  It's full of eye-searing neon goodness, with a dash of 'hey, that wasn't supposed to happen' and a smidge of 'black stamping for the win!'

I didn't know that China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely was a neon when I got it out.  I like neons okay.  They dry quickly, so you have to work quickly.  And, they make me look like I got a tan.

Today's challenge is to do a 'Funky French' so I rifled through my tips plates. 

I *rarely* use these.  I don't have enough 'tip' for these to make much sense, usually.  But I thought this tip from Mash 27 would look good even if it wasn't a whole stamp.  I used China Glaze Cosmic Dust for the stamping.

In my mind, this was going to look like shattered pieces of glass, twinkling on the pink background.  Instead, it's a lot of squinting to see if the stamp transferred.

So, I got out my Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and stamped it again, and then did a little more Cosmic Dust over that.  Gone is the shattered glass effect; now there's an 80's vibe.

 Bottle shot:  China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely, China Glaze Cosmic Dust, and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

A lot of my nail art is made up of 'oops' and then, 'I totally meant to do that!'.  No one can tell you that your art isn't right.  Own it.  And then, if you're still not happy, slap some glitter on it!

This Map Be Such Crap, My Loot Will Be Moot

Avast, Fireflies!

Did ye landlubbers be thinking of stealin' me booty?  Well, ye'd have t' find it first! See if ye ken follow me crappy mappy.

I started with China Glaze Don't Honk Your Thorn, a pretty nude with the slightest shimmer/frost.

To give my 'sand' some texture, I did a dry brush technique to get the tiniest amount of Joss Desert Sunset on the nail. It has a little bit of glimmer, just like real sand! I'm feeling pretty clever at this point.

I use Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and BM 510, from their new Ocean plates to get the tiny treasure map (though it doesn't all fit on my finger!) and then Cici & Sisi 09 to get the wandering dotted path and a few GIANT footprints.  Seriously. Not To Scale.

Try following that path to the treasure!

X marks all kinds of spots.  Probably where my dogs hid their toys, really.

Bottle shot:  China Glaze Don't Honk Your Thorn, Joss Desert Sunset, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and a black striper.

Have you ever followed a 'treasure map'?  If this is how I make one, you can only imagine how I'd follow one...

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