Holo-ween Skulls

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is, "Holo-ween" - keeping with the theme of Halloween, but using a holographic polish in either the base or the stamp.  I'd been wearing the beautiful NARS Black Fire for a few days, and decided it would make a great base for this challenge!

Candyland - Candy'll Poke Your Eye Out!

 Hello, Fireflies!

We're nearing the end of this Candy Nail Art Challenge!  Today's challenge was to use 3-D effects in the nail art.

Cheating

Hello, Fireflies!

Still working on the book prompt for this month's challenge, this time I took a book from my husband's desk. 

He's doing research in this area, and he really likes this book, so I see it hanging around a lot.  I thought the matte black cover with the blocks of color would make for a fun mani.

After painting all my nails with Cult Nails Fetish, a lovely matte/rubberized black creme, I made blobs roughly in the shape and direction of the ones on the book with different holo polishes.  I kinda dig how the holos look over the rubber black.

I tried to clean up with a little more Fetish on a teeny-tiny brush, but I really needed topcoat to cover my mistakes! Of course, then the texture of Fetish would change to a glossy black.

I did the lettering with OPI Over and Over A-Gwen, and that same tiny brush.  My kingdom for longer nail beds! lol.

Bottle shot:  Cult Nails Fetish, OPI Over and Over A-Gwen, Color Club Cosmic Fate, Angel Kiss, and Kismet, and Ludurana Aurora Boreal Magnifica.

Do you cheat when you play videogames?  I remember playing The Sims and putting in the code for more money... all I wanted to do was build houses!  I wish I could cheat my way through level 500 on Candy Crush.  I've been stuck for weeks.

Ageless Derma Oil Free Purifying Facial Cleanser Gel #agelessderma

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

How do you clean your face?  I never knew there were so many choices, but I'm having fun picking textures, scents, and systems that work for me - and may work for you. 

Sparkly Subtle S..pink Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

One thing I love about Fall is all the rich jewel-toned goodies that come out this time of year.  I love all the wine and berry lippies, the emerald, rose-gold, and mulberry eye shadows, and the wine and burgundy nail polishes.

Take a gander at this lovely wine crelly polish, Ulta Pauper Etiquette.  It's a divine wine!

I thought it would be cool to put Cuttin' Edge Miss Peregrine over it, hoping for more of that duochrome orange-pink to show, but it really just played up the shimmer.  Reminds me of the new OPI, Thank Glogg It's Friday.

This spiky stripey stamp is from the Cici & Sisi 10 plate.

I thought it might be fun to go over the pinks with a sparkly version in the same color family.  This is a Color Club that came in one of those bundles from Ross, so of course it has no name.  It's a pretty raspberry metallic color.

I liked the effect, but it's pretty subtle.  If you're not in close to see it, the stamp just changes how the polish catches the light.

I like how the Color Club enhances the shimmer from Miss Peregrine.  I like how the stripes aren't super clear, but you can tell there's *something* going on there!

I love a more defined stripe, too, but there's something nice about a subtle nail art that just manipulates the way you see the polish, too. 

Do you have a fave striped mani?  I'd love for you to share it on my FB page!

Blue Glittersplosion!

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for another round of Undies and Glitter!  Today's polishes are some kind of blue.. mostly.

First up, Different Dimension Dewing It Right and Rainbow Polish Summer Storm.  I love blue and grey together.  Notice the water theme here?

Gorgeous though it is, OPI Amazon..Amazoff is a bit of a stainer on me.  I did a couple of accent nails with Shimmer Polish Cristina, which could build to opacity, as many of Shimmer's microglitter polishes do, if you like.

A while back, I did a post about trying to recreate a pinned look that claimed to have been made with OPI Cuckoo For This Color and Essie Shine of The Times.  When I did it, I couldn't make it look like the picture.  Imagine my delight when this combination actually looked like it!  I give you OPI Amazon..Amazoff and Color Club Galactic Garden!

I loved the sparkle that Finger Paints You Yacht To Know Better had in the bottle, but it's so subtle on the nail.  So I added Finger Paints Sparkle In The Sky.  I didn't realize that it's a texture and completely opaque on its own! Instead of boosting Yacht, it obliterated it.  Still pretty, though.

I love dusty colors like Rescue Beauty Lounge 360.  I'm not sure I did it any favors by putting a matte flakie over it like Orly Green Flakie Topcoat.

My heart still sings over the combination of Amazon..Amazoff and Galactic Garden.  Any fave glitter combos for you?

Paula Dorf is a little Flakie

Hello, Fireflies!

I'd never heard of Paula Dorf products before, and then I started hearing some buzz about them in the polish groups on Facebook.  This brand was popping up in TJ Maxx/Marshals, and folks were raving!

So, I found some in a blog sale, and I have to say - they were right!  This is Paula Dorf Blue-tiful, a dark, navy-ish blue jelly. 

I then took Paula Dorf Model, a wine-purple shimmer and did a dabby-gradient about 2/3 up the nail.  Without the bright light, the colors blended better.  Blue-tiful appears darker in natural lighting.

I stalked Llarowe when these Color Club flakies came out.  I still haven't seen them anywhere else, but if I do, I'm buying backups.  This is Color Club Violet Twilight, a blue jelly with red/green/gold flakies.  It came in a set of 4.

I have not yet reached saturation with flakies! As much as I love holos, I can look at some and feel I own something similar *enough*... but not as much with flakies. 

Someone needs to make me a signature flakie polish.  In a gallon jug. KThanks.

Bottle shot:  Paula Dorf Blue-tiful, Model, and Color Club Violet Twilight.

Have you had a signature polish made?  What did it or would it look like if you did?

GOT Silver and Holo, Silver and Holo..

Hello, Fireflies!

I only wore these Everlasting French tip press-on nails from KISS and Influenster for a couple of days, but I did enjoy playing with them!  .

Today's GOT polish challenge is 'with a silver accent'. I started with a holo silver accent, in Color Club Worth The Risque.  The false nail was a pretty nice, smooth surface for a holo! 

Wish I had given that more thought before attempting a sponge gradient on the other nails.  I used Color Club Wild at Heart, more Worth The Risque, and then Revvvolution.... and made a bit of a mess!

The gradient did smooth out a bit with topcoat.  Thank goodness for topcoat!  I also used the topcoat to stick on these nail shields.  Still a silver accent!

Look how ginormous these nail shields are, though! I couldn't fit them on my regular nubbins, and they're pretty thick, too.  They're cute decoration, but they're no Nail Veils.

Bottle shot:  Color Club Wild at Heart, Revvvolution, and Worth The Risque.

I'm glad I thought to try more nail jewelry while wearing these talons.  Maybe next time, I'll try drilling a hole through them and wearing those dangly jewelry bits! What do you think of those?

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Stamping - Purple and Orange

Hello, Fireflies! 

Today's stamping challenge is purple and orange.  I was stumped.  I don't think I've ever worn purple and orange together on my nails.  I couldn't even think of where to start!

So, I went for a holo.  Always a good place to start.  This is Aly's Dream Polish Electric Indigo.

Like a lot of purple-blues, my camera was all stubborn and refused to give me the right color.  This is close... it's a really lovely, bright blurple color.

I thought maybe an animal print was crazy enough for this color combo, so I picked this zebra-like print from Shany 22.

I didn't think 'zebra' when I picked it, but it stamped that way.  I used Kleancolor Metallic Orange for the stamp.  Love how the metallics stamp, though I did have a little trouble.

I decided to add Color Club Spiral Stars for some added orange - flakie! Too bad it was mostly lost in the stripes.  Boo.

Bottle shot:  Aly's Dream Polish Electric Indigo, Kleancolor Metallic Orange, and Color Club Spiral Stars.

Aren't these LSU colors?  I don't know, I don't follow college (or any) sports, really.  But for some reason, it's ringing a bell.  Would you wear purple and orange polish together?

Flowers over Flakies - #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

If you missed it, I have another post today about how the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida were introduced to SpaTouch, LLC and the IBX nail repair and strengthening system!

But I have flakies for you now! It starts with China Glaze VIII, a dark, creamy, smoky purple. Gorgeous!

Over that, I used Color Club Violet Twilight.  Don't let the blue base deceive you - it doesn't really look like that on the nail. You can see it hardly affected the dark purple China Glaze. Look at the red and green and gold flakies, though.  *sigh*

Inspired by Devilish Designs nail art, I set out to make a similar flower and swirl design using Revlon Spirit, a creamy white from their Top Speed line.  I gotta say, this polish impressed me! So nice for nail art - opaque, but thin enough to make the swirls easily.

I used the China Glaze again to add in the flower details.  Look how the flakies wink from behind the design.  Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!

Topcoat to make it all shiny - it helps the flakies to really look their best, too.  I like the nail art, but it really is about the flakies, isn't it.

I love the contrast between the dark and flakie background and the stark white flowers and swirls.  So different!

Bottle shot:  China Glaze VIII, Color Club Violet Twilight, and Revlon Spirit

Do you like putting art over a flakie, or is it a crime to cover up their beauty?

An InLinkz Link-up

Sugar Hearts - #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

Two posts today! If you missed it, I've joined a Valentines' Day Week of Love Challenge, and my first post, Candy Heart Sayings, is already on the blog! Click HERE to see it.

This post is still Valentines' related.. sort of.  I mean, we nail art folk do hearts on our nails all year long, but somehow it's V-day related if we do them this time of year.

So, a very un-Vday polish is the base of this nail art - Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer in Sugar Cloud.  These are the second generation of textured polishes from Sally Hansen, and I'm loving them! They added, uh, well, a shimmer.  This one is blue with a pink shimmer.

My only complaint is how thin this polish is! The blue is washed out, and you can see right through it, even at 3 or 4 coats.  Solution? French tip! I chose Color Club Wicker Park to compliment the shimmer in Sugar Cloud.

Using a white striper, I added a little heart on my accent nails.

On top, and a little smaller, so that the heart would have a white outline, I added a blue shimmery heart.

The shimmer comes alive with topcoat!

I wish that Sugar Cloud would retain its blue color instead of leaning grey.  It's Sugar Cloud, not Storm Cloud, Sally.

Bottle shot:  Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer in Sugar Cloud, Color Club Wicker Park, and Color Workshop stripers in white and blue.

Are you feeling heart nail art this week, or all year-round? or *gasp* never?!?