#Iwokeuplikethis

Cuepido and Bulletproof Brows are Press Samples.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

If I'm not leaving the house, I often don't wear makeup.  So, when I do go out, I usually like to play with lots of different kinds of makeup! Today's look is the opposite - a minimal look with a wash of color and tousled hair, and a great nail look that looks fancy, but takes just one more step than a plain mani.

Purple-Grey Wallpaper

Hello, Fireflies!

I was playing around with some of my Black Dahlia Lacquers, and came up with a design I thought might fit this months NCC Wallpaper challenge.

It starts with Black Dahlia Japanese Painted Fern, a medium grey with purple shimmer.

Bleeding Boogie Nights

Hello, Fireflies!

I love rich, vampy shades of polish, and Deborah Lippmann Let It Bleed is perfect for this time of year!  It's such a deep, dark oxblood.

I like how the rose gold glitter of Ulta Boogie Nights looks sprinkled on just the top of the nail.  It's as if Edward shed some glitter on the blood pools he left behind.

If it redeems me at all, I read the Twilight Books, and only saw one..or two of the movies.  For free, on TV.  Just to see what the hype was all about, you know.

I think this combo takes on an ethereal quality when paired with a matte topcoat.  I like how it makes all the pieces of glitter stand out individually.

Pic Monkey, the picture editing tool I use, has some cool overlays for the season.  I do seem to like the idea of a messy vampire.

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippmann Let It Bleed (True Blood) and Ulta Boogie Nights.

It wasn't Edward after all! My little firefly logo has gone vamp!

Are you into the vampire hype?

Saturday Swirly Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

Just a little nail art for you today, based on a cute stripey pattern I saw on Fairly Charming's blog.

I started out with a Julep Joanna, a frosty, icy blue.  I like using these light, fairly unobtrusive colors for the base of a nail art instead of all the bare nails or sheer pinks I see so often.  I have way too many polishes to be going naked for all of these manicures.

These are probably the messiest stripes I've ever published on my blog.  I seem to have a problem replicating the shape of the original nail art.  Time to break out the compass, or something.  What a mess.  But the polish is pretty - a coral from Deborah Lippmann called Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

From coral to radiant orchid with Nails Inc Devonshire Row.  I must have been sorting through my mini bottles - two in a row? Weird.

When you want pseudo jeans, try jeggings.  Or Ginger + Liz Jeggings, which fit me much better.

I like how the other colors are sandwiched between different shades of blue.

Even though these are mostly trendy colors, this look feels somehow dated.  Doesn't it kinda look retro?

Bottle shot:  Julep Joanna, Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Nails Inc Devonshire Row, and Ginger + Liz Jeggings.

Are you more likely to do adventurous nail/makeup/fashion looks on the weekend, or do the opposite and go as nekkid as you possibly can? I'll chill out with a bare face when we're at home, but I love playing with nail art on lazy days.

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Redo the Swoosh!

Hello, Fireflies!

Last July challenge for the NCC - and the last of the first 4 nail arts that I took pictures of.  This last gem was an attempt to recreate a 'swoosh' nail art I saw on some blog, somewhere.  Even if you saw it, you'd probably never think this was related in any way:

I decided to stay with blue, but going instead for a shiny cobalt version with Deborah Lippmann My Prerogative.

The first 'swoosh' I did with a gorgeous nudish-taupe, Deborah Lippmann Putty In Your Hands.  In Real Life, it looked like a negative space mani almost - the taupe was so skin-like! It was cool.

I made a little higlight 'swoosh' with Revlon Spirit.

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippmann My Prerogative, Putty In Your Hands Revlon Spirit. 

It's a simple design, but I *still* can't get it to look like it does in my head, with the perfect flip at the end. Still, I think the new version looks pretty good, and I liked it.

I hope you've enjoyed this month's theme.  If you decide to go back into your pictures and re-do something - whether it be nail art, a makeup look, or even a hairdo or fashion look, I'd love to see your before/afters! Feel free to post them on my Facebook wall.

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Put A Ring On It

Hello, Fireflies!

For today's Music/Movie/TV challenge, I chose the song that launched a thousand memes - Beyonce's Single Ladies!

Now, I started this mani....

Oh, Kanye.  I know.  Beyonce had the best mani of all time.  She is, after all, Queen B.  At least I started this mani with Queen D - Deborah Lippmann, that is.  Easy Money, which is how B makes all hers, right?

I love this polish.  So complex and colorful with the green, blue, and gold mixed together.  

I bought a bunch of these nail rings, not realizing that they're meant to be hung from the nails, like a piercing.  My nails can't handle that, so I just decided to wear them like rings.  Because, you know, if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it.

I love the little gold rings, too! Does more rings = more love?

I did purchase these rings myself.  They can be found HERE on Born Pretty Store.  If you'd like to go shopping at the Born Pretty Store, feel free to use my coupon (GVX31) for 10% off!

An InLinkz Link-up

Good Girl Black and White Dress

Hello, Fireflies!

On the days that I dress up to teach, I love having a mani that matches my dress.  I think I got pretty close on this one, but you be the judge!  I would prefer, though, if you were more of a Paula Abdul judge than a Simon Cowell, one, though, ok?

I started with Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad.  I love this color, but I have to say, it's so similar to a couple of others from her - Razzle Dazzle comes to mind.

I know they're not the same, but they're *similar*... 

I took Cult Nails Tempest and Nevermore, and with an almost dry brush, painted over the raspberry glitter.

In the dress, the purple is 'hidden' underneath the white and black, so that's what I tried to do in the nail art.  The glitter catches the light, too, which makes is fun to put underneath the black and white.

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad, and Cult Nails Tempest and Nevermore.

Pretty easy nail art, right?  Almost too easy.  I can see this looking great with so many glitters underneath, too.  If you'd wear this, what would you put underneath?

Sunday Stamping - From the Boob Tube

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Adventures In Stamping challenge was to be inspired by a television show we're watching. This show is technically off the air, but I'm watching it on Netflix, and I'm hooked!

I started with a hunter green polish that reminded me of the title screen - Deborah Lippmann Hannah.

Hannah is a gorgeous greyed-green crelly.  I love the way it shines like a creme, but has depth like a jelly.  I know that the pix show my fingers a little red, but that's just the pix. Red and green are color opposites, and tend to bring each other out in my pix!

I used images from 4 different plates for this mani - Maybelline Bold Gold to make dollar signs from Shany 09; smoke I stamped using Essie No Place Like Chrome, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and A-England Encore Margot on Shany 11; sunglasses and moustaches in Essie No Place Like Chrome and Maybelline Bold Gold on Winstonia W109, and I used Butter London Keks and a little glitter with Mash 48 to simulate chemical molecules.. and blue ice.

Have you figured out what the show is yet?

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippmann Hannah, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Maybelline Bold Gold, A-England Encore Margot, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Butter London Keks, and glitter from Julep.

The show is Breaking Bad! I'm only through the first two seasons, so no spoilers, please! Did you guess correctly?

Purple Mermaids

Hello, Fireflies!

Today and tomorrow, I have a couple of looks to share that I did with Deborah Lippmann polishes.  I was entranced by the Mermaid collection, what with the glitter and shimmer and stuff.  I picked up a couple of those and a few others when they went on sale

Do The Mermaid is purple with purple microglitter.  Yum.

Pretty.  Right up my alley, as it were.

I also picked up Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather, a grey creme.  I'm glad I got it on sale.  It's... okay.  Nothing to write home about, and I love grey cremes.  Not bad, I'm saying. Just nothing special for the hefty price tag, either.

I did a French tip first, and then added the stripe down the middle.  Not sure what I was going for.  Something abstract, I'm sure.  Maybe I was drinking that night?  Seems rather silly, now.  ;)

Bottle shot:  Deborah Lippman Do The Mermaid and Stormy Weather.

Have you ever done a manicure and later, when you looked at it (or a pix) you wondered what you were thinking?