Sunday Stamping - Over a Purple Holo Gradient

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's challenge was to stamp over a holographic polish.  When I saw that, I was sooo happy.  Not only because I love holos, but because I already had done this mani, and was looking to embellish it:

This is a simple dabbing gradient (no sponges, just dabbing the polish brush in layers over a previous polish.)  I started with a reddish holo from Daring Digits.  It has no sticker, I don't know what it's called.  It's very light - almost translucent.  Over that, Lilypad Lacquer Blooming Violets, a pink-leaning violet.  The third is by now mostly defunct Liquid Lacquer, and it's called Houses of The Holy.  It's a purple jelly, and very light, almost too light to see, really.  I didn't know..  The last is gorgeous royal purple I Love Nail Polish Amanda Hugginkiss.

My husband thought it looked so sophisticated.  He's so sweet.  He really loves purple, and has taken a shine to any purple manis I do. 

To stamp, I chose this floral pattern from Dashika Big SdP-L plate and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. (The other hand I stamped with Cult Nails Nevermore, which did a better job.)

I love stamping over a gradient.  For one, it makes the gradient look fantastic, no matter how sloppy of a job you did. 

Also, like the best company dinners, it looks complicated, but it's not.

I was even able to do *both* hands!

Bottle shot:  Daring Digits [unknown], Lilypad Lacquer Blooming Violets, Liquid Lacquer Houses of The Holy, and I Love Nail Polish Amanda Hugginkiss. (Not pictured: Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and Cult Nails Nevermore.)

I love happy coincidences where I can make a nail art work for a challenge.  You might see some other incidences of that this month, where I found a nail art from the vault that worked for a challenge.  I like working smarter, not harder!

What do you think about turning this gradient into something that fulfilled the stamping challenge?  Would you have rather started a new look from scratch?

Saturday Holo Spam - Indie Purple Edition!

Hello, Fireflies! 

Welcome to Saturday Spam! I have a few purple holos to show you today, all wonderful in their own way!

I Love Nail Polish Kings & Queens. Royal purple holo goodness.  Have you seen the new Summer holos? They're on presale now.  I couldn't resist getting a few.  Her polishes are buttery!

Aly's Dream Polish  Intense Blurple.  When Aly does a pre-sale, it's amazing! She puts everything up, and will make it to order.  She doesn't use Spectraflair, and most of her holos are scattered holo.  Look at this amazing pigmentation!

The Devil Wears Polish Lady Marmalade.  This picture doesn't do it justice - it's complex, with purple and pink holo flame. Her polishes tend to be a little on the thick side, but not gloopy.

Girly Bits Ho-Ho-Hope.  Forever a GB fan! This was part of her holiday collection, and it's a gorgeous purple.  In the next picture, I add to it!

Joss In A Violet Haze.  This is a white glitter holo with a purple shimmer.  Looks great over Ho-Ho-Hope!

And a bottle shot of Girly Bits Ho-Ho-Hope, and Joss In A Violet Haze.  Don't the purples match beautifully?

Do you love purple like I love purple? Have you tried any of these Indie brand polishes?

A Skittle, Layered.

Hello, Fireflies!  Today's skittle is a little different.  I wanted to see how layering a polish over different bases created the mani.

I started with (thumb to pinky): Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, a pink with orange shimmer; Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, a sunny yellow creme; Cult Nails Kiss, a matte tomato red;  I Love Nail Polish Undenied, a metallic purple duochrome; and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

I built up the thumb with a few more layers of Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, and then put that same polish over all the other nails.  What a cool transformation!

It turned Mellow Yellow into an orange sunburst, and the black creme into a dark, purple shimmer.

But, I think my fave has to be the effect over I Love Nail Polish Undenied.  It amplified the duochrome, and now there's all kinds of reds and purples in it.  Neat-o Jet!

As different as all the colors were, now they could almost pass for an ombre' mani.  Do you ever layer polishes for different effects?

An InLinkz Link-up

Saturday Spam, The Holos Part I

Hello, Fireflies!

I checked into the Vault, and realized that I have a few manis - mostly holos - that don't seem to have enough content for their own blog post, but I'd like to share them with you all the same.  So, I'm going to spam you on the occasional Saturday!

First up, a gradient I did with a couple of Joss holo-like glitters.  These have just enough micro glitter to shred the cotton I was using to remove them - but otherwise, they're not rough to the touch.  And, they're super, super sparkly.

Bottle shot:  Joss Your Mum Wouldn't Like It and A Calming Influence

The other look I'd like to show you starts with a lovely light blue holo from I Love Nail Polish, called Music Box.

I added OPI In True Stefani Fashion, a silver holo glitter-bomb... and a little something extra.  I like to think of it as my Rock Unicorn look.

Bottle shot:  OPI In True Stefani Fashion, and  I Love Nail Polish Music Box.

Are you feeling the holo love today?  Have a favorite?

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Royals

Hello, Fireflies!

All this month, the NCC challenge is Music/TV/Movies.  Which I thought would be easy, until I had to think of what to do.  I knew I couldn't top my spectacular Spinal Tap mani that totally went to 11.

Sometimes, inspiration has a roundabout way of coming to me.  I started with I Love Nail Polish Charmingly Purple, a gorgeous light purple holo that evoked thoughts of Prince Charming.

Every prince needs a crown, right?  So I used these crown water decals that were sent to me from Born Pretty Store.  I can't believe how easy they are to use - cut, soak for 15 seconds in water, slide off the paper, and put on the nail.  If the nail is wet, you can even slide them around until you like where they are, and then they'll dry and stay put.

The low-hanging fruit would be to go with Prince, right?  He loves purple, the polish is Charming-ly, like Prince Charming.. but while I was doing this, I kept hearing a song in my head, and it wasn't Prince's.

Nope, it was Lorde's Royals.

While she's not one of my favorite singers, I have to applaud her recent calling out of this photoshopped image of herself.  She tweeted it along with a regular picture of herself, reminding people that it's okay to have flaws.  Yay for positive body image!

image source: https://twitter.com/lordemusic/status/450460437998747650/photo/1

Oh, and the glitters are holo circles I pulled from my bottle of OPI I Snow You Love Me.  Can't be a royal without a little bling-bling, can we?

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

Sporty Stripe

Hello, Fireflies!

I am so loving all the multichromes that are in vogue now.  I picked up the set from I Love Nail Polish, and this is the third one I've tried.  I lent the pix of Cygnus Loop and Bifringence to Glittery & Polished in my guest post.  This is My Little Glacier.

The shift on this one is the most subtle of the set, but the type of shift is a little more unusual.  I don't see a lot of polishes that shift from grey to blue.

There's also some pink shimmer in there, which is what had me reaching for Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running.  I was really surprised by the texture of this polish - it's much creamier and thick than any other EP I own.  Of course, I always want more holo, but this is a beautiful creme with a touch of holo.

I really liked this simple pattern from gutsandgrace (Pinned from Instagram), and thought it would look good with these colors, too.

I love what adding a simple white stripe does to the nail art. 

I think it looks like a sports bag now! So clean, fun, and sporty!

Here's the bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier, Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running, and a white striper.

I think I'd buy a track suit in these colors.. lol!

I Love Nail Polish Sunset Crosshatch

I have such a huge shopping problem when it comes to holos.  Even though it says *subtle* right there, I still get suckered in by a bright picture, or an enthusiastic blogger. 

Not that this isn't a beautiful color.  I Love Nail Polish in Grande Sunset.  Beautiful coral-leaning pink.  The color alone is worth it to have in my collection.

I just want a little more holo.  Is that so wrong?  I know it's difficult with the lighter colors to balance the color with the holo.  But, in many ways, I am the toddler, throwing a tantrum on the floor with her toys, screaming, 'but, but, but, MOAR HOLO!'

You can always tell when I make up a design instead of looking at others' art for inspiration.  This is a hot mess.  But, it's *my* hot mess, so you get to see it anyway.

The dark blue is Orly In the Navy, a gorgeous navy polish.  I love Orly formulas.  They are always perfection.

The light blue is Revlon Intrigue from the Brilliant Strength collection.  I'm 'intrigued' by this line of Revlon, and I want to get more!  So pretty, and I love how the shimmer highlights the design.

Bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish Grande Sunset, Orly In The Navy, and Revlon Intrigue.

Are you loud and proud with your nail fails?  Are you good at coming up with designs, or do you look to others for inspiration, as I do?

Colorful Cracks in my Concrete Sprinkles

Today's mani combines a little bit of quiet with a little bit of loud.

I Love Nail Polish Concrete Sprinkles.  Such a quiet, soft grey.  There is some scattered holo in there, but just a touch.  I wish there was more... but I pretty much always wish there was more holo.  I mean, I love a good creme, but if you're going to be a holo, be a holo!

So, I had a random thought to put these bright stripes on the grey.  They are both from Revlon - the red is Lava, and the purple is called Violet.

And, the bottle shot:  I Love NP Concrete Sprinkles, Revlon Lava and Violet.

Sometimes, it can be fun to get out the brushes and sponges and tools and make a nail art mess masterpiece.  Sometimes, simple is best.  What say you?

ETA:  If you'd like more information about I Love Nail Polish, they can be found on Facebook and their webstore.