Priti Sparkling Leaves

Hello, Fireflies!

I know, Autumn is way over, and most of the country is shivering under sleet and snow.. and it's even cold here in Florida.. though some of the trees are starting to push new buds through, and there are signs of Spring.

But, when I saw this The Polish Playground Glittery Autumn Leaves design, I knew I wanted to do my own version, 'traditional' Fall colors be damned.  Let's buck tradition, shan't we? Because this is too cool and pretty to wait.

I started with Priti NYC Lady Killer Crocus, a shimmery brown, and Paris Sparkles Chataigne, a bronze/brown/gold glitter - opaque on its own with a couple of coats.  It's almost too sparkly to photograph!

I used striping tape to make two colorful leaves and one gold one.  The two hardest things about using striping tape are: 1) getting it to stick only where you want, and no where else and 2) getting it to stay down once you have it where you want.

If you've ever seen a precise colorblocked mani, they probably used striping tape.  And, you probably weren't looking at my blog.

I love how the glitter peeks through the colors! I used some more of the Priti NYC Lady Killer Crocus, OPI DS Tapestry, and Pahlish The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come for the colorblocked leaves.

On my thumb, I did the same leaf design, but just put Paris Sparkles Chataigne on top.  It wasn't the best choice, though - you can't really see the leaf definition.  It just looks sparkly... which is okay, I guess, just not what I was going for which is exactly what I wanted to do.  Yeah, that's right.  You wouldn't know the difference if I hadn't told you.

Bottle shot:  Priti NYC Lady Killer Crocus, Paris Sparkles Chataigne, OPI DS Tapestry, and Pahlish The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.

So, there are two lessons for you today, Fireflies! 1) Striping tape is cool. 2) There are no mistakes in nail art - it's just different from what you originally envisioned!

Karmic Flowers

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm old. I'm jaded.  I have TONS of Indie polishes now, and if I'm going to be seduced into buying another, it had better be on sale.

Unless it's the Fall-ographic collection from Amy's Nail Boutique.  Yes, it's holo and duochrome, and I'm a sucker.  This is Karma Chameleon.

Look at that lovely shift and glow. 

I wanted to do some nail art that I could pull off on my non-dominant hand, and I was inspired by this abstract flower look from My Nail Polish Online.  I love how the blues in her mani worked together, and I wanted to do something similar with pink and orange.

After drawing the stems of the flower with a black striper, I used a dotting tool and Too Cute-icle Gorgeous to make the petals.

It's an *abstract* look, see?  It's supposed to look that way on my right hand.

I wanted to see what it would look like with a stronger pink, so I dotted Priti NYC Jersey Beauty Dahlia over the orange.  I like it!

Amy's Nail Boutique has some spectacular, affordable holos that I really like a lot.  I love using holos as a background for nail art, plus they dry fast for a quick mani when you have to run out the door. This is a quick, fun nail art that is hard to mess up!

Minions!

Hello, Fireflies!

Today, I have a mani I had so much fun doing, and never would have thought to do on my own.

Apparently, my hubby sometimes talks up my nail art in his classroom at the University, and he had a student ask him if I could do Minion nails.  I'd never done them, so I found some examples and a tutorial online and tried my own.

Zoya Pippa, in my opinion, is the perfect Minion yellow.

I added a straight tip with Sally Hansen Salon Blue Rose (Target Exclusive) and glasses with Zoya Marina (mine was a little too thick, so it never flattened out).

OPI Black Onyx and a black nail art striper, Sally Hansen White Tip, and Priti NYC Love Lies Bleeding made up the little Minion faces!

Here's what I used:  Zoya Pippa, Sally Hansen Salon Blue Rose, Zoya Marina, Priti NYC Love Lies Bleeding, Sally Hansen White Tip, OPI Black Onyx, and a black striper.

There were a few lessons learned about the order of the details, and that some polishes were too thick for the small details of the eyes.  I ended up swapping out the blue for Sally Hansen Salon Thinking of Blue (only because I couldn't find the other one at that moment!) the grey for Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Presto Pewter, and the black and white for Cult Nails Nevermore and Tempest.  These were great for nail art!

I was a little nervous, but ready to go, when Carolyn showed up for her Minion mani.  Here it is:

She was so easy to work with, and we had a great time.  She helped decide where she wanted the Minions looking..

..and what expressions they might have.

So glad I did a trial run, because I loved how they turned out for her. 

Afterwards, the Minions did what they do best - went to work! And, there's no better work than Puppy Belly Rubbins!

Amazing how Minions, Manis, Puppies, and new friends can change your day.  What's one of your happiest mani moments?

A Hare in Priti Flowers

When I was doing this mani, I was trying to work in contrasts (again) of a neutral base and bright foreground.  My hubby said that there isn't that much contrast in this mani.  I want to know what you guys think.

I started with a base of Hare Polish Return to Nature.  I love this - a nude with small gold and white square and circle glitters. 

Understated, but with a bit of bling.  Application was fine, no problems getting the glitters all over the nail. In these close-up pix, the VNL is more noticeable, but not as much in Real Life.  Another coat would have eliminated that, but I knew I was doing nail art, so I wasn't as worried.

The flowers were inspired by this design from Set In Lacquer.  I really liked the spiky look to her flowers. 

I made the flowers using  Priti NYC Flame of the Forest and Pincushion Protea for the petals, and SkyWaltz Delphinium for the centers.

They are such bright and cheerful colors, even if I've never seen a real flower that looked anything like it!

And, the bottle shot:  Hare Return to Nature, Priti NYC Flame of the Forest, Pincushion Protea, and SkyWaltz Delphinium.

So, is my hubby colorblind, or is there enough contrast? :)

Care to Dance in the Priti Flowers?

I love to dance.  Hubby and I took ballroom classes many moons ago, and we still like to kick up our heels now and again.  We are no dance legends, though.

This is:  Dance Legend Creme Brulee.  Awesome nude base with gold and green glitter.

I was inspired by this mani from Set In Lacquer, so I wanted to do a version of it.

The flowers are done with Priti NYC colors:  Bells of Ireland, and...

 ...Priti NYC Canterbury Bells.

Per usual, the Priti polishes were amazing.  The Dance Legend was pretty sheer; if I was to wear it alone, I'd pick a nice light nude undie.  I love how they come together in this floral mani, though.

Bottle shot:  Dance Legend Creme Brulee, and Priti NYC Bells of Ireland (green) and Canterbury Bells (blue)

Do you like a glitter as a base for nail art, or would you prefer a plain nude, like the original mani?

One woman's Garbage is another woman's Gem

I've become a nail polish hoarder.  I can't tell "normal" people how much polish I have, because they just don't understand.  In all my polish, in all my untrieds, it is rare for me to find a polish I love so much I just have to wear it again and again.

I have found such a polish.

Orly Sparkling Garbage.  It's such an amazing scattered holo, Soooo pretty.  Here it is over Priti NYC Blue Wedgewood

Here's Blue Wedgewood by itself.  It's a jelly, with that great shine and sheer texture.  Another win for Priti NYC.

Wait, did I say jelly?  How about a jelly sandwich?  One more coat of Blue Wedgewood over Sparkling Garbage.  Kinda looks like one of those newfangled texture polishes.

Here's another look - over a dark blue with a few glitters of its own:  LynBDesigns Time and Relative Dimension in Space.  TARDIS blue, natch.

Liquid Lacquer Rain Song is almost exactly the same color as the base color in Sparkling Garbage.  Rain Song is a sheer jelly with a subtle scattered holo.  It's a great pairing with Sparkling Garbage, don't you think?

Three different blues, three different looks with the same gorgeous glitter.  What's your fave?  What would you wear it over?

If you'd like more information about LynBDesigns, you can find her on Facebook or her Etsy shop.

If you'd like more information about Liquid Lacquer, you can find her on Facebook or her BigCartel shop.

Studio M? Should be Studio B - for BLINGY

Studio M is a polish line carried by Meijer (oh, how I miss Meijer).  Luckily, a fellow polish fanatic offered to pick up these awesome sparkly holos for some of us.  I've layered each over a polish from Priti NYC.

Priti NYC Climbing Blueberry. My camera always wants to pull a little more blue when photographing purple.  The lighter color on the edge of my nail is truer to the real color of this polish.  Like a deeper lilac.

Studio M Tru Passion.  With a pale lilac base, this glitter makes a great gradient with this purple.. it blends beautifully together.

Priti NYC Ginger Snap Orchid.  I didn't expect to love this color as much as I do.  It's so delicate and pretty, and applies like a dream.  It has the slightest shimmer that just gives it a little..oomph.  This is the perfect polish for just about any occasion.

Studio M Slammin' Red.  I *thought* that this glitter would bring a nice subtle red highlight to the pink polish.  Um, no.  It's completely opaque in ONE coat, and glitters like a diamond mine.  Pictures can not capture the sheer blingyness of this one.

Priti NYC Royale Robe.  This is a dark royal purple.

Studio M Purple Medallion.  Ermagerd.  This polish doesn't need undies, but it turns the royal purple into a deep cranberry color that is amazing.  You can get a sense of the amazing holo from the bottle in this picture.  It's pretty darn cool.

I have to say, I'm a fan of the Priti NYC polishes!  Every one of them has been a dream to apply, they self-level., and they look beautiful.  These Studio M glitters are great, especially for a bargain drugstore brand.  The scattered holo is definitely comparable to some Indies out there. If you can get them, I recommend them.

What do you think?

Pretty Flowers from Priti Flowers

Ah, it feels good to get back to some nail art! 

I saw this nail art called 'Neutral Sakuras' - cherry blossoms done in neutral colors, with just a small pop of color for the blossoms.  It reminded me of a photo filter where everything is in greytones except for that one color pop.  So, I did my own version, all with colors from Priti NYC.

I started with two coats of Lambs Ears, a soft sage green with a hint of metallic shimmer.  I was super impressed with the formulas of all these Pritis.  Really nice, thin layers, no pooling - no foolin'.
 

Next, I did a gradient with Pearlwort.  I painted the tips with the polish brush, then used a cosmetic sponge with the two colors to soften the line.  Sometimes, this nail art stuff gets a little messy, but it's worth it.

I painted the stems with Slenderlady Palm, a dark tealish-grey, and a striper brush.  

For the flowers, I placed drops of Jersey Beauty Dahlia (hot pink), Gatsby Dahlia (orange jelly), and Lampshade Poppy (bright yellow) on a palette, and mixed them loosely together with a nail art brush so that the paint looked marbled.  The center of the flowers is Lampshade Poppy by itself.

The grey/green grey/blues.  Apparently, they like doing this balancing act. Top to bottom, Priti NYC Lambs Ears, Pearlwort, and Slenderlady Palm.

The flower brights. From left to right, Priti NYC Jersey Beauty Dahlia, Gatsby Dahlia, and Lampshade Poppy.

I love cherry blossom nail art, and this feels like a fresh take on an old favorite.  I hope you like this as much as I did!  If you create your own version of this, I'd love for you to share it on my Facebook page.

If you'd like more info on Priti NYC, you can find them on Facebook.  I loved every one of these, but I will say that their normal pricing is a little high.  I bought all of these during a couple of their sales.