Cheery Chevrons

Hello, Fireflies!

My niece is obsessed with chevrons at the moment, and so I was thinking of her when I dipped into the vault and found three chevron-centric nail arts to share with you today. 

Natural Spa Scrubbing and Masking at Home with Valentia #skindetoxifyingclaymask

Press Samples.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you got the dull skin blues?  Ready for a little spa experience at home, with an emollient scrub that turns over dead skin cells while nourishing the skin, and a clay mask that smells amazing, clears up excess oil and makes the skin feel so soft?

Negative Space Glitter Chevron Tips

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for the second installment of this month's challenge, Negative Space.  This week, I do a glittery twist on a classic chevron French tip.

Greyscale Nails

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's post finishes out this month's NCC's theme of Monochrome.  I just couldn't resist doing the ultimate monochrome nailart - greyscale.  But, with a glittery twist!

Chic Chevron Funky French

Hello, Fireflies!

Happy 'Back to the Future' day! I don't have any BTTF polishes, but I'm going to celebrate in today's post by diving into the vault for some older pictures that meet this month's "Funky French" challenge.  The polish I used as the base for this look was inspired by a movie made in the 70's, but it's coming back in a few months in a new way!

Holding onto summer - Coral Look with #AnastasiaBeverlyHills #ColourPop & #MichaelKors

 Hello, Fireflies!

I love Fall makeup and polish colors, but it can sometimes be hard to rock them when it's still 80+ degrees outside and everyone is still wearing shorts.  So, a few days ago, I went all-out and wore a bunch of coral to let everyone know I wasn't quite done with Summer!

Sofa King Good? Naw, it's #Effenfine!

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

The older I get, the more important my tweezers have become to me.  As a kid, I only needed the occasional splinter removed, and the crap tweezers from someone's Swiss Army knife usually did the trick.  Now, I need delicate, fine tipped instruments to use around my eyes, and tough grippers to yank out my wiry chin hairs.  Are these tweezers just OK, or are they Effenfine?

Some of My Favorite Things - Gold and Black, Dogs and Chevrons

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is to mix animal prints with chevrons.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do at first, but I really like the mix of gold flakies and black chevrons, with my favorite animal print - dog paws!

Satin Chevrons

Hello, Fireflies! Time for a little palate-cleansing nail art with Zoya Satins.

Navy and Pearls

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you gotten enough chevrons yet?  I love wearing them on my clothes and my nails, so my third installment of 'fashion' inspired nails includes another way to wear them.

Smelling (Insta)Naturally Good! #essentialoils

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

My little world mostly consists of a small house with four dogs, so it isn't always the best smelling place to be.  InstaNatural Essential oils can help me turn that stank into a delightful smell - and so many other things, too!

Chevron Couture

Hello, Fireflies!

Today, I'm sharing the second installment of this month's "fashion" challenge with a look at some chevron nails I did to go with a dress of mine, plus the makeup look I did with it.  Get ready for lots of teal!

Helping Out My Beauty Goddess With Radha Beauty #RadhaBeauty

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Radha (pronounced 'rada') means "Beauty Goddess."  Now, I believe that we are all 'beauty goddesses' already, which is why I address my readers as 'Fireflies' - we are all lit from within, like a firefly.  We all carry our beauty within us, glowing.

Sometimes, I need a little help getting my beauty going on on the outside, though.  So I've been using this trio of skincare products from Radha, for a little help.

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.

There's Nothing More Beautiful Than A Great Smile! #TartarScraperkit

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

I always say that the best makeup is your smile, and taking care of your teeth can help you feel good about it!  Now, I'm not a dentist, and I don't play one on TV, but I think this Dental Tartar Scraper and Remover Set By Majestic Bombay can really help make your teeth look and feel their best!

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.

Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida Black and White Linkup!

Hello, Fireflies!

I have a special place in my heart for black & white manicures.  There's something so clean and striking about them.  So when the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida suggested a Black & White roundup, I was excited.

I started with a new-to-me Indie, Glitzkrieg War Paint.  This off-white/dove grey with a subtle holo is called Purity. 

I used Cult Nails Ignite to freehand a chevron tip.  This is an interestingly textured polish - the black is very jelly, but is opaque in two coats.  It really allows the tiny silver sparkles to shine through!

Removal wasn't hard, either.  The black polish comes off first, leaving a smattering of silver, but they just wiped off with a little pressure and a felt pad.  No scrubbing required.

A white striper helped clean up the lines and give a little contrast, and then a textured square silver stud finishes the look!

All the points actually help visually elongate my nubbins. Science!

Bottle shot:  Glitzkrieg War Paint Purity, Cult Nails Ignite, and a white striper. 

I love wearing black and white nails and outfits, and want to experiment with black and white makeup looks, too.  How do you like your black and white?

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Renewal Nail Art Challenge - Good Egg!

Is it really spring?  I know some folks got snow this week! It's so weird - usually we have the A/C on 24/7 by this time here in Florida, but I'm loving that today is breezy, and I have the house open.  I'm feeling totally renewed, and excited for this, ahem, Spring Renewal Challenge!

First, let's pretend that I have a pix of my white nails, painted perfectly (we're imagining, so why not!) with Revlon Spirit.

I picked up some Washi tape that had chevrons printed on it, so I used them as a template and cut out chevrons for my nails.  Soon after, I got a small set of Nail Vinyls of chevrons, but it was too late for this mani.  Something you could get, though, if you want easy chevrons!

I tried to alternate between the yellow (Julep Nadia), pink (Julep Ellie) and blue (Joe Fresh Wave) but apparently, I can't do random patterns.  Also, Ellie fooled me with her pinkness in the bottle, but not so much on the nail.  April Fools!... a little late?

I took a dotting tool and some black to make some - and pardon me for getting a little technical here - dots.  In a chevron pattern.  Try to wrap your minds around that without hurting yourselves.

I think Orly Etoile may be the most subtle glitter I own.  Just a pinch of light purple sparkle.

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Joe Fresh Wave, Julep Nadia and Ellie, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and Orly Etoile.

This is probably as close to Easter Eggs as I'll get this year, except for candy ones.  My fave are the malted milk Robins' Eggs, but I have to have at least one Cadbury egg, and one Reese's Peanut Butter Egg, too.  What's your favorite egg?

An InLinkz Link-up

Two posts today!  Click HERE if you want to see my Hot. Pink. Cabana Boy.

Guest Nails - Anchors and Dragons!

Hello, Fireflies!

You may recognize these guest hands by now!  My friend Jill and her daughter Toni are becoming regulars here on the blog!  I love having our girly visits and helping Toni get ready for a new week at school.

Jill still isn't smoking anything other than the e-cigarette, and her nails are looking better!  She wanted a French mani with Essie Shop Till I Drop as the base, and Ninja Polish Basilisk on the chevron tip.

I love the way it looks, but I put the glitter on a little thick (over a thin layer of OPI Black Onyx) and some of her nails smudged before they could fully dry.  Always a lesson to be learned!

Toni asked for a replica of a sailor mani she had seen on Instagram.  I couldn't find the owner of the original, sadly.  It looked like they had used pieces of red tape over a white base, but I did the tape over a white base (Cult Nails Tempest), then painted the red (Sally Hansen Sacred Scarlet) over the tape.  The white stripes appear when you pull the tape off!  Like magic!

It was a lot of tape, and some of my lines weren't perfect, so she wanted to see what it looked like if I just painted red stripes.  You may notice I only did *one* nail like that, because she preferred it the original way.  I did clean up a little using a striping brush, though. 

The blue is OPI I Saw..Warsaw, and I used a dotting tool and a striper to draw the anchor. 

She loved it, and I got to do a mani I never would have attempted on my own.  I can't wait to see what she wants me to try next time!

Naked Heart

Hello, Fireflies!

I have a glowy polish that made me glow when I got it.  Like most everyone else, I missed the Enchanted surprise listing of In The Nude, but I managed to find someone who wanted to trade with me.

This really is a true nude on me - it's pale! I've seen some comparisons with EP Afternoon Delight, and they look pretty similar.  This one is a tad bit lighter, and the shimmer is blue instead of pink.

I saw this nifty idea on Pinterest from The Crafty Ninja for adding a black tip and heart.  She used tape for cleaner lines, and in retrospect, maybe I should have, too.  But, I was lazy.

I love this look, though!  It was advertised as a Valentines' Day mani, but I think this could be worn year-round.  I may try it with just hearts on the accent nails, too.

I love nude and black polish together.  And a chevron is always flattering on the nubbins.

Bottle shot:  Enchanted Polish In The Nude, Black nail art striper, and OPI Black Onyx.

Do you also like using nude and black polishes together?  Are you a fan of the nude holo?