Beautiful Name, Beautiful Brushes #kireicosmetics

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Do you remember the first time you tasted something that then became your favorite flavor of all time?  I feel that way about makeup brushes! I was the girl who always used the sponge applicators that came in my cosmetics, because that's what my mom did, and it's all I knew.  The first year I went to The Makeup Show Orlando, I had a friend take me over to Crown Brush and make me buy a brush.. and now I can't get enough - I want to try all the styles, and all the brands.

Now, even though I have brushes from well-known and expensive brands, they are not always my go-to brush! There are some real hidden gems, and I may have found another with Kirei Cosmetics.

I GOT Coral and a fan brush, now what?

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Golden Oldie Thursday challenge is Coral.  Well, I'll never forget the excitement I had over getting Butter London Trout Pout.

This polish is a sneaky li'l thing.  How beautiful and cool it looks in pictures, almost serene.  In Real Life, this baby is bright and neon.  I was soo unprepared for that.  I've seen tons of pictures, and no one captures that brightness - it photographs like a Lady, but it's a Freak on the nails.

I was feeling a little 80's vibe, so I got out my fan brush and used Cult Nails Nevermore and Tempest to make some zebra-esque stripes.  Bright and Bold, Baby!

Messy, messy, messy! Nail art does require getting your hands a little dirty.  Down and dirty.  Topcoat makes it all shiny and new!

Bottle Shot:  Butter London Trout Pout, Cult Nails Tempest and Nevermore, and my fan brush.

Sometimes, it's fun to let your hair down and wear something bright and fun... and messy.  What's your favorite messy style? I really love a messy bun.

An InLinkz Link-up

Stay tuned!  At 9am, my post collaborating with the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida supporting Autism Awareness goes live!

Bettina Blast!

If you've never tried Bettina polish, you probably live anywhere other than Puerto Rico or south Florida.  They need to be everywhere, though, because these polishes are awesome.

Jingle Belle.  This photographed a little frostier than in Real Life.  It's actually a nice nude shimmer.  Great application.

Sparkles.  This is one of my fave Bettinas, ever.  It's bright, bold turquoise.. with a twist.  It was hard to photograph, but there is a green shimmer!  It's very visible in Real Life, no worries.  What a fun color.

 Bottle shot:

 

This should give you a better idea of the opacity of Jingle Belle.  I painted it with a nail brush *on top* of Sparkles.  Do you see that green shimmer?

I did two manis that used all four of the Bettinas I'm using today and tomorrow.  I couldn't think of a better way to showcase them than using a  fan brush technique I just learned from a tutorial from Let Them Have Polish.  Cristina is the biggest Bettina fan, and is helping them expand their market (hopefully soon!)  If you'd like to see the tutorial, it's actually on Vampy Varnish's page.

The base color is Jingle Belle, and the tips are Sparkles.  Tune in tomorrow to find out what the two middle colors are, and see them in some more nail art!

If you'd like more information about Bettina Cosmetics, here's their webpage.

The Fruity Punch of Polish

I have a few colors to show you today that just remind me of fruity cocktails, and that the beach is only a moment away..

Illamasqua Grab.  What to call this color... somewhere between fuchsia and magenta, I guess?  Definitely in the pink family.  Nice, glossy finish.

I added Julep Jordan, a mix of silver glitters, to give it an edge.  Adding some black would look nice, too!

Illamasqua Lament.  This was one of my surprise favorites!  A coral/salmon color that is bright, but not blindingly so, and definitely not neon. 

I love coral and gold together, so I thought Glitzology Sock Monkey would pair nicely.  Even with a very thin layer, it almost completely covered Lament!  Gives it almost a patina look, like an old gold lame' purse.

Gamma.  Now this is pretty much a neon, only in a rubber-type finish.  My camera couldn't capture the true brightness of this polish.  Definitely more bright than simply orange, but not radioactive yellow, either.  A fun summery color.

I took a fan brush and swept Lament and Grab over Gamma.  The mixture really looks like fruit punch to me!  But not the kiddie Kool-Aid version, more like the one with an umbrella in it.  This look needs topcoat to make it all meld together.

Bottle shot:

Too soon for summer?  It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

My birthday present to ME! - Cirque

Happy birthday to me!  I always get myself the BEST presents, and this year I decided to treat myself to some Cirque polishes!  I wasn't disappointed!

Hellebore.  This is one green glitterbomb!  It's a unique green to me, too - very light, with purple flecks and maybe some holo glitter mixed in.  Full coverage in two coats, very easy to apply.

I saw a tutorial on cutting hearts out of cheap bandaids to use as a stencil.  I didn't have any bandaids, so I tried it with clear tape.  Took me a few tries, but I finally got one to work on my thumb.  I used Fascination Street to paint in the stencil.  Cute!

Lonesome George.  Very nice pigmentation, pretty decent rainbow.  Easy application, no special base or buffing.

I saw this pattern on Raggio di Luna and I wanted to see if I could make it work with my Cirque polishes.  Fascination Street is thick enough to paint with, but because it's a holo you don't get a crisp line.  I dabbed some Hellebore at the tips.  Not exactly what I was going for, but still interesting.

Fascination Street. Great song by the Cure, and cool polish.  I think this was the first of Cirque's polishes to really grab my attention.  I wish I had some sunlight the day I swatched this so the rainbow would really shine, but you can still see some and that great saturated blurple color.

I decided to stamp over it with Color Club Eternal Beauty, one of Color Club's new holo releases for 2013.  Stamps beautifully, doesn't it?  I think they look great together, like purple dragon scales.

Cape Liz.  This has been the season for blue/grey polishes with flecks or flakies.  I can't get enough of them.  Such a rainy-day-curl-up-with-a-blanket feeling.  

I got out my fan brush and swiped Lonesome George and Planet Caravan over Cape Liz.  First attempt... not bad, but I think this technique is meant for creme polishes.  The glitters just scatter the light and disrupt the pattern too much.

Planet Caravan.  This is an interesting polish!  Black base with purple and gold, maybe holo glitters?  It dries semi-matte, but gets some real depth with topcoat.

I think that's why I decided to do a 'galaxy' nail on top of it.  I used these Orly polishes:  Halley's Comet, Galaxy Girl, Space Cadet, and Oui.  Yeah, they're all like galaxy nails in a bottle already, right?

I also mixed in a little Milani White on the Spot.  Maybe a little too much.  Well, that's the beauty of this nail art - they're rarely the same twice, and you can make them look like whatever you want.  My fave kind of nail art.

So, which colors are your fave?  Would you like to sport 'galaxy nails' or the fan brush technique?  or try making a stencil?

If you'd like more information about Cirque nails, you can find them on Facebook, or on their webpage.