Fruit Infuser Water Bottle #TrimEvolution

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

It's still Saturday... for a few minutes! Still time to share a Something Strange Saturday - stuff I've been using that doesn't fit with the normal beauty theme, but still makes me feel good.  And, there's nailart today! Nailart with me sticking strange things on my nails, too.

Fairy Ring Around the Rosy, Mani Full Of Posies

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Golden Oldie challenge is to rustle up an old, forgotten Indie.  Time to bring out this lovely holo again:  Pretty Jelly Fairy Ring.

I do have a soft spot for dark green holos.  I love how the yellow in the rainbow plays with the green.  Such an unusual effect in nail polish.

In keeping with the theme of things I hadn't gotten out in a while, I decided to pair Fairy Ring with some Fimo flowers.

I love this - simple, but pretty.

Is there some Indie polish or makeup in your stash ready to be rediscovered?

An InLinkz Link-up

Holo Happy!

 Hello, Fireflies!

Continuing with this month's theme of Music/TV/Movies, I was inspired by Pharrell's 'Happy'

Holos make me happy! Multichromes make me happy! So, holo-multichromes make me *extra* happy!  This is Girly Bits Belly Jeans, a blue-purple holo multichrome. 

Clear, bright royal blue to purple shift, with rainbows and oil slicks.  Happy.

Excellent formula, which also makes me happy! 

Stamping sometimes makes me happy. These smiley faces sure did, though - I used this plate, Mash 31, with Revlon Spirit.

In addition to the stamping, I sliced some smiley face fimo, and picked out these gold smiley face studs.  Looking at my nails made me HAPPY!  Picking off all this stuff, and even picking off my polish makes me happy, too.  I never can keep these 3-D manis on for very long.

Bottle shot:   Girly Bits Belly Jeans, and Revlon Spirit.

I have listened to this trombone loop version of Happy, done by Christopher Bill, countless times over the past week.  I love it so hard.

I also really love this version done by a professional A Capella group, Straight No Chaser.

If that's not enough Happy, you can check out Pharrell's 24 hours of Happy, a 24-hour video loop of different people dancing to Pharrell's version of, "Happy". 

Are you happy now?

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Summertime Flowers

Is February almost over?  What happened? It just zoomed by, with my birthday, and getting sick, and long weekends with the husband.  There was a challenge? Really?

Well, part of my reticence is because this month's theme is 'summer'. Well, it's been really, really, cold - even here in Florida.  And, I kinda like it.  I have been *loving* this seasons dark, vampy shades, textures, metallics, everything.  I am not the biggest fan of summer here, because it's HOT. Yes, I'll start complaining now.  During the summer here, I just want to stay inside with the A/C on.

So... I hadn't gotten around to doing any summery manis.  Then, I looked in my vault of unused manis, and found this perfectly summery one to get the ball rolling!  This is Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Pink Sprinkle - a fun, bright, lightly sparkly pinky-red.

It isn't quite as sparkly as their newer line of Sugar Coat polishes, but it's not matte at all. Perfect for a fun, but not too in-your-face type mani.

Well, you know me, Ms. Subtlety.  A layer of topcoat gives this polish a candy-like quality! Perfect for a few sugary-sweet flowers and butterflies.

See?  Subtle.  I knew you'd agree.

I've got three more summery nail arts to fit in before the end of the month! Can I make it?  Are you even ready for summer colors yet?

An InLinkz Link-up

Hobby Polish Blogger Challenge - Summer Fruit

How can I possibly pick *ONE* fave summer fruit?  It's like asking me to pick my fave way to eat potatoes.  Just can't do it (Wouldn't be prudent)

So I picked *A* fave.  I started with a brand that is new to me - Chaos & Crocodiles.  This is Nothing Sweeter, and when it comes to ripe fruit - or this pink polish, I guess that's true!

Really pretty shimmer!

Not too many pinkish fruits, I suppose!  There is usually some red coloring, too, which I emulated with Sally Hansen Beautiful Berry (how apropos) and some black dots, which I made with Nubar Black Polka Dot.

Have you guessed what fruit I'm trying to paint?  For a regular mani, I would have left it like this.  I rather like it!

But, this is a challenge mani, and I had to go the distance.  So I cut some fimo slices.

When I showed this mani to my hubby and asked him to guess the fruit, he said, 'Watermelon?' smh.

Yes, dear.  Because watermelon looks exactly like strawberries.  This is one of the reasons we do the grocery shopping together.  I should tell you that this man has a Ph.D.

Bottle shot!  Chaos & Crocodiles Nothing Sweeter, Nubar Black Polka Dot, and Sally Hansen Beautiful Berry.

Have you done a fruit mani?  Do my strawberries look like watermelons?!

Sugar-coated Goodness

Who's ready for nail polish sweetness of diabetic proportions?  Yep, we're going to be looking at the Julie G Gumdrops collection, another textured collection of sweet, brightly-colored polishes.

And, because I'm so intrigued by the idea of doing some kind of nail art with these textures, I thought I'd play around with some 3-D pieces for this collection.

Sugar Rush.  A bright, sparkly coral.  One coat is all that is needed, but if you do choose to add another layer, make sure that the first is completely dry.. or you'll get patches like on my index finger.  Aren't those fimo butterflies totes adorbs?

Tangerine Dream.  Light, fruity orange with sparkle.  These flowers are perfect!

Rock Candy.  This one and Blueberry Fizz are similar, and photograph similar, but they aren't the same.  Rock Candy is a green-leaning teal, not a true blue.  The bottle color is truer to reality than on the nails in this pix.

Blueberry Fizz.  Icy blue sparkle, with bling!

Crushed Candy.  Is it a pink-leaning purple, or a purple-leaning pink?  Not sure.  It is tooth-achingly sweet, though!

Hot Cinnamon.  In the bottle, this looks similar to Sugar Rush, but there is no orange in Hot Cinnamon.  It's a fiery red.  A color this bold needs a bold statement with studs.

These textured polishes are so versatile!  They can be stamped, used with nail art, as a base for 3-D decorations, and then change how they look with topcoat.  What's your favorite so far?

Blue Suede... polish (and purple!)

Avon Soft Violet is such a pretty suede, and it is rumored to be a dupe for OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede. 

It just looks so rich!

So, of course I had to cheapen it with the silliest decorations!  I had never used fimo sticks before.  They take a little bit of practice to get thin.. Chunky fimo isn't necessarily a good look...

I also used rhinestones on and around the fimo, gleequins (glitter sequins) and mylar butterflies and moons.

 Doesn't this mani belong on one of those Japanese nail art magazine covers?  HAHAHAHAHA!!

Yeah, you know I picked that stuff off two seconds after I snapped the last picture.

On to more serious colors - this is Avon Blue Royale.

This may well be my favorite suede amongst the Avons.

I bought some foils from Dollar Nail Art but I'd never used them before.  I found a video on You Tube that explained it pretty well.  On my ring ringer, I did the whole nail with Aegean Tides foil.

On the other fingers, I just dabbed some random glue patterns and then applied the foil.  I thought the suede and foil looked pretty cool together.

I knew you couldn't use quick-dry topcoat with foil, and this W7 didn't say it was, but it shattered the foil anyway.  Still looking for a foil-approved topcoat...

Still more suedes to come!