The Only Ice I See Is In My Drink...

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is, "Snow & Ice."  Ha.  hahahahaha.  It's been in the 90's this week in Florida.  We've had record-breaking temperatures for November.  Snow and Ice.  Well, about the only place I could have that is on my nails, so here goes!

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!

Swirly Stamped Red Roses

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge was flowers and birds. Floral nail art is probably my fave, second only to geometric nail art.  I've never been able to paint a good rose, though, so I'm happy to break out the stamps!

Sunday Stamping - Three-Color Vines

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's stamping challenge was to use three colors.  I assumed to use three colors in the stamp, but if was just three colors total, I went over that.  I am such an overachiever...

I started out with this pretty baby pink from Nails Inc, Mayfair Lane.

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.

Let's Go Camping - Under The Stars

Hello, Fireflies!

This month's Challenge Your Nail Art challenge is short and sweet - three days of camping-related manis.

I've never been camping.  I used to think I wanted to try camping, and then I remembered how much I hate mosquitoes, but how much they love me.  Or that I like Western-style toilets.  And A/C. And real showers.

I do love the idea of a dark night with a bright moon and a mist of fog, so that's what I tried to depict on my nails.

I started out with Darling Diva Polish What You Do For Money Honey, a dark green jelly with lots of gold shimmer.  This jelly is a little tricky - took me 4 coats to get it opaque, and it never really dried. This one gets undies next time.

I painted a moon with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls with some shading of Dance Legend Grey Britain.  For the mist, I dabbed on a little One Direction NaNaNa and Sally Hansen Triple Shine Great White.

Bottle shot:  Darling Diva Polish What You Do For Money Honey, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Dance Legend Grey Britain, Sally Hansen Triple Shine Great White, and One Direction NaNaNa.

Sure, camping under the stars sounds romantic, but room service sounds nicer!  Do you like camping under the stars?

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Grey Monday - Subtle Look with Coastal Scents Revealed and Dance Legend

Hello, Fireflies!

Here in Florida, it's rained and/or stormed almost every day for over a month.  I spend most of my time in the A/C, but even though I'm not out in the weather, it's still starting to affect me!

So, today's look is a subtle neutral one in greys and berry colors, in homage to these grey Florida days.

I've been experimenting with a look I saw Wayne Goss do in a video for mature eyes.  It's a much older video of him, but I think the techniques are classic.

Here's a close-up of my eyes.  I used the Coastal Scents Revealed palette and my now HG gel liner, NARS Black Valley.  That stuff stays where you put it.

Here's what I used on the whole look:  Mally Primed and Poreless, and Mally Face Defender.  Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Glow in Pravana, Cover FX Setting Powder (as a bronzer), Nars Black Valley, L'Oreal HIP Shine Struck liquid lipcolor in Arresting, IT Cosmetics brow pencil, Rimmel ScandalEyes Retro Glam Mascara, and a blend of IT Cosmetics CC Cream in medium, and CoverGirl True Blend 1/410 to lighten it up a tad.

I'm having no luck with the Mally Face Defender.  It's supposed to be a 'no powder' look, but I find that it looks cakier on me than if I used regular powder.  Those of you who are successful with it, what foundation are you using?  What's your secret?

To go with the look, I used a grey polish from Dance Legend's Smoky collection, called Grey Britain 1025. 

It has a smooth texture, but a grey pebbled look to it, like ashes scattered amongst the grey.  It's quite pretty and unique!

What do you think of my greyed look?  What are your favorite greys to use?

Billy No Mates Got Some Bright Mates

Hello, Fireflies!

It's time for the June Challenge Your Nail Art Summer Time Challenge! As it falls on today's GOT Free Choice challenge, I thought I'd combine the two for a flash back to some good ol' Butter London brights I have in my collection.

But, I'm not starting with one... I thought Butter London Billy No Mates was the perfect backdrop to all these gorgeous colors.  Just didn't want to do white, but this dove-grey gorgeous creme is worth pulling out of my stash and taking for another spin. 

I thought I'd just let the polish tell me what it wanted to do.  Here's a step-by-step of each polish! First up, Butter London Squatter, an acid yellow-green.  Am I crazy, or does it look amazing against the grey?  Whooda thunk.

A little Squatter, now a little Slapper.  Then, maybe a little liquor.. "Lick her?  I hardly even know her!"

Brummie is a matte purple, but topcoat will make it all come together.

That poppin' pink is Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic.

Touch it up here and there, and add topcoat, and Billy's got bright!

Billy No Mates suddenly got quite popular, I'd say.

My Butter London babies:  Billy No Mates, Squatter, Slapper, Brummie, and Primrose Hill Picnic.

Are you going back in your stash for any bright colors for the summer?

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Bejeweled Ombre

Hello, Fireflies!

For my third Black and White NCC challenge this month, I wanted to do an ombre.  Or is it a gradient?  This terminology has caused great consternation, gnashing of teeth, and spilling of acetone in the nail polish world.

I try not to get my panties in a twist about the drama.  I accept the majority explanation of different colors on the same nail as a gradient, and a transition of colors in the same color family as an ombre.  Hombre is Spanish for 'man.'  Totally not applicable.

So now, maybe you learned something today.  Gold star!

From thumb to pinky, I created this ombre nail art with Revlon Spirit, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Nailtini Caviar Cocktail, and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

And then, I stuck some pretty silver and grey nail jewelry on it! You know they didn't stay long, but I love how they looked for a minute.

Do you like gradient/ombre manicures?  Do you have an opinion as to the terminology of same?

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Sheswai Studs - #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Nail Art For Nubs was inspired by this nailart on Mari's Nail Polish blog. I really loved the off-set ruffian she did, and wanted to try my own version.

I started off with Sheswai Rootsy, a reddish brown creme, and accents of Cover Girl Silver Lining, a light greyish-white creme.

Then I did an off-set Ruffian with the opposite color.  Silver Lining became surprisingly opaque! I love how these looked together. If you wanted to go whimsical, you could paint eyeballs on the accent nails.

The gold glitter is the perfect detail.  This mani is bold, but still looks classy to me.  Of course, I have no taste, so it could be trashy, but I still love it.

What was that about trash? Trashy-chic, dahlings! A little hardware does a mani good.  I take some faceted gold studs and some round half-pearl gold studs for a corner accent.  I wish I had them in a slightly smaller size, as they didn't *quite* fit on my pinky.

I think I'd like a purse in these colors with gold hardware!

Bottle shot:  Cover Girl Silver Lining, Sheswai Rootsy, and a gold glitter nail art striper.

Would you rock a (sing it now, Bond fans..) Goldfinger?

An InLinkz Link-up

If you missed it, my review of my #FindItAtTarget Influenster Vox Box went live earlier today.  Click here to see my review of FudgeUrban Iced Raspberry and Vanilla mousse!

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Holo Oxfords

Hello, Fireflies!

Today, I have a nail art that just sorta evolved, which doesn't usually happen for me.  Usually, I look at a picture or get some inspiration.  Today, I just kept picking up colors and deciding how to use them.  In the end, the design reminded me a little of the old-style Oxford shoes.  See what you think!

I started with a gorgeous grey holo, Girly Bits Dash Away All.

I painted about 2/3 of the nail with SpaRitual Peace & Harmony.  At the time, I didn't know it would dry as a satin white.  I also didn't know that it was fairly sheer.  It took me a few coats to get it opaque over the holo.  Remember, I was totally experimenting.  Like in the 60s. Ask your parents.

I did a wide French tip with Milani Rapid Orchid.  WTH kind of name is that, really?  This is the season of Radiant Orchid, and this color is faaaarrrrr from that.  It's past eggplant purple into almost black territory.  And, who ever heard of a fast orchid?  Is this like that movie, Turbo, with the racing snail? Nail polish namers are weird, yo.

Afterwards, I thought it would look cool with another thin stripe of Rapid Orchid (!?!) between the white and the grey holo.   Yes, you could technically just do 2/3 of the nail with the dark color and then apply a thin stripe of white.  I might have done that if I actually knew where I was going with this, but you always run the risk of the white not covering the darker color.

So maybe I did do it right. Maybe. Just sayin.

So, why not add another dot of Rapid Orchid?  I clearly have no self-control.  I like living on the edge, baby.

Doesn't it look a little like those Oxford shoes?  Is my 80's childhood showing?

Bottle shot:  Girly Bits Dash Away All, SpaRitual Peace & Harmony, and Milani Rapid Orchid

Have you ever done a mani that reminded you of shoes?  Is that weird?

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I'm Generally Ignorant to Color Today

Hello, Fireflies!

I admit it, I'm a little burned out.  Between all these challenges, and all the green, green, green I've been painting, I just wanted something simple.  Something monochromatic.  Something... ignorant?  How about LynBDesigns General Ignorance, a milky grey crelly with black and holo glitter?

I love this.  My only complaint is that the holo gets covered by the crelly and it's hard to see.  There's a large holo circle glitter on my index finger.  Do you see it? Just the shape - no shine.

I added a dark grey French tip with Ulta Total Eclipse

I wanted a little more pop, so I added a thin white line between the glitter and the tip.  Perfect!

Don't forget the topcoat!

Bottle shot:  LynBDesigns General Ignorance, Ulta Total Eclipse, and a white striper.

Do you ever feel like going monochromatic?

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