Twisty Black and Orange Stamping

Hello, Fireflies!

It's been awhile since I've posted a stamping nailart.. and while I'm working on one today, I figured I'd pull one up from the vault in the meantime. It was meant to be a bright, summer orange mani that I posted in a Facebook group sometime back, but it's giving me October Halloween vibes today!

It's Caturday! Er, Wednesdecat! Wekittenday?

Hello, Fireflies!

In keeping with this month's NCC theme of, "Pets," I've created a nail art influenced not only by a pet I had growing up, but also a beloved icon of the Interwebs - the cat.

Sweetsation Therapy’s Bio’Sensiya MultiVitamin Night Time Serum ...and polkadots!

Hello, Fireflies!

It's serum time again!  This serum has a long name - Sweetsation Therapy’s Bio’Sensiya MultiVitamin Night Time Serum - and a long list of ingredients that are great for your skin.   Keep reading for my review and some nail art inspired by it's fiery packaging and uplifting scent!

I Adore You, Too, Teadora!

Products provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

I am all about the bold lippie.  Mattes, stains, creams, brights, vamps, you name it.  Most of these, I have to remove with makeup remover.  And then, there's the drying weather.

Let's not forget the smooching, either.

My lips are in need of some rehabbing, and when I got to try Teadora's Nourishing Lip Butter, I was excited.

But, but, it's a pot.  I don't *do* lip stuff in pots.  Or, shall we say, I didn't.  I will for this stuff.  It's the most unique lip stuff I've come across.  It's almost the texture of a shea butter - hard, and a little gritty in the tub.

But if you rub your finger over it, it melts and then you can apply it to your lips.  For more exfoliation, scrape a little bit of the balm out, and you'll get a more gritty texture that melts away after a few minutes.

I've been using this for weeks now, and I've barely made a dent in the tub.  For $15, it's a bargain!

The products at Teadora are made with their proprietary Elixirs - Rainforest Youth, Hydration, and Restoration, each containing ingredients to target a specific purpose.  What's also important is what their products DON'T have - no parabens, synthetic fragrances, silicone, gluten, Phlalates, sulfates, harsh chemicals, or animal products.  Their products are 100% vegan, and they do no animal testing.

Not only does the lip balm feel great, taste amazing, and is made from great ingredients, Teadora is committed to doing business in a socially responsible way, by using ingredients that are fair trade sourced, sustainably harvested, carbon reduction focused, recyclable and biodegradable.  They are also involved in efforts to help preserve the Amazonian Rainforests.

Teadora Lip Butters come in two versions - Rainforest at Dawn, and Rainforest at Dusk.  The Dawn Lip Butter is in a flavor they call Laranja, and is a light, sweet orange.  It is DELICIOUS.  Totally addictive.  Dusk's flavor is called Acai-Acu, and is a berry-chocolate blend.  Yum.

As always, you know I'm loving something if I'm inspired to do nail art!  I based this on their logo - in color on my middle finger, and the black and gold version on my thumb.  To do this nail art, I used Milani Black Swift, Sally Hansen/Revlon white, Sephora X Enriched, A Rhyming Dictionary Polish Show and Tell, China Glaze Metro Pollin-tin, and Urban Decay Bang.

If you'd like more information about Teadora, which means, "I adore you" in Portuguese, or to purchase any of their butters, oils, cleansers, or other skin care products, you can find them on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

How are you taking care of your lips?

Leftover Halloween Candy? Or Fall Pumpkins?

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you recovered from the festivities of yesterday?  Whether you indulged in black cocktails, or chocolate candies, there's always a Halloween Hangover.

The best part? Bags of candy go on sale!

One of my fave Halloween candies is the mallowcreme pumpkin.  This mani is an homage to that pumpkin, but it's also a sign of fall in general. The mani I was inspired by was a Fall Pumpkin mani by Plump & Polished.

I used OPI Glints of Glinda for the whole nail, then painted the pumpkin with Urban Decay Bang, and made the stripes with China Glaze Metro Pollin-tin.  The stems are painted with a metallic green striper.

I remember, as a kid, sitting with my brother and emptying out our bags of candy and trading.  Mom would always come in and take the candy she wanted.  Mostly, I didn't mind, because she liked all the coconut ones I didn't like as a kid.  But, she never traded for anything!

Hey, mitts off my candy!

Are you going to buy discounted Halloween candy favorites, or are you happy to put all the sugar aside until Christmastime?

Jack O'Lanterns

Hello, Fireflies!

I got a little ambitious with my nail art today.  Every now and again, I think I can do something... well, let's just say that I need a little more practice with this one!

I was inspired by these awesome Jack O'Lanterns from Kayla Shevonne.  I started with a sparkly black background.  I love KB Shimmer Stark Raven Mad.  It's the blackest black holo ever.

I started painting the faces in with white, and then used yellow, yellow-orange, and then pumpkin orange to fill in the white.

They look like Clown O'Lanterns. LOL.

Bottle shot:  KB Shimmer Stark Raven Mad, Orly Hook Up, China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin, Urban Decay Bang, and a white striper.

Ok, maybe next year, I'll go as a Clown O'Lantern.  Start a trend!

An InLinkz Link-up

Witches' Hats

Hello, Fireflies!

Welcome to another challenge from the Challenge Your Nail Art group!  This month, it's all about the spooky and scary... and cute.  I like cute Halloween.

Today's prompt was to use the classic orange and black colors of the season.  I was inspired by this nailart I found on Pinterest (and again, couldn't find the originator of the art.  Bah.)

I used a couple of Indies to make the background - Polish Addict Jellyfish and Cuttin' Edge Pug Ugly with a little more Jellyfish dabbed on top.

Then, I used my black striper to make the hats, added a stripe of Urban Decay Bang, and stuck on a little jewel for flair.  Witches' be blingin'.

Bottle shot:  Polish Addict Jellyfish, Cuttin Edge Pug Ugly, Urban Decay Bang, and my black striper.

My husband was ever so amused that I was painting pointy witches' hats with a pointy striper.  Isn't that adorable?

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Jack and Sally

Hello, Fireflies!

For my last NCC Stripes challenge of the month, I wanted to incorporate stripes and one of the most popular Halloween traditions - watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.

This mani was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest, but I cheated and used a 3-D charm for Jack's face.

I painted all but my middle finger with Revlon Spirit, and then used a black striper to freehand the black stripes.  The middle finger was painted with Milani Black Swift, and then the charm was applied.

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Milani Black Swift, and a black striper.

What's Jack without his girl?

 This was inspired by a mani done by The Nailasaurus, but it reminded me of Sally.

I started off with a white base to make sure that the colors were bright.  Then, I used striping tape to mark off the different sections.  Even thought it would be nice to paint one color at a time, it dries too quickly for that - and dry polish gets pulled off with the striping tape.  So, do one nail at a time.  I painted over the white lines with black polish and made the stitches, too.

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Nails Inc Bond St., Wet 'n Wild Pleasure Pier, Urban Decay Bang, Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!, and a black striper.

Wouldn't it be neat to have one hand done like Jack, and the other like Sally?

Orange Windows.. or beetle wings?

Hello, Fireflies!

I have been having computer problems alllll day long, and I haven't been able to get a post up! So, here at literally the 11th hour, is a little bit of pseudo-Halloween nail art for you!

I got the idea from a NOTD post over at Nailblog.net, only she used a pastel color, and I went more Halloween with a bright orange, played by Urban Decay Bang.

I took advantage of the sale where they had a bunch of polishes for $5 - and I almost didn't get Bang, but I needed just a few more dollars to get free shipping.  Boy, am I glad I got it, because you'll see it in almost all of my Halloween nail art this year! It's a great bright pumpkin orange.

After painting all my nails with Milani Black Swift, I painted a V-gap with the Orly Point Blanche.  It's designed for French tips, so the brush is a little smaller, which is good for nail art!  I painted Bang over the white, and then capped the tips off with more of the Black Swift.

Bottle shot:  Milani Black Swift, Orly Point Blanche, and Urban Decay Bang.  Love the skulls on the top of Urban Decay bottles! So appropriate for Halloween manis.

I have a whole bunch of Halloween-y nail arts coming up for you in the following days leading up to the big day!  Are you a fan of Halloween?

From Orange Holo To Orange Flakie

Hello, Fireflies!

You may remember last week's GOT challenge, where I resurrected an old holo from the Old Forgotten Holos Home - Enchanted Polish Dragon Spit.

Well, after I was done admiring it, I covered it up with another forgotten polish, but a flakie, this time - Nfu-Oh 44, a gorgeous orange base with golden orange flakies.

Look at that glow. And, isn't the bottle super cute?

I thought these Maybelline Colorshow Nail Tattoos I picked up from the Dollar Tree looked cute with this mani.  Hello, Lucky Cat!

Now that Fall is approaching, are you going looking for some fave fall color nail polishes?

Let's Go Camping - Roaring Campfire

Hello, Fireflies!

Two challenges today, and two posts! If you'd like to see my Adventures In Stamping stamping over stripes nailart, click HERE. 

First up, the last of the Challenge Your Nail Art camping challenge - Campfires.

I started with Zoya Jesy, a jelly coral-leaning-orange with lots of glitter. Forgot to get a pix by itself. Eh, there's lots of swatches of it online, though.  The whole Zoya Bubbly collection is pretty cool, but this was the one I *had* to have.  Right away.

Then I stamped this cool fire with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and the Mash 48 plate.  Times like this, I wish I had longer nail beds, because I had to chop the bottom of the fire off. How cool is that stamp?

I sponged a little Cirque Arcane Fire, because, fire.  Yeah.

I also painted in some 'logs' with Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon, and used a white striper to detail it... and to also make marshmallows.  What other reason is there to build a campfire, if not to roast marshmallows?

I like them burnt.  OMG. Drool.

Bottle shot:  Zoya Jesy, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon, Cirque Arcane Fire, and stripers in silver and white.

What's your favorite reason to have a campfire?

An InLinkz Link-up

Back to the 70's...

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Adventures in Stamping challenge is to do a color combination that we haven't done previously.  I mostly stamp with black, white, silver, and gold, so what color was I going to find?

I consider myself a child of the 80's, but I was born in the early 70's, so I have worn my share of polyester, and grew up in a kitchen adorned with gold and avocado green.

Browns and oranges also remind me of my childhood, and even though OPI Coral Reef is a coral, it's very orange-leaning.  And, it's a little holo. Yay!

I couldn't resist this stamping plate from MoYou London. So much 70's deliciousness.  This one is soooo 70's.

Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon is a rich brown that I thought worked with the orange, and the 70's theme.  It actually stamped really easily, too!

If this post had a soundtrack, it might be the theme from Shaft. 

I loved it so much, I did it twice! Both hands.

Bottle shot:  OPI Coral Reef, and Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon.

When you think of your childhood, what colors do you think of?