My First Leadlight

Hello, Fireflies!

Ready for another post of 'Nidia Tries Something New and It Goes Sideways As Expected'?  Good! Here we go... my first lead-light technique!

TRI Pink B!tchy Birthday

Hello, Fireflies!

Welcome to a new month of Tri-Polish challenges! This month, the colors are pink, green, and purple.

So, lucky me, I got this hot pink, LoveSpell, from Liberty Republic SpellBound, in my June Wantable box.  Pretty, huh? Apparently, this is the maiden collection for this brand, and they debuted it in Wantable boxes.

It stained my nails, though.  It was the first time that had happened where I just had to let it come off over several days.  I only wore it for a few hours at most, too. Your mileage may vary.

Doesn't this glitter topper look like a party?  Nail Pattern Boldness Birthday B!tch is a circle glitter and holo sparkly party in a bottle. 

I'm such a sucker for circle and holo glitter.  And circle holo glitter, which this also has.  It also has green and purple glitter, which means I met the colors for the challenge! Woot!

Bottle shot: Liberty Republic SpellBound LoveSpell, and Nail Pattern Boldness Birthday B!tch.

If you're interested in Wantable, they have subscription boxes for makeup, accessories, and intimates.  I bought the makeup box. All the products are full-sized! No packet samples!  In addition to the Lovespell polish, I got an OFRA black gel liner, Vincent Longo Banana pressed powder, Girlactic cream blush, a Mirabella lipstick.

If you'd like to send a little referral love my way, click HERE for my referral link.  Otherwise, you can just go to www.wantable.com to check it out. A one-time box is $40, or an ongoing subscription is $36.

An InLinkz Link-up

Circus! Circus!

 Hello, Fireflies!

Our penultimate challenge this month is Circus Day.  I haven't been to a circus since I was a little kid.  What I remember most vividly about it was going to the bathroom with my friend and she ditched me there.  I couldn't remember how to get back to my seat, and I was pissed and a little scared, and an usher had to help me find my friend and her dad out of the thousands of people there.

Probably why I didn't go to the circus again...

Deep breath.  Clean slate with Revlon Spirit, a lovely white.  I topcoated it with Rica Glossy Glam, so it's shiny and hard, too.  I was gifted with a bottle of Glossy Glam from Ricarda, and I must say, I really like it!  It is a thin, smooth topcoat that flows effortlessly over the nail and dries fast and glossy. It makes a great surface to stamp on, too.  The only thing I can't speak to is longevity, because I change my polish so often.

There probably isn't going to be a better time to use this Winstonia W209 stamping plate than a circus challenge! All circus/fair type images! I stamped with Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

I took a bunch of stripers and played Coloring Book.  My husband said it was like a color-by-numbers!

 I added SOPI Meet Me At The Disco for a sparkly finish.

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Finger Paints Black Expressionism, stripers in red, metallic pink, and glitters in purple, gold, and green, and SOPI Meet Me At The Disco.

Do you have happy memories of going to a circus or fair?

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Stamping - Over The Rainbow - #GetLuckyNAC

Hello, Fireflies!

It's always a lucky day when I can combine two challenges into one mani.  Is it extra special that one is a "Get Lucky" challenge? Only if one of us actually does, I say.

Hope it's me. uh, you.  Who am I kidding.  I hope it's me.

I started with a couple of coats of Revlon Spirit, and then stamped with Maybelline Bold Gold using Winstonia W11 and Mash 40.  I don't seem to have an accurate rainbow stamp, so I had to fudge things a bit.

And then, I let my freak flag fly.  Rainbows!

I freehanded the little pots and added glitter galore for the gold.  I thought about doing a decal, but sometimes I like the zen experience of just painting, and I didn't want to wait for all they drying time for a decal.  Granted, they probably would look better. 

But topcoat covers a multitude of sins.  Pretttttyyyy colllorrrsssss.....  ooooooohhhhhhh..... ahhhhhh...

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Sinful Colors Energetic Red, Wet 'n Wild Straight A Jesse,  Wet 'n Wild Pin 'Em Slater, Wet 'n Wild Nerd Alert: Screech, Wet 'n Wild Chick Magnet Zach, Pixi Amazing Amethyst, Wet 'n Wild Fashionista Lisa, and nail art stripers in black and gold glitter.  (Not Pictured - Maybelline Bold Gold.)

Do you think if I found a leprechaun, he would grant me the wish of perfect nails?

An InLinkz Link-up

Red Rainbow

Hello, Fireflies!

I have a very simple nail art for you today, just a glitter with a creamy accent.

This gorgeous black jelly with holo rainbow circle glitters is Jindie Nails Midnight Rainbow. I wish it were a tad more opaque - next time, I will probably use one layer of black creme underneath.

I thought that the dark red of Julep Anisa went really well with the glowing red circle glitters. I don't wear red very often, but I love blood reds like this one.

ETA (3/4) - Oops, forgot I had this pix of both hands! Nubbins!

Bottle shot:  Jindie Nails Midnight Rainbow, and Julep Anisa

Are you still loving the circle glitters, too? Or is the red cream more to your taste?

Tape Mani Tutorial with a Rainbow of Julep!

Hello, Fireflies!

Now that we're in the thick of summer, maybe you're thinking of playing around with nail polish?  I know I am!  It's time to take some time to do something fun for you!

This tape mani starts off with a palate-cleansing neutral, Julep Debra.  Not loving this formula, but the color is an interesting neutral.

Once your base coat is *completely* dry, you're ready to work with the tape!

I always start by putting the tape on my skin.  It pulls up the oils and makes the tape not quite as sticky.  Really sticky tape will more likely pull off your base color.

Place the tape where you want on the nail.  Make sure it's tucked into the sides of the nail, and laying flat against the nail.

Paint over the nail.  My tape wasn't secured well enough, and I'll have to do a little cleanup with a liner brush.  Having a striper is always a good idea.  You can use it either with acetone to clean up little mistakes, or you can use it with the color to clean up the lines between the colors.

Ok, I'm not advocating you wear all these colors together! I just wanted to show you how different it could look, depending on what color combinations you choose.  Something like the Ochre or Lilac might be more work-appropriate, while the navy is strong and classic, and the pink is an attention getter!

Adding a subtle glitter - here I used Julep Vanessa - changes the whole look.  Adding a black stripe makes the mani look almost cartoonish and youthful.

Ready for a more advanced move?  Two levels!  I got my inspiration for this look from a Pin by The Nail Polish Challenge.  You can either freehand or tape the tip - here in Julep Alice, a lavender creme.  Then I did the diagonal with Julep Eloise.  I think this is a sophisticated look. I love these colors together.

And the bottle shot of all the colors I used, all Julep:  Debra (grey nude), Otte (ochre), Sienna (gold glitter), Alice (lavender), Lauren (hot pink), Eloise (navy blue), and Vanessa (iridescent glitter)

Ready to try a tape mani?  What colors will you use?  If you try it, I'd love for you to post your mani on my Facebook page!

Feel like a Goddess..

While I enjoyed exploring textured polishes, there is something about the holo that just draws me back, and I can't wait to show you a few that I've discovered.

Today, I'm loving the Goddess collex from Pretty Jelly.  All 5 are multichromes with a scattered holo.  Each applied wonderfully with no special needs, two coats, or one coat over OPI Black Onyx on my thumb.

Aphrodite.  Described by Pretty Jelly as, "Pink-purple multichrome holo. Shifts from purple-pink to orange to yellow."

Can you believe this is the same polish?  Amazing shift.  That pink is even brighter in Real Life. Definitely one of my faves from this collection.

Artemis: "Cyan-red multichrome holo. Shifts from cyan to blue and purple."

For me, any blue was only evident in the lightest flash, except when over the black.  The reddish colors showed up best along the edges.

Demeter: "Green-brown multichrome holo. Shifts from green to blue to purple." 

The green is actually more evident in Real Life than in the photo.  It's a very pale green, though. I'm not seeing much purple, but the blue is clear in the shift over black. Very similar base color as Artemis, but with a green flash instead of blue.

Hera: "Purple-indigo multichrome holo. Shifts from cool icy blue-purple to a rich red-purple."

Some of the other holos in this collection have a very similar base color, and really only show differences in the shifts.  Not Hera.  This one clearly has a purple base, and the red to blue shift is more pronounced. 

Hestia: "Copper-orange multichrome holo. Shifts from copper to orange to yellow."

I love an orange/pink polish.  This one definitely has a glowing quality to it.

Overall, I like these.  I love multichromes and I love holos.  I do with that the holo was a little stronger, but I suspect I wouldn't want to give up some of the pigmentation that is the usual tradeoff.  I will admit that I have trouble telling some of these apart because they are so similar.  (They're not the SAME, they're similar!) Hera is a clear standout, and Aphrodite is as well. 

I'm glad I have them all, mostly because my OCD is satisfied to have the whole collection.  What do you think?  Are any so similar to others in this collex or other polishes that you don't need them?  Which is your fave?

If you'd like more information on Pretty Jelly, you can find their maker, Liquid Jelly, on Facebook, or on their Etsy store. EDIT:  Pretty Jelly now has their own Facebook page!

I'm a Djinn in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way

With apologies to Cristina Aguilera, every time I see this polish, I sing that song! I recently scored a bottle of Enchanted Polish Djinn in a Bottle, the holo topcoat, and I wanted to give it a few tests.

A-England Camelot.  Well, it's not much of a test to put a holo over black, is it?  I mean, if it's going to look good over *anything* it should be black.  And, it doesn't get any glossier or blacker than this beauty.

The rainbows do come out to play!  It's really hard to get a true black holo polish because the silver spectraflair gives everything a grey tone.  Certainly true using Djinn over black.  It's much greyer than before.

I made a Julep rainbow for you!  From thumb-pinky:  Dendrie (grey), Abbie (yellow), Ingrid (burnt orange),  Emilie (green), and Eden (neon purple).

Bottle shot:  Dendrie (grey), Abbie (yellow), Ingrid (burnt orange),  Emilie (green), and Eden (neon purple).

And now, with two coats of Djinn:

I think my fave is actually the grey!  Very subtle, and lovely.  I also like it over the orange.

What about you?  Any faves?  Do you think it performs better, worse, or the same as other holographic topcoats you've seen?  It can be nearly impossible to score Enchanteds in her frenzied restocks, so you'll have to weigh for yourself whether it's worth stalking, but if you'd like more information on Enchanted Polish, you can find her on Facebook and her shop. 

Have a Dandy Holiday with some abstract nail art!

It's no secret that I love Dandy Nails!  With all the Indies I own, I still find things about her polishes to be excited about.  Her new holiday collection was so pretty, I had to get almost all of it.

I think Chilled Down is my fave.  I love the twist to use a nude milky base instead of the traditional white.  After all the crazy, bold holiday swatches, this was the perfect holiday palette cleanser.  Great application, no undies needed.  It makes me think of a winter day blanketed in new snow.

Bory-Alice is a blue/purple duochrome.  It's in the newer style of pigments where they almost look chunky, and you can see the black base color of the polish, but the texture is smooth, and removal isn't difficult like regular glitter.

Even though I've shown you Moonglow before, I couldn't resist throwing it in as an accent nail here.  I love me some holos.  This one is subtle, but it's so pretty.  I love the grey.

Cashmere Night is the first matte/suede finish I've seen in an Indie.  To my knowledge, the glitter finish makes it more suede than just a plain matte.  You can see the blue specks coming through.

I really like it with topcoat, too!  All the different glitter colors just pop.

I saw this amazing abstract brushstroke technique on Gorgeois that I wanted to try, so I used Cashmere night as the base, and a ton of polishes (including Bory-Alice) to make the look:

Colors used:  Pomegranate Lacquers Enchanted Lagoon (minty green), Peripera P027 (iridescent green/gold/blue), Revlon Colorstay Stormy Night (taupe), Essence I love Berlin Green Grass (emerald green), Jade Diamond Velvet (shimmer purple), and Dandy Nails Bory-Alice.  Base color:  Dandy Nails Cashmere Night.

What do you think of Dandy Nails and this abstract look?  It was so easy, but looks so complicated.  If you try it, please post a pix on my Facebook page!