Santa Hat

Hello, Fireflies!

I can't believe December is almost over.  This year is flying by!  Today, I have the last of my Negative Space nails to show you.  I haven't done a lot of holiday nailart this year, but I couldn't resist this one.

Happy Valentines' Day!

Hello, Fireflies!

Today is Valentines' Day, the day all about hearts and love.  I think it's a Hallmark Holiday that only served to make me feel miserable when I was single, and to drive up the price of flowers and chocolate.

But, I like having an excuse to do heart nail art, so here we go!

"Art Nouveau" Stamping

 Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is Art Nouveau.  Guess we're getting fancy all up in here.  I had to Google it. 

Color me Fall #ChallengeYourNailArt #FallingForNailArt

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Challenge Your Nail Art prompt is for Fall Colors.  I did this mani for a nail group I'm in, for a Fall Glitter look, and thought it would work for today's challenge, too.  I love the gold and red together, with a stripe of black.

I laid down a base color of Wet 'n Wild Pot of Gold, and then added Candy Lacquer Big MacIntosh to the bottom 2/3rd of the nail. 

Swish of red and black striper, popped on a red rhinestone, and Bob's your uncle, and Fanny's your aunt.

Bottle shot:  Wet 'n Wild Pot of Gold, Candy Lacquer Big Macintosh, and nail art stripers in red and black.

What are your favorite Fall colors?

Red Keyhole

Hello, Fireflies!

Welcome to another TRI-Polish Tuesday, where I can't follow rules and only use two colors.  If it helps, I did use rhinestones, though.

I was inspired by a nail art from Sloteazzy, though hers is more structured.  I started with Sally Hansen Barracuda, a lovely baby blue creme.

I really like the uniqueness of Orly FX Milky Way.  I love milky glitters anyway, but the blue with the pops of red and accents of white is just so different.

Using tape, I made the 'keyhole' with OPI Over and Over A-Gwen, and then topped it with a red pearl rhinestone.

To make this more wearable, you could always just use a dotting tool for the red pearl.  I can't keep those things on very long, myself, but they're fun for a look.

Bottle shot:  Sally Hansen Barracuda, Orly FX Milky Way, OPI Over And Over A-Gwen.

Without the glitter, I doubt I would have thought to put that baby blue together with that tomato red.  What's your favorite unexpected color combination?

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?

An InLinkz Link-up

Bewitch(ed), Bothered, and Bewildered...

Hello, Fireflies!

Were you spooked by that full moon on Friday the 13th?  Did it bewitch you? 

Will this polish bewitch you?  It is Picture Polish Bewitch, a plummy-brown with shimmer and maybe some flakie action going on.

I love complex polishes like this!

To play off the gold shimmer, I added some gold studs and a little yellow-gold rhinestone.  Kinda looks like grape leaves to me now.

I love adding studs to dress up a mani.  I don't keep them on for long.. I'm a picker.  But they are fun for a minute! 

Grapes? or weird bowl haircut from the 70's?  I can't decide now which it looks like more.  Macro pictures are not always kind to nail art!

Stress Management and a D!ck In A Box! #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

I really like creating posts that showcase a step-by-step process of how I achieved a nail art look.  It really bugs me when I get so involved in the creation of the look that I forget to photograph a step!

I hope it bothers me more than it bothers you.  Pretend there was a picture of Girly Bits D!ck In A Box by itself, first, because it is a gorgeous holo.  Grey with green and a multicolor rainbow, it's spectacular.

I paired it with Ginger + Liz Stress Management, a teal creme.  I didn't use tape, just the polish brush.  I'm going to cover my mistakes with glitter in a second.

Glitter covers lots of mistakes!

I added a few festive rhinestones, in alternating green and white.

Funky and fun. This holo is super amazing, too.  So much color!

Bottle shot:  Girly Bits D!ck In A Box, Ginger + Liz Stress Management, and a Stripe Rite teal glitter striper.

Don't let nubbins cramp your nail art style! Horizontal stripes - especially offset ones - can create illusions of length.  I often choose smaller rhinestones so I can fit more on my nubbins, too - 2 mm is a great size for small nails.

An InLinkz Link-up

Two posts today! If you missed it, I posted my quick review of all the subscription boxes I received in May! Click HERE for my post.

Spring Stamped Sheswai

Hello, Fireflies!

Spring must be on its way - one day I'll have the house open for a cool breeze, the next day, I have the A/C on, and then the day after that, I need a blanket! I'm sure the flowers have no idea what's going on.  Mother Nature is a bit bipolar these days.

Yet, I'm feeling the need today for a light, spring nail art.  I started with this very sheer nude from Sheswai Lacquer called So Pretty. 

Then, I used my Dashica Plate Big SdP-B and Sheswai Lacquer Babe, a bold bright pink, to stamp the flowers and some of the lines on an angle across the top of the nail. 

When you have nubs, sometimes you have to get creative with the stamps to have them show anything! Some nails only have parts of flowers, and no lines.

I thought these cute flower rhinestones would go nicely, and I also placed some iridescent glitter in the stamped flowers, just for a little flash when they'd catch the light.

Does this say SPRING or what?  Hopefully, the weather is listening!

Bottle shot:  Sheswai Lacquer So Pretty and Babe

What are you most looking forward to with the Spring?

Stamp-o-ween

It's Sunday Stamping, Fireflies!

I don't wear this enough.  It's the gorgeous, waxy-finish 1-coat black that is Cult Nails Fetish.  I usually topcoat my stamps, but I wanted to see if I could pull of this one without topcoat.

I used this full nail spiders and webs stamps from Shany 25, and Essie No Place Like Chrome, my favorite silver stamping polish.

I am totally diggin' on the silver chrome over the rubbery black.  It was even more awesome in Real Life.  I think everyone needs this black - or at least get the Cult Nails Wax That topcoat.  it's not matte, it's not shiny.  It really looks waxy.

I had these little gold spiders that I wanted to use.  My camera freaked out between the shiny black bottle, the shiny silver chrome, and the shiny gold. 

Bottle shot:  Cult Nails Fetish, and Essie No Place Like Chrome.

It just feels so right to wear all this black this time of year.  Halloween is so much fun for manis! What kinds of Halloween manis are you rockin'?

Sunday Stamping - Nude in Fishnets

Today's Adventures In Stamping challenge was to stamp over a nude base.  I'm a little self-conscious about being naked, but I love a nude nail.  I find it very flattering - especially when the nude is a holo.  So, I slipped into Lilypad Lacquer Naked Skies.

Like all the Lilypad Lacquers I've tried so far, the formula is impeccable.  This nude has an interesting twist, though - it has a strong silver duochrome.  I don't know if it has a chrome base, or what, but in some orientations, it's very silver, and in others, nude.  Pretty weird...but also kinda cool.

I used this fishnet stamp from my jumbo Cheeky plate, and Finger Paints Black Expressionism to stamp.

I had bought these gold 3-d decorations from an Ebay seller, hoping for these cute gold butterflies.  No such luck, but I did get a ton of these little Dior pieces.  They are not decals; they don't lie flat.  I just laid them on top with a little topcoat.

It gave me a little chuckle, like a hooker in fishnets who is trying too hard by wearing faux Dior.  It's cla$$y, gurrl! mmmm-hmmm.

What's your favorite pairing over a nude base? 

Sweet, Hard Candy

Nail polish enthusiasts were all a'twitter when we heard that Hard Candy was revamping their cosmetic line and coming out with a bunch of new nail polishes!  At first, I wanted ALL of the pretties, but then I calmed down.  Today, I have two for you.

Crush On Lava.  A supposed dupe for Hard Candy Beetle (apparently it's close, but not a true dupe), it's the polish I most wanted.  I love a duochrome!  This one is pink and gold/orange.

It has large particle duochrome pigment, so it looks textured, but it's not.   I was inspired by this nail art I saw on Raggio di Luna and created my own version with a few rhinestones and a white striper.

Ah, duo-chromey goodness.

Piece of Papaya.  Another variation of pink and orange.  This one, unlike Crush On Lava, doesn't have the black undertones, it's pure metallic shiny lightness.

I love how it can be the same basic colors as Crush On Lava, and yet look completely different.  This is more pink with an orange shimmer, and a chrome/metallic feel to it. 

I wasn't a collector of the old Hard Candy, but I know some people still miss the rings that came on the bottle!  I like these new bottles, though.  Very current.  I liked both of the formulas, too.  Not bad for $4.

What do you think of the new Hard Candy line of cosmetics?  Will you be crushing on lava or getting a piece of papaya?

Contrary Polish - Love Lyrics

This collection really put Contrary Polish on the map.  It was the first collex from them that I had to attend several restocks and hustle to get the ones I wanted into my cart without getting cartjacked!  I only wanted two from the collection, and I'm really happy with the ones I got.

Feels Like Home.  This is a taupe color with a pink shimmer.  Contrary Polish's claim to fame is their shimmer.  I was considering not getting any of these because the shimmer from Creeping Moss, the first polish I bought from her, was .... meh.  This collection turned it around!

I love (and have) quite a selection of taupe polishes, and this one has a unique shimmer and is really quite demure and lovely.

Ain't no Sunshine.

If you can ignore the part about how he cheats on his girl because she's not around, it's a beautiful, melancholy song by Bill Withers.  And I feel the same way about this polish.  Grey/blue, but with a white flakie shimmer.

The color is reminiscent of Illamasqua Raindrops, but it's not a dupe, IMO.  I saw some nail art by Raggio di Luna that I thought would look nice with this color, so I did my version here. 

Are you loving the Love Lyrics collection?  Ain't No Sunshine is a clear winner for me, and the reason I stalked this collection, but there are some beautiful polishes here.  If you'd like to find out more about Contrary Polish, you can find them on Facebook.  She sells minis via e-mail through her blog, but you can buy full-size polishes through Llarowe, and some other e-tailers (she has a list on her blog.)

I'll have a couple more Contrary Polishes for you tomorrow, with some more nail art.  Stay tuned!