Ruffians From The Vault

Hello, Fireflies!

It's a new year, so what better way to start it than by digging into the vault for some nailart that just never made it to the blog?  Today, I have two different Ruffian nailart to show you!

Getting #PUR Water With #Influenster

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

It's "Strange Stuff Saturday" again, where the topic is beauty-adjacent.  Well, I think drinking water is definitely a part of being healthy and beautiful, and I'm always trying to drink more, though the siren song of booze and soft drinks is often sweeter than the call of the tap.  When Influenster asked me if I was interested in trying out a PUR water filter, I was pretty stoked, because tastier water means I'll drink more water, right?

Glitter: Above and Below

 Hello, Fireflies!

Happy Independence Day to my USA readers! Happy Saturday to everyone else..  I actually don't have a patriotic mani for you today, but if you're missing the stars and stripes, check out my Wonder Woman mani I did last month!

Today's manis - yes, TWO - are showcasing two of the many ways I use glitter!

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!

Red Ruffian

Hello, Fireflies!

I loved yesterday's Ruffian so much that when it was time to dress up for another Holiday shindig, I thought about trying another one, but with a reversal of the colors.

I started with a light color this time; another one from the A-England Ballerina collection: Encore Margot.

I went looking in my stash for a real Christmas red, and came across China Glaze Phat Santa.  You know it's an old, old polish, because *whisper* no one says, "Phat" anymore.  Soo last year.

I had these teeny-tiny black metallic studs that I placed ever so carefully in the Ruffian.  And then, because crazy was whispering in my ear, I took the tiniest dotting tool I have and made tiny black dots on either side of the row of studs.

If you are old enough to remember rotary phones, and, yes, I am dating myself, then maybe this reminds you of a rotary phone like it does me! For you kids - Google it.

Oh, yeah, I said crazy was around, didn't I? Right hand realness!

I was the Lady in Red at the party!  Red cocktail dress, red lips, and red nails!

Bottle shot:  A-England Encore Margot, China Glaze Phat Santa, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

Who is going to join me on the crazy train and put lots of tiny glitters or studs on their nails! I'd love to see your version on my Facebook page! 

Rosy Ruffian

Hello, Fireflies!

I really liked the inspirational mani I found to inspire today and tomorrow's mani, but I'm kinda bummed that I can't attribute it to a particular person.  The trend of collecting manis from all over and putting them on one blog page by theme is nice, in theory, but only when the credit goes along with it. 

And, for some reason, these 'collectors' don't like to get permission to use other people's pix.  Hmm.  I don't know if the pix was ever watermarked, or if all the pix are from one nail artist, but lots of different clients.. I just don't know.  But, I don't want you guys to think that it's my own creation, so I'm going to give credit to the page where I found it, and let karma sort out the rest.

I started out with NOPI Girl Talk, a reddish-brown jelly.  Great shine, but it took 3 to 3.5 coats for opacity.

I do love colors like this, though.  I think vampy reds are tres chic! (I said it in French, so it would have extra chic.)

Have you seen the new Ballerina collection from A-England? This one, Her Rose Adagio, I knew I wanted right away.  I love how the slight rose tint marries with Girl Talk.  I love the formulas on A-England polishes.  Always smooth as butter, and often one-coaters, if you're careful with application.

For today's dose of crazy, I decided to take tiny glitters and place them, one-by-one, around the edge of the Ruffian.

I love this.  For me, it's when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts - the holo, the glitter, the rose tint with the reddish brown.. yeah, it made me happy.

I prob'ly stared at my mani for a while.  I may have also made moony faces and kissy noises, but I ain't tellin.

Bottle shot:  NOPI Girl Talk, and A-England Her Rose Adagio.

As much of a pain placing all that glitter was, I did it again! Stay tuned for tomorrow's twist on this Ruffian!

Marc Jacobs is a Ruffian? oh, *IN* a Ruffian!

Hello, Fireflies!

Ok, I know it's expensive.  I shouldn't have bought it.  But just look at this polish.

Marc Jacobs Petra is gorgeous.  It's a foil-y purple/silver mesh, and this is one coat. No topcoat.  The formula is impeccable.  And the bottle is so posh. Love.

I was inspired by this mani on Beauty High by Stephanie Stone.  I know it has less oomph with these two colors being so similar, but I liked how it came together with the metallic purple studs.

On top of Petra is Gothic Gala Lacquers Vallis Te'nebris, a vampy purple holo.

I think studs and rhinestones are my fave nail art thingies to play with.  There are just so many fun options!

Bottle shot:  Marc Jacobs Petra and Gothic Gala Lacquers Vallis Te'nebris.

Too subtle?  Or just subtle enough?

Nail polish is like Duct Tape.. it has a light and dark side..

I was intrigued by the idea of nail art that uses a contrasting light and dark color to make a simple, but bold statement.  Aside from one polish, I was also having fun playing with the Illamasquas I got on sale!

Barry M. Gelly in Lychee.  If you were thinking that this "Gelly" is like a "Jelly/Jellie" then you'd be wrong.  It's more of a reference to a gel manicure, in terms of the glossy shine.  These polishes are actually fairly opaque, and some are even one-coaters.  Lychee is the nude of the collex, and I really like it! It's a porcelain look, both in color and shine.

I saw this look from Kimberly Maran on Pinterest, and it inspired me to do something similar.  I used Illamasqua Gamma to create a diagonal French.

I did take it one step beyond, however, and applied Nubar glitters in White and Black Polka Dot - black on the orange side, white on the nude side.

The second look I did was inspired by this vintage mani I saw on Grape Fizz Nails.   I started with Illamasqua Bacterium, a shimmery nude with an iridescent shine. 

I should have probably used tape for a cleaner line, but I wanted to try freehanding the line.  I used Illamasqua Vice, a cherry reddish purple, for the center.

 For this last look, I started with Illamasqua Baptiste, a shiny, dark purple.

For a fun twist on the light/dark theme, I did a Ruffian with one of their new glitters, in Speckle. 

Bottle shot.  If you turn your head, it looks normal.

Use the Force!  The Illamasqua Force! What do you think of contrasting light/dark manis?

Sunday Stamping - Inspired by my (lack of) profession

It's no secret that I am a fan of Cult Nails.  So, when they had their 2nd Anniversary collection special, I bought two.  Both of my Blaze polishes came with the CZ earrings, but it was fun to play and see if I could win the real diamonds!

I decided to use all three of the polishes from the Anniversary collex for my stamping challenge.  The topic this week was: inspired by my profession.

Well, I am an adjunct professor, but I'm not teaching this semester, so what I'm doing is blogging, and well, monkeying around. hee!

Isn't that monkey stamp *adorable*?  It's from Ana's Nail Art plate W217.

The white polish is Cult Nails Tempest, a glossy white that is perfect in two coats.   If you like white manis, it would be worth the cost to get Tempest.

The black is Fetish, a satin-matte black.  I left it matte on the Ruffian on my pinky and on the French tip on my ring finger, and topcoated it on my thumb and in the stamping.  You can see it stamps perfectly, and that is one coat on my nails.  ONE coat.  If you like Cult Nails Nevermore, you'll like Fetish. 

The glitter is Blaze, a copper and gold sparkle-fest.  It's pretty opaque in two coats, but you can see a subtle difference in the layering over black versus white. 

I definitely love to monkey around!  Never enough time in the day to do all the nothing I want to do. 

What do you think of the Cult Nails 2nd Anniversary collection?  If you'd like more information, check out Cult Nails on Facebook

Let's hear it for Neiman-Marcus!

This past Saturday, the Central Florida Beauty Bloggers put together an event with the cosmetics dept. at Neiman-Marcus.  I know this blog is mostly about nail polish and art, but it was so amazing, I have to share.... and it inspired some nail art, too, so stay with me!

The morning began with mimosas!  How awesome is that.  They also had some breakfast pastries and coffee drinks... but champagne!  Already I'm feeling like a VIP.

We split into groups and switched between 4 counters with various product lines set up.  I don't think we heard about everything, but we got a lot of info.  Seriously, these people know what they are talking about.  And each representative is trained on other product lines, so if they don't have something in their line that meets your needs, they can direct you to another product line that does.

My first stop included one of my favorite experiences - the perfumes.  I love perfume, but I have so many, I wasn't looking for any more.  They gave us a few samples, and we got to smell a few more.  And I have a new favorite - Bottega Venetta.  It is the most sophisticated fragrance I've ever experienced.  I went shopping at Target later, and felt like a princess walking around the Taj Mahal.

 
POLISH!  Unfortunately, we didn't get any polish samples. But I can't wait to go back and try some.  This line is exclusive to Neiman's, and is called Le Metiere de Beaute.  Look at those colors!

Chanel had another amazing nail polish line.  In fact, they said that they can hardly keep it in stock!  They only had one or two bottles left.  I will admit to buying a few dupes of some of their famous colors.  In general, I prefer makeup counter products to drugstore ones, with a few exceptions.  I won't always spend the money on the expensive stuff, but I always notice the difference when I do. 

At the end of the breakout sessions, we all gathered together at the Deborah Lippman table, aka Polish Mecca.  You could almost see the sky part and the single beam of light that shone down on the table, and hear the angels singing. 

We were all taking notes about the products and new polishes... and our personal lemmings, I'm sure!  Don't we clean up nice?  Everyone was so dressed up and looking good.  Neiman's gave us all a bag with some information and samples to try - and if you go, you can get samples, too. They really want to make sure that you're going to be happy with the product you buy.

I really can't stop gushing about the experience!  Thank you so much, Neiman-Marcus!

After the wonderful experience at Neiman-Marcus and their obvious love for Deborah Lippman, I was inspired to break out a couple of my Lippmans and do a mani.  I picked up the Footloose collection at HSN on clearance, and I'm glad I did!  They really are among the best polishes ever.  They are 5-free, and not tested on animals.  All Deborah Lippman polishes have nail treatments right in the polish - so your nails are stronger and healthier after you use them!

I started with two coats of Let's Hear It For The Boy, a pale baby blue.  If you love pale blue and hate that chalkiness that some pastels have, you need this color.  I know my application wasn't perfect here, but I knew I'd be covering it with nail art, so I forged ahead.

Next, I created a Ruffian with DL Dancing In The Sheets.  This is a gorgeous blue with hints of purple.  I don't know if it's technically a duochrome, or a blurple.  The first coat has a lot of the purple undertones, and the second coat brings out the royal blue.  It has amazing depth, and look at that shine!  This is two coats, no topcoat. 

As much as I loved this, I noticed that the Ruffian style makes my short nails look even shorter, especially on my right hand.  It may not be the most flattering style on those of us with short fingers and small nail beds.  So I added some flowers and filigree to distract the eye and keep me busy for a little while.  I think it looks like a damask fabric.

DL polishes usually run $18-$20.  They are so worth it... but I'm glad I got mine on clearance! 

And, if you get a chance to shop at Neiman-Marcus, do.  Their staff is so knowledgeable, so focused on customer service.  I can't wait to start trying some of my samples.  I'll be sure to let you all know what winners I find.

Thanks again, Neiman-Marcus!