What Does The Fox (Holo Skittle) Say?

 Hello, Fireflies!

This is the last NCC skittle challenge this month! This isn't a nail art I gravitate to, so it was fun to think of different ways to wear it.  Challenges definitely help keep me from doing the same old, same old..

So, this skittle was inspired by the colors in the nail decoration I decided to use for this look: pink and blue.

The pink (an awesome freebie sent with an order I placed) is Nail Nation 3000 Inner Flame, a hot pink holo.  The blue is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Tea Is Soothing, I Wish To Be Tense, a light blue holo from her Buffy The Vampire Slayer-inspired collection. The glitter is Funfetti from (apparently defunct) Makeup Your Face.

And, my inspiration, a little fox nail decoration, with pink and blue stones in the tail! Let's all say it together, now: AWWWWWWWWW.

I know, right?

Double the foxes, double the cute! If you love nail decorations, Ebay is the place to go.  The cheapest prices are from sellers in China, but they can take quite a while to ship to the USA.  Your Mileage May Vary.

I love how Funfetti's glitters compliment the blue and pink holos, but stay soft because of the milky base.

I admit, most times after I take the pix, the nail decorations come right off, because otherwise I'll just pick them off.  But I dearly love sticking things on my nails! How do you feel about nail decorations?

An InLinkz Link-up

Memorial Day Skittles

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's post is a combination of two challenges - Celebrating Memorial Day, and skittle nails for the NCC.  So, I give you my Memorial Day Skittle:

I wanted to do a traditional Red, White, and Blue theme (Sinful Colors Embers Only, LynBDesigns Old St. Nick, and Pupa 701) but I also wanted to recognize the somberness of the occasion; hence, the Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

And stars, because I gotta stick something on my nails, right?

Bottle shot:  Sinful Colors Embers Only, LynBDesigns Old St. Nick, and Pupa 701, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and my little dollar store bottle of stars.

If you're celebrating this Monday, please take a moment to remember those who gave all in service to their country.

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

A Skittle, Layered.

Hello, Fireflies!  Today's skittle is a little different.  I wanted to see how layering a polish over different bases created the mani.

I started with (thumb to pinky): Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, a pink with orange shimmer; Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, a sunny yellow creme; Cult Nails Kiss, a matte tomato red;  I Love Nail Polish Undenied, a metallic purple duochrome; and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

I built up the thumb with a few more layers of Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, and then put that same polish over all the other nails.  What a cool transformation!

It turned Mellow Yellow into an orange sunburst, and the black creme into a dark, purple shimmer.

But, I think my fave has to be the effect over I Love Nail Polish Undenied.  It amplified the duochrome, and now there's all kinds of reds and purples in it.  Neat-o Jet!

As different as all the colors were, now they could almost pass for an ombre' mani.  Do you ever layer polishes for different effects?

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish Challenge - Skittle Me This, A-England!

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm a new member of the GOT (Golden Oldie Thursday) challenge.  If you're not familiar, the idea is to use older polishes (at least a year old) that just haven't gotten any love in a while.  I have been using so many untrieds, there are lots of Golden Oldies in my stash.

Still, I was uneasy doing a whole mani  - and a skittle at that! - without cracking open at least ONE untried. But, I did it.  And, boy am I happy I did.

Do you recognize any of these lovely holos?  These were among the first polishes I bought when I found myself interested in polish again.  I saw a pix of A-England Saint George, and FELL HARD.  Had to have it.  This was before I knew about nail polish blogs, or Facebook groups, so I did all the leg work myself.

Putting it on again was almost a spiritual experience! Talk about taking me back to my nail polish roots.

Aren't they cute with the little triangle studs? In order, from thumb to pinky, the polishes are:  A-England Ascalon, Lady Of The Lake, Tristam, Saint George, and Dragon.  Saint George is still one of my very favorite polishes, even if it is a little bit of a stainer.

Bottle shot:  A-England Ascalon, Lady Of The Lake, Tristam, Saint George, and Dragon.

Did you feel a little something special when you put on your first nail polish love?

An InLinkz Link-up

Hobby Polish Blogger Challenge - Skittle

I don't know why, but I find skittle manis to be among the most challenging!  I have a hard time finding 5 colors that belong together, but that aren't an ombre.

So, for this challenge, I decided to go with a collection from OPI... and a ringer, since I don't have the entire collection!

It's a pretty famous collection, so I'm sure some of you recognize it.  And some of you have even figured out which one doesn't belong.

It's the Shrek collection!  Index - What's With the Cattitude, middle - Who The Shrek Are You?, ring - Ogre the Top Blue, and pinky - Funky Dunky. The thumb is the ringer - I didn't have Rumples' Wiggin, so I used Butter London Muggins, which is supposed to be close.

Here are the true members.  Do you think they make a nice skittle?

Bottle shot.  Boy, does that Butter London look out of place! Muggins is first, then OPI WWTC, Who the Shrek are You? Ogre the Top Blue, and Funkey Dunkey.

I guess I really do need Rumples Wiggin, now!

Sunday Stamping - Skittle Me This!

This week's challenge is to stamp over a skittle mani.  With all the polishes I have, I was having trouble deciding which 5 colors I wanted to use. Then, I remembered I had just gotten the Sweet Escape collection from Nubar.  It was so hard narrowing down the eight great colors to just 5.

From thumb to pinky:  On The Radar, Forbidden Fruit, Into the Wild, Sour Apple, and Resort Yellow.

These colors are awesome for summer.  So shiny, even without topcoat! I don't usually wear skittles, but these colors were so much fun together.

I stamped with my trusty Finger Paints Black Expressionism, and the DRK-B plate.

Now that I look at it, I wish I had added some colorful dots with the dotting tool afterwards.  Pow-Bam!

That would have been one craaaazy dotticure.

Don't you love Nubar?  They are such unsung polishes.  They deserve more love! 

Skittle-mania

 I have two different skittle manis to show you today. I never thought I would like the skittle-type mani, but it's actually cute.

This was borne out of my impatience to smell all the polishes in my new Dippin Dots polish set.  Dippin Dots.  Are you serious?  Who'da thunk.  They actually smelled nice once they were dry, and even again a little when I removed the polish, much to my surprise.  And, they were cute colors with a nice formula that applied well - another surprise.  These were all applied over white.

There are 6 polishes in the set, so two had to share my thumb.  The light pink color is Raspberry Sherbet, the dark redder pink is Watermelon Ice.  Watermelon Ice had the strongest scent of all the polishes, and I love watermelon.  On my index, the green is Mint Chocolate.  The middle finger blue is sugary-sweet Cotton Candy.  The ring finger yellow, which actually may be a neon, is Banana Split, which smelled yummy, and wasn't streaky, either.  My husband and I are true aficionados of artificial banana flavoring, and this smelled perfect.  On my pinkie is Peach - and probably the best orange polish I've tried to date.  It's what I hoped all the other summer oranges and tangerines would do - look good with my skintone.

I also picked up a set of Neon Night Life minis from Kleancolor.  I'm not sure how a dark blue or purple can be a neon, but I loved, loved them.  These were over a white base as well.  On my thumb, the orange color is called Mango, and the yellow is Funky Yellow.  Both of these applied so nicely.  They both (and the green) took 2 coats to reach opacity - the others only one coat.  I did the split in my nail freehand - you can see how nice the formula is - no dripping or dragging.

On my index finger, the aptly named Red is the only red neon I've ever used.  I have probably 40-50 different shades of red in my collection, and none like this.  I wish the camera could capture it.  It is candy-red.  My middle finger is painted with Neon Purple, but it didn't photograph color-true.  It's actually a royal purple, which I've never seen as a neon before.  Awesome.  Another surprise was Neon Sapphire, a dark, rich, in-your-face blue.  Not sure if it qualifies as neon, but it is bold.  The Neon Green on my pinky took 3 coats, and is a nice color, but nothing different from any other neon green I've seen.

These will all be perfect summer colors.. and I may even wear them again as a skittle-mani.