Hanukkah Blue and Sparkles

Shalom, Fireflies!

If you're celebrating Hanukkah today, I have a blue mani for you today!  If you're not celebrating, I...still have a blue mani for you today!

This sparkly holo is Colors by Llarowe Beam Me Up, Scotty.  So very sparkly and hard to capture, just like a transporter beam.

It's holo, but it's also just glittery and sparkly. 

I was inspired by a mani on Didolene's Nails, but I don't like the 'feather' glitter polishes, so I changed it up a little.  I made thick, diagonal stripes with GAP Constellation Blue, which looks more green in the bottle, but comes out a teal creme on the nail.  It's lovely.

In the center of the stripe, I dabbed some WingDust Shake Ya Tailfeathers.  Such a pretty glitter! WingDust makes some awesome polishes.

The gold glitter reminded me of the gold chocolate coins that are often given to the children this time of year.

Bottle shot:  Colors by Llarowe Beam Me Up, Scotty, GAP Constellation Blue, and WingDust Shake Ya Tailfeathers.

I love chocolate, but I may love this glitter combo better! 

French tips and tophat with Mr. Burgundy

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'B'. As in Burgundy.  As in Mister Burgundy, SIR.

Enchanted Polish Mr. Burgundy has become quite the popular little polish, and I can see why.  It's a nice fall color, but not too vampy, and very holo.  Love.

I forgot to get a pix of the dress I was wearing to match, but it was about this color, with a black hem and yoke.  So, that inspired me to top and cap this mani with some black.  My favorite black, in fact: Cult Nails Nevermore.  First, the tips:

Now, there are several ways I could have done this.  I didn't feel like messing around with scotch tape, but that could have given me cleaner lines, and possibly less clean up.  I could have cut one piece and put it in the middle and just painted both top and bottom at the same time.  I'd love to hear how you did it, if you recreate this mani.

I used my striper to paint a guide line, and then filled in with Nevermore and an art brush.  Cleanup around my cuticle was a little tricky, but not too bad.

Something very clean and geometric about boxing in this beautiful color with black.

Tape might have made doing the right hand a little easier.  Who wants easy, though?  Not this gal.  Ok, I lie.  Of course this gal. 

A little monocle, and Mr. Burgundy would be ready for the opera.  How would you dress up Mr. B?

Matte Preppy Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

I didn't think I had a thing for matte polishes, really.  Then, the Leather collex from Sinful Colors came out, and I'm in love with them all.

This one is probably my fave:  Strapped.  Awesome sea-green jelly matte.  Like, whoa.

It can be a little tricky doing nail art with mattes, because they dry really fast.  I've used Sinful Colors Cold Leather in a wide stripe over Strapped, and you can see where some of the stripes get a little thick.

The magic of a nice, thick, glossy topcoat like Seche Vite is that it blends out some of the texture, and all you see now is a glossy blue stripe.

The white stripes around the blue just make me think of my 'preppy' days back in high school, with the popped collars on my polo shirts.

Bottle shot:  Sinful Colors Strapped and Cold Leather, and a white striper.

Matte, or glossy?  Punk or Preppy?

Sporty Stripe

Hello, Fireflies!

I am so loving all the multichromes that are in vogue now.  I picked up the set from I Love Nail Polish, and this is the third one I've tried.  I lent the pix of Cygnus Loop and Bifringence to Glittery & Polished in my guest post.  This is My Little Glacier.

The shift on this one is the most subtle of the set, but the type of shift is a little more unusual.  I don't see a lot of polishes that shift from grey to blue.

There's also some pink shimmer in there, which is what had me reaching for Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running.  I was really surprised by the texture of this polish - it's much creamier and thick than any other EP I own.  Of course, I always want more holo, but this is a beautiful creme with a touch of holo.

I really liked this simple pattern from gutsandgrace (Pinned from Instagram), and thought it would look good with these colors, too.

I love what adding a simple white stripe does to the nail art. 

I think it looks like a sports bag now! So clean, fun, and sporty!

Here's the bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier, Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running, and a white striper.

I think I'd buy a track suit in these colors.. lol!

Above the Curve Spring, Part II

If you missed yesterday, you missed two other polishes and nail art from this Spring collex from Above The Curve!  Luckily, nothing is ever really gone on the internet, and you can just go back one day and see it.  You'll be glad you did.

Cherry Blossoms.  I grew up near Washington, D.C. and the cherry blossoms there are magical.  It's an amazing spectacle to have all these cherry blossoms blooming.  This polish is a nice reminder of those days!

I did a diagonal French tip with Jessica Gingersnap, an orangy-brown glitter reminiscent of, well, a gingersnap cookie.  In a brazen decision, I used a bright orange striper between the pink and brown. BAM!

Looks like it could be the flag of some wacky country.

Bottle shot:

I saved my favorite for last.
Mother Earth.  This is a nude holo, but it has flashes of other colors.  So not boring.

 I love the complexity of this holo.

I decided to use all the other colors in this collection as chevrons on top of Mother Earth.  I had to lay the polish on rather thick to get each color opaque and distinct, but I kinda like the texture.  I wish I had done another layer of Mother Earth at the bottom to make it look the same thickness.

Bottle shot of the whole collection:

So many great spring polishes this season, and I'm loving these.  Mother Earth is a must-have, in my opinion.  Which is your fave?

If you'd like more information about Above The Curve (including their charitable donations to Shriners and others) please visit their Facebook page, or their shop on Big Cartel.