My Tribal Texture Crush

Hello, Fireflies!

The other day at Ulta, I picked up this OPI duo of a base coat and a texture in this season's orchid color - My Current Crush:

I love this color! Tooling around on Pinterest, I saw this tribal nail art by Raggio Di Luna and was immediately inspired to try it on My Current Crush.  Would it look as good on a texture?

I don't know how Raggio di Luna got her pyramids so clean.  Maybe she used tape? Maybe she's freakin' amazing.  I freehanded them, and they look like lumpy triangles. 

Next, I made the V shape with a silver glitter striper.  If you find using stripers to be incredibly awkward, try cutting them down.  My favorite ones all have the brush trimmed down - not the length, but the thickness.

The white triangle is so tiny on my little nails!  I pretty much had to blob the white in there and then clean up the shape with my black striper.  No way could I make it that straight.

I loved this even more with topcoat!  It smoothed out the art, and My Current Crush took on a softer, but still glittery look.

I fudged the pyramids on my right hand, but no one could tell.  From normal hand-viewing distance, they looked the same.  I wore this to a dinner party and impressed the crap out of the people there who actually cared about these things.  The guys pretty much looked to their wives to see what the appropriate reaction should be!

Which, of course, should be a slow golf clap.

Bottle shot:  OPI My Current Crush, nail art stripers in white, black, and silver glitter.

I'm glad I didn't let the pyramid shape intimidate me from trying this nail art because I love how it turned out!  Have you ever been inspired by a complicated design, and found a way to make it work for you?

Arou-NEON the World

Hello, Fireflies!

This month's challenge for the NCC is "Around the World" and this week's EcoPolo challenge is Neon, so I'm being oh-so-very-clever and combining the two.

I started off with a base coat of white, and then started laying on Candy Lacquer Granny Smith.  I think it took 3-4 thick coats to get it this opaque, so I think I'll use a different undie next time.

It definitely reminds me of those Salon Perfect neons I used earlier in the summer.  I'm pretty sure Granny Smith came out first, I just hadn't used it before now.

I was inspired by the 'around the world' challenge to do my first Tribal mani.

I'm guessing there are no neon tribes.  That would be something, though.  They're the radioactive people.
 

Bottle shot:  Milani White on the Spot, Candy Lacquer Granny Smith, and stripers in dark blue, teal, and orange.

If you'd like more information about Candy Lacquer, she can be found on Facebook, and her BigCartel store.

Ready to join the neon tribe? 

Chirality + Black = YES

As a confirmed obsessed lover of holos, I keep coming back to a few brands for their awesome ones.  Chirality is one.  All their formulas are stellar, no special undies or buffing needed, great pigmentation, and a decent scattered, and sometimes linear, holo.

Bromine.  Is there anything classier than a nude holo?  It's like the perfect piece of lingerie - showing you a little, without showing you too much. 

Using Finger Paints Black Expressionism, I took a makeup sponge and did a gradient inspired by this Pinterest Pin (couldn't find the original source, unfortunately.)  My classy lingerie model is now a dirty, dirty whore.  And I like it.

Absolute Zero.  Icy blue holo with a hint of aqua. Gorgeous.

It reminded me of glass, so I took a stamp from my Cheeky Jumbo plate and "broke" the glass.

Asymptote.  If you have Chirality Kale, this one is lighter in color, but with the same great color and hint of yellow rainbow.

My trusty black striper turned it into a mishmash of different stripes.

 Quarks.  Blue holos are definitely the most ubiquitous out there, but a denim blue is a little harder to find.

This is probably as close to a tribal pattern as I've ever gotten.  I just freehanded lines and swirls and this happened.  I am totally in love with this, and will have to practice it so I can rock this on both hands.

Convergence.  The purple holos get me every time.  Love this color, and the texture of the holo.  Look at the pinks and blues from the rainbow.

This is one of my fave kinds of French tips.  Something about that extra line that makes it EXTRA.  Like, extra everything.  Totally.

How do you like to wear your holos?  Plain, sponged, stamped, swirled, tipped?  Any faves here?

If you'd like more information about Chirality, you can find them on Facebook, and at their store.