A Kiss For A Crystal Holo Mystic

Hello, Fireflies!

Y'all know that I have a ton of nail polish.  If you didn't, well, I'm telling you now.  I have a lot.  So, when I tell you that there is a polish the likes of which I have not seen before, I think it's something special - and I kinda hope that you'll think it's special, too.

Otherwise, I feel a little stupid for getting so excited. 

Joss A Crystal Holo Mystic is one of those special polishes.  It's holo, but there's added fleck.  It has a nude background, but the red flecks make it look mottled and more red.  What color is it?  I don't know.  Is it holo or glitter? both?

The red in A Crystal Holo Mystic just called to me for more MOAR red!  This is Cult Nails Kiss, a wax finish red creme.  Gorgeous!

I just used the brushes the polishes came with to make these stripes - by turning the brush sideways, or adjusting the pressure on the brush, you can make wider or narrower stripes.  And, I don't have to clean a nail art brush!  I did use a dotting tool for the dots, but those are easy to clean.

I actually really liked the holo against the wax finish, but I had to try it with topcoat, too.  Times like these, I kinda wish my nails were bigger so I could add more stripes. I love how my thumb turned out!

Bottle shot:  Joss A Crystal Holo Mystic, and Cult Nails Kiss.

A funky glitter holo, and a wax-finish red.  I think they're both pretty unique polishes!

Two Colors, Three Textures

Hello, Fireflies! 

Yesterday, I showed you a look playing with glitter and metallic textures.  Today's look has three different finishes - holo, wax finish, and glitter!

I started with one of my new favorite brands, Different Dimension. Just Keep Swimming is one of the most gorgeous bright blue holos, ever. 

This is a new formulation of the color - the one I showed you previously was one that had turned a bit teal.  Honestly, I love them both!

I wanted a stripe of black between the holo and the glitter, so I picked up  Cult Nails Fetish, a wax finish one-coat black.  This is a spectacular black, in my opinion - there's nothing like it.  It's not matte, it's not glossy.  The closest texture I can think of is rubber, but it's not quite that, either.  If you like different finishes, you need this, or at least the Cult Nails Wax That topcoat.

I finish the nail art with Girly Bits Off The Scale, an opaque micro-glitter in blues and purples.

Holo, wax, glitter!

Just to see how it looked, I topcoated everything.

I wore this for an outing, so I did both hands.  It's easy enough to do on my non-dominant hand, and it looks fine on my nubbins.

Which do you prefer, with or without topcoat?  Do you like mixing all these different finishes?

Art Challenge - The Green House

Hello, Fireflies!

This month's Nail Challenge Collaborative challenge is Inspired By Art.  Well, I'm no arteest, ya know?  But, a challenge is a challenge, and I learn more from failure than success, right?

I learned a LOT.

I found this pix by gingado on Deviant Art, and thought it would make a nice, festive inspiration for today.  It's called, "The Green House."

I really had no idea what I was doing, so I didn't take any step-by-step pictures.

It's, uh, green... and there are some red doors.  You see the resemblance, right?

I decided that a wax topcoat would give it a closer resemblance to the photo.

I was just hoping that something - anything - would make it look better.

Here's alllllll the colors I used:  SOPI I Come In Peas, NOPI Green Up Your Act, China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On, SOPI Absinthe Makes the Heart, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Sally Hansen Red Zin, China Glaze Hawaiian Punch, Cult Nails Wax That, Maybelline Bold Gold, Milani White On The Spot, and Zoya Cassedy.  *whew*

You'd think something called, 'The Green House' would be easy!  Maybe next time I'll try some Michaelangelo.

There be Ghosts in the Other Realm #FallingForNailArt

Hello, Fireflies!

It's getting spooky all up in here.  Today's mani is pretty much a copy of a mani done by Nearly Natural Nails.  I was looking at Pinterest, and my hubby spotted this one and just loved it.  Well, how can I not at least try it then?

I started with a new-to-me polish with a well-known name.  This year, Seche - the maker of the beloved Seche Vite topcoat - came out with colors!  This deep, dark, metallic eggplant is called Aristocrat.  Which, of course, only makes me think of the joke.

For my ghosts, I had to use a white holo.  I thought Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss would fit the bill.  At one/1.5 coats, it's still translucent in some parts over the dark purple, giving it an ethereal look.

For the ghostly facial features, I went with Cult Nails Fetish, that gorgeous waxy black.  I like the play in textures between the metallic purple, the translucent holo white, and the matte black. Makes me feel all artsy-fartsy.

Scary?  I might be.

Bottle shot:  Seche Aristocrat, Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss, and Cult Nails Fetish.

I'm loving all the ghostly manis this season!  If you have one you'd like to share, please post on my wall! I'd love to see it.

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 - Spring in the Garden

I think it was fate that the day I decide to work on my Adventures in Stamping challenge: Spring, is the day my Cult Nails In The Garden collection came in the mail!  I managed to use a few of the new polishes in this mani.

Let's Get Dirty.  I started with this interesting wax-finish polish.  It's not pink, it's not grey, I don't think it's taupe, but that's probably close.  It's like a ..dirty pink.  Wet, it has a sparkle, but it dries waxy.  This is ONE coat.  I'm impressed.

I knew I wanted to stamp over a gradient, so I sponged on some bright yellow You're My Dandy Lion.
This one is a glossy creme, but I wasn't worried about the mashup of textures, because I am stamping and using topcoat in a minute.

The tips got a sponge treatment of Kiss My Rose Bush, another waxy-finish polish, in a soft, but bright pink.  These three look so good together...

...that I had to topcoat at this stage, just to see what it would look like.  If I were stopping here, I would have tried to blend my gradients a little better, but I knew I was stamping, and it would hide a lot of imperfections in the mani.  Because, at heart, I am lazy!  Work smarter, not harder, I say.

Again, with the Cheeky Jumbo plate.  I think I could probably use this plate all year and not get bored.  Best. Plate. Ever.  I stamped with Morning Glory, a bright fuchsia creme.

I love how the stamp pulls all the colors together and just pops.  Reminds me a little of my youth in the 80's. 

If you'd like more info about Cult Nails, you can find them on Facebook, and on their webpage.  The In The Garden collex pre-sale is over, so you can now buy each color individually if you'd like.  There's also a traffic-cone orange creme, Ay Poppy!, in this collection that is pretty cool.