Wine All About It

Hello, Fireflies!

I love masks, and I love booze, so the Purminerals Wine Exfoliating Mask seems like a match made in heaven to me!  When I saw it for a steal on Hautelook, I knew it had to be mine.

"A Jug of Wine A Loaf of Bread and Thou" #ValentinaParis

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

It's been a long week! Time to sit back and relax with a glass of wine - and my new Valentina Paris mouth-blown wine glasses are so unique and beautiful, they take the experience to another level!

Days of Wine..and Rum.. and Hibiscus?

Hello, Fireflies!

It's still May, and I'm still working on our May Flowers challenge!  Today's mani is inspired by booze.

Christmas Card Memories

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's prompt for Sunday Stamping is a childhood winter memory.  In my childhood home, the kitchen 'doors' were two shutters - one on either side.  They were never closed, so I don't really think of them as doors; they were more decorative.  Every year, my mom would send and receive so many Christmas cards, and the ones she received were all tucked into a slat on the kitchen shutters.  By the time Christmas arrived, the shutters would be crammed full with greetings of all the people she'd kept in touch with through the years - some of them for decades!

Sparkly Subtle S..pink Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

One thing I love about Fall is all the rich jewel-toned goodies that come out this time of year.  I love all the wine and berry lippies, the emerald, rose-gold, and mulberry eye shadows, and the wine and burgundy nail polishes.

Take a gander at this lovely wine crelly polish, Ulta Pauper Etiquette.  It's a divine wine!

I thought it would be cool to put Cuttin' Edge Miss Peregrine over it, hoping for more of that duochrome orange-pink to show, but it really just played up the shimmer.  Reminds me of the new OPI, Thank Glogg It's Friday.

This spiky stripey stamp is from the Cici & Sisi 10 plate.

I thought it might be fun to go over the pinks with a sparkly version in the same color family.  This is a Color Club that came in one of those bundles from Ross, so of course it has no name.  It's a pretty raspberry metallic color.

I liked the effect, but it's pretty subtle.  If you're not in close to see it, the stamp just changes how the polish catches the light.

I like how the Color Club enhances the shimmer from Miss Peregrine.  I like how the stripes aren't super clear, but you can tell there's *something* going on there!

I love a more defined stripe, too, but there's something nice about a subtle nail art that just manipulates the way you see the polish, too. 

Do you have a fave striped mani?  I'd love for you to share it on my FB page!

Indecisive Tea Party

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you ever gotten all dressed up for a fancy date, and then just felt it was all wrong and started over, or changed something major about your outfit?

Well, I'm going to take my nails to a tea party, but I'm not wearing the same thing when I get there.

It started with a gorgeous scattered holo, Aly's Dream Polish Cherry Coke.  It's one of my faves of hers.  The color really does remind me of a deep caramel with cherry.

Which is why I thought it would go with these plummy tea rose decals.  I can't paint roses for anything.  I keep trying, but in the meantime, why suffer when there are decals?

Except, when I applied the decals, the color totally didn't look like what I thought it did.  I mean, what happened?  I felt completely color blind.

So, I changed the color of the polish, trying to carefully paint around the decals.  I like it better with this purple holo from Girly Bits, Remember Aja.

Two outfits, one tea party! Easy-peasy.  What would you wear to a tea party? I've never been to one.  Do they still wear white gloves?

An InLinkz Link-up

Hooray for Bollywood!

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is 'Bollywood.'  The only exposure I've really had to Bollywood is from the TV show, So You Think You Can Dance.  I love their Bollywood numbers, but I'm always out of breath at the end, just from watching!

So, when I think of Bollywood, I think of the costumes in rich jeweled tones and gilded details, and the music and fast-paced dancing. To try and capture that feeling, I started with Cover Girl Wine Stain, a deep, rich, wine.  There's no topcoat in this picture - the shine is all from the polish.  It's gorgeous.

I painted my ring fingernail with Cover Girl Timeless Rubies, and then dabbed it and some more Wine Stain on the other nails. Lookit that sparkle.

I just got my new CiCi & SiSi plates, and thought that this stamp was perfect for this challenge.  Music notes, and swirls make me think of the dancing.

Cover Girl Perfect Penny adds a lightness to the mani, too.

Aren't these so pretty together?  Cover Girl Wine Stain, Timeless Rubies, and Perfect Penny.

Have you seen any Bollywood?

Stamping Sunday - Bleeding Rust

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's stamping challenge was to use a plate whose number ended in '2'.  It was kinda fun to go through a bunch of plates and just choose something I liked.

I bought a bunch of Nabi holos a while ago from a seller on Ebay, tried a few, and the rest have sat around in the mountain of untrieds.  I picked Tawny from the pile and fell in love.

Even though these bottles are very similar to the Layla Holographics, these polishes are nothing alike.  Laylas have an incredible mirror holo, but are super finicky and look best over an aqua base.  Nabis are more of a tightly scattered holo.  They can drag if you don't let the layers dry, but they're not finicky.

I'm so in love with this rich wine color. 

I really liked this pattern on Winstonia W112.  At the time, I thought it looked a little like a circuit board.  Now, I'm thinking more Greek-themed.  I used Maybelline Bold Gold to stamp with.  It's one of my fave stamping polishes, and I was so stoked to find a couple of bottles on clearance at Target this past week! It was like Christmas came early this year.

But wait, you say.  That doesn't look gold.  It looks reddish. 

Well, Tawny bled through the stamp when I applied top coat.  It was an unexpected, but quite welcome effect! I think it's so cool, and I couldn't have planned it any better. 

I loved it so much, I had to do the other hand. Here's what it looks like right after the stamp is applied, before it has a chance to bleed.   Sooo different!

I took this pix much later.  Look at how both stamps have turned reddish as Tawny bled through the gold.  So cool.

Bottle shot:  Nabi Tawny, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

Have you ever had a happy accident like this, where the final result wasn't what you thought it would be, but it was so much better?

Vampy Hellhound

Hello, Fireflies!

I have a Simple, Smoldering, Sultry look for your this Saturday.

I love alliteration.

Take a gander at this gorgeous burgundy shimmer - Zoya Kalista. 

On my thumb and ring finger, I accented with CrowsToes Hellhound.  It looks like they have the same base color, but Hellhound has a fuchsia shimmer and a slight gold duochrome, so it changes as my hands move and the light hits it from different angles.

The shimmer is incredible! I love it in both polishes, actually, even though it is more subtle in Kalista.

Oops, forgot to take a bottle shot! Do you like your accent nails to be more pronounced, or would you wear something like this where the difference was really only noticeable in a certain light?

Pink Holo Yin-Yang

Hello, Fireflies!

Do you sometimes identify with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? A little sweet and a little sour?  Innocent with a naughty side?  Such is the yin and the yang of life - and when I saw this nail art by this unknown artist on Pinterest, I knew I had to do a version that reflected my own polish struggles.

On the one side - pink.  Innocent, sweet, subtle holo - Girly Bits Hot Shot.

On the other side - dark, jelly, vampy Sheswai WineSnob.

You could get lost, swimming in the jelly depths of Winesnob, or float on fluffy pink clouds of Hot Shot.  Both beautiful in their own way.

Are you fluffy? or vampy?

#WeekOfLoveChallenge - Wearing My Heart On My (Striped) Sleeve

Hello, Fireflies!

Is there a Valentines' Eve?  Well, it's not official, but for many, this day is full of anticipation of what tomorrow will bring! So, in honor of the occasion, I have one of my favorite manis of the challenge for today's theme - hearts.

I started with OPI Sleigh Ride For Two.  So romantic! This wine-colored polish has a tiny bit of shimmer in it, but it doesn't catch the light, and you can't see it on the nail.  Like an overpriced sleigh ride through slushy streets, this polish is nice in theory, but a bit of a disappointment in reality.

I was inspired by the mani in this Pinterest Pin (argh, another one with no watermark, and no link!) to break out the striping tape and create some different striping patterns using Nikka K NY112, a lovely mushroom taupe.

When I want my silver glitter to be opaque, but not thick, I layer it over a silver polish.  I used a Sally Hansen nail pen in silver to draw hearts on my thumb and ring finger, and then used silver glitter over it. 

Oooh, shiny!

Reminds me of my fave rugby shirt I used to wear in high school.  Not that I played rugby.  They were fashionable for 5 minutes in the 80's.

On my other hand, I decided to try and create a complimentary look without messing with striping tape or nail art.  I love how it turned out!

Bottle shot:  OPI Sleigh Ride For Two, silver glitter striper, Nikka K NY112, and Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Silver.

When you wear nail art, do you do it on both hands?  I usually do it on one hand if it's just for fun or the blog.  If I'm going out, I try to do it on both hands.  This is the first time I can remember trying to do a complimentary look for the other hand.

An InLinkz Link-up

Moon Candy Nail Art

Hello, Fireflies!

Yesterday, I showed you a couple of looks with the Revlon Moon Candy polishes, and today, I'm incorporating one into some nail art. Fancy!

I started off with Takko Lacquer Blushing Nude.  Nude, with a hot pink flash - crazy! I love this.  And, I'm not afraid to say it.. I miss Takko's old round bottles.  These types are some of my faves.

I took the deep wine color of Revlon Satellite and painted a curved/diagonal French tip on each nail.  These are some of my fave tips to do - no tape, no muss, no fuss.  I do have to do a little cleanup where I go over the edge of the nail, but I'm working on my aim.

I added some scrolls, a la Robin Moses.  I love her work - I don't know how she comes up with so many great nail art ideas.

Chunky, funky gold mylar flakies! Definitely a job swishing the brush around, pulling up a few flakies, and rolling and dabbing them off the brush - and trying not to get them all over the place!  I love the look, though.

Top coat smooths it all out.. and, smudged my wine color, too! Argh.  Luckily, it seemed to blend in with the pink flash from Blushing Nude.  In Real Life, it wasn't noticeable.  I love how a little bit of bling catches the light when you move.  It's subtle, but eye-catching!

Bottle shot:  Takko Lacquer Blushing Nude, and Revlon Moon Candy Satellite.

What do you think about adding a little bling-bling to nail art?  Would you rather keep it simple with just one color and the flakies, like in yesterday's post?