Blue water drops

Quick, gotta get in another Summer challenge mani - there's no time to waste!

And, I love this one.  I picked up these Orly polishes at Marshalls, and they are gorgeous! First up, Orly Ancient Jade - lovely, slightly dusty jade green.

I started the dotticure with Orly Water Lily.  Love this bright, saturated robin's-egg blue. I could have stopped here.  But, I didn't. 

Nope, I added Morgan Taylor Water Baby, a pale, pale blue.  It almost looks white here.  Then I added more Water Lily.  Some of the polish got a little thick, so it made goopy droplets.  Nobody likes a goopy droplet.

Having goopy dots?  Top coat to the rescue!

In the end, I'm glad I added Water Baby.  It's a great highlight.

Orly Ancient Jade, Orly Water Lily, and Morgan Taylor Water Baby

Are you ready for a nice dip in a warm body of water? Perhaps a jacuzzi with frothy water bubbles?  

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Summertime Flowers

Is February almost over?  What happened? It just zoomed by, with my birthday, and getting sick, and long weekends with the husband.  There was a challenge? Really?

Well, part of my reticence is because this month's theme is 'summer'. Well, it's been really, really, cold - even here in Florida.  And, I kinda like it.  I have been *loving* this seasons dark, vampy shades, textures, metallics, everything.  I am not the biggest fan of summer here, because it's HOT. Yes, I'll start complaining now.  During the summer here, I just want to stay inside with the A/C on.

So... I hadn't gotten around to doing any summery manis.  Then, I looked in my vault of unused manis, and found this perfectly summery one to get the ball rolling!  This is Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Pink Sprinkle - a fun, bright, lightly sparkly pinky-red.

It isn't quite as sparkly as their newer line of Sugar Coat polishes, but it's not matte at all. Perfect for a fun, but not too in-your-face type mani.

Well, you know me, Ms. Subtlety.  A layer of topcoat gives this polish a candy-like quality! Perfect for a few sugary-sweet flowers and butterflies.

See?  Subtle.  I knew you'd agree.

I've got three more summery nail arts to fit in before the end of the month! Can I make it?  Are you even ready for summer colors yet?

An InLinkz Link-up

Minion Party!

Hello, Fireflies!

You may remember that a while ago, I had a friend ask me to paint Minions on her nails, so I practiced and did a set for her. (You can see my post on my Minion nail art here.)

Well, her friend had a Minion-themed party, and invited me to come! There was a big Minion cake!

And there were Minion cupcakes! With REAL Twinkies!

My contribution was to paint a few of the girls' nails.  The hostess wanted, of course, Minion nails, which I was more than happy to do. 

Everyone was duly impressed that I gave some of the Minions teeth.  I have to say, that's one of my favorite details!

These turned out so cute! I love them.  The colors I used to make the Minions:  Zoya Pippa, OPI I Saw..You Saw..We Saw...Warsaw, Milani White On The Spot, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Presto Pewter, and Julep Anisa.

One girl wanted simpler nails, but couldn't resist the blue and yellow, so she chose an accent nail.  I used OPI I Saw..You Saw..We Saw...Warsaw, and Zoya Pippa for this mani.

This young lady was having engagement photos taken the next day, so she wanted something simpler.  I was going to do some nail art, but unfortunately, I ran out of time.  I love the subtle shimmer on these!   I used Finger Paints Silver Sculpture and OPI Next Stop...The Bikini Zone.

My friend, Carolyn, took soooo looong to decide, we had to do a quick mani.  This is my idea of a faux gradient, and then I gave her little hearts as accents.  I used Milani White On The Spot, China Glaze Elfin' Around and China Glaze Just Be-Claws.

I had such a good time at the party, and it was so much fun to give these girls fun and unique manis.  It's very different painting someone else's nails after you've been so used to only painting your own! I made such a mess - thank goodness I remembered to bring my cleanup brush!

Do you like doing other people's nails, or having yours done by someone else?

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?

Flowers over Flakies - #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

If you missed it, I have another post today about how the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida were introduced to SpaTouch, LLC and the IBX nail repair and strengthening system!

But I have flakies for you now! It starts with China Glaze VIII, a dark, creamy, smoky purple. Gorgeous!

Over that, I used Color Club Violet Twilight.  Don't let the blue base deceive you - it doesn't really look like that on the nail. You can see it hardly affected the dark purple China Glaze. Look at the red and green and gold flakies, though.  *sigh*

Inspired by Devilish Designs nail art, I set out to make a similar flower and swirl design using Revlon Spirit, a creamy white from their Top Speed line.  I gotta say, this polish impressed me! So nice for nail art - opaque, but thin enough to make the swirls easily.

I used the China Glaze again to add in the flower details.  Look how the flakies wink from behind the design.  Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!

Topcoat to make it all shiny - it helps the flakies to really look their best, too.  I like the nail art, but it really is about the flakies, isn't it.

I love the contrast between the dark and flakie background and the stark white flowers and swirls.  So different!

Bottle shot:  China Glaze VIII, Color Club Violet Twilight, and Revlon Spirit

Do you like putting art over a flakie, or is it a crime to cover up their beauty?

An InLinkz Link-up

Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida meet Spa Touch, LLC and IBX

Hello, Fireflies!

A few weeks ago, I got together with a few of the lovely ladies of the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida for a unique nail-portunity!

Cat from Beauty By Cat, Su from Chronicle Stones/Nail Veils, and Brittany (and baby Clumps) from Clumps of Mascara

Karen of Spa Touch, LLC introduced us to a new product - a new idea in nail care, really - the IBX system.  Currently, it's only available as a salon service.  Phyrra from Beauty for the Bold and I got to experience this amazing system firsthand.

If you'd like to read Phyrra's take on her Spa Touch, LLC experience and IBX treatment, click HERE.

Phyrra of Beauty for the Bold, and Karen of Spa Touch, LLC

The IBX System is the first repair system of its kind - instead of strengthening nails by layering something on top, it actually penetrates the top layers of the nail and stays there permanently. It'll just grow out with the natural nail!  It's applied like a polish, heated with either a lamp or blow dryer, and then cured with UV light.

I have weak, peeling nails, and my index nails tend to split vertically down the middle of the nail.  As much as I'd love to have longer nails, I really haven't been able to grow them out.  I'm hoping after several treatments, I'll be able to have some length - I'm already seeing some improvement on that vertical splitting of my index nails after one treatment!

IBX was developed to help mitigate the damage people were doing to their nails by picking off or otherwise improperly removing gel nails, but it also helps repair and strengthen natural nails.

Take a look at some of the other success stories from IBX:

After a second treatment, my nails are looking even better!

If you'd like more information about IBX, check out their website HERE.  If you're in the Central Florida area and you'd like to get an IBX treatment, please check out Karen at Spa Touch, LLC!  She's a pioneer with IBX and is very knowledgeable about it.  Ask her about her 3-hour pedicure, too!  She can be reached on Facebook, her website, or by phone (407-523-5088) or text (407-432-3712)

Would you be interested in this kind of salon service?

I'm still rocking my nubs in the meantime, and at 9am Eastern today, my #NailArtForNubs post goes live, with my flowers over flakies nail art!

Sunday Stamping - The Guilty Pleasure of Excess

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's stamping challenge is Guilty Pleasure.  Oh, I have so many.  I love crappy reality TV like Teen Mom and Real World, I love peanut-butter-filled pretzels and going to Big Lots for bags of Bridge Mix.  I love makeup and nail polish.. lots and lots of nail polish, and lots of different kinds.

I kinda even like crackles, which would definitely be a guilty pleasure! One trend I am whole-heartedly embracing right now is the textured polish. 

But, even a textured polish can be taken too far.  Witness Nails Inc Beaded Polish Covent Garden:

It's like blue, sparkly cottage cheese...

It took 2 layers of Gelous and 2 layers of Seche Vite to make it smooth enough to stamp on.

This stamp, from MJ III, just says, "excess" to me.  And, and, AND, and, and, and, and...

I stamped with Milani White On The Spot. 

Bottle shot:  Nails Inc Beaded Polish Covent Garden, Milani White On The Spot, and Gelous.

Too much of anything isn't a good thing, right?  Then, why does it sometimes just feel so good? lol! What's your guilty pleasure?