Booty Call

Ahoy, Fireflies!

Today, I'll be allowin' ye to see a bit of my booty - my Pirate Booty, that is!

I started with Cirque Chainmail, a glittery silver that actually photographed flatter than it really is.  It's not super-sparkly, but it does have some sparkle to it.

This Cheeky 49 plate was made for this challenge! Lots o' pirate stamps.  I chose the little treasure chest, and stamped with Maybelline Bold Gold.

I sponged on some Wet 'n Wild Black Creme to make it easier to see the gold, stamped the chests, and then added the glitter over some topcoat.

Don'tcha be tryin' to steal my Pirate gold, now! It's fool's gold, anyhow.

Bottle shot: Cirque Chainmail, Maybelline Bold Gold, and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

What would you like to find in a treasure chest?

Let's Go Camping - Roaring Campfire

Hello, Fireflies!

Two challenges today, and two posts! If you'd like to see my Adventures In Stamping stamping over stripes nailart, click HERE. 

First up, the last of the Challenge Your Nail Art camping challenge - Campfires.

I started with Zoya Jesy, a jelly coral-leaning-orange with lots of glitter. Forgot to get a pix by itself. Eh, there's lots of swatches of it online, though.  The whole Zoya Bubbly collection is pretty cool, but this was the one I *had* to have.  Right away.

Then I stamped this cool fire with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and the Mash 48 plate.  Times like this, I wish I had longer nail beds, because I had to chop the bottom of the fire off. How cool is that stamp?

I sponged a little Cirque Arcane Fire, because, fire.  Yeah.

I also painted in some 'logs' with Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon, and used a white striper to detail it... and to also make marshmallows.  What other reason is there to build a campfire, if not to roast marshmallows?

I like them burnt.  OMG. Drool.

Bottle shot:  Zoya Jesy, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Sally Hansen Salon Cinnamon, Cirque Arcane Fire, and stripers in silver and white.

What's your favorite reason to have a campfire?

An InLinkz Link-up

Jupiter Ascending.. and on Fire!

Hello, Fireflies!

When Purminerals put out this set for the movie Jupiter Ascending, I hadn't even heard of the movie.  I just thought the kit was cute.  So, I put together a look to show you - and some nails I think would go with it.

The eyeshadow palette has 6 colors, but I was mostly intrigued by Jupiter and Caine.  Good thing, too, because the other shades (except Night Sky) are very light. Majesty and Destiny were a little harder, too, and difficult to get much color from.

The other two things that came in the kit were the black liquid Outer Space Precision liner, and the light pink, iridescent Galaxy Lipgloss.  The liner is gorgeous, deep black.  The lippie has great packaging with a mirror on the side and an applicator that lights up when you remove it from the base.  The color is so light on me, though.  I may try layering it, though.

This classic neutral look really pops with that eyeliner! I believe I did use Destiny and Majesty for the lid, and they did show up a little better on my eye over primer than on my arm.  I'm pretty sure I used Night Sky as a transition and Caine to deepen the outer V.

My eyes were irritated from the day before. You should have seen what I looked like *before* makeup! haha.

I wish I had written down what I used to make the rest of this look! Bad blogger.  I did use the Purminerals Galaxy lipgloss.  And I had just done my hair with the Kimble Beauty hair masque! Feels like a no-makeup makeup look almost!

I paired this simple, light makeup look with a juicy raspberry and gold nail art inspired by @naildecor.  I started with Cirque Colors Arcane Fire, a raspberry pink with flecks.

I used a striper brush to apply Maybelline Bold Gold.

I had two sizes of gold glitter pieces from Dollar store finds.  I put the larger piece in the center, and flanked it with smaller gold hexes. 

Very sunflower/sunburst-y!

Bottle shot:  Cirque Colors Arcane Fire, Maybelline Bold Gold

The only thing I know about the Jupiter Ascending movie is that it stars Channing Tatum.  Does this makeup set make you Channing all over your Tatum? What about the nail art?

Red hot Red!

Hi Fireflies!

"Sometimes, I like to dance around my living room in my underwear.  Doesn't make me Madonna.  Never will."  - one of my favorite lines from the movie Working Girl.

Sometimes, I like to put on red nail polish and be a hot tamale.  I may or may not dance around in my underwear.  If I were to, though, I might wear Cirque Vesuvius, because it is a red-hot holo.

Red is the hardest color to make holo - it's either too pink or too grey.  This one is really close to a true red. 

I wanted to amp up the red a little, and also the sparkle, so I did a gradient with Liquid Sky Lacquer in Hot Rod Red.  I love how it darkened the tips and added a little glitter.

Bottle shot:  Cirque Vesuvius, and Liquid Sky Lacquer Hot Rod Red

If you were going to dance around in your underwear and pretend you were Madonna, what nail color would you wear?

Clinique - a Different Nail Enamel

I used to buy all kinds of Clinique stuff, but when I started getting more interested in makeup and polish, I expanded my beauty regimen beyond the department store counters.  I recently decided to dabble back in Clinique, after seeing they have new nail polishes designed for those with sensitive skin!  (and a free gift with purchase didn't hurt, either.)

Indie Rock.  This is my kind of polish - a little metallic, a little shimmer, a nice rich plummy brown.  Application was nice, dry time was average.

I decided to play around a little bit with the look by adding Cirque French Roast.  This is a combo of brown and orange and gold microglitters in a clear base.  It sparkles so much more than I can capture on camera.  It is not a glitter that builds to opaque on it's own - or at least not with 3 layers.  I tried.

I recently bought these nail stickers from L'oreal on Target clearance.  I love these because, other than the swirl decoration, they are clear - so whatever color you are wearing shows through.  Unfortunately, my nail beds are so small, I'd have to do a lot of trimming for most of the stickers - this was the smallest one, and it just barely fit on my ring finger.

Really Rio.  I am endlessly drawn to these bright corals.  I wish they looked as good on me as I hoped they would.  This one didn't work that well for me, and I didn't like the formula, either.  It dragged and pooled at my cuticles, and didn't self-level.  Some of the nails needed three coats, and still didn't look right.

I wanted to see if this would pick up any of the colors in Mentality Multi Flakie, but they look mostly sheer on a color this light.  I can't wait to try it over navy or black.  I think this kind of coral would look great with a gold glitter instead.

Have you tried any of the new Clinique nail lacquers yet?  Are they really a different nail enamel?  Not to me, but maybe someone with sensitive skin might appreciate their new formula more than I do.

My birthday present to ME! - Cirque

Happy birthday to me!  I always get myself the BEST presents, and this year I decided to treat myself to some Cirque polishes!  I wasn't disappointed!

Hellebore.  This is one green glitterbomb!  It's a unique green to me, too - very light, with purple flecks and maybe some holo glitter mixed in.  Full coverage in two coats, very easy to apply.

I saw a tutorial on cutting hearts out of cheap bandaids to use as a stencil.  I didn't have any bandaids, so I tried it with clear tape.  Took me a few tries, but I finally got one to work on my thumb.  I used Fascination Street to paint in the stencil.  Cute!

Lonesome George.  Very nice pigmentation, pretty decent rainbow.  Easy application, no special base or buffing.

I saw this pattern on Raggio di Luna and I wanted to see if I could make it work with my Cirque polishes.  Fascination Street is thick enough to paint with, but because it's a holo you don't get a crisp line.  I dabbed some Hellebore at the tips.  Not exactly what I was going for, but still interesting.

Fascination Street. Great song by the Cure, and cool polish.  I think this was the first of Cirque's polishes to really grab my attention.  I wish I had some sunlight the day I swatched this so the rainbow would really shine, but you can still see some and that great saturated blurple color.

I decided to stamp over it with Color Club Eternal Beauty, one of Color Club's new holo releases for 2013.  Stamps beautifully, doesn't it?  I think they look great together, like purple dragon scales.

Cape Liz.  This has been the season for blue/grey polishes with flecks or flakies.  I can't get enough of them.  Such a rainy-day-curl-up-with-a-blanket feeling.  

I got out my fan brush and swiped Lonesome George and Planet Caravan over Cape Liz.  First attempt... not bad, but I think this technique is meant for creme polishes.  The glitters just scatter the light and disrupt the pattern too much.

Planet Caravan.  This is an interesting polish!  Black base with purple and gold, maybe holo glitters?  It dries semi-matte, but gets some real depth with topcoat.

I think that's why I decided to do a 'galaxy' nail on top of it.  I used these Orly polishes:  Halley's Comet, Galaxy Girl, Space Cadet, and Oui.  Yeah, they're all like galaxy nails in a bottle already, right?

I also mixed in a little Milani White on the Spot.  Maybe a little too much.  Well, that's the beauty of this nail art - they're rarely the same twice, and you can make them look like whatever you want.  My fave kind of nail art.

So, which colors are your fave?  Would you like to sport 'galaxy nails' or the fan brush technique?  or try making a stencil?

If you'd like more information about Cirque nails, you can find them on Facebook, or on their webpage.