Shiny Stamped Snakeskin

 Hello, Fireflies!

Today's AIS challenge is, "Snakeskin and Other Reptiles."  I chose the lesser-known holo-flakie reptile to emulate.  His pattern is more like a fishnet than scales, but we do what we can with what we have.

Sunday Stamping - Blue Glitter and a Bonus!

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge is to stamp over a blue glitter.  I had a mani over a blue holo, but decided it wasn't truly glittery enough, so I did another one.. and then decided to include both in today's post!  Bonus mani! Woot!

Safe Organic Skincare Answering the SOS for my Oily Skin

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Spring in Florida has brought temperatures in the 80's, the return of 24-7 A/C, and my oily skin trapping dirt and sweat like a lint roller.  This one-two punch of cleanser and scrub from Safe Organic Skincare has been keeping my face in check!

The Vault - Glitter Ideas

 Hello, Fireflies!

I haven't done very many holiday nail looks this season, but one thing I can always make time for is a little glitter to feel festive!  I have a few looks I pulled from the vault to share with you today.

To Everything, Teal, Teal, Teal, There Is A Season, Teal, Teal, Teal...

Hello, Fireflies!

Well, to everything there is a season, and the season of the Tri-Polish and Golden Oldie Crumpet Challenges has come to an end.  Today is the last Tri-Polish challenge, and it is also the beginning of the new Crumpet challenge, the 52 Week Pick 'n Mix challenge!

To celebrate, I have two manis, and two linkups.

For the Tri-Polish challenge, it seems only fitting that I only get in two of the colors - grey, and teal.  I've always been an underachiever.  The polishes are so pretty, though, maybe you won't mind.  I started with Different Dimension Have A Grape Day, which is a thermal polish... but I couldn't capture it. 

This design is inspired by Bianca Fredrich.  Her acrylic creations are so elegant.  I improvised on my nubbins.

The French Tips are done with Different Dimension Gasoline Rainbows, a  gorgeous charcoal grey holo with a rainbow holo, and then I used a black striper and added a little rhinestone.

Bottle shot:  Different Dimension Have a Grape Day and Gasoline Rainbows, and a black striper.

The first prompt for the the Pick 'n Mix challenge was to do a 2-color gradient, and include a teal.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Wait 'n Sea, and then did the gradient with China Glaze X-Ta-Sea on the tips.

Kinda looks like I used three colors, doesn't it?  That's just the sheerness of the purple, letting the teal bleed through.

There has been a resurgence of the popularity of China Glaze Fairy Dust in some of the polish communities, so I couldn't resist Fairy Dusting All The Things! It was so sparkly in person, I couldn't even capture how gorgeous. 

Bottle shot:  China Glaze Wait 'n Sea, X-Ta-Sea, and Fairy Dust.

I hope this was a good send off for the previous Crumpet challenges, and a good intro to the new one! I hope you'll continue to join me in finding new colors, combinations, and patterns in exploring nail art!

As always, I encourage you to share your creations on my Facebook page!

Trifle - goooood!

Hello, Fireflies!

Whew, what a busy week.  Things just start getting a little crazy in the Fall, don't they?  It's been raining this week to the point of flooding, and while I'd like a little more sunshine, I'm okay with the temperature backing down a little.

Not that it's cool yet here in Florida, but it's got me in the mood for Fall colors - berry, wine, and ... brown.  One of my fave browns right now is this metallic coppery-brown from Butter London - Trifle.

I added a funky French tip with Different Dimension It Rubs The Lotion On Its Skin, a brown and red glitter from last year's Halloween collection.  Have you seen her new one for this year?  I need Ghostbusters. 

 And, because you know I like sticking things on my nails, a golden metal stud.

I love that golden marbling in the Trifle bottle.

But, really, who can think of Trifle without thinking of the famous Friends episode?  "What's not to like? Custard - good! Jam - good! Meat - goooood!"

Bottle shot:  Butter London Trifle, and Different Dimension It Rubs The Lotion On Its Skin.

This mani - gooooood!

Blue Glittersplosion!

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for another round of Undies and Glitter!  Today's polishes are some kind of blue.. mostly.

First up, Different Dimension Dewing It Right and Rainbow Polish Summer Storm.  I love blue and grey together.  Notice the water theme here?

Gorgeous though it is, OPI Amazon..Amazoff is a bit of a stainer on me.  I did a couple of accent nails with Shimmer Polish Cristina, which could build to opacity, as many of Shimmer's microglitter polishes do, if you like.

A while back, I did a post about trying to recreate a pinned look that claimed to have been made with OPI Cuckoo For This Color and Essie Shine of The Times.  When I did it, I couldn't make it look like the picture.  Imagine my delight when this combination actually looked like it!  I give you OPI Amazon..Amazoff and Color Club Galactic Garden!

I loved the sparkle that Finger Paints You Yacht To Know Better had in the bottle, but it's so subtle on the nail.  So I added Finger Paints Sparkle In The Sky.  I didn't realize that it's a texture and completely opaque on its own! Instead of boosting Yacht, it obliterated it.  Still pretty, though.

I love dusty colors like Rescue Beauty Lounge 360.  I'm not sure I did it any favors by putting a matte flakie over it like Orly Green Flakie Topcoat.

My heart still sings over the combination of Amazon..Amazoff and Galactic Garden.  Any fave glitter combos for you?

Glitter can change the WORLD!

Hello, Fireflies!

Just having a glitter-splosion today on the blog.  First, I'll show you the undies, then with the glitter on top!

OPI Kermit Me To Speak, and OPI Gaining Mole-Mentum.  There's just something about that shredded gold glitter with the duochrome that I like!

 Orly Cheeky and LA Colors Flash Pop Flaunt It.  Gold and coral will always be beautiful.

Pupa 305 Red-Violet and Ooh La Lacquer Matte-terial Girl.  The matte glitter totally changes the look.

Different Dimension Garden Goddess and Different Dimension Petal'd.  They're from the same collection, and they do look like they were meant to go together!

 Loved this combo so much, I did both hands.  That circle glitter..oh, how I love it!

But, glitter isn't always the answer...

Do you have a favorite glitter combo?

First and Last 'Watercolor' Nail Art

Hello, Fireflies!

Still working on this month's challenge to recreate the first 4 nail arts that I recorded.  The second one I found was this 'watercolor' acetone-wash blue and gold mani.  I was so proud. *sniff* That pose is so awkward, though, it's almost painful.

I think it's harder to post these old manis than it's been to post my makeup-free face!

To start the re-creation, I used two coats of Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, a dusty medium blue.  Love the color, but the brush was wonky, so my application was less than stellar.

The build up of blue wasn't all that exciting, so I'll spare you that and go to the final blue look, where I dabbed on Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, and Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and patted on acetone in between colors.

Then, the gold - my fave Maybelline Bold Gold.  I will admit that I tried the DIY Spotted technique on top of this, where you water marble a black with an alcohol spray, and failed utterly miserably.  It just looked matte black and lumpy on my nails.

Bottle shot:  Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

I don't know if the nail art looks much better, but I used two additional polishes, so I should get points for complexity.  In my mind, I am sooo much better than I used to be, but maybe I've not come as far as I'd thought! I'll admit, this exercise is a bit humbling!

Are you better at a skill you've been practicing for the last two years?

An InLinkz Link-up

TRI-holo watercolor

Hello, Fireflies!

Last Tri-polish Tuesday for March, and I'm celebrating with a watercolor holo design.  I started off with Different Dimensions Good Evening Clarice, a sheer mint-green with a subtle holo.  If you like holos, you should check out this Indie.  She makes some of my faves.

I placed random blobs of Nabi Sky Blue over that.  Nabi holos aren't very strong, but I think they are so pretty.  Sky Blue has a gorgeous color to it.

Nabi Deep Purple went on over that.  What a gorgeous royal purple.  I've never seen Nabi in stores around me, but there are a couple of sellers on Ebay that sell pick-your-own-color collections, which is how I got mine.

I dabbed on a little more of the green, and then added topcoat to blend everything together. 

It's a Monet!  If you stand far enough away, you can see water lilies, or a landscape.  Can you see the Eiffel Tower in the ring finger? no?  Are you squinting?

Bottle Shot:  Different Dimensions Good Evening Clarice, and Nabi Sky Blue and Dark Purple.

I like to switch up between really defined nail art patterns, and something more random, like this.  What's your favorite type of nail art?

An InLinkz Link-up

What's Black and White and holo and dotted? #NailArtForNubs

Hello, Fireflies!

I am so stoked about today's nail art - it's holo, it's black and white, it's geometric, it has dots, AND it looks great on nubs.  

I may hyperventilate.

If you'd like to see the original that inspired me, check out art by LeVernis.

It all starts with this black holo beauty, Treasures by Tan Blackout.

If you're going to use Scotch (or any clear tape, really) for nail art, I suggest 2 things:  1) make sure your base coat is really, really, super-duper, extra dry.  Anything not firmly adhered to your nail will come away with the tape.  2) put the tape on your hand or arm first.  The tape will pick up some of your body oils and not be quite as sticky. Don't worry, unless you're a dirtybird, it will still be plenty sticky enough.

So, I, not being a dirtybird, and having allowed Blackout to dry thoroughly, I placed my tape on my hand, and then I used the tape to mark off diagonals either for the top or bottom of each nail. Then, I painted Different Dimension Can We Carol On on the exposed nail.

For being such a delicate, white holo, look how wonderfully it covers the black!  Different Dimension makes some of the BEST holos. 

If the white holo was on the bottom, I started with a large black dot.  If the black holo was on the bottom, I started with a large white dot.  Then, the opposing color went on top.

Note that the dots are in plain polish, not holo.  I think if the dots were holo, it wouldn't be as striking, visually.  Your mileage may vary.

Bottle shot: Treasures by Tan Blackout, Different Dimension Can We Carol On, Milani White on the Spot, and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

I am in love with this look! Broken down, it's not hard - a diagonal line (which gets dots over it that can cover any mistakes you might make.  I'm not saying I made any.) and a couple of dots.

If you do this, I'd love for you to share on my Facebook wall.  What colors would you use?

By the way, two posts today! If you missed my Make Up Monday post on Beautifying Oils, you can find it HERE.

Sparkling Mistle-Toad

Hello, Fireflies!

I tried this polish, Different Dimension Mistle-Toad, and fell in love.  Hard.

Greenish-blue, with a purple flash? What magic is this?  And look at that holo.  Amazing. I even painted my right hand because I didn't want to stop.

And, then, I thought - I love another polish like this one, and so I put Orly Sparkling Garbage over my ring finger.  So close! Sparkling Garbage is, of course, scattered holo-y glitter, and without the purple flash, but there is some purple in the holo glitter. It's like they were made for each other.

Bottle shot:  Different Dimension Mistle-Toad, and Orly Sparkling Garbage

Sparkling Garbage was my fave polish of 2013, and Different Dimension Mistle-Toad is a similar holo version.  I'm in nail polish heaven.  Do you have any polishes that are so similar, but just have different finishes?  Do you wear them together?