Sunday Stamping - Three-Color Vines

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's stamping challenge was to use three colors.  I assumed to use three colors in the stamp, but if was just three colors total, I went over that.  I am such an overachiever...

I started out with this pretty baby pink from Nails Inc, Mayfair Lane.

Saturday Swirly Stripes

Hello, Fireflies!

Just a little nail art for you today, based on a cute stripey pattern I saw on Fairly Charming's blog.

I started out with a Julep Joanna, a frosty, icy blue.  I like using these light, fairly unobtrusive colors for the base of a nail art instead of all the bare nails or sheer pinks I see so often.  I have way too many polishes to be going naked for all of these manicures.

These are probably the messiest stripes I've ever published on my blog.  I seem to have a problem replicating the shape of the original nail art.  Time to break out the compass, or something.  What a mess.  But the polish is pretty - a coral from Deborah Lippmann called Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

From coral to radiant orchid with Nails Inc Devonshire Row.  I must have been sorting through my mini bottles - two in a row? Weird.

When you want pseudo jeans, try jeggings.  Or Ginger + Liz Jeggings, which fit me much better.

I like how the other colors are sandwiched between different shades of blue.

Even though these are mostly trendy colors, this look feels somehow dated.  Doesn't it kinda look retro?

Bottle shot:  Julep Joanna, Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Nails Inc Devonshire Row, and Ginger + Liz Jeggings.

Are you more likely to do adventurous nail/makeup/fashion looks on the weekend, or do the opposite and go as nekkid as you possibly can? I'll chill out with a bare face when we're at home, but I love playing with nail art on lazy days.

Oh, Orly FX, Part I

Oh, Orly.

I wasn't going to buy any of your new bottles, because they irk me.  But, it's just packaging, and is really *is* what's inside that counts.

And what's inside these FX polishes is TEXTURE. I bought 4 of these lovelies, and I'd like to show you two today with a little demo of a neat trick, and 2 tomorrow with some nail art.

Black Pixel.  Black and silver glitter.  Not as smooth as a Zoya Pixie Dust, but fairly comparable. Not as gritty as a Julie G Gumdrop, or OPI Liquid Sand. 

I had read on the Interwebs that layering any polish over a texture would then make that polish look textured.  Well, yes and no.  Let me show you what I mean.  I layered Julep Isla, a metallic white, over Black Pixel.

There is some texture, but it takes a while to appear, and it's less noticeable from a normal viewing distance.

Rose Pixel. This is a light champagne gold, very shiny and pretty.

I layered different colors and textures over Rose Pixel.  Pointer:  Nails, Inc Baker Street (cobalt blue creme); Middle: Cult Nails Morning glory (magenta matte creme); Ring:  Zoya Pippa (yellow creme); Pinkie:  Color Club Over The Moon (blue linear holographic)

Mor

Most of them got bumpy, though it took forever.  The Cult Nails was the smoothest, likely because the matte finish dried before the texture could appear.  Zoya Pippa showed the most texture, while Baker St showed the least.  The holographic was interesting - no more linear rainbow, but the color and the silver sheen are still there.

So, if you wanted to try and make your own shades of textured polish, I'd recommend a light-colored one like Rose Pixel, and polishes with a thin, slower-drying formula.  Would you try it?