GOT white base

Hello, Fireflies!

For today's Golden Oldie challenge, I was supposed to do something over a white base.  I use white all the time.  I have lots of whites.  I didn't feel like any of my whites were unloved enough to choose for this, so I picked an off-white that has been sitting on my desk - unable to put it away, but still doesn't get used all that often;  OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

When I saw the nail art that Nik@Nails did for Geniabeme, I knew I had to try it - it's so cool.  I did my best, but I picked slightly different colors, and all 'golden oldies' from my stash.

For the tape manicure, I started it with PeriPera P027, a metallic golden-bluish-green.  For the glitter accent, I chose Literary Lacquers An Honest Puck, for the matching green glitters.

On my index and pinky fingers, I did a gradient with the Peripera and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.  I love how that turned out!

I finished the striping tape nails with a stripe of Literary Lacquers An Honest Puck, and some of the Wet 'n Wild Black.

I never would have come up with this pattern on my own, but I felt compelled to do a version of it.  It's such a cool melange of colors and patterns.

Bottle shot:  OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, PeriPera P027, Literary Lacquers An Honest Puck, and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.  

Isn't that Peripera bottle with the cat topper the coolest? I love interesting polish bottles.

Have you ever seen another's art or makeup or fashion look and felt compelled to do your own take on it as an homage?

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Fever Voxbox - Part II #SpringVoxBox

Are you ready to see some more cool stuff that came in the Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox?

Secret.  Whose secret?  No secret here, I'm proud of this nail art.  Lookie:

It's a gel, it dries clear, smells pretty nice without being too strong.  Says it works for 48 hours, but who goes that long without reapplying?  I'm more like a 12-hour at best kinda girl.  So, I didn't test the limits of the 48 hours.

I really love when I get a box of samples and one is so completely useful like this.  I've been using it every day, and I still like it.

And, if you're curious, the base mani is with Revlon Dreamer with Whimsical on top, and the nail art was done with PeriPera BL606 (turquoise), Julep Donna (dark teal), Illamasqua Muse (medium teal), and a silver nail art striper.

Next up is Osis+ Gelastic by Schwarzkopf.  It's a clear, very thick super-hold gel.  Smells pretty good.  I put several tablespoon-sized dollops in my wet hair and combed it through.

By the way, the mani is A-England Rose Bower with silver nail art striper.

I will admit, I don't use gel that often anymore.  I have thick, curly hair, and growing up, gel was the only thing that could give me some semblance of control.  And, it always dried crunchy and made my hair look wet all day. 

My hair was still a little crunchy, but I could break up some of the crunch and still have curls when it dried.  Unfortunately, they didn't last very long.  After spending about 4 hours talking with my friends in an air-conditioned room, my curls started to fall and separate.  For about $18 a bottle, I expect more.  Perhaps it just isn't made for hair as heavy as mine is.  I usually use a curl cream rather than gel, nowadays. 

This is before..  I didn't take an after!

One product you may have noticed was in the VoxBox picture but I haven't mentioned yet is the TastyKake.  There are no pictures of a TastyKake mani holding the treats.  It didn't last long enough.

I will say that I love peanut butter, but I usually don't like peanut butter desserts.  I buy a few of the Reeses Eggs at Easter, I have PB&J sandwiches, put a little peanut butter with a banana.  I don't like Peanut Butter ice cream or pie - they're usually too rich.  This cake was just right.  Just enough filling:cake ratio.  And the best part?  The coating.  But not just the coating.  It's the process of eating the coating - nibbling off little chunks and peeling all the coating off before eating the cake.

And, because I'm an adult, no one can tell me not to play with my food.  I can eat it any. way. I. want.

If you'd like more information about Influenster, you can find them on Facebook or on Twitter @InfluensterVox . If you'd like more information about Secret, please visit the Facebook page of their makers, Proctor & Gamble.  Here's the Facebook page for Osis, if you'd like to visit them, and TastyKake has a page, too.

Indie January - Jindie Nails

Jindie Nails came out of nowhere and just bowled me over with her awesome polishes!  I can't wait to show you some of the neat creations she has!

Swoon.  This is the one that got me.  Blue milky base with blue and translucent neon green and pink glitters.  Tons of glitter that went on smoothly.  I need an industrial-size bottle of this one.

Candy Land Remix and Choose Me.  Choose me is a micro-glitter-shimmer in a berry color.  I thought it would be chunkier, but I'm glad it's not.  I decided to pair it with the Candy Land Remix (remix to include the small neon glitters as an LE edition)  They were fun to wear together.  I love the bright cheerfulness of these two polishes.

Just Claws (formerly Mrs. Claws.)  If you put this next to Choose Me, they are hard to tell apart, but on the nail they are different.  This is holo!  Beautiful, easy application.

I saw this look on Dressed Up Nails for a minimalist watercolor, and I really liked it, so I thought I could maybe do something with these polishes.  I added Peripera P026, a shimmery-chrome pink, and China Glaze On The Prowl, a red-toned purple, then used a black striper to create the wave.

Water 4 Elephants. Grey and blue together.. so awesome.  I painted an accent nail in Revlon Fashionista, a dark teal, and then tried a glitter gradient over that.. but Water 4 Elephants is opaque in one coat, so it's not the best for gradients.  I did a small French tip with the Fashionista on the other nails, and really liked the final result.

Bruised Ego.  This is a fun microglitter!  My ring finger is 2 or 3 coats of Bruised Ego with no undies!  I didn't think it would be opaque on its own, but I was wrong.  I used Pure Ice Black Rage on my thumb and Milani White on the Spot for my other fingers and tried a reverse glitter gradient.  Boy, howdy, was this not fun to clean from around my cuticles!  Tiny dots everywhere.  But so worth it.  Next time, I'll be neater!

Stomping Gilbert Grapes.  Very punny!  lol.  I really like this color combo in the milky glitter.  The purple, pink, and green go really well together.  Very pastoral, soothing, but the pink makes it fun.  Perfect Spring polish, too!

Jindie Nails has amazing customer service, too.  I see her really going above and beyond to make sure that her customers are taken care of. 

Does customer service for Indies mean anything when you're shopping, or is it just about the polish?  Do you like the fancy packaging and little notes?  What makes you want to go back to a particular Indie?

If you're interested in learning more about Jindie Nails, you can find her on Facebook, and also on Etsy.