Orange Is The New Black

Billion Dollar Brows is a Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

When I discovered the warm neutral palette, the skies parted, a light shone down, and the angels sung.  I know, I'm *supposed* to wear cool tones, and purples with my brown eyes.  But there's something about a peachy-pink orangey look that just steals my heart.

So Cheeky!

Hello, Fireflies!

I never used to pay that much attention to blush.  I had naturally rosy cheeks, and because I didn't wear foundation for a long time, I never really felt the need to add more color.  But, age and makeup have leached the color from my cheeks, and lately I can't get enough of the different colors and kinds of things I can put on my chubby cheeks.  Highlighters, blush, bronzers, I want to try them all.  I've got swatches of a few of my most recent acquisitions to share with you today!

Fallen Leaves, Bare Trees

Hello, Fireflies!

It's Sunday Stamping time again!  This week's challenge is Fall 2015.  It's still pretty hot here in Florida, and we get about 1.5 minutes of Fall around here, but I do remember what it was like when I lived in other places that actually have trees that change colors and grass that doesn't need mowed all year long.

Square Studs

Hello, Fireflies!

It's geometric month for the Nail Challenge Collaborative, so I'm breaking out purple and square studs today.

I started with Sally Hansen Salon in Trouble Maker, a dark-orchid purple creme. I think this brand may have my all-time fave polish brushes.

Then, I layered it with OPI Next Stop...The Bikini Zone, a green/purple frosty duochrome.

Look! An elusive left hand! Because I forgot to take a pix of the right before I started putting studs on.  Derp.

Y'all know that I love sticking stuff to my nails.  So I took alternating purple and lilac square metal studs and stuck them on with a little topcoat.

How cute are these studs?

It wasn't easy, but I managed to do both hands!

Bottle shot:  Sally Hansen Salon Trouble Maker and OPI Next Stop...The Bikini Zone.

So, are you a square stud on a round nail kinda person?

An InLinkz Link-up

A Skittle, Layered.

Hello, Fireflies!  Today's skittle is a little different.  I wanted to see how layering a polish over different bases created the mani.

I started with (thumb to pinky): Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, a pink with orange shimmer; Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, a sunny yellow creme; Cult Nails Kiss, a matte tomato red;  I Love Nail Polish Undenied, a metallic purple duochrome; and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

I built up the thumb with a few more layers of Chick Nail Polish Once Upon A Time, and then put that same polish over all the other nails.  What a cool transformation!

It turned Mellow Yellow into an orange sunburst, and the black creme into a dark, purple shimmer.

But, I think my fave has to be the effect over I Love Nail Polish Undenied.  It amplified the duochrome, and now there's all kinds of reds and purples in it.  Neat-o Jet!

As different as all the colors were, now they could almost pass for an ombre' mani.  Do you ever layer polishes for different effects?

An InLinkz Link-up

Blue Dotted Tips

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's look is about taking a bunch of sheer polishes, and making it work. I started with one of my favorite brands of polishes, Impala.  I admit it, I'm totally in love with the bottle.  It's soo cool.

What?  We beauty bloggers are drawn to aesthetics, right?  But, I'm not solely judging this polish by the bottle.  No, Impala Trem De Vida Alegria is a lovely blue/purple duochrome.

Lovely, but a little sheer.  It would probably look great layered over a darker color, but I wasn't going there.  In fact, I took it in the completely opposite direction, by layering another extremely sheer polish, Orly Etoile, over it.  Etoile adds the slightest purple tint, and a subtle sparkle.

I don't have a lot of free edge, but I wasn't happy with all the VNL, even after multiple layers, so I employed some camouflage - dots! China Glaze Scandalous Shenanigans is not only adorably named, but is also a pretty metallic cobalt blue.  

There.  No more obvious VNL.

Bottle shot:  Impala Trem De Vida Alegria, Orly Etoile, and China Glaze Scandalous Shenanigans.

Maybe I should have just started over.. but I like how it turned out in the end!  Have you ever just committed to a makeup or nail design, even though it wasn't going your way, and just made it work?

Petra's Blackheart

Hello, Fireflies!

Sometimes, it's funny how the camera captures a different side of a polish than what is easily seen in Real Life.  For example, look at this lovely, Urban Decay Blackheart.

Pretty purple, right? Oh, and check out this badass skull on the cap.  Roses for eyes, yeah, you heard me.

But, I digress.  So, with a little shifting around, the purple turns green and gold. Most of us have seen duochromes before, no biggie.. though they are still so pretty.

In Real Life, Marc Jacobs Petra looked pretty much the same as Blackheart, only with a rougher looking finish.  But, as soon as I put it next to Blackheart, all my pix were of the duochrome green!  This was all the same color in Real Life.

They couldn't look more different here!

Bottle shot:  Urban Decay Blackheart, and Marc Jacobs Petra.

It was fun to get the duochrome to show up in Real Life, but so funny that I couldn't get it to go away in the pix!  Have you ever had a polish look so different when you took its pix, or put it next to another polish?

Roses on a Disco Inferno

Hello, Fireflies!

Quick post today - most of my pictures weren't that great! Just one of those Blogger problems, I guess.  This week's challenge was to stamp whatever we were in the mood for, so I did a stamp inspired by one of my dresses - grey and black with roses.

I started off with Cult Nails Fetish, and then added a layer of NARS Disco Inferno, a grey/purple duochrome layering topcoat.  By itself, it had almost no color, and a little sparkle.  It looks great over black, though!

I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism and Bundle Monster 323 to put black roses over the sparkly grey background.  Loved this!  I actually had a student notice my nails and want to know how I did them.  She was even familiar with stamping!  It was pretty cool.

This is my first NARS polish.  I bought it on clearance at Sephora, which was great, because I don't think it's worth the full $18 for this polish.  It's beautiful, no doubt, but a grey/purple duochrome is the most popular type of duochrome, and there are many cheaper options to be had. I do love the cap texture, though, and the formula was very nice.

What are you in the mood for stamping on your nails today?

Sunday Stamping - Color-shifting Diamonds

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's stamping challenge is the somewhat banal, but useful 'plate ending in 1'.  Not too exciting, but sometimes I like the freedom of choosing from lots and lots of plates.  That end with 1.

I started with a deep oxblood, Cult Nails LameStain.  It's not black, really.  It's close, but it's a very nice oxblood red.

 

Two luscious, easy, deep, mysterious coats.  Nobody makes a creme like Cult Nails.

Here's my plate - Pueen 11.  I wanted a bold, full-nail pattern today.  I loved the sharpness of it.

Mentality makes some of the most awesome stamping polishes.  Even a duochrome like Morality stamps beautifully.

I love how the color shifts from purple to green in the stamp.

Bottle shot:   Cult Nails LameStain and Mentality Morality.

I love duochromes, and they can be fun to stamp with.  Everyone will wonder how you did your nails! It'll be our little secret.

Sporty Stripe

Hello, Fireflies!

I am so loving all the multichromes that are in vogue now.  I picked up the set from I Love Nail Polish, and this is the third one I've tried.  I lent the pix of Cygnus Loop and Bifringence to Glittery & Polished in my guest post.  This is My Little Glacier.

The shift on this one is the most subtle of the set, but the type of shift is a little more unusual.  I don't see a lot of polishes that shift from grey to blue.

There's also some pink shimmer in there, which is what had me reaching for Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running.  I was really surprised by the texture of this polish - it's much creamier and thick than any other EP I own.  Of course, I always want more holo, but this is a beautiful creme with a touch of holo.

I really liked this simple pattern from gutsandgrace (Pinned from Instagram), and thought it would look good with these colors, too.

I love what adding a simple white stripe does to the nail art. 

I think it looks like a sports bag now! So clean, fun, and sporty!

Here's the bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier, Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running, and a white striper.

I think I'd buy a track suit in these colors.. lol!

Falling for Nail Art - Early Sunset

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm a little bit excited about how this mani came out!  I wasn't sure that my sunset vision was going to come to fruition..especially when it started like this:

I knew I was doing a gradient, so I wasn't too worried about even coverage, but up close, this looks a hot mess!

I wanted the grey background for that twilight feel, so I used Maybelline Impeccable Greys.  Bootie Babe Honky Badonky gave it that purple shimmer. 

Orly Berry Blast added a sheer pink shimmer, and Butter London Silly Billy gave me the bright orange tips.

I may have dabbed on a little more Berry Blast and Honky Badonky.  Look at that shimmer! It glows.

For me, it was that shimmer that perfectly captured the essence of a gorgeous late summer sunset.

Bottle shot:  Maybelline Impeccable Greys, Bootie Babe Honky Badonky, Orly Berry Blast, and Butter London Silly Billy.

That Bootie Babe is gorgeous, but the name and the bottle just slay me!