A Wild Lippie Appears!

Hello, Fireflies!

I love lippies! I have so many in all different colors and textures, but lately I've found myself attracted to colors that are a little outside the box.  So, I picked a few of the wild ones to try on and tame!

MAC Pure Heroine, from their Lorde-inspired line, is a dark aubergine purple.  It's a great vampy color that is so gorgeous! It's my first MAC lipstick, and its everything I hoped for.  Great color, and feels great on. 

 

Milani Bella Blue is a mottled purplish-blue lipstick.  I love the purple sheen, but I wish the color were more opaque.  I felt like this color just accentuated every crease on my lips.  I'm going to try and layer this one over a nice, creamy, opaque color.

I really wanted to try the purple trend this year, and Milani Violet Volt hit the mark perfectly! It's a very wearable purple that is actually flattering.  It feels great, wears well, and I love it so much, I accidentally bought it twice.

Milani Violet Addict looks like it might be the same color as Violet Volt from the packaging, but this one pulls more bright fuchsia on me.  This is my first color from Milani's Lip Intense line, and I really like it.  I do tend to prefer a liquid lipcolor to a gloss.  I just like more opacity, which this definitely has. 

I was actually hoping that Sally Girl Magic Green would be green! Not that I could actually pull off a green lipstick.  Well, maybe.  This turns bright pink as soon as it's applied.  There is some tingling action with this one.  After trying this one and Magic Orange, I had to stop trying on lippies because my lips were hurting!

Sally Girl Magic Orange also changes colors on the lips.  This one turned coral pink on me.  The orange is more prevalent in the inside of my lips, almost like an ombre effect.  I really like this one, even with the tingling. 

Do you 'gotta catch 'em all'?  What colors have you tried (or wanted to try) that were outside your comfort zone?

Are Nail UV Lamps Safe?

Hello, Fireflies!

Today, I have something a little different for you.  What follows is an article written by Karen New, of Spa Touch, LLC.  She has offered this article to educate consumers about UV Lamps in the nail industry.  I was not compensated for this post; I met Karen at a Beauty Bloggers meeting where she introduced us to IBX, and I think this message is important.

If you have any questions or concerns about the safety of UV lamps, please read on!

Saturday Sundae

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm a hoarder. I admit it.  I often have to fight the urge to buy complete collections of polishes from my fave Indie brands.  So, I'm happy that Cult Nails has started putting out these smaller 3-4 polish collections, because then I can buy the whole thing!  They usually have a special pre-order price, too, which lessens the guilt.

I decided to use one of her whole collections in this look.  I started with New Day, a sunny yellow creme.  Of course, it's a yellow creme, so it's going to be a little finicky.  Not too bad, though.

Somehow, I forgot to take pictures of the build up, so I don't have a picture of just Evolution, the lovely peach creme that sucked me into this collection in the first place.  The bright, bubblegum pink creme is Falling Hard.

Someone suggested that because of these sorbet-like colors, and the 'cherry' pearl on top, this looked like an ice-cream sundae.  I have to agree.

Bottle shot:  Cult Nails New Day, Evolution, and Falling Hard.

This is the best kind of sundae - never on your lips, never on your hips, and stays on your tips!

Orange is the new ...blue

Hello, Fireflies!

Do you remember that really cool turquoise gradient nail art that I did a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away?

I mean, yesterday?  Well, I built a look around it to go hang out with my friends and watch the new season of Orange Is The New Black!

My little green monster decal is peekin' out from behind me.  He has a blue friend hiding behind my head. They have cartoon bubbles that the husband and I use to write notes on.  I thought you might want to know this.  Fun behind-the-scenes tidbit!

My face makeup started with my trusty stable of Cover FX products, including the Mattifying primer, the Eye primer, the BB Gel, and the Setting powder, which I used to warm up my face as a subtle contour.  Jouer blush in Dahlia, which is one of my new fave cream blushes, gave me a little color, and so did Too Faced La Creme in Believe.

For my eye makeup, I used the Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty palette, which I'm now a huge fan of. I love these buttery eyeshadows! I also used my Physicians Formula black liquid liner, and Rimmel ScandalEyes RetroGlam mascara. 

I tried the Mally Poreless Face Defender for the first time, instead of powder.  It still dried with a powdery finish on me, and looked a little more cakey than I would have liked.  I'm going to try it with a different combination of products next time.

Because I'm watching this show with friends, and we made a pact to ONLY watch it together, I still have a few more episodes to finish season 2 - so no spoilers, please! It's killing me already to not binge watch it, but I do try to be a woman of my word.

Are you having viewing parties for any shows? Do you cheat and binge on your own?

I GOT Cuckoo For This Scene-Stealing Water Lily!

Hello, Fireflies!

Time to pull out a Golden Oldie goodie: Orly Water Lily, a lovely, smooth, silky turquoise cream.  I'm a little nostalgic for the old Orly bottle!

I remember when I discovered ordering polish online, and I had to have this cute 'paint can' bottle of Jessica Scene Stealer.  Great polish, but it's a little awkward to use that large cap.  Still, it's so CUTE!

OPI Cuckoo For This Color is just a little darker teal than Scene Stealer, but the same type of shimmery/metallic finish.  I think they look great together!

I'm digging these striped gradients lately - such an easy nail art, I like how it looks, and it's so much easier and less messy than sponges!

Bottle shot:  Orly Water Lily, Jessica Scene Stealer, and OPI Cuckoo For This Color.

Have you ever bought a bottle of nail polish (or any cosmetic) for the bottle/packaging it was in?  Have you ever wanted a cosmetic but refused to buy it because you hated the packaging?

An InLinkz Link-up

Tie-spiration Gold and Green

Hello, Fireflies!

Time for another round of Tie-spiration, where hubby picks a tie, and I make a mani!

Those of you who have Nabi polish readily available are lucky.  I had to order mine from eBay! I love all the holos I've tried, even though they are scattered, they are pretty pigmented.  This one is Nabi Gold.

I used some tape to create a checkerboard pattern with Above The Curve Anona, an olive-golden-green.

Maybelline Bold Gold is my fave gold for stamping, and it does pretty well for nail art, too. 

Add a little black for contrast and some topcoat!

Bottle shot: Nabi Gold, Maybelline Bold Gold, Above The Curve Anona, and a black nail art striper.

So, what do you think? Does it look like his tie?  Have you ever taken makeup/fashion/nailart inspiration from your significant other's wardrobe?

TRI Pink B!tchy Birthday

Hello, Fireflies!

Welcome to a new month of Tri-Polish challenges! This month, the colors are pink, green, and purple.

So, lucky me, I got this hot pink, LoveSpell, from Liberty Republic SpellBound, in my June Wantable box.  Pretty, huh? Apparently, this is the maiden collection for this brand, and they debuted it in Wantable boxes.

It stained my nails, though.  It was the first time that had happened where I just had to let it come off over several days.  I only wore it for a few hours at most, too. Your mileage may vary.

Doesn't this glitter topper look like a party?  Nail Pattern Boldness Birthday B!tch is a circle glitter and holo sparkly party in a bottle. 

I'm such a sucker for circle and holo glitter.  And circle holo glitter, which this also has.  It also has green and purple glitter, which means I met the colors for the challenge! Woot!

Bottle shot: Liberty Republic SpellBound LoveSpell, and Nail Pattern Boldness Birthday B!tch.

If you're interested in Wantable, they have subscription boxes for makeup, accessories, and intimates.  I bought the makeup box. All the products are full-sized! No packet samples!  In addition to the Lovespell polish, I got an OFRA black gel liner, Vincent Longo Banana pressed powder, Girlactic cream blush, a Mirabella lipstick.

If you'd like to send a little referral love my way, click HERE for my referral link.  Otherwise, you can just go to www.wantable.com to check it out. A one-time box is $40, or an ongoing subscription is $36.

An InLinkz Link-up