Christmas Lights!

Have you seen this mani from Galactic Lacquer with her Christmas lights?  It's amazing!  I wanted to do my version, but of course I didn't have any teardrop rhinestones!  So, I took it a slightly different direction.

I started off with a black background, because I love how the lights look at night.  This gorgeous black holo is Midnights Rainbow by Enkelini.

Even inside under regular lights, you can see the rainbow, and the color also stays true.  That's my fave kind of holo.

I used nail foil glue to stick on the nail art accessories.  I saw that some bloggers were using string, and I thought about the laser strands I got from Dollar Nail Art, and decided to use that.  I love how the strands looked like they were imbued with light already... but oh, were they hard to use.  The strands don't want to stay bent, so I had to be very patient with the curves and hold each strand until the glue dried.  Patience is not my specialty.

I love how the colored rhinestones looked like Christmas lights, though.  If I decide to do something like this again, I will probably paint the string on! 

Are you putting lights up this year?  Are you putting them on?

Have a Dandy Holiday with some abstract nail art!

It's no secret that I love Dandy Nails!  With all the Indies I own, I still find things about her polishes to be excited about.  Her new holiday collection was so pretty, I had to get almost all of it.

I think Chilled Down is my fave.  I love the twist to use a nude milky base instead of the traditional white.  After all the crazy, bold holiday swatches, this was the perfect holiday palette cleanser.  Great application, no undies needed.  It makes me think of a winter day blanketed in new snow.

Bory-Alice is a blue/purple duochrome.  It's in the newer style of pigments where they almost look chunky, and you can see the black base color of the polish, but the texture is smooth, and removal isn't difficult like regular glitter.

Even though I've shown you Moonglow before, I couldn't resist throwing it in as an accent nail here.  I love me some holos.  This one is subtle, but it's so pretty.  I love the grey.

Cashmere Night is the first matte/suede finish I've seen in an Indie.  To my knowledge, the glitter finish makes it more suede than just a plain matte.  You can see the blue specks coming through.

I really like it with topcoat, too!  All the different glitter colors just pop.

I saw this amazing abstract brushstroke technique on Gorgeois that I wanted to try, so I used Cashmere night as the base, and a ton of polishes (including Bory-Alice) to make the look:

Colors used:  Pomegranate Lacquers Enchanted Lagoon (minty green), Peripera P027 (iridescent green/gold/blue), Revlon Colorstay Stormy Night (taupe), Essence I love Berlin Green Grass (emerald green), Jade Diamond Velvet (shimmer purple), and Dandy Nails Bory-Alice.  Base color:  Dandy Nails Cashmere Night.

What do you think of Dandy Nails and this abstract look?  It was so easy, but looks so complicated.  If you try it, please post a pix on my Facebook page!

Have a Crows Toes Christmas!

I am fairly new to the Miss Pro Sation line of polish.  I reviewed a cobalt metallic blue polish sometime back that I found to be thick, and this one, Morning Haze, was the opposite.  I found it to be really sheer!  I didn't expect that.  Definitely a layering polish.

Only instead of layering it on top, I put it underneath!

There are a slew of Indie 'Christmas' polishes out right now, and most collections have a red/green glitter with gold or silver.  I decided I didn't need all of them, but thought that this one was one of the prettier of the bunch.  Didn't hurt that it's chock full of holographic glitter, which are my favorite.  This is Crows Toes Making Christmas:

As it turns out, it was opaque in 2-3 coats, so I didn't really need much of a base color anyway. I think it would look nice over different colors, though, especially if you have really long nails and don't want to put so much glitter on to cover any VNL.

I used Deborah Lippmann Honey Bee as a base color for the next Crows Toes glitter.  Deborah makes smooth, lovely formula polishes, and this is no exception.  It's maybe not the best color for my skin tone, but it's a very pretty polish.

Christmas Crow was pretty opaque in 2 coats as well, but if you look closely, you can see that some of the glitters reflect the same color as the DL Honey Bee.  Such an unexpected holiday polish color, but I love it.

Dark, brooding, but with such sparkle, perfect for a celebration.

Are you wearing more traditional colors like Making Christmas this holiday season?  Or is Christmas Crow more your style?

Pick your (holiday) poison?

Wet 'n Wild came out with the Pick Your Poison collection for Halloween, and I wanted it oh, so very much.  It wasn't to be found any place I looked around me, so I found some lovely polish hounds on the 'net to buy them from, and somehow I ended up with a full set.  What I love about this set is that all the polishes are rich and pigmented, and many are jewel colors, which makes them perfect for the whole holiday season.. and beyond!

Stamping on a red base - a red, hot mess!

I enjoy my Stamping Sundays, I do.  But, more often than not, I'm not very good at this stamping thing.  When you see those really pretty stamped manis, you should know that they're not as easy as they look!  There's all kinds of techniques and color choices, testing formulas, and understanding the tools.

And, patience.  Which I don't have.

This week's challenge was to stamp over red.  I had just bought this Jessica polish, Heart's Desire, part of their holiday collection.  It is one of those reds that glows from within - my fave, as you know.

I used a bow stamp from my Cheeky Mega-Jumbo-VERYLARGE plate, and Kleancolor Metallic Green and Revlon Sequin.  To be quite frank, this is why my husband does all the present-wrapping at my house.  My Real-Life presents also look a hot mess when I try to wrap.  

Maybe next week! Happy Holidays!

White Nails for New Town, CT

I couldn't say it better.  And, I couldn't think of a more appropriate mani than white with KBShimmer Pixie Tears, because so many of us can't help but cry over this senseless tragedy.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are affected by this terrible tragedy.  Peace. - Nidia

Holiday Butter Sparkle!

Is there anything more classic than a true red?  Butter London Pillar Box Red is a gorgeous, smooth, glossy red creme that is perfect for the season:

But I need GLITTAH!  First up, Orly Sashay My Way.  It's so sparkly, my camera kept blurring the pix.  I will say that as a rule, I don't like bar glitter.  I was seduced by this sparkliness.  Still, if they had a bar-free version, I would have chosen that one instead.

Red and gold just calls out for some black and white glitter!  First up, Nubar Black Polka-dots.  The tiny black dots get lost in the sparkle, but I love the addition of the larger black spots.

And then, Nubar White Polka-dot, and the glitterfest is complete.  Welcome to the party!

Do you layer glitters until you get what you want, or would you rather have one glitter with everything you want already in it?