I really hate the "skittles" term in nail art.

New Direction?

I'm thinking about turning this into a blog for all of the awful dates I've experienced thanks to a number of dating websites. Thoughts?

Also, I regularly cut my cuticles. I am the scourge of the nail community.

Eh

I'm kind of over indie polish.

(cue backlash)

OK, clearly, I'm really bad at blogging.

For those who are interested, you can follow me on Instagram (florence__x), where I regularly post pictures of my manicures and other beauty related items.

Illamasqua 3D Aztec Nails

Hello!!!!

It's been a while, I'm terrible at this. But last night I tried out the "3D Aztec" nails that Illamasqua is using as a part of their beautiful Human Fundamentalism collection.

I don't have any of the polishes from that collection, but used contrasting colors from my own collection and followed the tutorial for this look they posted on their website.

Check 'em out! I think they came out pretty good!

The above pictures were taken in fluorescent lighting, no flash.

The above photos were taken in low indoor lighting with flash. They are most accurate in color.

For this look, my base nail color was Sephora + Pantone's Tangerine Tango Cream (which I actually think is more of a jelly - there is still some visible nail line after two coats), which was very nice. The set was too pretty to start using these polishes, but I couldn't resist!

The purple used on both my nails and the triangles is OPI's Grape, Set, Match from the Serena duo. Two coats were used for the triangles on my real nails, and three were used on the acrylic extensions. I love how orange and purple look together. Finally, the mini orange triangle sandwiched on the acrylics is three coats of Wet'n'Wild Craze Scratchitti, which is a very pretty bright orange (though not neon).

Scratchitti isn't nearly as forgiving with ridges as is Tangerine Tango, though, which is why I opted for it as my base color. I recently had UV gels on my nails and the buffing caused some ridges that are growing out ssssssslllllloooooooooowwwlllyyyyyyy.

I LOVE how this turned out! I used nail glue and assembled the pieces of the acrylics together before adhering them to my nail. Everything was topped with a good heaping helping of Seche Vite to smooth things out and make them shiny.

I hope you like this look as much as I do! It took a while, but with some prep can be done relatively quickly.

Thanks for checkin' 'em out!

YEESSSSS

I know it's been a while. I'm a terrible blogger. I'm sorry. BUT - I got my hands on some of the Wet'n'Wild Be Jeweled collection today (swiped up the last two bottles in the store) and was so excited I wanted to share.

L - The Crown Is Mine || R - Born Into Privilege

Woo! I can't wait to use these. 

Expect a lot of picture SPAM coming SOON!!

Ulta & Layla?

Morning!

Apparently Ulta now sells Layla Magneffect nail polishes? I'd only seen them recently at a few online etailers (like AveYou), but that's pretty awesome!

Layla's polishes worked really well for me so I'm thrilled to see them becoming more widely available. They are priced at $15.50 and are available online HERE.

I Lily Love Super Bass

Late last week, I was thrilled to receive my Christmas present to myself - a mini-haul!
In that package, the following colors arrived at my office's doorstep...
OPI - I Lily Love You
OPI - Metallic 4 Life
OPI - Super Bass Shatter
China Glaze - Glittering Garland

I couldn't resist using at least (2) of these ASAP for a manicure... and I guess you can tell which ones those are from the title. Onwards!

TAKE ACTION AGAINST SOPA

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Please follow the link and sign the petition! Tell Congress NOT to censor the web!

Can I Say

I have to admit - I really despise those 3D lemon/lime slice nail art things.

Winter is Coming... GAME OF THRONES Concept Nails

Last night, around 9PM, I should have gone to bed. But I was feeling inspired due to the very cold weather and book I'm reading - "A Feast For Crows", which is the fourth book of the Song of Fire & Ice series by George R. R. Martin.

This is more commonly known as part of the "Game of Thrones" book series, which was awesomely adapted into a TV show in 2011 by HBO, and will be starting its second season this coming April. So excited!

One of the first families the reader/viewer is introduced to in Game of Thrones is the Stark family. Their family sigil is a gray direwolf on a white field. Their family words are "Winter is Coming".

See more of my inspiration and pictures of how the concept manicure came out after the jump!

Opalescent Shatter

Happy New Year!! 2012, woo!

I went bare-nail on New Year's Eve, I had run out of time! But I wound up doing my would-have-been NYE manicure on the first day of 2012. So it's still a "New Year's Mani", right? I think that counts. Onward!

Magna-Crackle

Toxic Shore got destroyed pretty quickly. One hour of cleaning out my car, and done. But that just meant I got to play around again that night!

Check out magna-crackle after the jump.

Toxic Shore

Being that I had a few days off, I was able to indulge in some experiments! Check 'em out after the jump.

Plaid About You - Day 5!

After (5) days of training, work, having my hands submerged in water a lot, cleaning up after kittens and cleaning in general, this is what "Plaid About You" looks like...

...after the jump!

Gaga's Workshop - Edge of Glory Duo

Good afternoon!!
Being the monster cyborg that I am, I love me some Lady Gaga. So I was thrilled when I looked at the Gaga's Workshop by Barney's website to view her nail polishes, strips and press-on's!

The Edge of Glory duo really caught my eye. You can check it out BY CLICKING HERE.

$45 is a LOT to pay for two polishes, especially if one is a black creme. 25% of the proceeds go to the Born this Way foundation, and for a limited time you can get 25% using the promocode MONSTER25. Granted, it IS by Deborah Lippman... but when I checked out swatches of this polish, it looks like a flakie that could be duped in the new Finger Paints collection!

Have you compared them? Would you purchase the Gaga polish set? What do you think?

Holiday Robots

Hello all! Christmas is finally upon us, and personally I can't wait for it to be over.
After Christmas-y things started popping up even BEFORE Halloween, it's about time! Don't get me wrong, it's great giving out gifts to my family and I love that part. But jeez, the holidays can take a lot out of you!
What do you think of the Christmas season? Is it all too much, too little, just right? Does it stress you out too?

Yesterday was my office's Christmas party, which means I actually put effort into how I looked for the day! Pictures of the look and accompanying nails after the jump!

Perplex Cuts Above

Time for my first polish post! I was really happy with the way this manicure turned out, especially since I was falling over with sleepiness while I was doing it.
Pictures after the jump!

Sludgy.

My sludgy eye of the day. Forgive the quality of these pictures, they were taken with my phone but show the colors relatively accurately.

My inspiration today was just looking at the "Comfort Zone" wet'n'wild palette. Besides the fact that I have very warm toned skin, browns and greens bring out the color of my eyes nicely. I thought of sludge and smog and thought it would be cool to try shading the crease area only.

For this look, I used the wet'n'wild Comfort Zone palette for my lid and crease. I will update this post with the exact colors when Im at a computer. Sephora's Peachy Bronze eyeshadow is the brow highlight, and Sephora's black waterproof retractible liner on my upper lid, smudged out. For my lower lid, I used Wet'n'Wild Olive pencil liner. Mascara is LORAC 3D lashes in black.

Pictures are with and without flash, respectively.

CHINA GLAZE MAGNETIX. PUMPED

Body and Soul - China Glaze Magnetix Preview!

Mary at Body and Soul posted the preview (link above) of China Glaze's Magnetix polishes that are coming to stores in 2012!!
I am PUMPED. The olive green on the left-hand side of the display looks gorgeous, and they have (3) different magnets! I've been craving a star magnet, but it is darn near impossible to get your hands on one of the L'ancome magnetic polishes.
Thanks Mary!!