Summer Gradient with Cirque Colors!

Good afternoon, readers! I have a simple mani to share with you using two Cirque Colors polishes I recently purchased from Nordstrom. Vigo and Sunset Park are both squishy crellies so it took a lot of sponging to get them opaque enough for a gradient but I loved the color combination. I could have stamped or done other nail art over top, but I ended up leaving it alone.

13 Days Of January, Day 7: Green Base (Spray Marble Nail Art)

Good evening, readers! I have the 7th prompt in the 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge for you. That means we are officially past the half way point in the challenge and I'm still here! Yahoo! The prompt today was Green Base so it kinda of left it open to anything! It has been a while since I've done a spray marble and I love how this one turned out!

The Lacquer Legion, Glam: Turquoise and Gold!

Hello, readers! It's time for this month's nail art prompt with The Lacquer Legion: Glam! I automatically think of gold when it comes to glam so I paired it with one of my favorite Dior polishes: Saint Tropez! I don't own many high end polishes so of course wearing one also adds to the glamorous feeling.

Golden Dragon Nails!

Good morning, readers! Okay, so my title may have been misleading. I didn't actually do golden dragon nail art. Instead, I've added golden accents over Chanel Dragon.

A Cloudy Collaboration... with The Manilogues!

Good morning, readers! I have a fun collaboration post for you this morning! My friend, Casandra from The Manilogues, and I decided it would be fun to make rainy nail art! Here in Central Florida, the "summer" means sporadic thunderstorms as much as it means hitting the beach. I love it here, though, so I embrace the rain and do fun nail art.

I decided to layer Elevation Polish Lake Achit in between layers of Cirque Color Cape Liz in a "jelly sandwich." It really reminded me of a rainy day so I added half moon clouds with my biggest dotting tool and Sinful Colors Cool Gray.

What do you think of my rainy nails? I think these two polishes make a great pairing and I love them! Thanks for reading! 

Don't forget to go check out what Casandra did for her cloudy nails:

http://www.themanilogues.com/2013/07/a-cloudy-collaboration-with-adventures.html

Digit-al Dozen DOES Tape Week Day 4: Cirque Colors Patchwork Mani!

Good morning, readers! Are you enjoying Tape Week? I sure am! Today's post is using three of the Cirque Colors from the new Arcus Collection! I love all three colors that I purchased and was happy to have a way to use them all in the same look.

• I started out with 2 coats of Cirque Vesuvius, a strawberry red holographic. 
• I painted one coat of Seche Vite to dry that layer.
• Next, I taped off the bottom triangle patch where I wanted Vesuvius to show.
• I used one coat of Cirque Bejeweled, a royal blue holographic, on the untaped portion of the nails. 
• While still wet, I carefully peeled the tape off in the direction of the tape to get a clean line.
• I painted one coat of Seche Vite to dry that layer.
• Once dry, I taped off the middle patch to leave just the triangle at the nail tips. 
• I used one thicker coat of Cirque Queen Majesty, A radiant purple micro-glitter with glimmers of blue, on the untaped portion of the nails.
• A final coat of Seche Vite to seal it all in.
• While the top coat was still wet, I pressed one black jewel onto the points where all three patches meet for some added fun!

This first picture is under the direct lamp to show off the holo!

The rest are in the lightbox:

What do you think of this patchwork look? This is the first style of tape mani that I tried over 2 years ago after seeing the style on Chloe's Nails. Thanks so much, come back tomorrow for the final day in Tape Week!

Mommy's NOTD: Happy 4th of July Skittlette!

Hello, readers! Happy Fourth of July! I'm spending the day with family so this will be a quick post but I wanted to show you what I have on my nails today! This year's mani is all about texture and red, white, and blue!

Thumb: 2 coats of Zoya Chyna.
Index: 2 coats of OPI Solitaire
Middle and Ring: 2 coats of China Glaze White on White, topped with one layer of OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress using the water spotted technique*, topped with a layer of Cirque Bejeweled using the water spotted technique, topped with HK Girl Top coat. I punched some stars** with a star shaped hole punch into painters tape and stuck that on the nail, and sponged on OPI Solitaire a few times for desired opaqueness. I then carefully peeled off the tape to leave the stars behind on the nail.
Pinky: 2 coats of Zoya Liberty.

*Water spotted technique: drop a few drops of polish in a shot glass of water. Spray hair spray on the water and watch the polish get "spots" in it. Dip nail parallel with the water surface to pick up the spotted design onto the nail. Clean up the same way as water marble nails. (I can't remember where I saw this originally, but it's been all over the nail world lately and I've been dying to try it!)

**Here is Sarah's tutorial for using tape and star hole punches for step by step instructions: http://www.chalkboardnails.com/2012/07/stenciled-star-nails-tutorial.html

What do you think of this look? The spotted technique wasn't the look I was going for with the red, it separated differently than expected, but I like the full look! I also used a clean up brush and painted some Elmer's school glue around my water spotted nails prior to dipping into the water for easier clean up of the polish on my finger tips. I just ran them under warm sink water and used an orange stick to gently scrape the glue and polish off!

Thanks for reading, have a safe and happy holiday!

Mommy's NOTD: Elevation Polish Uluru, Cirque Colors Au, and Zoya Solange!

Hello, readers! I wanted to show you what I have on my nails right now and plan to wear this weekend while we meet some friends out of town at the Jacksonville Zoo! (I know, I should have done some animal print lol).

I've had Elevation Polish Uluru on my toes for a couple of weeks and I just love it! I picked up Cirque Colors Au 23K gold leaf top coat in the recent 40% off sale and I thought it would look great over Uluru. Because I just can't leave well enough alone, I decided to do some accent nails with stripes of Zoya Solange pixie dust for some added design. Solange and Au gave some great dimension and texture to the already gorgeous Uluru!

I used:

Duri Rejuvacote

2 coats of Elevation Polish Uluru

1-2 coats of Cirque Colors Au

striping tape and one thick layer of Zoya Solange

Cult Nails Wicked Fast (not on the accent nails!)

What do you think of this fun look? I never really understood the gold leaf top coat trend until I got my Cirque Colors Au in the mail. I absolutely LOVE it! It applied so easily and I didn't have to fish for any of the gold pieces. I did go back for a second coat on a few nails if I wanted more but one could have been plenty! 

Don't forget to take the striping tape off carefully right after you paint your top color--while it is still wet! If you wait until it is dried, you may peel off part of the design you want to stay on the nail! 

Thanks for reading! Hope you all have a fun weekend!

You can purchase Elevation Polishes here: http://elevationpolish.bigcartel.com

You can purchase Cirque Colors here: http://www.cirquecolors.com/home/

You can purchase Zoya colors at your local Ulta or here: http://www.zoya.com 

Little Miss Glittery Fancy Pants

Hello, readers! I have a fun glitter gradient look to show you today. Sometimes my favorite nail art is as simple as a glitter gradient. Finding out new combinations within my stash is fun and easy!

I haven't had a chance to try out China Glaze Fancy Pants since I bought it a few weeks ago. Once I put it on, I realized that it had a gorgeous pink shimmer and I went to my stash to find a similar color in a glitter. I found Nubar Petunia Sparkle and it was spot on for the color in Fancy Pants! I used a makeup sponge and did a reverse glitter gradient starting at the cuticle line about 1/3 up to the tips. Then, I did the same with the middle 1/3 of my nail using the prettiest multicolored glitter in my stash: Cirque XXX. This was so sparkly and I really loved it on my nails, I wore it for 3 days!

Look at the pretty holo glitters in XXX! And you can really see the pink shimmer in Fancy Pants as well.

I used:

Duri Rejuvacote

2 coats of China Glaze Fancy Pants

Nubar Petunia Sparkle

Cirque XXX

Poshe top coat

What do you think? Thanks for reading!

New Nubs And A Fun Indie Pairing...

Hello, readers! If you follow me on Instagram (@adventuresinacetone), you may have seen my photo 3-4 weeks ago of a really low split on my pinkie nail...I'm talking WAY below the free edge. I've been patching it every few days with Orly Nail Rescue and this weekend it had finally grown out enough that I could cut it off. Of course I couldn't just have one super short nail, so I chose to nubbinize all of my nails! Thank goodness short nails grow back faster than short hair cuts! So for the next few weeks, we are going to embrace the nubs because nubs can be pretty, too!

Today in the mail, I received my first Cirque polishes! I have been dying over XX each time I would see it on someone's blog and had to order it for myself (along with Ophelia which I'll try out another day). It is such a gorgeous color and shape mix of holo glitters and I love it!! I chose to pair it with another of my favorite indie polishes, Alter Ego Beachcomber!

A simple mani, but I really like it!

Look at that gorgeous shimmer in Beachcomber!

I just die every time I look at this bottle shot.

I used:
Duri Rejuvacote
3 coats of Alter Ego Beachcomber
1 stripe of Cirque XX
Poshe top coat

What do you think of my simple mani? I think it's good for the new short nails.

Here are some helpful links to Alter Ego and Cirque Colors in case you want to get them for yourself:

Alter Ego Links:
Shop: https://www.facebook.com/AlterEgoNailEnamel?fref=ts
Facebook: http://alterego.storenvy.com

Cirque Links:
Shop: http://www.cirquecolors.com/home/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cirquecolors?fref=ts
Listing of International Stockists: http://www.cirquecolors.com/stockists/

Thanks for reading!