China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous

Halloween is over, which means Christmas nail polish season has officially begun! A bit ridiculous, I know. But when there are so many fabulous holiday shades available, it's impossible to not want to show them off. China Glaze in particular has a habit of coming out with fantastic holiday collections. This year's Happy Holi-Glaze line is no exception. It's already being stocked at Sally Beauty Supply, so I picked up the two shades I was most interested in.

This Is Tree-mendous is a green and gold microglitter. You could use it for layering, or you could do what I did, which was just slap it on until it was opaque. This is three coats with top coat.

China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous

China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous 

China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous

I love it! It's the perfect shade of evergreen that's glitzy but not over-the-top green. I think there may even be two tones of green glitter, you can see some flecks of vibrant emerald. The application was good, I didn't have a hard time getting three even coats. At first the glitter wasn't very saturated on the brush, but by the third coat it was like butter. It makes me want to  I would love to see this topped with big gold glitter, or gold shatter, or maybe some red gems to look like holly. It really is the perfect Christmas Tree Green glitter and I know I will be wearing it lots this holiday season!

What do you think? Will you be picking up any new holiday colors? Would you wear Christmas nail polish in November?

Dia De Los Muertos Nail Art

Hi everyone! Did you have a nice Halloween? I spent the evening with friends passing out candy and having a great time scaring kids! I mean that's what Halloween is for, right? The next day I took a trip to Sally Beauty Supply and voila, they had the China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze collection! I'd been eyeing two colors after seeing other bloggers' lust-worthy swatches, so I didn't hesitate to pick them up. Since I also had some grand nail art plans up my sleeve I picked up a few extra supplies: gemstones, acetone remover, dotting/marbling tools and two stripers.

Sally Beauty Supply Haul: China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous and There's Snow One Like You, Cina nail art gems, Beauty Secret acetone nailpolish remover, Cina nail art dotting tools, Finger Paints Red-Aissance and So Easy Stripe Rite in black

Now I mentioned some nail art. Downtown we are premiering a symphony for Dia De Los Muertos and it has an animated film that goes with it. All week during rehearsals I've been hearing creepy music and seeing the ghostly cartoons, obviously I wanted to extend the experience onto my nails. Armed with my new toys (and 4 hours worth of Wuthering Heights on Hulu) I spent an afternoon on a Day Of The Dead manicure. Here are the pictures, I really hope you like it!

Dia De Los Muertos Nail Art

 Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, right hand

Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, left hand

I absolutely love how this turned out. The colors are even more pronounced under artificial light.

Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, right hand in artificial light

Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, Left hand in artificial light

The rosary across my left middle, index and pinky fingers is one of my favorite parts. It makes me think of a rosary draped over my fingers and I keep imagining the rest of it is there somewhere.

Dia De Los Muertos rosary nail art

 The skull faces were really fun to create. Each one is different and sketching them out ahead of time really helped. The new dotting tools were absolutely essential. The cross and flowers was the first nail I did so that I could practice using them.

Dia De Los Muertos Skull and Cross Nail Art

 This is my absolute favorite nail, the flaming heart with chains around it.

Dia De Los Muertos Flaming Heart nail art

 A close up of my other thumb. This one was supposed to have a mouth like the others, only I made a false swipe with the striper. Whoops.

Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, skull and cross nail art

Dia De Los Muertos Manicure, skull and rosary nail art

A lot of people have asked me if these are decals- they're not! It's all hand-painted on my natural nails. I used two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White as a base and then a plethora of other colors for the design. Once I got the hang of the faces they were easy enough and I would definitely do something like this again next year. On some nails you can see the colors bled once I applied top coat, so I'll need to remember to wait longer in the future. And I do plan on having more nail art to show you! But not right away. This and my Halloween mani have been great fun but I'll be happy to get back to just a solid wash of color. And speaking of, stay tuned soon for China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze colors!

What do you think? Have you done any nail art? What is your favorite nail art that you've created?

Halloween Nail Art

Happy Halloween! The creative juices were flowing yesterday and I was able to create some over-the-top Halloween nail art. I didn't really think it would be appropriate to dress up for work today, so my costume was on my nails!

Right Hand

Thumb: OPI Chopsticking To My Story with jewel-eyed Jack-o-lantern

Index: CG Ick-a-bod-y over Zoya Shawn

Middle: Deborah Lippmann Funky Chunky

Ring: OPI Take The Stage with polka dots and jewels

Pinky: Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance

 Left Hand

Thumb: CG Zombie Zest over OPI Did It On Em

Index: CG Mummy May I?

Middle: CC Platinum Record between OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

Ring: Zoya Shawn and OPI Rising Star

Pinky: CC Platinum Record between SC Black on Black

 The Halloween Rainbow

From Left to Right:

China Glaze Mummy May I?

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance

Deborah Lippmann Funky Chunky

Sinful Colors Black on Black

OPI Take the Stage

OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

OPI Chopsticking To My Story

OPI Rising Star

China Glaze Ick-a-bod-y

China Glaze Zombie Zest

Zoya Shawn

OPI Did It On Em

Color Club Platinum Record

What do you think? I love how the Jack-o-lantern's eyes glow red like an evil zombie pumpkin. I also love how you can see a little bit of the unique texture of Funky Chunky. I tried to mimic that effect sandwiching silver glitter between layers of sheer polish on my left middle and pinky fingers. My favorite nail though is the polka dots and gems on my right index finger. It's just so fun and I keep rubbing my nail like it's Braille. On a side note: I got to see the tomb of Louis Braille this summer in Paris! He's buried in the catacombs of the Pantheon. Fun fact!

How will you be celebrating Halloween? What will you dress up as, and more importantly, what's on your nails?

Oxblood and Gold Glitter Accent Nail

I'm back! What a busy last two years it has been. I moved cities twice, apartments thrice, spent a summer in Paris, got a kitten, and started a new job! Well same job really, just different orchestra. My dream orchestra. For right now it's a one year position, but I'm hoping to be here for good.

With an iPhone and a lot of time on my hands (no pun intended), it's finally time to start posting again. Expect to see new manicure pictures twice a week. They might be a new polish acquisition, old polishes you may or may not have seen before, or I might create something special inspired by whatever concert we're performing, in which case I'll share some media of my inspiration. Be prepared too for some thrift store finds, baking recipes, shots and stories from Paris, as well as a kitten pic or too. And please feel free to comment about it all!

Today's manicure is China Glaze Naughty and Nice from the Holiday 2010 collection. It's a rich maroon creme that's almost a jelly. I love that it looks opaque but the color depth varies: It's like swishing around a glass of wine. The oxblood color is perfect for fall and sanguine enough for Halloween week.

China Glaze Naughty and Nice

Since I'm lacking any other bling on my left ring finger, I added one accent nail in Color Club Take The Stage. Take the Stage is gold glitter with large silver holographic flakes in a clear base. This is four coats.

China Glaze Naughty And Nice with Color Club Take The Stage

 Warming up backstage I was mesmerized by the accent nail. The oxblood matched our concert folders and the glitter matched my horn! Not intentional, but I was excited about the coincidental coordination.

blinded by bling backstage

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, I appreciate your patience over the past several months and look forward to sharing more fabulous fingernails and fun with you!

OPI Chopsticking To My Story + Shatter

Howdy friends. I had planned to keep my last manicure for a while, but it was a rough morning and I needed something fun and relaxing to do this afternoon. So I put on Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and did my nails.

OPI's Hong Kong collection was one that really drew me into nail polish. It contained so many great colors like Suzi Says Feng Shui and Jade Is The New Black. One that I always had my eye on was Chopsticking To My Story. It's one of those ugly/pretty shades, a burnt orangey brown. Well I held off on buying it until Ulta no longer carried it, but one of my dear friends had it and was willing to part with it! So here it is now finally, on my nails. Well, under a coat of gold shatter, since I've been on a big shatter kick lately.

OPI Chopsticking To My Story, two coats with OPI Gold Shatter

I Looove this color. It complements my skin tone nicely. It seems perfect as part of a Hong Kong themed collection too, reminds me of orange sesame chicken and yes, chopsticks. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue with Turquoise Shatter

Hello y'all. It's a rainy rainy day, and after a great morning rehearsal I was looking forward to some frito pie, Psych, and a new manicure. With all the gloomy weather today, something blue seemed appropriate, so I chose OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue and OPI Turquoise Shatter.

Yoga-ta Get This Blue is a velvety navy with a turquoise shimmer. It's one of my favorite blues and I just have to show you.

OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue, two coats

For extra depth, I layered OPI Turquoise Shatter on top.

OPI Turquoise Shatter over OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue, with top coat

OoOoOoOoh! The turquoise shatter looks iridescent and having the navy underneath ads extra drama. The shatter had a cool chrome effect before top coat too, so I could see wearing it both ways. 

What do you think? What colors would you like to see under Turquoise shatter?

Berry Gradient

Howdy friends. It was a wonderful weekend at Lake Travis and now it's back to the daily grind. Pretty light week at the symphony, but my boyfriend's in town and this weekend I'll be busy with an extra gig. So I took advantage of my free time now in between practice sessions to do a quick mani.

I was inspired by my friend, who came to the lake house with a wonderful gradient/skittles mani in shades of coral. She used three colors and then rotated them and I thought the effect was fabulous. So much so, that I want to do the same thing.

Instead of changing hues, I wanted to play with different finishes. I chose three polishes that, in the bottle, looked like they were the same general shade of berry. I chose a creme, a subtle shimmer, and a crazy foil, and then rotated them in that order.

Left to Right: OPI Belize it or Not, Zoya Manon, Zoya Gloria 

Bottom to top: Gloria, Manon, Belize it or Not, Gloria

On the nail, the foil looks a lot lighter. The shimmer in Manon is so subtle that it gets lost and looks almost identical to Belize it or Not. I still like it though, the shades are all very flattering on my skin tone and I think the varied hues are more flattering than just a straight mani.

*I need to make a quick side-note about Belize it or Not. This is a polish I've had SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL. That means it's ELEVEN years old and still has an absolutely beautiful application. Can we just take a second to appreciate that? Unfortunately it has OPI's older more health-hazardous formula, but seriously, eleven years old and still flows, self-evens and isn't thick! Impressive.

How was your weekend? Do you have anything special coming up this week?

L.A.K.E.

Howdy friends! This is an exciting weekend coming up: Tomorrow I fly to L.A. for 24 hours, then it's off to Austin for a weekend lake-house retreat with my boyfriend and our friends. I haven't seen him for 3 weeks so I'm quite excited :-)

It seemed too soon to part with my Coronation mani, so I kept it on my index finger as an accent nail. Then I used L'OREAL Waters Edge, a serene aqua creme, and a coat of OPI Silver Shatter.

L'OREAL Waters Edge, OPI Silver Shatter, Coronation Accent Nail

The result: something suitable for California and the lake! Now hopefully it will be sunny this year :-)

Do you have any fun weekend plans?

Coronation Nails

What happens when you put debutantes into the same theater? Glitter. Lots and lots of Glitter.

Tonight I'm playing for Coronation, a coming-out ball that happens every year during Fiesta. All the ladies wear glitzy dresses with loooong trains. I got a peek of them today during rehearsal- Yowza! Not wanting to be shown up, and since we have to wear all black, the bling goes on my nails.

I started with two coats of OPI Your Royal Shineness, a wonderful platinum microglitter. Then I added a coat of OPI Silver Shatter for texture. Once that dried, I used Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday on my index fingers for an accent nail. The other nails are topped with Color Club Platinum Record.

Coronation Nails

They're so sparkly! The shatter effect isn't very visible, but it keeps the texture from being too flat. Happy Birthday looks really great over silver, and I like how the color is a subtle effect against the rest of the glitter.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day! The weather here in San Antonio is beautiful, I hope you're all experiencing something similar where you live :-)

¡Viva Fiesta!

¡Viva Fiesta! Every spring in San Antonio, the entire city throws a giant week-long party. It's either to celebrate Easter or to have an excuse for music and bright colors and drinking in the street. We at the symphony participle by throwing a Fiesta Pops concert, which includes a real live Mariachi Band. If you happened to be at the concert last night, you did in fact hear a Mariachi song that was about...a handlebar mustache.
An event this spectacular obviously requires a special manicure. I chose 5 different piñata colors, painted each nail a different shade, then used two coats of Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday on top.

 Fiesta Nails

The colors I used were:

• Thumb: Zoya Pippa

• Index: OPI Belize it or Not

• Middle: China Glaze Gaga for Green

• Ring: Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

• Pinkie: OPI Fly

On my Right hand, I used the same colors but changed the order. I wanted a complete melange of piñata shades. If I had more time, I thought about getting some tissue paper too...maybe next year.


What do you think? Does it capture the spirit of Fiesta? Have you ever gotten to experience Fiesta? I would love to hear your stories.

  

Revlon Lilac In Love

Howdy friends. Recently we've seen vivid bright nail polishes come into vogue. But as Spring approaches, something delicate seems fitting. For this manicure, I pulled out an ancient bottle of nail polish, one in my collection since circa 1999. Revlon Lilac in Love, a limited edition, is a pinky lavender with orchid blue shimmer. Two coats makes for a romantic manicure. The blue shimmer makes it a pink that leans towards purple, and on the nail it just looks soft and enchanting.

Revlon Lilac In Love, two coats 

Revlon Lilac In Love, two coats

I love the way this looks. While a huge fan of bright, in-your-face manicures, there's something about the subtlety of this look that has me intrigued. Seeing your natural nail line isn't such a bad thing, and I think we are about to see sheer polishes gain more popularity.

**Tip: When choosing this type of manicure, look for shades with pink or red hues to complement skin tone. Polishes that are too blue or too green look unflattering. Since there will not be complete coverage, make sure that nails are nicely groomed by filing them to the same length and shape.

Gray and Lavender Nail Art

Howdy friends. I was in the mood for a little nail art this morning. My inspiration was a lot of pictures I've been seeing around Pintrest. A big trend in nail art has been clean lines with contrasting colors. Sometimes people use tape to create this effect, but I was too impatient to wait for the polish to dry long enough for that, so I freehanded it. I painted my nails with two coats of RBL Insouciant. Then I added a swipe of China Glaze Pelican Gray, at a random angle. I used a thin line of gold glitter to highlight the border between the colors. Then I topped it with one coat of CND Air Dry, my favorite quick dry top coat.

Insouciante is one of my most favorite polishes, and I really like the way it looks with the gray. I'm sure I will be wearing this for another week, which is how long I wore my last manicure. A week and no chips, with no top coat even! OPI gets major points for that.

OPI Pink Friday with Glitter Blizzard Accent Nail

Howdy friends. Today I had a little fun with Pink Friday from the OPI Nicki Minaj collection. This is the last polish from this collection I have to show with you. It's a bubblegum pink creme with a hint of pastel to keep it from being too girly. Don't get me wrong, it's still very girly, but with that Nicki Minaj knock-you-out edge. On my ring fingers I added OPI Turquoise Shatter, then topped it with OPI Save Me, the holographic bar glitter.
This is two coats of Pink Friday with Turquoise Shatter and Save Me accent finger.

OPI Pink Friday, two coats with OPI Turquoise Shatter and OPI Save Me on ring finger

OPI Pink Friday, two coats with OPI Turquoise Shatter and OPI Save Me on ring finger

 

OPI Pink Friday, two coats with OPI Turquoise Shatter and OPI Save Me on ring finger

Looking at the accent nail is kind of like looking through a blizzard of glitter, but I kind of like the effect. You can't see the cracks but the light catches the holograph and the pink and blue make a good effect underneath.

As far as Pink Friday goes, look at how shiny it is without top coat! It self levels and dries in minutes, making for a very east and fast pink manicure.

Nicki Minaj Nail Art

Happy Valentines Day! OPI recently held the Nails For Life contest, where you could design a manicure inspired by one of Nicki Minaj's outfits from the past year. The contest was aimed at promoting "stand out nails" in everyday life. Now that it has ended I am allowed to publicly post my pictures. The polishes I used are OPI Teenage Dream, Color Club Platinum Record, Zoya Minka, Sally Hansen Milles Fleurs, a neon pink and neon green from Urban Outfitters, and nail decals.

Nicki Minaj Nail Art for OPI Nails For Life contest 

Nicki Minaj Nail Art, bottle pictured is OPI Teenage Dream

Nicki Minaj Nail Art for OPI Nails For Life contest

How I did each nail:

• Pinky- two coats of Urban Outfitters unnamed neon pink, one wipe of Urban Outfitters unnamed neon green on tip, nail decal on tip
• Ring- two coats of OPI Teenage Dream, diamond and pearl nail decal in center of nail
• Middle- two coats of Sally Hansen Milles Fleurs, two coats of Color Club Platinum Record on tip, nail decal just above tip
• Index- two coats of Zoya Minka, one coat Sally Hansen Milles Fleurs swiped diagonally across tip, one coat of OPI Teenage Dream atop that, diamond and pearl nail decals bordering tip

Painting on the fly, these nails took about 2 hours to create. After I did these I was so in love that I had to come up with more designs for the rest of my fingers, those took another hour or so. If you'd like to see a picture of the outfit I was inspired by, click here.

I LOVED wearing this manicure. My favorite nail was my ring finger, it reminded me how much I absolutely love Teenage Dream. 

My thoughts are that I would love to do something like this again, and it is much easier having something, a photo, as inspiration. What do you think of nail art manicures like this? What types of things would use as inspiration? I would love to read your answers in the comments section.

Chanel Morning Rose

Hello friends. Here is the polish I had intended to show you yesterday, before I so unceremoniously removed it in preparation for the surprise delivery of Mermaid's Dream. This is Chanel Morning Rose, which was released last spring as a 2011 Limited Edition. Unfortunately it's no longer for sale on line, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it at a few department store beauty counters so you could probably still get your hands on it. I'd highly recommend doing so, too. This cherry blossom pink with tiny gold flakes looks like lip gloss for your nails, and goes beautifully with Spring skin that is just on the verge of a tan.

Chanel Morning Rose, three coats in indirect sunlight

It's so healthy looking. I wear it without top coat because it looks uniquely glossy on it's own. The gold flakes are very visible in the bottle. On the nail they're just enough to give it a subtle shimmer. This is just a hands down great pink and I vow to wear it much more this Summer.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream Swatches

That's it friends, I don't think I need to buy another nail polish, ever. I hope you are ready for these pictures I'm going to share with you. Ms. Lippmann has outdone herself again and created a nail polish nothing short of spectacular. Here it is, Mermaid's Dream, a new release for Spring 2012.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, two coats indirect sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, two coats, indirect sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, two coats, indirect sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, bottle macro shot

Mermaid's Dream is a teal glitter with sapphire glitter gems and subtle gold sparks. It's amazing because it creates the illusion that your nails are jewel-encrusted. Because of this, it's better actually without top coat. (The first manicure I did, I applied top coat but it had this unattractive gritty effect.) On it's own, this polish has a finish that reminds me of antique gowns, something a mermaid probably would dream of wearing if she had legs.

Maria Menoudos' jewel encrusted gown

Application is beautiful just like all Lippmann polishes. I particularly love the brush, which picks up a good amount of polish and evenly fans it out while you polish. Dry time is practically non-existant, I think owing to the fact that this polish is predominantly glitter. I had good coverage with two coats.

Thank you, Ms. Lippmann, for such a beautiful polish to see us through seaside summer days, and beyond. And a special shout out to Neiman Marcus for such excellent (and fast!) service.

OPI Fly + Save Me

Howdy friends. Fly is another polish I picked up from the new OPI Nicki Minaj collection. At first I expected it to be just like Suzi Says Feng Shui, only more teal. But in actuality, Fly is not a creme but a really opaque sorbet. Three coats provides full coverage, and because it's a sorbet, the effect is like looking into water that's so deep you can't see where it ends. I like that about this polish, it has more depth than a regular creme (no pun intended.)

OPI Fly, three coats in direct sunlight 

Here's what it looks like with two coats of Save Me.

OPI Save Me, two coats over OPI Fly in direct sunlight

I like that the colors in this collection seem like they were inspired by the holographic spectrum found in the bar glitter. I also like how the silver glitter in Save Me creates such a flashy sheen. Overall, I think Fly is a unique polish because of the sorbet effect, and I like how it coordinates with Save Me.

Sneak Peak: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

   Howdy friends. Spring is nigh upon us, which means sunlight, warm weather, and fantasies of lounging on the beach. For those of us that can't get near the ocean, Deborah Lippmann has created two fabulous shades that she believes will "feel like a vacation no matter where you are." The one that has me drooling is Mermaid's Dream, sapphire glitter flecks swimming in a sea foam green shimmer. Let's take a closer look with some recent pictures from Neiman Marcus' website.







To see the real thing, check out my swatches here.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

   This color certainly has me enchanted with it's siren song. My swooning is so great that I pre-ordered it today from Neiman Marcus. $18 is a price I'm willing to pay for such gorgeousness from Deborah Lippmann. This is expected to arrive late in February, and I will be sure to share swatches with you as soon as it does.

To see the real thing, check out my swatches here.