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?

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.

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.

Deborah Lippmann for Spring 2012

Howdy friends.  Deborah Lippmann has released some fabulous shades (Bad Romance, Happy Birthday, and the ever popular Across the Universe) and her polishes always have a formula that's unbeatable.  Today on Facebook, she shared with her fans a sneak peak at her upcoming collection for Spring 2012.  I can't think of a nail polish brand I'd want to preview more!

Check out my swatch of Mermaid's Dream here.

Deborah Lippman, a "wildly enticing" preview of Spring 2012 collection

WOW.  We weren't given any names or description of these polishes, so the best I can do is guess: The left-most polish looks like a Caribbean ocean blue creme.  Moving to the right, polish 2 looks like a teal/ sea foam green micro-shimmer.  Polish 3 looks like a beautiful rich navy blue creme/jelly with copper flecks in it.  LOVE.  The polish on the end looks like it has the same copper flecks but in a hot pink base.

These polishes will be available in March at Neiman Marcus.  Lippmann polishes are priced at $16 to $20 per bottle.

Thanksgiving Water Marble

Howdy friends.  Thanksgiving is almost here, and I was inspired today by the rich autumnal colors of the Harvest.  I tried a nail art technique I've never done before: water marbling.  No, it's not something they do in prisons.  It is a way of making marble designs with different color nail polishes in water, and then dipping your nail onto the pattern.  It sounds hard, and it kind of is.  And it's messy.  But it's a fun way to combine different colors into a beautiful manicure.

The colors I marbled were OPI Rising Star, China Glaze Naughty and Nice, and Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose.  Before I marbled I painted my nails with one coat of Zoya Minka, just to give myself a nude base.  Here's how it turned out:

Right Hand: Water Marble with OPI Rising Star, China Glaze Naught
and Nice, Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose

Left Hand: Water Marble with OPI Rising Star, China Glaze Naught
and Nice, Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose

I love the autumnal color palette.  It was time consuming to do, but know that I feel like I have a hand on the technique (hah, no pun intended), I'd like to try it again.  I have some great Christmas combinations in mind!

Bahama Breeze Nail Art with Lippmann and OPI

Howdy Friends.  Showing you guys the OPI shatter polishes rekindled my adoration of them.  That being said, while browsing through Pinterest, I was inspired by this picture to create a multi-color shatter manicure.  I used one coat of Deborah Lippmann It's Delovely, one coat of OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui on the bottom half of my nail, and then one coat of OPI Black Shatter over the whole thing.  Finally I sealed it with one coat of OPI Top Coat to give it some shine.  I will tell you, this is the first time I've used OPI's top coat and I'm very impressed by it.

my Bahama Breeze manicure

"I'll have another, please."

When I first applied SSFS, it looked really bumpy over the tip of my nail.  But as the polish dried, it evened out over It's Delovely and created this slight purple fade in between the two polishes.  My colleague at work asked what I call this manicure.  My first response was a hodge-podge of the impression it gives me: "Bahama Breeze on the Beach at Sunset."  Realizing this is too long for a catchy name, I've since trimmed it down to simply "Bahama Breeze." 

This picture is exactly the impression I get from this manicure

What color combination would you like to see under Black Shatter?

It's Delovely, the beat of my Heart

Here is a polish I absolutely LOVE.  It's Delovely by Deborah Lippmann is a vibrant coral creme that looks fantastic with my skin tone.  It applies beautifully, just like you would expect from a Lippmann polish.  The wear is also great, I can get up to a week without chipping or tipwear.

Deborah Lippmann It's Delovely, two coats.

To jazz it up I added "one" coat of Step 2 The Beat Of My <3 from the Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber collection.  I say "one" in quotes because I had to work really hard to get the heart glitter on my nails.  Usually the brush just doesn't want to pick it up.

Deborah Lippmann It's Delovely with Nicole by OPI Step 2 the beat of my <3

Gah!  So cute, I love it.  I wore this for Valentine's week and the pictures finally made it onto my computer when I uploaded photos from my birthday last week.  That was a fun time!   My Birthday manicure was Hard Candy sky, a baby blue with a subtle shimmer, of course topped it with Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.  My nails really popped against my pink party dress!  Alright since you asked, here's some pictures.

 

the besties.

Kiss From My Shattered Black Heart

So I was serious when I said I wanted to do Valentine's Day heart manis all week.  After being frustrated this morning by nose-picking students who don't pay me, I'm in a don't-effing-mess-with-me mood.  OPI Black Shatter called to me, and I wanted to pair it with something strong to counterbalance the frivolity of the Bieber hearts.  Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose is my favorite empowering merlot so I decided on two coats of that topped with Black Shatter and then S2TBOM<3.

Deborah Lippmann Kiss From a Rose, OPI Black Shatter, Nicole by OPI Step 2 The Beat Of My <3

Deborah Lippmann Kiss From a Rose, OPI Black Shatter, Nicole by OPI Step 2 The Beat Of My <3

 Since this is the beginning of my foray into swatching my left hand, I tried:

 A Useful Trick From Ji Baek, owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge.  

• First Prep nails and apply base coat as usual.
• From then on out, isolate each hand.  Paint left hand, let dry.
• Paint right hand, let dry.

This way there's less danger of smudging, and I could use my unpainted right hand to tidy up my swatching hand.

All in all I liked Kiss From A Rose best with just the shatter.  But for one day I can wear this.  Another exciting manicure in the works for tomorrow!

I won a job!

Hi everyone!  I wanted to write a quick post to let you know a few key things:

• I'm here!  Thanks to a broken computer and busy schedule I've had to put blogging on hold.  But now that Apple has corrected my water damage (note: do not keep water bottles and laptop in purse at same time) and my schedule is a little calmer, I plan to post much more frequently.
• My car hit 60,000 miles today!  The amazing thing is that it is a 1997 model.  Thank you, Grandma, for giving me your car when your lottery-winner boyfriend bought you a new one :-)
• I WON A JOB!!!!  For a classical musician, this is a huge deal!  And for a polish addict this means I will have a replenished budget.  But seriously, I am insanely excited and can't wait to start playing with my symphony.  I will definitely be buying OPI San Tan-Tonio!

Sorry there are no pictures.  Here is a mental image though:  For the first round of auditions yesterday I was wearing Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, one coat over one coat of OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui.  Then I massacred it waiting for results so I did a new manicure that night: Zoya Mimi.  And since even I was a bit hesitant to wear such a sparkly purple in front of an audition committee, I toned it down with OPI Black Shatter.  HAWT!  Pictures soon, thanks for your patience!

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe

So. Pretty.  A sheer navy base swimming with aqua sequins, green sequins and blue glitter, Across The Universe is truly one of the most fascinating polishes I've ever worn.  This was released by Deborah Lippmann along with Bad Romance for Fall 2010, and it's hard to say which I like better.  Across The Universe has more sparkle and much more glitter, but there's just something about the black/purple glitter combination that calls to me.  Anyway here are pictures of ATU so you can decide for yourself!  This is three coats with top coat.

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, three coats, sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, three coats sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, three coats shade

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, three coats direct sunlight

You can see it has a higher concentration of glitter than Bad Romance, and the sequins are two different colors instead of just one.  This is probably why I couldn't decide between the two polishes and had to get both!  Thank you Nordstroms San Antonio for encouraging my Lippmann Addiction.

Birthday Vixen

Today is a very special post dedicated to my good friend, miss Fabulista, in honor of her birthday!  For this manicure I started with Revlon Vixen, the quintessential vampy maroon creme.  This bottle is over 5 years old and the application and dry time was still great.  I used two coats and one coat of seche vite on top.  The pictures are actually after two days, you can see that it holds up really well with no chips and minimal tip wear.

Revlon Vixen, two coats indoors with flash

Revlon Vixen, two coats indoors with flash

Revlon Vixen, two coats indoors, shade

And now for the Birthday Festivities!  I added one coat of Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday to my ring fingers to avoid glitter overkill.  HB looks GREAT on darker polishes, I love how this turned out.

Revlon Vixen with one coat Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday on ring finger

Revlon Vixen with one coat Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday on ring finger

Happy Birthday, Fabulista!  I hope this makes you as happy as the time we walked through Banff singing the McDonalds Filet-o-Fish commercial.  (And happier than we felt after actually eating it.)

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance

Happy Halloween!!!  From the first time I saw it, I knew for this day I HAD to wear Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance on my nails.  First, the combination of black and purple is spoooooky.  Second, this is the polish she created for Lady GaGa, whom I have had aspirations to dress up as since, oh I don't know, March.

Bad Romance is a black base with two sizes of purple glitter: small regular glitter and big hexagonal glitter.  The black base is sheer so I needed three coats for complete opacity.  When the polish dries, it has an uneven texture that reminds me of purple boils on a witch's skin.  It's a look that's growing on me, but I added a coat of seche vite to smooth things over.

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance, three coats, direct sunlight

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance, three coats, shade

Look at how pretty the bottle looks!

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance, three coats, shade

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance, three coats indoors with flash

And because this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of my costume, here is me being Lady GaGa.

I'm ready for my close-up

The nails were the perfect touch, don't you think?!

A Kiss From Brad

Since Kiss From A Rose was too pretty to take off right away, I decided to dress it up a little.  I took SEPHORA by OPI I'm with Brad and used it for French tips.  Then I added a coat of Butter London Matte Finish Shine Free Topcoat to make it extra special.  I'm really happy with the result.  I think it's prefect for Fall, reminds me of Indian Candy Corn.  I think this is also how Vampires do french manicures.

SEPHORA by OPI I'm with Brad over Deborah Lippmann Kiss from a Rose

with one coat of Butter London Matte Finish 

Thanks for stopping by, come back again soon!

Lippmann Kiss From A Rose feat. Genghis Barbie

Greetings.  Over the Summer, Gilt Groupe had a sale on Deborah Lippmann Polishes and, having a $25 credit burning a hole in my account, I was fortunate to pick up two colors for a whopping $2.75.  That's right, $2.75.  While the sale's offerings were a little disappointing (I was really hoping for Marquee Moon and Funky Chunky) I am thrilled with the two polishes I did score; Kiss From A Rose and It's Delovely.

Today I have swatches of Kiss From A Rose, a super sexy and sophisticated red creme.  Lippmann's website calls this a "bold merlot" and I can see that, although to me it's more reminiscent of the muted scarlet of a 1920's billiards room.

Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose, two coats indoors, fluorescent light

Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose two coats indoors, fluorescent light

Deborah Lippmann Kiss From A Rose, two coats indoors, indirect sunlight

Application was flawless and dry time, as on all Lippmanns I have, was excellent.  This wore well even with just Orly Bonder and no top coat.  I absolutely love this color and will be sure to wear it again.

Now before I go, I'd like to leave you with a musical offering.  Since all of Deb's polishes are named after songs, I can't use one and not get it's tribute stuck in my head.  Here is my favorite version of Kiss From A Rose performed by a great up-and-coming group, if you don't know them you should- Genghis Barbie.

Thanks for stopping by, come back soon!

Lippmann Happy Birthday & China Glaze Swing Baby

Greetings.  Today I have a special mani I did in honor of a few friends' birthdays that all happened to be on the same day.  I was wearing China Glaze Swing Baby and layered over it two coats of Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, two coats over China Glaze Swing Baby, all indoors, indirect sunlight

Happy Birthday is so festive, there's no way you can have it on and NOT be happy.  I would've liked more of a vibrant gold underneath though, I think HB looks more dramatic layered over bright colors.
All in all this was a fun look.  (Removal: not so fun.)
What colors would you like to see Happy Birthday over?  Or do you prefer it by itself?

Thanks for stopping by, come back again soon!

Lippmann Giveaway

Greetings!  Those of you who know me know I am a huge Deborah Lippmann fan.  Well I have exciting news: StyleList is going to be giving away a set of Deborah Lippmann polishes.  The condition is that you have to be on twitter in order to enter.  For complete rules you can see the post on StyleList here.
I'm probably one of the last to jump on the twitter bandwagon and this may just be the push I need.  What about you? Would you register for a shot at free Lippmanns?  Which colors would you want?

Thanks for stopping by, come back again soon!