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?

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!

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?

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.

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.

Save Me, Your Royal Shine-ness

Howdy friends. Today called for something celebratory, since I just found out I won the audition for principal horn of the Mid-Texas symphony! Wooot. I wanted to stick with OPI Save Me and was interested to see what it would look like over a silver polish. In celebration of my victory, I found and bought a bottle of OPI Your Royal Shine-ness, from the Serena Williams Grand Slam! Summer 2011 collection. Here are two coats of Save Me over two coats of Your Royal Shine-ness.

OPI Save Me, two coats over OPI Your Royal Shine-ness, indoors with flash 

It's so fabulous, I have to show it to you in direct sunlight!

OPI Save Me, two coats over OPI Your Royal Shine-ness, outdoors, direct sunlight

AAAAAAAh!!! I seriously cannot stop staring at my nails. I am like a raccoon! YRS-n has this amazing reflection, and the glitter in Save Me is so wickedly holographic. I highly recommend BOTH of these polishes if you like shiny things.

OPI Save Me over Did It On Em

Howdy friends. After wearing Did It On Em for a while I decided to add a little sparkle with OPI Save Me, also from the new Niki Minaj collection.  Save Me is an interesting glitter with small silver glitter, blue slightly holographic bar glitter, and silver mega-holographic bar glitter. I'm not kidding when I say mega-holographic, the flashes from these things seriously look like electric lights.  It's pretty amazing.

OPI Save Me, one coat over OPI Did It On Em

Seriously, look at this bottle! These babies are glowing!

closeup OPI Save Me, one coat over OPI Did It On Em

The glitter is pretty sparse. I think two coats might look better than just one. I didn't like how the glitter just clumped together on my middle finger, but hey that's part of the "imperfect" look. Bar glitter has an odd look to me, kind of like little hairs. But the more this polish on my fingers, the more I'm getting used to it. And holy cow, you can't beat the holographic effect.

Zoya Ivanka

Howdy friends.  A lot of terrible things happened yesterday, and I was glad I at least had Zoya Mimi on my nails to cheer me up. (Who knew anyone would want to steal a '97 Honda Civic?  Guess I'm going car shopping this weekend.)  I'm sticking with the Sparkle collection again today, so now I have Zoya Ivanka to share with you.


Zoya Ivanka is a kelly green glitter with yellow gold flecks.  I say glitter, but when you look at the polish you don't see any pieces of glitter.  It's more just an intense all-over sparkle.  This collection is definitely aptly named.  I used two coats of Ivanka over base coat.

Zoya Ivanka, two coats in shade with flash 

See the great yellow flecks!

Zoya Ivanka, two coats in shade with flash

The formula for Ivanka is exactly the same as Mimi.  A little thin, so you'll want to apply two coats for complete opacity and go slow to avoid cuticle drag.  I got this bottle in a St. Patti's day promotion last March: $5 each for 3 Zoya greens.  Fabulous!  The other two it came with were Shawn and Suvi, which I will have to show you soon.

Stats:

• Very unique gold-tinged green
• Finish: sparkle flecks, very glittery
• Price: ordinarily $8, moderate
• Application: Pretty good.  Polish a little thin, go slowly to about cuticle drag.
• Coats needed: 2
• Dry Time: Dry to the touch in normal time.  Takes a long time to fully dry without top coat, remains in danger of smudging for up to a day.  Yikes.
• Impressions: St. Patty's Day, Shamrocks and Leprechauns, Ivanka Trump, $$.

Overall: This is a fun, unique polish, and even better for being $5!

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.

OPI Extra-va-vaganza

I don't think I've shown you Bring on the Bling yet, but I loved it so much I wanted to try out another of the OPI Burlesque glitters.  Extra-va-vaganza is an orange-leaning multi colored glitter.  I layered one coat over two coats of OPI You Don't Know Jaques! Suede.  Extra-va-vaganza isn't completely opaque on its own, so putting it over a brown gave it a nice depth.  I think it also helped the glitter adhere better and made it slightly easier to take off.

OPI Extra-va-vaganza, one coat over OPI You don't know Jaques! Suede,  sunlight

Extra-va-vaganza doesn't make my heart flutter the same way Bring on the Bling does, but it is a fun polish and I think it will be great for layering.

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!

Step 2 The Beat Of My Paradoxal Heart

Happy Valentine's Day!  When my good friend shared a dream she had about a manicure with hearts on it, I told her about Step 2 the beat of my <3, one of the new Justin Bieber polishes from Nicole by OPI.  She indeed caught the Bieber fever and rushed out to buy it, and it was too cute for me to pass up so I ended up buying it too!  Step 2 the beat of my <3 has multicolored regular glitter and pink and purple heart glitter in a clear base.  It a HUGE pain to get the hearts onto the brush.  It took a lot of time fishing for me to get even just a couple on my nails, but the effect was worth it.  I layered one coat of Step 2 the beat of my <3 over two coats of Chanel Paradoxal and topped it with seche vite to make sure the hearts didn't go anywhere after a couple of days.  I LOVE the way this turned out.  Paradoxal looks gorgeous as always and the pink hearts and flashy glitter are the perfect girly romantic touch.

In these swatches you'll see that I had a rather unfortunate incident with my right hand.  I decided to go a week without wearing polish and two terrible things happened:  I got really sick, and I broke two nails.  When my nails split and peel I can't help biting them, and now my right middle finger looks horribly maimed.  I didn't have the heart to file all my nails down to that length, so I think my left hand will take over as my swatching hand for the time being.

S2TBOM<3, one coat over Chanel Paradoxal

 My left hand in its Castinails debut!

S2TBOM<3, one coat over Chanel Paradoxal

 Heres a closeup in sunlight.  Look at the holo effect on the hearts!  Love it.

S2TBOM<3, one coat over Chanel Paradoxal, direct sunlight

 My original idea was to layer S2TBOM<3 over a silver foil.  I think I may do that later this week and put up swatches.  I'm so in love with this polish I plan on wearing V-day manicures all week!

What color would you layer this over?  And more importantly, have you caught Bieber Fever?

OPI Teenage Dream

OPI released a recent collection of polishes in collaboration with singer and nail icon Katy Perry.  From the collection I decided to buy Teenage Dream, a bubblegum pink with holographic glitter.  It was love at first site!  I used three coats of teenage dream and my nails look like they've been coated with a teenage girl's birthday cupcake sprinkles.  The shimmer on the glitter is fantastic, in the sun it's mesmerizing.

OPI Teenage Dream, three coats

Glitter polishes like this are pretty much fool-proof.  If you're in the market for something along these lines I highly recommend running out to ULTA and picking up a bottle.  And it's also great on toes!  Overall I think it perfectly captures the essence of its namesake and I foresee wearing it...all the time.

China Glaze Party Hearty

You'd have to be a Grinch not to like this.  This is the Christmas polish to end all Christmas polishes.  Party Hearty, from the China Glaze Naughty and Nice collection, has red hexagonal glitter, smaller regular green glitter and specks of silver and gold glitter.  I used one coat on my pinky, two on my ring finger, three on middle, and four on index so you can see how it builds.

China Glaze Party Hearty, one, two, three and four coats

As you can see, four coats gives you almost complete coverage while one coat gives you a nice smattering of Christmas confetti.  This one is also great layered over other polishes.  I wore two coats over Sephora by OPI I'm With Brad as a complete manicure.

China Glaze Party Hearty, two coats over Sephora by OPI I'm With Brad

China Glaze Party Hearty, two coats over Sephora by OPI I'm With Brad

I show you I'm With Brad a lot but never on it's own.  I guess I like it for layering etc. because it's black with a sultry red shimmer.  I'll review it soon.  Back to Christmas-in-a-bottle, I love party hearty.  Oddly though I haven't worn it as much as you might think.  I've kinda been saving it for Christmas Day when I slap four coats of it on each nail and say to hell with removal!  The bling factor will be worth it.

What's your favorite glitter?  Do you like them alone or do you layer?

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.