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.

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.

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!

OPI Rising Star

Howdy friends.  My weekend blogging hiatus was the result of having to go out and buy a new car.  But I am back now with a nicer vehicle and another sparkly polish to share with you!  Really, everyone wins here.

OPI Rising Star was released last year with OPI's Holiday Collection, Burlesque.  The collection was made for the release of the movie with the same title, so all of the polishes have showbiz names.  Rising Star is a toffee orange microglitter.  I prefer the formula on Rising Star to the two polishes I showed you from the Zoya Sparkle collection.  OPI's formula is a little thicker so the polish doesn't run as much.  It also dries quicker.  I used two coats.

OPI Rising Star, two coats

OPI Rising Star, two coats

Stats:

• Color: Orange tinted gold micro glitter.  
• Finish: Microglitter
• Price: Moderate, $8
• Application: Good
• Coats needed: 2
• Dry Time: Average.
• Impressions: Rich holiday gold, great for parties, Antique gold frames

Overall:  This is a great polish for dark winter days because it really sparkles indoors.  Not entirely flattering on my skin tone, but still a fun festive color.

Chanel Peridot

Hello.  I have something special to share with you this lazy rainy Sunday.  Peridot, part of Chanel's Fall 2011 precious metals collection, is a complex sophisticated antique gold/olive green duochrome.  Duochromes, polishes that have two distinct colors depending on how the light hits them, can sometimes be very juvenile, but Chanel has created a very sophisticated take on this with Peridot.  And for the hefty price of $25, they darn well should!

In the light this polish is a beautiful antique gold with lots of sparkle flecks.  In the shade it takes on an olive green sheen.  The less direct light it receives, the darker the olive green effect.  I used two coats of Peridot with no top coat.

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Peridot is fairly easy to apply and dries very quickly.  So quickly in fact that I had to keep extra polish on the brush so that it would stay wet while I painted.  20 minutes after manicure time and Peridot is ready to take on the world.

Image of Peridot gem, photo courtesy of JTPeters.net

I like the way Chanel has played on the way light hits an actual peridot gem, picking up the range of colors between dark olive green to gold.  Peridot is the birthstone for August, so those of you late summer babies might want to pick up this polish for that alone.  What do you think?  Does this color have you pining?

Zoya Avril and Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle

Today I have an elegant crackle manicure to share with you.  While at Walgreens I ran into the Sally Hansen new crackle collection and decided to get Antiqued Gold.  I chose to pair it with Zoya Avril, a beautiful dusty pale pink creme.  Avril takes time to get a smooth manicure.  I got away with two coats because I was putting crackle on top, but if you want it opaque on its own or have longer nails, you will need three coats.  Here is Zoya Avril on its own:

Zoya Avril, two coats with flash

After the polish was completely dry (I waited 15 minutes)  I added a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Antiqued Gold.

Zoya Avril with one coat Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Antiqued Gold

The effect is very subdued but I think it has the elegant look of ballet and Versailles and yes, antiqued gold.  This crackle didn't crack as much as the OPI Black Shatter, so I recommend using a very thin coat.

Overall I'm pleased with how this turned out.

What do you think?  What colors would you pair gold crackle with?

Swing Baby

Friday greetings!  Right now I have something for you from the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection.  While I love the whole collection, the one I bought is Swing Baby, a metallic muted gold, which I find to look almost silver in some lighting.  The formula is a little thin, but it was opaque in two coats.  The color  really glitters in the sun.  Also I've found this lasts a long time without chipping.

China Glaze Swing Baby, two coats, indirect sunlight

China Glaze Swing Baby, two coats, indirect sunlight

China Glaze Swing Baby, two coats, fluorescent light

You can see how silvery it looks in this last picture, which is a pretty accurate representation of how it looks most of the time.

On a side note, today while walking past Sephora I saw one of their ads for a get-this-look Halloween devil, and what was on the model's nails?  Basically the exact same manicure I had on yesterday!  It was a maroon and black french that looked like it could have been matte.  I feel so on top of the trend!  Or maybe just tacky for wearing a themed look in real life...

Thanks for stopping by, come back again 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!