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?

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!

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.

Guest Valentine Blogger- Fabulista

I mentioned that one of my friends was inspired for a Valentine's day manicure in her dreams.  Well here she is in her Castinails debut, miss Fabulista!

Fabulista created this look by starting with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On.  I saw her while she was wearing this polish on its own, and it looked stunning.  For V-day she added a French tip in Sinful Colors Pink Forever and topped it off with Nicole by OPI S2TBOM<3.

Great job miss Fabulista!

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?

Happy Thanksgiving

I originally hadn't planned on posting today, but so many things to be thankful for have been popping through my mind all day.  I'd like to take a moment to share them with you.

Things That I Am Thankful For
1. My wonderful, supportive, inspiring and amusing friends and family
2. My good health
3. The ability to make a living playing music and my beautiful French Horn
4. The internet
5. Cell phones
6. Winter outerwear- because it's cute and without it we'd be very cold
7. 9-1-1- Thankfully I haven't had to use it, but I like knowing it's there
8. Air travel
9. My Honda

I feel like maybe I'm forgetting something...

Oh Yeah!

10. Nail Polish!
Specifically, fabulous colors and manicures that last.  As I rush of in my elastic-waistband leggings to go be a complete glutton, I'd like to leave you with pictures of Chanel Paradoxal, a manicure that I did on Tuesday that has held up through three days and some serious Thanksgiving cooking.

Chanel Paradoxal, two coats with top coat, indirect sunlight

I'm also thankful for you, Chanel.  This is my second time wearing Paradoxal and I love it even more than the first.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.  I'd love to hear what you are thankful for!

China Glaze Sugar Plums

Here's another from the China Glaze 'Tis The Season Holiday 2010 Collection.  Sugar Plums is a velvety maroon with flecks of holographic glitter.  This polish is interesting because without top coat, the glitter gives it a textured effect, like it's literally coated with a dusting of sugar.  You can chose to wear it like this, or you can add a top coat, which brings out more of the holograph.  I found the holograph to be very subtle and would probably wear it this way in the future.  Given the choice between texture or bling, I gotta go with bling.

China Glaze Sugar Plums, two coats no top coat with flash

China Glaze Sugar Plums, two coats direct sunlight

China Glaze Sugar Plums, two coats with flash

China Glaze Sugar Plums two coats with top coat, flash

I love this color.  I think the particular shade of maroon is very Christmasy.  Ideally the holograph would be more pronounced, but I'm willing to forgive that.

China Glaze Awakening for Halloween 2010

Free time is a dangerous thing when you're a polish addict.  Today after I got done teaching I wandered into Sally Beauty Supply and was greeted by an amazing find: The China Glaze Awakening collection for Halloween 2010...

Zombie Zest, Mummy May I, Ick-A-Bod-Y

ON CLEARANCE!

 

China Glaze has been nailing it lately and this collection is nothing short of fantastic.  It consists of three wonderfully named glitters: Mummy May I, Zombie Zest, and Ick-A-Bod-Y.

Mummy May I is purple glitter in a dark purple base.  This polish is along the lines of Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance but without the different sized glitter.  Already having Bad Romance I could've passed on this one, but it was only two dollars!  It went on a little sheer and streaky, I needed three coats.

  

China Glaze Mummy May I, three coats, indoors with flash

 Zombie Zest is a boogery green glitter.  With one coat it makes your nails look like deathly Zombie nails, I could see this being a good look to go with a costume.  After three coats it was opaque, and I have to say this polish has one of the best applications of any that I've ever tried.

China Glaze Zombie Zest, one coat

China Glaze Zombie Zest, three coats, shade

Zombie Zest also has a fantastic glitter in the sun!  The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can get kind of an idea.

China Glaze Zombie Zest, three coats, direct sunlight

And finally my favorite, Ick-A-Body-Y.  First of all, I LOVE the name, especially imagining the situation in which somebody might say that.  This polish is orange glitter in a green base.  The color combination makes me think of pumpkins and scarecrows and all things Fall.  After applying one coat I  thought holy cow, it looks like I have dirty, grimy corpse hands!  Another perfect Halloween accessory, I would totally wear just one coat of this.

China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y, one coat

I ended up wearing it as a manicure in two coats.  It's cool because the glitter stayed towards the base of my nail, so in sunlight you can see more of the green showing through at the tips.

China Glaze Ick-A-Body-Y, two coats, with flash

China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y, two coats, shade

Mummy May I and Ick-A-Bod-Y were very gritty and would need one or even two coats of seche vite to make them smooth.  The dry time on all these polishes was good.  I know they're for Halloween, but honestly I was a little surprised to see them on clearance.  Maybe it's because I'm a junkie, but I would wear these outside of October.  What do you think?  Which do you like?  Would you wear them all year round?

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?!