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?

OPI Black and Silver Shatter

Howdy friends.  Today lets have a view at the two shatters I will be giving away in the Castinails Thankfulness OPI Giveaway.  If you haven't already, click here to enter.

Shatter is fantastic because it is an easy way to add fun art to your manicure.  There are so many color and finish combinations you can play around with, I don't think there's any way to get bored with these polishes.  Personally, I love the way shatter looks over bright colors.  Here is OPI Black Shatter over OPI Meep-Meep-Meep.


The way shatter works is that when applied over completely dry polish, the shatter breaks up as it sets.  Be sure to wait until your base color is completely set before applying shatter, otherwise you'll end up with a weird mess.

OPI Silver Shatter is the other shatter polish in the giveaway.  I think this one is absolutely amazing.  I can imagine how awesome it would look if you played around with wearing it on top of other metal sparkles like gold or copper.  I think over white or black too it would look completely stunning.  Or, over green it would look like tinsel on a christmas tree.  Aaaaah.




Well there you have it.  Good luck, make sure to enter by December 1st 12pm CST

Meet our Giveaway Polishes: OPI Meep-Meep-Meep

OPI Meep-Meep-Meep, one coat

Howdy friends.  Let's take some time to meet the polishes I will be giving away in the Castinails Thankfulness OPI Giveaway.  If you haven't already, click here to enter. 


Today we have Meep-Meep-Meep from The Muppets Holiday 2011 collection by OPI.  Meep-Meep-Meep is a fuchsia sparkle.  Believe it or not, this is one coat.  This bright polish is a great compliment to pale winter skin, and the vibrancy of the pink will definitely lift your spirits and have you singing holiday carols in no time.  It dries quickly and would be a great, low-fuss, festive holiday manicure.

What Beaker has to do with hot pink I'm not quite sure,
but he certainly is cute.  Meep-Meep!

Castinails OPI Giveaway

Howdy friends.  This has been an absolutely crazy week for me.  My car was stolen, I bought a new car, the Police found my car, Toyota returned my new car and gave me a complementary rental car while my old car is in the shop!  I'm amazed and so lucky for how it all worked out, and I'd like to now pay my thankfulness forward to you guys.  So here it is, my first ever giveaway.

Castinails OPI Giveaway

Prize includes OPI Silver Shatter, OPI Meep-Meep-Meep and OPI Black Shatter

OPI Meep-Meep-Meep 

OPI Silver Shatter over OPI Meep-Meep-Meep

OPI Black Shatter over OPI Meep-Meep-Meep

How to Enter: One lucky winner will receive a bottle of OPI Meep-Meep-Meep from the The Holiday Muppets Holiday 2011 Collection, as well as OPI Black Shatter and OPI Silver Shatter.  To enter, leave a comment on this post with one thing you are thankful for.  If you have a blog, you will receive one extra entry for blogging about this giveaway, just leave a link to it in your comment.

Rules: Only one comment per person.  You must be a follower of Castinails to win. Be sure to leave your follower name or email in you comment so I can contact the winner.  Winner must have a valid US mailing address (sorry international fans).  Contest will close on December 1st at 12pm CST.  Winner will be chosen through random.org and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing about what y'all are thankful for :-)

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.