My Nails Are Partying for Mardi Gras

Happy Fat Tuesday all! Are you planning on rocking out today? Or planning on having a rockin' mani?! I have planned both! Nails first:

LEFT HAND-Beads, Mask and Fleur-de-lis:

Thumb: Illamasqua - Elope, China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky, Migi Nail Art Pen - shimmery olive, China Glaze - Harmony, Passion, Cherish

Ring: Illamasqua - Elope, China Glaze - Grape Pop + Konad plate M78, China Glaze - Passion + Konad plate M15

Rest: Zoya - Pinta stamped with plate M77 and China Glaze - Millennium, Passion and Harmony (it's beads!)

EDIT: THE BEADS WERE STAMPED WITH PLATE M77. NOT M78. OOPS! Sorry!

RIGHT HAND - Hat, Glitter and Fun:

Thumb: China Glaze - Passion, BB Couture - Poison Ivy, China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky, Zoya - Pinta

Ring: Color Club - Sultry, Tru Passion and Object of Envy

Rest: BB Couture - Green Goblin, plate M78 + China Glaze - Harmony and Passion

I really went all out. That is what Mardi Gras is all about, right?! I'm going out with a girlfriend tonight and she is going to paint my face up like a mask. She wants to be a make-up artist professionally and mostly in stage make-up, so this is going to be sick!!! I can't wait! I am sooo not going to want to come in to work tomorrow...

PS - If my nails seem different it's because I chopped 'em down. I had a devastating break on my left hand so I cut them all down to match. It was really my only option. I rather like that I switched things up too. I loooove my "talons" but this length is fresh and comfortable. Don't worry! They will grow back! :c)

PREVIEW: China Glaze Poolside Collection - Summer 2010

Hello again! I have the press release for the latest collection from China Glaze: The Poolside Collection! I am MEGA excited for this collection! NEONS!! Check it out:

SPEND SUMMER BY THE POOLSIDE IN CHINA GLAZE

Six New Neons Sure To Make The Summer Sizzle

Los Angeles, CA – (February 2010): Lounging poolside, sipping on a drink and reading the latest magazine…makes you think of Summer doesn’t it? The only thing missing is that perfect manicure and pedicure! Dip into the summer with some of the brightest and most amazing neons from the China Glaze Poolside collection! Perfect for fingers, and especially the toes, nothing says Summer of 2010 like a couple coats of bright polish! The 6 colors in the Poolside collection include:

Pool Party: Neon Pink
Flip Flop Fantasy: Neon Coral
Sun Worshipper: Neon Orange
Yellow Polka Dot Bikini: Neon Yellow
Kiwi Cool-Ada: Neon Green
Towel Boy Toy: Neon Blue

As for most neons, these tend to finish drying on the matte side…But no fear, getting that gorgeous shine is only a top coat away! Try China Glaze Patent Leather Top Coat. Once you get a look at your China Glaze neon nails glimmering underwater and in the sun, you’re never going to want to take these polishes off!

China Glaze Poolside launches April 1st 2010, for international and domestic.

*Please note that like most neon polishes, the first layer will look extremely opaque and thin. You will need to build up to desired coverage and always remember to let each layer dry completely before applying the next. This will help prevent streaks and missing patches of color on the nail bed.

I love that I love every collection released by China Glaze! Can't wait to show you swatches!

:c)

Dinosaur Eggs

Hi everyone! I am trying to post this quickly because I really need to lay down (headache ): )

This is a mani I did a while back with all of the Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure Colors I showed you here.

Lavender Cloud, Yellow Kitty, Commander in Chic

Gray by Gray, Thinking of Blue, Plum Luck

And a few more bottle pics:

See you tomorrow with something great!

Laine's Official Valentine's Day Manicure

So this is my final V-Day creation (maybe. We still have a couple days. I could always change my mind...) and I have been wearing it since Tuesday night. I don't know if it'll hold up until Sunday but that's alright. The point is that I get to share it with you.

So I went for a half moon manicure. I mean, are you honestly surprised?! I can't get enough of them!

I started with a base of white creme. I chose Rescue Beauty Lounge - Underwear. Then I used reinforcer stickers to hide the bottom portion and painted the rest of the nail with Color Club - Art of Seduction (fitting name for V-Day!) When I removed the sticker I added the triangular, red rhinestones to the moon with a little dab of top coat. If I had little red hearts, I probably would have used them but I just had red triangles, red circles, or yellow hearts. No match! Then I finished with a coat of Seche Vite top coat. It reminds me of the classic red halfmoon manicure, but with a twist:

Photo Courtesy of Vintage Style Files

Have a lovely weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day no matter what you do!

Valentine's Day Mani Inspiration

I am assuming whether you are a V-Day lover or a V-Day hater, you are going to do some sort of theme manicure, right? Even if it is an anti-V-Day mani. Well if you are torn on what to dress your nails in for the big day I put together some ideas I had for Valentine's Day manicures to help inspire!

1) This is a base of Essie - Marshmallow, a jelly white, and a smorgasbord of heart stamps done with China Glaze - Romantiques: Awaken, Adore, Admire, Harmony, Cherish, Passion and Devotion. I used Konad plates M3, M35 and M73.

2) This is a base of Essie - Flirty Fuchsia, stamped with Konad plate M4 and Konad Special Polish in red and white. I topped it all off with a holographic glitter topcoat: Cover Girl - City Lights.

3) I wanted to do a manicure that didn't have the usual red, pink or white base. I chose Naughty Nailz - Left Him Cuffed To The Bed for the base (appropriate for Valentine's!). Then I stamped the little swoops with Konad plate M4 and China Glaze - Devotion. Next, I stamped the "Love" and hearts with Konad plate M2 and China Glaze - Admire and Revlon - Punch Chrome.

4) I went a bit more geometric with this one... for a second. Then I messed it all up! In a good way, of course. I started with a base of Orly - Polo Princess. Next, I painted three vertical stripes with LA Colors Art Deco striper polishes in Red Glitter and White. While still wet, I took a needle and pulled across the stripes from left to right to give a mild marbled effect.

5) Now this is not a "mild" marble. This is wild! I water marbled a red, black and white creme. (you can see my tutorial on water marbling here) Then I topped it with two coats of Cover Girl - Disco Dazzle. You could also add a heart - infused polish like below. I wish I had.

6) This is a base of a reddish pink creme: Perfect Chic - 314 and then topped with Nicole by OPI - Love Your Life. I showed you another mani I did with Love Your Life back in November:

This is Sinful Colors - Sugar Sugar with Love Your Life.

7) This one looks sort of like an anti-V-Day mani but it isn't really. I chose Sinful Colors - Happy Ending for the base since the name sounds lovey-dovey. The yellow rhinestones are heart-shaped, and then I added magenta and black to the ring finger.

8) And this one is obviously a V-Day mani. The base is another one of the new Sinful's I showed you, Easy Going and then I stamped the rose with Konad plate M36 and China Glaze - Cherish and Revlon - Punch Chrome.

What do you think? What is your favorite? What are you doing for your Valentine's Day manicure?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post which will include my favorite Valentine's Day mani! Hmm... what could it be, what could it be? :cD
-Elaine

You Make Me Wanna Swoop

My Up & Away purples inspired me. I know I have shown you this design before, but I couldn't help myself! I had to do it again. The shades used for this mani, from lightest to darkest:

• China Glaze - Light as Air
• China Glaze - Grape Pop
• Zoya - Pinta

I think they go together pretty well! What about you? Have you tried the "swoop mani" yet?
:c)

China Glaze Up & Away Swatches

Check out these bad boys! The Up & Away collection is truly stunning and a must have. There, I said it. Sorry to say it if you have been holding out. You need them.

I had purchased what I thought were the only colors I truly needed as soon as they were available on Transdesign.com. That was only 6 colors (out of 12). Well last week I saw them all in person and my mind changed big time on four more. Yup, I bought them. I feel a bit mad! Mad, as in crazy! I'm over it. I am thrilled I have these. I already gave you peeps of some of the shades in comparison swatches but today I am finally bringing out the full spectrum. Let's get on with it!>>>

Lemon Fizz - Holy bananas. This is a must have for sure because it is a 2 coat yellow and as we saw from the banana yellow comparison swatch, it is the gold medal for brightness, whiteness and application. It think it needs a better name than "fizz". "Fizz" makes me think of "fizzle" like "sizzle or fizzle" (fo shizzle) and that doesn't make it sound as hott as it is. This swatch is 2 coats.

Light As Air - Lavender pastel creme. This is very pretty and maybe not a must have for some if you have lavender shades but I really didn't own anything like it. I love it too! This is not crazy stark pastel. Just a nice sweet, light shade to rock in the spring or even still in the winter. This swatch is 2 coats.

Re-Fresh Mint - What a gorgeous little gem. This was also compared recently and you may have a different opinion, but of all the shades we looked at this looks like a perfect mint to me. I found that trying to get this on in 2 coats was a bad idea. I had to try and make the coats a bit thicker, but being that this is a pretty thick consistency it was then too thick and looked like crap. It looks much better done in 3 thin coats, which is what is in this swatch.

Happy Go Lucky - Great name! This is a very clean, bright, sunshine yellow and the application was great. I did feel I needed a third coat to totally eliminate any streak, but perhaps you could get it on in two. Sometimes yellow looks a bit "eh" to me. I want to love but don't always end up loving it. I love this one.

Grape Pop - Absolutely the most perfect medium purple creme. Not blue sided or red sided. Straight up, middle of the spectrum, royal purple. So pretty! This swatch is 2 coats.

Four Leaf Clover - Are you serious? Buy this.

Sugar High - This is one of the babies that came home from the store after it pleaded it's case. "Oh no, I am not your average pink creme. Mm mm. I am different. I have a bright pop, but not bubble-gummy. No ma'am. I know how you feel about bubblegum pinks and that is not me. I am saturated with color and am salmon-y, making me look sophisticated and appropriate for a grown woman, not a little school girl." So I fell for it. And I should have trusted the swatches I saw because they were right! This is a wildly bright, very, very close to neon pink. That bit of salmon I thought I saw ended up disappearing and this crazy glow came instead. It is far brighter than the picture depicts. It is bright. It is loud. It is bouncing off the walls. It is on a sugar high. This swatch is 2 coats.

Peachy Keen - Yet another second chance pretty. This one never really looked peach to me at all in swatches and it still didn't in store, but that may just be the reason I took it. I think it is more of a light orange (tangerine, perhaps?) and I am obsessed with orange. So naturally, I had to buy it. Creamcicle. That is it. It is creamcicle and maybe has a pinch of peach. This swatch is 2 coats.

High Hopes - What a fantastic name! It's so optimistic. This is a bright punchy coral. I feel like I have plenty corals but for some reason, this one was necessary. I think the thing that turned me on most was that it was very bright and very orange sided. Corals are just attractive anyway. I can't imagine coral looking bad on anyone. But I warn you. This is also wildly, bright. Nearly neon. Be prepared to turn heads with this one. This swatch is 2 coats.

Flyin' High - I wouldn't recommend it. What? Oh, the polish! Right. The reason I didn't order this at first was I guess I wasn't paying attention. It seemed to me that it was just a bright blue creme. Like we don't have a million of them? Next! But then I saw her in store and I realized: Flyin' High, I was wrong about you. You aren't like the others. You are different. There is something about you. You are mysterious. You are bold. You are unique. You go places other blues won't. You are the love of my life. What? Oh. Ahem. Excuse me. The point is this is unique and not like other bright, sky blue cremes. It is darker and has a smidgen of green. I wore this one day and actually had a hard time coming up with the color. Blue? Greenish? Tealish? Robin's egg teal? Depending on the lighting it can look very blue to blue-with-a-smidge-of-green to pretty f-ing green. It is very pretty, but very annoying. Final verdict: I say blue. But I have my eye on it.

So out of a 12 polish collection I felt that 10 were must haves. That has to be the best ratio I have for polishes I have picked up from collections. Other 12 polish collections I have gotten maybe 1-3 and some I pass all together. The only other large nab I can recall is the Romantiques (Also from China Glaze. Pattern?) from which I picked up 7 out of 12. What I am trying to say to you is if you are still on the fence for Up & Away, jump off! The colors are are truly unique. Great work China Glaze! The formula is incredible; Smooth and pigmented and easy to apply. Even the lighter ones, which ended up being thick, work just fine with a little control. And like I said about Re-Fresh Mint; if you have issues with the thickness, just do more coats, but thin coats. The end result will be worth it.

These are available now on all of our favorite e-tailers and I spotted them at Ulta as well. I think it will still be a few weeks until we see them at Sally's.

New Sinful Colors - Spring 2010

I think I have a Sinful Colors addiction . As soon as I knew Sinful Colors had released new shades I was on a hunt. I planned my routes every chance I got to get to a Walgreen's and snag the newbies. Well my hunting paid off and over the weekend I struck gold. I have a bunch of swatches of new colors and oh boy I am excited about them. First off, most of them...are... GREEN! YES! :cD Second, they are super pigmented and go on in two coats, definitely. No sheer babies here. Check out these hotties>>

Happy Ending - This name is just adorable. I can't help but feel all fuzzy from it! But the color is fierce! It is so not what I would expect from the name. This is a mega-bright, nearly-neon, lime green shimmer. It stopped my heart when I got it on. This swatch is two coats.

Easy Going - Awesome, bold, stark, baby pink, creme. This looks nearly white, but with a hint of pink. Not the same as Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud's hint of purple though I think this looks obviously pink. The formula is thick, but manageable. Not thin and streaky, needing several coats. I got it on in two coats and it was smooth without a topcoat.

Innocent - Another awesome, ironic name. This does not look innocent. This is a bright, bizarre, very yellow, light green. The formula is again thick, but manageable and very pigmented. It was very close to being a one coater. This swatch is two coats.

Mint Apple - What is it with mint apples? I know I did actually find them on the internet, but it is still strange to me. Anyway, Mint Apple is a pale minty, jade shade that is very blue-sided and shimmery. This swatch is two coats. Before I saw this in person I thought this would be close to being a Chanel - Jade dupe, but it is far from it. I do not actually own Jade, but apparently Dream Catcher from Claire's is pretty close so I did a comparison of Mint Apple against Dream Catcher:

Mint Apple is on the left and Dream Catcher is on the right. Mint Apple is clearly darker and bluer. With all the mints we have available I am really close to being minted-out, but this is not comparable to any of the mints I have. Awesome.

Rise and Shine - What a cheery name! There should be an exclamation point at the end. "Rise and Shine!" Much better. This is a bold, bright, shamrock green shimmer. This swatch is two coats. It reminded me of China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover as I put it on, but FLC is a creme (no shimmer) and it is more green, where Rise and Shine(!) is more blue.

Soul Mate - This is a rose pink creme with peachy undertones. This shade is very pretty and conservative, but not boring. I really like this shade. And guess what? This smooth, pigmented formula allowed me to do only one coat for this swatch.

Tapping Nails - Holy Moly! This is H-O-T-T! I know it just looks like an orange shimmer but it's not. At first when I got this home I thought it was Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange repackaged. I was thankfully wrong. This is a super bright, bold, red-orange with coral undertones and it has an "oil-slick", duochrome, yellow-green, shimmer. I have a feeling this is a Zoya - Gwin dupe form the new Reverie collection. This is a stunner. This shimmer is more pronounced in real life than in the photo. The camera doesn't pick up the shimmer very well in the darker areas of the swatch , but it is still there in real life. This is way too good to be a $2 polish. This is a must have.

There are all winners in my book. I actually love all these new shades and I am yet again blown away by the way Sinful Colors is stepping up their formula. These are super, super pigmented. Sinfuls get a bad rap for being sheer, but not these. Not a sheer in site. All are very pigmented and smooth too. No disappointments. I promise. :c)

There should be rolling out to a drugstore near you and retail for $1.99.

What do you think? :c)
-Elaine

New Orleans Saints Mani

Hello fanatics and football fans! I decided to do a mani for the Superbowl in honor of the New Orleans Saints. I have been rooting for them this year (when not supporting my beloved Bears!) and thought a Saints mani was in order. Plus I love combinations of black and gold so I have an extra excuse to do it! Apologies to my international readers. I know American football is not an international sport like futbol, but I love it!

I started by painting the whole nail with China Glaze - Passion. Next I halfmooned it with the majority of the nail in black. Then I added Essie - Matte About You to make the whole nail flat. The reason being I love foils stamped over flat black. It looks so hott. Then I stamped the Fleur-de-lis on all nails with Passion and Konad plate M15.

Hope you all enjoy the game, snacks and beer! (and commercials!)