Nails

What Are You Wearing on Your Nails?

August 7th, 2010 by Karen 45 Comments

Sula Paint & Peel Polish in Watermelon with Sula Metallic Top Coat

Well, I was wearing Sula Paint & Peel Polish in Watermelon ($9) under Sula’s Metallic Top Coat until about 30 minutes into The Ghost Writer last night.

That’s when my mind started wandering.

“I wonder how easy it is to peel this stuff off…”

Pretty easy, apparently. 🙂

I don’t think I’m destined to use these paint and peel polishes. The urge to peel is just too strong!

What are you wearing on your nails today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P. S. Oh, here’s what Watermelon looks like by herself (without a top coat):

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail Enamel: Bright, Summery Shades for Tips and Toes

August 4th, 2010 by Karen 48 Comments

rimmel lasting finish pro review

Sometimes summer makes it hard to commit to fall makeup designed to conjure thoughts of autumn leaves, wool scarves and boots, despite the flourish of fall collections whispering sweet nothings in our ears (Chanel, Urban Decay, Dior!).

To all the beauty companies out there, I’m not quite ready to shift my makeup gears yet, so please bring on more summery brights! 🙂

Like these five new Lasting Finish nail shades from Rimmel…

The vibrant $4 colors hail from their 32-piece Lasting Finish Pro Nail Enamel line.

I think they’re notable for the colors, of course, and the wide applicator brush that covers most of the nail and thus speeds application. I also dig the thin, easy-to-apply texture.

rimmel lasting finish pro polish review swatches marine blue
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Eyeko Nail Polishes for Fall 2010: Will Limited Availability of These Saucy Shades Rain on Your Parade?

July 31st, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

eyeko rain polish eyeko saucy polish swatches review photos

It’s typography time! If you can name the font on this bottle of British brand Eyeko’s new Saucy Polish, not only will you receive mad props from your fellow font nerds, but you’ll also earn an honorary degree from the University of Makeup and Beauty Blog in Font Detect-ology. 😀

New limited edition Saucy Polish (“for naughty nails”) and Rain Polish (“for city nails”) apply with smooth, non-streaky color and reach full opacity in just two coats. Both shades, released for fall, dry to a blinding shine. They’re not the easiest products to get out here on this end of the pond, a major drawback for gals ’round these parts, but prices before shipping start at $5.50 each.

While neither color strikes me as particularly groundbreaking, I like the overall presentation (LOVE the packaging).

eyeko rain polish swatches eyeko saucy polish swatches review photos
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Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia Nail Lacquer: A Midsummer Night’s Blue

July 30th, 2010 by Karen 34 Comments

estee lauder blue dahlia swatches pure color nail lacquer

An inky blackish blue with a whisper of deep purple, Blue Dahlia Pure Color Nail Lacquer ($18) looks like a midnight summer sky on tips and toes. One of two polishes in EL’s fall 2010 collection, (the other’s called Surreal Violet), it makes me long for late-night adventures and broken curfews, and it’s yet another reason I’ve joined the Blue Dahlia bandwagon.

The shine? Otherworldly. If I were a super heroine, I’d deflect laser beams with Blue Dahlia’s luminous shine.

estee lauder blue dahlia swatches pure color nail lacquer
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Cover Your Bases (and Your Nails) with the Lori Greiner Orly Manicure Keeper Nail Necessities Kit

July 28th, 2010 by Karen 28 Comments

Lori Greiner by Orly Manicure Keeper Nail Necessities Kit

What follows is a brief cautionary tale…

Neglect your mani/pedi long enough, and your fingers and toes may turn to eagle talons. It’s true. I speak from experience. I’ve neglected my nails to the point where I could carve hearts in trees, bluh!

Enter the Lori Greiner by Orly Manicure Keeper Nails Necessities Kit ($18), a handy (ha!) three-piece set of goodies designed to make at-home manicures easier. You get a bottle of Rubberized Basecoat to bump up the wear time of your polishes, a bottle Smudge Repair to smooth over any nail polish mistakes (I always make at least one) and a small bottle of Fast Dry Drops to cut down the drying time of polished nails.

Lori Greiner by Orly Manicure Keeper Nail Necessities Kit
Is that an apparition in the corner or just a tabby who won’t sit still?
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China Glaze Fight Like a Woman Collection Swatches and Thoughts

July 17th, 2010 by Karen 31 Comments

china glaze fight like a woman swatches reviews photos

Rise and shine, pal o’ mine. Got a few more nail swatches for ya. These are from the upcoming China Glaze Fight Like a Woman collection ($6 each), which sashays onto shelves this September, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month a few days later.

A portion of each sale goes to benefit the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization devoted to the science of cancer and to promoting better collaboration between international organizations working on cancer research.

Endurance is the shade that REALLY catches my eye… It’s the raspberry pink with silver micro-glitter, but let me know which color you like most in the comments.

china glaze fight like a woman empowerment
Endurance

Creamy Empowerment (the mid-tone pink) is a little thicker than I expected it to be and takes some patience to apply, but it comes out pretty if I take my time and use thin coats. The other two shades are maybe a tad easier to work with.
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China Glaze Awakening Collection: Nails to Drive the Ghouls Crazy for Fall 2010

July 16th, 2010 by Karen 29 Comments

China Glaze Awakening

What it do, ghoul-friend? I’m guessing I’m probably not alone in feeling like Halloween’s about a billion light years away right now, but if you’re one of those always-planning-early types (or maybe every day feels like All Hallows’ Eve to you?), peep the three new colors of China Glaze’s upcoming Awakening collection.

Color me a kid from the ’80s, but dayum these colors remind me of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. I was eight years old the first time I saw it and got zilch sleep for two weeks. Every time I’d close my eyes I’d see MJ’s glistening in the dark.

Zombie Zest, a dark green jelly base packed with green and gold glitter and my favorite color out of the three, looks like a nail polish version of those haunting peepers. Childhood scarring aside, I think it also looks kinda like sparkly baby poo. Both describe the color equally well.

The other two shades, Ick-a-body (a brownish green jelly base with burnt orange glitter) and Mummy May I (a purplish black jelly with purple glitter), are a lot of fun, too, especially if you like monstrous colors.

In each of these pics I’m wearing three coats.

china glaze awakening zombie zest
Zombie Zest
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What Are You Wearing on Your Nails?

July 3rd, 2010 by Karen 33 Comments

mac alice olivia nail lacquer
MAC Alice + Olivia Nail Lacquers from left: Morning After, Military and So Rich So Pretty ($12 each)

Right now I’m sporting bare fingers and toes, but my digits are plotting to paint themselves if I don’t give them a hand. They have their hearts set on some of the new shades in the MAC Alice + Olivia collection (available July 8). My fingers are considering Military (the glittery blackish gray), and the toes are pulling for So Rich So Pretty (the shimmery bright purple)…

mac alice olivia nail lacquer

I’m still up in Napa but coming home soon. Tabs just sent me a text that reads, “Gravy?”

What are you wearing on your fingers/toes?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen